MichiganCardinal

Hooker was as much drafted as leverage in ongoing contract negotiations with Goff as he was drafted to be a project backup QB. I don't think there was ever a realistic plan for him to challenge Goff, but the idea was that if he saved us $10MM on Goff and then we eventually traded him for a mid to late round pick, he was worth it. It's not like there was a realistic option if Goff and Detroit came to an impasse. Nate Sudfeld was our backup in 2022. That being said, Hooker was an appealing candidate as a project QB too. He was a candidate for Heisman and would have gone in the first round if not for his ACL injury. I don't think anyone predicted he would be just as awful as he has been. And, for the "Brad Holmes trades too many assets" crowd, he traded down twice before drafting Hooker.

I think it's just his identity, so in that sense he's going to live by the sword, die by the sword. He loves his guys and he'll do what needs to be done to get them. Sometimes that works (ASB, Jamo), sometimes it doesn't (Brodric Martin). Same for Dan. Sometimes it works (Wildcard Round against the Rams in 2023), sometimes it doesn't (this year against the Eagles). I agree about the trade deadline stuff. One of Brad's comments in his year-end presser was that he gets all these questions about why they did or didn't make a move at the deadline, when they don't ask about those same things in June or July. Often those conversations are happening without anyone knowing or thinking about it, even though the media coverage circles around that deadline as the last possible day it could happen.

I do too. I probably wouldn't trust him as Montgomery's replacement next year, but he could be penciled in for 2027 if they had to replace Monty with a one-year rental.

This is probably more of an NFLRA issue. Their contract is up in May. Hopefully we aren't going to get more replacement refs, that was a disaster in 2012. I see both sides of it. I agree with you that the Chiefs debacle clearly came from upstairs, and Wrolsted lied to our faces in the pool report when he claimed that it was a crew decision. I watched that all happen in real time from like six rows up and will be the first to tell you he's full of ****. So having that audio publicly available would prevent him from lying to our faces, which would be nice. That being said, the referees won't want that released (and neither will the league) because it will just generate more negative press and more fans in uproar, without any actionable follow up. It's not like the league doesn't have access to these things. The league knows exactly what happened. The league is fine with whatever it was. Uproar - genuine uproar - just creates problems for the league. Brad Allen hasn't worked a Lions game, home or away, since the Dallas game in 2023. That's not a coincidence. The office knows that it will generate media when they eventually assign him a Lions game again. So they avoid that. Releasing transcripts or audio is an easy way to make a one-day story into a two-day story. Why give the media more, when their goal is to give the media less? And in any event, if they're not going to publicly fire or discipline Brad Allen for literally costing a team a game, what does any of it matter?

There's probably a way to make the international games work by division too. Have four international games per week during a divisional crossover week. For instance next year it's the Lions/Titans, Vikings/Colts, Packers/Texans, and Bears/Jaguars. Have each of them play in one of London, Berlin, Dublin, or Madrid. Then those eight teams either get a bye the following week, or (worse) play each other in a divisional game.

I see what you did there.

If we want more Jarrett Stidhams playing in the AFC Championship Game, keep expanding the schedule. I'm sure they will go to 18 within the next three years, because the money demands it. But there has to be a stopping point or the playoffs will become the Morgue Bowl and the champion will become purely who stayed healthy the longest or got healthy the soonest. An international game per team would at least add some fairness, instead of one team flying from London to play another that got 10 days off. I also think they desperately need a second bye week per team. If they add an international game per team, maybe it can coincide with the week after that trip.

RE Montgomery: While I love Monty, and I think his return is probably the best bet for the offense, he's also not irreplaceable, just like Jamaal Williams wasn't irreplaceable. The advanced metrics that brought Montgomery here in 2023 aren't what they once were (though, again, neither was the offensive line). Monty averaged 2.2 YAC/Attempt this year (a low in Detroit) and had only three broken tackles all season. He hadn't had below 16 broken tackles to this point in his career. He's also getting up there in years for running backs. He'll be 29 next season. For context, Saquon's drop off this year happened after he turned 28. When you look at current NFL RBs performing at a high level past 28, you're looking at a very limited list: Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffery, and Saquon are the only three above 600 yards. Is Monty among that elite group? As potential replacements go, Javonte Williams recorded 2.5 YAC/Attempt behind the Dallas offensive line and was 2nd to only Jonathan Taylor in broken tackles. He's a free agent and three years younger than Monty. JK Dobbins is two years younger (which surprised me) and averaged 2.4 YAC/Attempt with 9 broken tackles in Denver this year. Thinking outside the box, De'Von Achane is entering the final year of his rookie contract and the Dolphins have Jaylen Wright in the wings. They may trade Achane, even if it's a one-year rental option.

I don't think it has to do with throwing your hands up. I think it's just a matter of understanding that (1) they're not that far away, (2) drastic departures from the course are not needed, and (3) any drastic changes--at least as it relates to player personnel--have downstream consequences that you'll have to pay. While I think "luck" in some sense is a requirement to win three straight in January, in order to play in February (look at the damn Patriots path), I also don't think that's a real plan or part of their calculus. I just think they have their plan, believe in it, and aren't going to knee jerk away from it because of a 9-8 season in what was a very difficult schedule. That is just to say I think those questions are being asked internally. I think they recognize and appreciate that they had the worst center in all of football last year starting in between two rookies, and that the run game was never going to get off the ground (no pun intended) with that setup. Obviously they recognized Morton as a problem, they fired him before everyone had even flown home for the offseason, and hired his replacement by mid-January. I just would be a little surprised if they make any huge moves (maybe notwithstanding Tyler Linderbaum, that would actually make a lot of sense if Decker retired and they planned to draft his replacement).

Really good post on Reddit about the Petzing hire if you're wanting a reason to be optimistic. Here's the original source.

Dan Campbell was hired five years ago today.

2025-2026 College Football Champions: D1 CFP: Indiana D1 FCS: Montana State (nearly Illinois State) D2: Ferris State (Michigan) D3: Wisconsin River Falls NAIA: Grand View (Iowa) NJCAA: DuPage (Illinois) Too bad it just means more in the south.

Three straight for the Big Ten

Looked like Cristobal broke his headset complaining about the correctly called delay of game. Now a penalty on Indiana for roughing the passer. There was a hit on Mendoza earlier that should have been called targeting.

False start by the Indiana LT is going to give Miami a shot down 6 with plenty of time left and the clock stopping every first down.