Random NFL comments/thoughts

[number20]

21 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

So, the only comment I have to make after today (is actually a set of questions):

What does it take for the Lions to go from very very good, to the highest level in the NFL? What do they need to reach the level of the 49'ers/ Eagles/ Chiefs/ Dolphins (wut!!!)/ Ravens?  level...?

 

Because I think they will have a very very good, year/ record, prolly win the division, maybe even win a playoff game or two...

But I don't think they'll get past the NFC Championship game, and there are some premium AFC teams that would also prolly block the Lions from winning the whole enchilada even if they made the Super Bowl. I think the Lions need to make a couple of premium moves to get players that will get them to that level. IMO.

My 1st guess is: concentrate on Defense, not offense. Even though we've done nothing today against a really nasty Baltimore defense. 

Want list = (1st) top-level CB. Surtain or draft pick or whomever that may be. (2nd) more pass-rush, whether that's a Maxx Crosby type or a reasonable facsimile. (3) Do we need elevated coaching on D? Just asking....

And what do we need on offense? I don't see any must-have needs except rookie & 2nd year growth (Gibbs/ Jamo/ LaPorta), maybe a key RB depth player... is there a way to make our O-Line even more awesome? Does that help anything? Do we need more smashmouth running that could possibly steamroll a Ravens or 49'ers defense? Just asking...

Any comments/thoughts welcomed/ appreciated...

They need a pass rushing DT and depth at cornerback

[Jason_R]

10 minutes ago, number20 said:

They need a pass rushing DT and depth at cornerback

They also still need a David Montgomery Jr. Without him they do not have offensive balance. 

[number20]

11 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

They also still need a David Montgomery Jr. Without him they do not have offensive balance. 

The fact that he wasn't put on IR is pretty revealing. I'm guessing he'll be back shortly - probably after the bye

[Jason_R]

19 minutes ago, number20 said:

The fact that he wasn't put on IR is pretty revealing. I'm guessing he'll be back shortly - probably after the bye

He’s only played five games or something but he is already the heart of the offense. 

[number20]

21 hours ago, buddha said:

it was one game.  they'll be ok.

but to compete against the best in the playoffs they need playmakers.  they dont have enough right now.  

Speaking of playmakers, the fact that Holmes ignored addressing the DLine and secondary in the 1st round and instead chased shiny toys is REALLY starting to stick out right now, especially given how bad this defense was last year. He also would’ve been better off keeping Swift, and maybe even Okudah - who he pretty much gave away for nothing.

Thank god CJGJ and Moseley were only 1-year deals

[buddha]

1 hour ago, number20 said:

Speaking of playmakers, the fact that Holmes ignored addressing the DLine and secondary in the 1st round and instead chased shiny toys is REALLY starting to stick out right now, especially given how bad this defense was last year. He also would’ve been better off keeping Swift, and maybe even Okudah - who he pretty much gave away for nothing.

Thank god CJGJ and Moseley were only 1-year deals

you're talking to the president of the draft jalen carter society, so i definitely understand.

i love brad holmes, but he's not infallible.  nobody is.  and not taking jalen carter is a mistake that will haunt this franchise for a long time.

and i like gibbs!  but carter is a game changer at one of the hardest positions to fill in football.  gibbs is a good third down back option.

instead we TRADED UP to take brodric martin in round 3.  a project who hasnt even seen the field yet.

[MichiganCardinal]

1 hour ago, number20 said:

Speaking of playmakers, the fact that Holmes ignored addressing the DLine and secondary in the 1st round and instead chased shiny toys is REALLY starting to stick out right now, especially given how bad this defense was last year. He also would’ve been better off keeping Swift, and maybe even Okudah - who he pretty much gave away for nothing.

Thank god CJGJ and Moseley were only 1-year deals

We'll likely never know about Moseley, but CJGJ sure seems like really bad luck more so than being a bad deal. I mean - a torn pec?? And I wouldn't put it past him to get back in time for the playoffs by the sound of it. He tore his pec like John Cena did when I was a kid, maybe he can run out of the Ford Field tunnel for the divisional round like Cena appeared for the Royal Rumble.

And by reports, it sure seems like Holmes wanted to address the secondary in the first round and got sniped both at 6 and at 18. He wanted Witherspoon at 6, he went at 5. He wanted Gonzalez at 18, he went at 17. Sometimes that's just the way the cookie crumbles, and he got a pretty good consolation prize with Branch in the second round.

[number20]

13 minutes ago, buddha said:

you're talking to the president of the draft jalen carter society, so i definitely understand.

i love brad holmes, but he's not infallible.  nobody is.  and not taking jalen carter is a mistake that will haunt this franchise for a long time.

and i like gibbs!  but carter is a game changer at one of the hardest positions to fill in football.  gibbs is a good third down back option.

instead we TRADED UP to take brodric martin in round 3.  a project who hasnt even seen the field yet.

We also traded up for Jaymo, who at this point is nothing more than a 1st round decoy who puts more balls on the ground than he catches. He had a career high number of snaps yesterday, and he didn't show up at all when the team needed him.

Unless you somehow believe Jaymo knows the playbook better than Goff, that end zone pick was 100% on him. We've already heard Campbell talk about how he "needs to be more dependable", "learn to be where he's supposed to be", etc. And beat writers talk about how he's still dropping balls in practice and how bad his route running is. This is not a 1st round receiver

 

 

[buddha]

2 minutes ago, number20 said:

We also traded up for Jaymo, who at this point is nothing more than a 1st round decoy who puts more balls on the ground than he catches. He had a career high number of snaps yesterday, and he didn't show up at all when the team needed him.

Unless you somehow believe Jaymo knows the playbook better than Goff, that end zone pick was 100% on him. We've already heard Campbell talk about how he "needs to be more dependable", "learn to be where he's supposed to be", etc. And beat writers talk about how he's still dropping balls in practice and how bad his route running is. This is not a 1st round receiver

 

 

i agree on jamo.

receivers sometimes take a while to develop, but he is not good right now.  he's borderline unplayable and is a one trick deep route/gadget play pony.

for a team that supposedly values character so much - so much so that they passed on a generational defender - they sure missed on jamo.

it happens.  if he isnt any good next year it'll be time to cut bait and move on.

[MichiganCardinal]

1 minute ago, buddha said:

for a team that supposedly values character so much - so much so that they passed on a generational defender - they sure missed on jamo.

I'm not sure if this is fair. The problems with Jamo haven't been character, they've been just talent, and probably more accurately chemistry with Goff and the greater offense. I don't think the six-to-four-to-should-have-been-two-game suspension was a character issue so much as a young player recovering from injury who didn't know the rules. It's still on him to own, but it's very different from driving recklessly in a situation which led to a teammate's death.

[Stanley70]

49 minutes ago, buddha said:

you're talking to the president of the draft jalen carter society, so i definitely understand.

i love brad holmes, but he's not infallible.  nobody is.  and not taking jalen carter is a mistake that will haunt this franchise for a long time.

and i like gibbs!  but carter is a game changer at one of the hardest positions to fill in football.  gibbs is a good third down back option.

instead we TRADED UP to take brodric martin in round 3.  a project who hasnt even seen the field yet.

The questionable part in drafting Carter wasn't year one, it was year two and year three. Like Rueben Foster. The Lions weren't the only team to pass on him. 

 

[1984Echoes]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

... instead we TRADED UP to take brodric martin in round 3.  a project who hasnt even seen the field yet.

Looking forward to the day I can turn you into a Brodric Martin convert...

😉

[Jason_R]

Carter sure looks like a fail on Holmes’s part, though the fail may have been Sheila’s. It wouldn’t surprise me if she (or her, Wood, Spielman, and Holmes together) made the decision that his baggage was not something they wanted connected to the franchise. In any case, the Lions could have used a player like him against Geno and Lamar. 

[buddha]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I'm not sure if this is fair. The problems with Jamo haven't been character, they've been just talent, and probably more accurately chemistry with Goff and the greater offense. I don't think the six-to-four-to-should-have-been-two-game suspension was a character issue so much as a young player recovering from injury who didn't know the rules. It's still on him to own, but it's very different from driving recklessly in a situation which led to a teammate's death.

there have been constant backhanded admonitions from campbell and others for two years that he needs to put in the work.  that's character.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, Stanley70 said:

The questionable part in drafting Carter wasn't year one, it was year two and year three. Like Rueben Foster. The Lions weren't the only team to pass on him. 

 

i would have drafted rueben foster too, fwiw.

[MichiganCardinal]

38 minutes ago, buddha said:

there have been constant backhanded admonitions from campbell and others for two years that he needs to put in the work.  that's character.

I guess I haven’t seen those as admonishments that go to a lack of work ethic so much as I have seen them as boiler plate coach talk. He’s been asked about Jamo as much as any other player despite the lack of playing time, he’s got to say something.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

I guess I haven’t seen those as admonishments that go to a lack of work ethic so much as I have seen them as boiler plate coach talk. He’s been asked about Jamo as much as any other player despite the lack of playing time, he’s got to say something.

he could say he's doing great, like he does with most other players.  the fact that he does not stands out.

[Jason_R]

TJ Hockenson looks like a Viking. 

[Jason_R]

They are shooting shots across Jaymo’s bow all the time. At this point he is a gadget player. But basically so is Gibbs. 

[MichiganCardinal]

Minnesota’s not dead yet.

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

Minnesota’s not dead yet.

With a favourable schedule the next 6 weeks (as do the Lions). 

[buddha]

all of the advanced stats say that purdy is not a good qb, and that he's been very lucky so far.

now in his last two games that luck seems to have run out and he's turned into the below average game manager he likely always was.  still good for a 7th round pick, but more mac jones than tom brady.

[1984Echoes]

On the Vikings:

The Lions just need to win ("just"?) their two matchups and they're good.

The Vikings are still a pretty damn good team, as they were last year. Just with different luck/ different year. They look like the 2nd best team in the division, as long as the Lions win their matchups and with a 2-game lead, we've pretty much got the division.

On playoff matchup nightmares (IE: '91 Redskins), noone scares me in the NFC except the Eagles. Not the 49'ers, not the Seahawks, not the Cowboys or anyone else... just the Eagles.

Super Bowl? Crazy thought... but if we were to actually get there, it'd be the Chiefs (at 100% or close-to-it health), the Ravens, and Miami's offense. 

[RandyMarsh]

The Lions would lose 6+ times out of 10 any of the elite teams but that still leaves them with a 30-40% chance so if they get to the playoffs then that makes them Contenders in my eyes, especially if they end up with the bye and HFA.

There have been quite a few teams that were around the Lions caliber that either won the whole thing or atleast made the SB so despite their flaws I still think they can make it.

Edited October 24, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[MichiganCardinal]

4 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

The Lions would lose 6+ times out of 10 any of the elite teams but that still leaves them with a 30-40% chance so if they get to the playoffs then that makes them Contenders in my eyes, especially if they end up with the bye and HFA.

There have been quite a few teams that were around the Lions caliber that either won the whole thing or atleast made the SB so despite their flaws I still think they can make it.

Once you’re in the playoffs it’s not about who the best team is, it’s about who can win three or four games in a row.