1984Echoes

In other words... Our current state of the country is due to, simply: White Trash Bigotry. That's it. It's nothing more than that. Trump's BS, the lies... all of that is just cover, as you've stated.

Again... If it's Augustine and Albert Johansson (offensive defenseman at GR), or Wallinder, I'm closer to that deal. It does NOT require Pellikka, which is my contention. That you're just trying to blow smoke up... How are Veleno & Fabbri underachieving forwards? You're constructing this deal incorrectly. You're doing this on purpose just to try and blow it in my face, IMO. You're not being serious, you're just being "FU" right now. The closest comp would be Berggren, who is scoring points at GR but can't break onto the current Wings roster, although he's been here before. OR, pick ONE of Fabbri or Veleno because you, essentially, decided to replace a LOW-LEVEL prospect in the deal with an NHL'er. This tells me you're not being serious. Replace ONE underachieving NHL'er with TWO NHL'ers...? You're just playing games. And if we've traded away a couple players for extra picks this year, which is also my contention, it lowers the cost of losing a couple picks (by getting some back). I've already stated I want Yzerman to be BOTH a seller and a buyer. A slight reconstruction of the roster, by only a few players, not a total remake... to put better long-term players, and tougher two-way players that can better handle the grind of the playoffs. Mostly on defense. But I'll take a two-way forward also, if we can get one. Like Lindholm. The only thing you got correct was the 1st and 4th. But a 1st, 4th, Berggren, Cossa OR Augustine, Wallinder OR Johansson... this is something I would consider. Canucks probably got the better deal, or players they liked more... but my construction is a lot closer/ more accurate than yours. And maybe Cossa "gets the deal" done.

I just looked at the Canucks prospects 2023 and they had those two defensive prospects at #6 and #9... So some dispute as to which prospects would have to be included here... But as stated.. no, I think that's a bit too rich a cost to make the deal.

This. I don't think it's worth it to trade up for a CB like DeJean. I'd rather stick and draft Arnold or Mitchell or Rakestraw (Wiggins doesn't tackle well... I'll bet dollars to donuts he's not on Holmes/ DC's draft board). If DeJean is the guy that falls to us fine... but I like the other guys just as much so I'd rather not spend extra picks to move up unnecessarily (IMO).

And if Jackson leaves there is still an immediate need at LG. I'm not certain how high they are on Awosika?

Teams had sticker shock per the internets at his salary demands ($15 mill/ year) if the internets is correct...

I think Glasgow gets at least a 2-3 year offer at a reasonable rate for the Lions. I think it's basically a done deal.

He might move to Safety though (at least per some draft reviews...). The other thing is (since I've been a draftnik since about 1981...) that: I'm now looking at guys as to whether or not they might be Brad Holmes/ Dan Campbell type guys... When I read "immensely talented but doesn't always give full effort/ questions on if he truly loves the game/ great cover guy but not a good tackler/ arm tackles a lot and doesn't make much effort to stop the run game...", etc... It gives me great pause on considering them on a draft board. "Will run through a brick wall to get to the runner" makes me think "Hmmm... sounds like a DC guy...". I think there may be a time to take a chance on an immense talent that might have questionable football character, but Holmes/ DC believe they can give the guy a push and in a strong locker room it'll also boost a player like that. Someone like Jalen Carter, just as an example. But I don't know if they're ready to do that just yet. I don't know if or when they will... So when I'm looking at CB's for example, DeJean is definitely a Holmes/ DC guy. So is Quin Mitchell, Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw and T.J. Tampa. Hugely aggressive corners, and tacklers/ good in the run game. But Kool-Aid is not. Not good in the run game. Not a good tackler. That's a Holmes/ DC no-no. Same with Nate Wiggins. So I'm ruling some guys out if there are certain questions, IMO, that Holmes/ DC would rule the guy out. Just something to think about for fellow draftniks. The 40 doesn't matter as much as the football character. And I like that they are using field-GPS instead of the 40 as well.

The other guy getting some interviews from the offensive coaching staff is Tanner Engstrom, our passing game coordinator. He's getting Offensive Coordinator interviews with several teams...

They just uncovered a hidden Putin $-million dacha near the Finnish border... It's probably why he freaked out...

Ah, yeah... I forgot about that...

Our passing game coordinator, Tanner Engstrom, might get the Tampa OC job. I have a wild idea... Hire Teddy Bridgewater as our next passing game coordinator. If he wants that job... Interesting idea?

I'm on board with that.

I would say so at the start of the season... or at least I would have a month ago. If Cossa is coming on... I'm not so sure about that. I don't know what Yzerman will do.

We hated Al because he fell in love with subpar players (like Willi, etc...) and wouldn't move off of them. And was too lazy to sift through the waiver wire or whatever it took to come up with some other solution/ player. If Jung is up by July-ish, doesn't it make your point moot (if he sticks)? Again... I'm not going to worry about any short-term pain... as long as we get long-term solutions.

I think we just have to let that play out... Make adjustments at a future point in time when those adjustments reveal themselves as necessary. Until then, my mentality is to: just let it play out.

That also pushes Hayes primarily to the bench... brought only at times as a defensive stopper.

I've been arguing this. Even if Sasser is a glorified SG in a PG's body... Isn't that what we need anyways, with Cade starting? Even if it's Ivey/ Sasser... it's still the same thing. He's a secondary ball-handler, not a primary. He's a deep threat, which spreads the floor. The biggest issue is can he play enough defense against the opposing PG? But that also puts Ivey or Cade on the SG for defense... which I think helps either/ both... at least a little. I don't care if he struggles... this is a season for experimentation and learning curves. Start Sasser-Cade (when he's healthy/ on-the-court), bring in Ivey as the second team PG so he can dominate the other team... Give Ivey 30 minutes or so at PG so he'll still have time with Cade... but have at least one of Ivey/ Cade on the floor at all times. When Cade goes to the bench for a breather than Burks comes in so there is offense on the floor at all times (Sasser-Cade, Ivey-Cade, Ivey-Burks). Just my 2 cents.

If his bat is a problem, Vierling at least starts against lefties so it's a platoon. Or if it's worse than that then Meadows is a defensive replacement + part-timer against certain RH'ers. I'm not going to stress about 3B even if Vierling gets forced into playing a lot of CF. I think Ibanez + others will hold the fort until Jung is ready for a promotion. Which, btw, if he's ready sometime in June/ July, just for arguments sake... than Vierling STILL gets pushed off 3B anyways so I don't consider this an overriding situation to worry about as much as whether Meadows is a CF answer for us or not. Even if Greene is forced into CF a bit... and I don't know when he's physically ready for that... I think we have multiple OF options at the corners so we'll just see how that plays out. I'm not worried about who's in the OF, outside of Meadows... It's really all on Meadows to prove he's a part of that puzzle... or not.

Again... You're correct he's worth nothing today. If and when he shows something... We'll cross that bridge if/ when we get there... If ever. Otherwise... he's probably a good backup for us.

Cossa has a: .902 save percentage pre-Christmas and a .934 save percentage post Christmas. Small sample size and all. But the Griffins coaches I believe have stated he is playing better of late... moving better. Let's see how long he can keep that up. Maybe he's our starter on the Wings in 2024-25. If so... what do we do with Husso?

Today he doesn't. But start flashing in a year or two and teams will notice. This isn't a today discussion. It's a nothing discussion, at least until we find out exactly what we have with him. And that might take awhile. I think it's a "cross that bridge when we get there" discussion. Just my 2 cents.

I think it's a multiple thing. The first thing is, I believe he is better as a #2 CB, not a #1. Maybe even as a slot CB. But I'll let the Lions work that out. If you have a true shutdown CB taking on a team's #1 WR, and Sutton on the #2 or #3 WR, I think he looks a lot better. Yes pass rush. But I still see coverage sacks. I still see QB's throwing passes away into the sidelines or out of the end zone because they cannot find an open receiver. Have a blanket coverage secondary and sacks go up. But to your point: more pressure, more sacks, less time to throw ALSO helps the secondary. I think Holmes leaves no stone unturned this offseason. He'll hunt for additional pass-rush/ speed rush through the draft and FA's. He'll hunt for a #1 CB on the market (really, really difficult to find/ afford) and he'll draft 1 or 2 CB's to develop. And I think he will ALSO put critical resources towards the O-Line this offseason. This car goes nowhere without the engine and the O-Line is the engine of the Lions (Goff is the driver, Montgomery the drivetrain, Hutch-St Brown-LaPorta-Anzalone the wheels, McNeil, Campbell, Melifonwu, etc. offer different options like leather seats and sunroof and such... and Gibbs and Jamo are the LASER-BEAM High Beams). They still don't have the Jamo High Beam perfectly aligned just yet though... Working on it.

A few comments on Hooker: If Hooker shows anything, to the Lions or in preseason games... He can be traded for a couple draft picks and the team can reset at backup QB at a future point in time. I really like having someone with Hooker's upside at backup. I mean... we don't really know what that is. But... if Goff were to get nicked up for a few games, or for a key playoff game... I have a lot more confidence that Hooker can come in and win those games over having Blough or Sudfeld in that time of need. A LOT more confidence. And it could even make the difference between winning in the playoffs versus losing... or not even making the playoffs at all. An injured starting QB and crappy backup options can certainly derail a season. If Goff or Hooker show something different in the next few years (I believe we have Hooker 2024-26 seasons?); such as Goff deteriorates due to injuries (this is the NFL after all), or Hooker just takes off (per Lions coaches until we can actually see it in an NFL game... otherwise we have absolutely no idea)... than at that future uncertain date: the team can make a different decision away from Goff or whatever. But until then, it's Goff as our QB at least the next 4-6 years or so (assuming he gets his extension) and Hooker as the #1 backup for 3 of those. And I am absolutely good with that. Just my 2 cents.

WAG: Goff will end up with a 5 year extension at $250 mill. He'll be 35 at the end of that.