Jason_R

“We love to play base because we can dictate. But we have options.” He talks about nickel, end, big end and LB. We could go 4-3, we would go 5-2, we could go nickel. Depends on the draft.

Decker burned the bridge.

True. The wings were so good for so long because they had an edge in European scouting, they had an edge with an owner, willing to spendin free agency, and they had the appeal of being a dynasty with several Hall of Fame caliber players. But Holland whiffed on so many draft picks and left so much talent on the draft board that they are rebuilding the roster almost from scratch. If it were me, the only untradable player would be Seider. But I don’t see any advantage in trading Raymond unless he was part of a package to get a top 10 scorer. The wings do not need any more prospects, they need players that are proven to score at five on five. But everybody else wants those players too.

True. The wings were so good for so long because they had an edge in European scouting, they had an edge with an owner, willing to spendin free agency, and they had the appeal of being a dynasty with several Hall of Fame caliber players. But Holland whiffed on so many draft picks and left so much talent on the draft board that they are rebuilding the roster almost from scratch. If it were me, the only untradable player would be Seider. But I don’t see any advantage in trading Raymond unless he was part of a package to get a top 10 scorer. The wings do not need any more prospects, they need players that are proven to score at five on five. But everybody else wants those players too.

IIRC his stint at LT was a little rough, but he was a rookie. He’ll be fine there now and I’m sure Brad doesn’t want to have the highest paid RT in the NFL.

The Lions were a bit unusual in their use of base 4-3. Teams today are generally playing more base nickel or have a hybrid safety/LB. Now that they let Anzalone walk, it will be interesting to see if they are dogmatic about fielding three LBs.

The Alabama connection is probably just coincidental. Big-time programs get big-time athletes. But I suspect they also liked prospects coached by Nick Saban. Per https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Kadyn-Proctor-OL-Alabama: “He was a consensus All-American and finished second on Bruce Feldman's Freaks List: 815-pound squat, 535-pound bench, 405-pound power clean. Alabama handed him the ball five times during the year as a nod to his athleticism.“ The only “character” concern I’ve seen is weight. Apparently he got up to 370 pounds and suffered in pass protection. But at the combine he weighed in at 352.

So if I have this right, Decker tells Dan he wants to come back. Dan says great I’ll talk to Brad day after tomorrow. Tomorrow Decker goes public knowing Dan and Brad were not going to talk until the day after. Again, this seems at best short-sighted on the part of Decker. Maybe it was even manipulative, in attempting to circumvent Brad and the salary piece of it, which he had to assume was at least a possibility. Decker is not coming off as a sympathetic character in my view.

But he is a Brad pick in the sense that he is a physical freak and played at Alabama. Brad has used three of seven first round picks for Alabama players. I am not a scout, but if Brad thinks he will be an elite run blocker and capable pass blocker for ten years, pick him at 17. But the position is deep enough that there should be good players available at 22, 24, even 30 or 31. If he can move back and pick up a third to use on his Kerby Joseph insurance, he should do it.

Charlie Campbell has the Lions taking Kayden Proctor at 17. IIRC Campbell had Detroit linked with Gibbs before that draft. Other mocks have Proctor going late 20s, even early second round. Would really love to see Brad move back in the first to take his OT of the future, and pick up a 3rd round selection.

Gibson was not sharp on the second game of an away to home back to back. No more back to backs. No more excuses. No more margin for error.

Mazur and Raymond both turned 24 today. One of them has 324 points in the NHL.

I think I just saw him finish a check! This team doesn’t do that very often.

Not a good look for Seider and Edvinsson on that goal.

If someone told Decker he should or would get paid $20 million after the season he had last year, and if he believed it, that’s pretty short sighted, even delusional. It’s just as delusional now to be playing the victim. I get the sense Brad would have brought him back, maybe even on a deal that would have paid him in the neighborhood of $10m with incentives. But Decker, who is now complaining about hardball being played, played hardball himself. You hate to see it end this way, but even worse would be letting it end with Decker playing out the final year of a bloated contract as a shell of himself, or on IR. Brad did nothing wrong.