Detroit Lions 2024 Offseason Thread

[Mr.TaterSalad]

6 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Your season shouldn’t derail if your starter goes down when you have the best offensive line in football,  a group of dependable running backs and receivers, and a dynamic offensive coordinator.    

You must have a competent game managing backup for it to work and I don’t know if the Lions have one in the roster at the moment.  

How many teams have had their starting QB go down early/mid season and still have been able to make a successful season out of it? I don't have the direct stats for the question I'm asking, but I bet the answer is not many. I agree that Sudfeld can't be our option at backup QB. I think we should make an offer to Ryan Tannehill if Hooker isn't ready to go or keeps getting hurt. But if Goff goes down, even with this Oline, set of weapons, and Ben Johnson's coaching, we're still f'ed I believe.

[Hongbit]

2 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

How many teams have had their starting QB go down early/mid season and still have been able to make a successful season out of it? I don't have the direct stats for the question I'm asking, but I bet the answer is not many. I agree that Sudfeld can't be our option at backup QB. I think we should make an offer to Ryan Tannehill if Hooker isn't ready to go or keeps getting hurt. But if Goff goes down, even with this Oline, set of weapons, and Ben Johnson's coaching, we're still f'ed I believe.

 6 teams have won the Super Bowl with a backup QB and many others have had quality seasons and gotten close.  

[Shinzaki]

Earl Morrall...king of the back ups

Edited August 9, 2024 by Shinzaki

[Hongbit]

My number is wrong.  It’s actually too low and didn’t include Nick Foles, Jim Plunkett or Kurt Warner.  

[buddha]

3 hours ago, Hongbit said:

 6 teams have won the Super Bowl with a backup QB and many others have had quality seasons and gotten close.  

in the hard salary cap era?

lions should be better off than most because of their strong offensive line.  however, most teams do not succeed with a backup qb.

[holygoat]

4 hours ago, Hongbit said:

My number is wrong.  It’s actually too low and didn’t include Nick Foles, Jim Plunkett or Kurt Warner.  

How many regular season games did they start?

[Hongbit]

You guys have 💩 memories.

How about Joe Flacco taking the Browns to the playoffs last year.  

How about Brock Purdy taking the 49ers to the NFC championship in 2022.

Ryan Tannehill taking the Titans to the AFC Championship in 2019.

Along with the 9 others I mentioned earlier that made it to the Super Bowl. 

It’s not easy to lose your starter but it’s not a death sentence either.

 

 

[Sports_Freak]

5 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

An injury to anyone's starting QB will derail an entire season. Just look at the Jets last year with Aaron Rodgers. For every Tom Brady, ready and waiting to take over from Drew Bledsoe type of scenario, there are dozens and dozens of failed seasons because the backup simply isn't as good as the starter who went down.

Very true. Talented QBs don't want to stay backups. They move on to teams to be starters.

[Sports_Freak]

5 hours ago, Hongbit said:

 6 teams have won the Super Bowl with a backup QB and many others have had quality seasons and gotten close.  

Bob Griese missed many games in 1972 for the undefeated Miami Dolphins. Yes, it was a lifetime ago but it is possible to win with a backup. Sudfeld? Not the way he played yesterday but the lack of talent around has to be taken into account. We just don't know what he could bring to the table if he played with the 1st team offense. And to be honest, I don't want to see it.

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Bob Griese missed many games in 1972 for the undefeated Miami Dolphins. Yes, it was a lifetime ago but it is possible to win with a backup. Sudfeld? Not the way he played yesterday but the lack of talent around has to be taken into account. We just don't know what he could bring to the table if he played with the 1st team offense. And to be honest, I don't want to see it.

While it wasn't that unusual in ' 72, guys like Earl Morrell as backups are pretty rare in today's league. Most backups tend to inexperienced guys. Quarterbacks as good as Morrell would have gotten too expensive to have as backups in today's NFL. They either still have their starting gig or they made enough to retire....

[Sports_Freak]

9 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

While it wasn't that unusual in ' 72, guys like Earl Morrell as backups are pretty rare in today's league. Most backups tend to inexperienced guys. Quarterbacks as good as Morrell would have gotten too expensive to have as backups in today's NFL. They either still have their starting gig or they made enough to retire....

Agreed. Who wants to be a backup when quality starters are making...50 million $$ a season? Lol...Morrall prolly made 10 grand a year in '72. 😅

[RandyMarsh]

If Goff were to get injured early on and miss the entire season I think it would be highly unlikely we make a deep playoff run no matter who our backup is but what I'm more concerned about is if he suffers a minor injury that causes him to miss 5-6 weeks or something.

In that regard I would like to have somebody that could atleast win you 2-3 of those games so your season doesn't go to complete crap. A recent example is Cooper Rush in 2022, he started 5 games when Dak got hurt and he went 4-1 to save Dallas' season from going in the crapper. He wasn't great or anything but he was good enough to win with given the rest of the talent on the team. That's all I'm really looking for in our backup and I just don't see even that with Sudfeld. 

[buddha]

4 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

While it wasn't that unusual in ' 72, guys like Earl Morrell as backups are pretty rare in today's league. Most backups tend to inexperienced guys. Quarterbacks as good as Morrell would have gotten too expensive to have as backups in today's NFL. They either still have their starting gig or they made enough to retire....

days before the hard salary cap dont count.  that's a different world when you could have multiple good players on the team.

hendon hooker might be good enough by the middle or end of the year to be "ok enough" to steady the ship for a few games.  hey, josh dobbs did ok for a few games last year too (the vikings lost their starter and did not make the playoffs, much less win the super bowl, which is the usual outcome when you lose your starting qb).

[gehringer_2]

20 minutes ago, buddha said:

days before the hard salary cap dont count

Don't tell that to the Dolphins...😉

But correct - it's a whole different system. And for that matter, not only have the contractual issues changed but the importance of the position has done nothing but increase, so today you not only need to have good backup QB to keep hope alive if your #1 went down, you'd probably need an elite one since more often than not, a good team today revolves around not just good QB play, but elite QB play. 

[MichiganCardinal]

Finally got a chance to watch the second half of the first preseason game this morning.

Campbell said that he thought Hooker's concussion came from one of his runs, but I think it came from the roughing the passer penalty. He took a shot to the chin on that play, I didn't see any helmet contact on his runs. That said, he needs to get much better at going through his reads in the pocket instead of just taking off when his first read isn't there, and he needs to get much better at avoiding contact when he does take off.

Right now, he's Malik Willis or Pat White. He'll be a great preseason QB, because third-string linebackers won't be able to keep up and he can get away with it. But he won't have any sustained success in the league, because he'll be constantly hurt and a defensive scheme that contains his legs will vex him.

If he can develop those skills though, I think Hooker will at least be a fine backup, which is all we need from him. Putting him behind an elite offensive line will give him time to make those reads, because he won't be feeling pressure. It will also allow him to make the most use of his legs when he does take off. If he's back there for 3, 4, 5 seconds and nothing is open, he will be able to gain many yards on the ground, because ASB, Jamo, LaPorta, et al. will all be 15+ yards downfield.

Hope he doesn't get any regular season action though. Except to maybe take a knee or two when we are up 30.

[Tigeraholic1]

Decker, my favorite Buckeye.

 

 

[MichiganCardinal]

Per Campbell, Mahogany has returned to the team, Hooker won't be able to return to practice until at least Friday (and they're looking to possibly add a QB to the team in advance of the Chiefs game as a result), starters may play a little against the Chiefs but still TBD, and Nate Lynn suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against the Giants.

[Sports_Freak]

We have a kicker;

 

[MichiganCardinal]

1 hour ago, Sports_Freak said:

We have a kicker;

 

It's good to see, but I also think we knew he had this ability.

I would probably prefer a headline like "Jake Bates ends practice a perfect 24/24 from 30-39". In a league decided by 8 points or less more than half the time, I think being absolutely money on extra points and chip shots is more important than the rare 60+ yard attempt. If you miss from 64 as time expires and lose, you can probably point to other times in the game where you could have done more. If you miss an extra point and a 30-yard field goal in a game and lose by 1, well....

Though don't get me wrong, the ability to have this in the back pocket is nice to have.

[gehringer_2]

38 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It's good to see, but I also think we knew he had this ability.

I would probably prefer a headline like "Jake Bates ends practice a perfect 24/24 from 30-39". In a league decided by 8 points or less more than half the time, I think being absolutely money on extra points and chip shots is more important than the rare 60+ yard attempt. If you miss from 64 as time expires and lose, you can probably point to other times in the game where you could have done more. If you miss an extra point and a 30-yard field goal in a game and lose by 1, well....

Though don't get me wrong, the ability to have this in the back pocket is nice to have.

jake still has little experience as a FG kicker so we can hope there is some upside on developing more accuracy.

[Sports_Freak]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It's good to see, but I also think we knew he had this ability.

I would probably prefer a headline like "Jake Bates ends practice a perfect 24/24 from 30-39". In a league decided by 8 points or less more than half the time, I think being absolutely money on extra points and chip shots is more important than the rare 60+ yard attempt. If you miss from 64 as time expires and lose, you can probably point to other times in the game where you could have done more. If you miss an extra point and a 30-yard field goal in a game and lose by 1, well....

Though don't get me wrong, the ability to have this in the back pocket is nice to have.

I can't argue with that. But maybe a strong leg will allow Campbell to try to put points on the board instead of going for it so much on 4th downs? Naw...I don't think so. 😅😅

[RedRamage]

3 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

We have a kicker;

I'm probably one of the bigger Bates slappies here (just look at the UFL thread), but a 64-yarder in practice doesn't mean much. Don't get me wrong... I definitely LIKE that he has a big leg, but kicking in practice vs. in game where the opposing team is barreling in on you and there's pressure to make it... that's what counts a lot more.

Bates mostly seemed to be able to handle this in the UFL well, but there's always the question of whether the added mental pressure of doing in in the NFL will be too much. I mean he's on a (nearly) $2M contract over two years. This is life altering money and if he's successful he can expect even more. 

[Sports_Freak]

Just now, RedRamage said:

I'm probably one of the bigger Bates slappies here (just look at the UFL thread), but a 64-yarder in practice doesn't mean much. Don't get me wrong... I definitely LIKE that he has a big leg, but kicking in practice vs. in game where the opposing team is barreling in on you and there's pressure to make it... that's what counts a lot more.

Bates mostly seemed to be able to handle this in the UFL well, but there's always the question of whether the added mental pressure of doing in in the NFL will be too much. I mean he's on a (nearly) $2M contract over two years. This is life altering money and if he's successful he can expect even more. 

Agreed. But looking at that kick? It woulda been good from 74 yards. Totally amazing. I have to admit, I never thought I would see that.

[Motown Bombers]

He requested a trade from the Eagles, got traded to the Jets, hasn’t played a snap yet for the Jets, and has now requested another trade. 

 

[slothfacekilla]

I wouldn't want to hang around Aaron Rodgers either