Detroit Lions Offseason Thread 2023

[RedRamage]

1 hour ago, MichiganCardinal said:

 

Wow... that is surprising! I know there was going to be a competition in training camp, but I honestly expected Badgley to win it.

[Shinzaki]

That is a surprise...

A little concerned we haven't added a decent back up QB yet

[gehringer_2]

8 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

That is a surprise...

A little concerned we haven't added a decent back up QB yet

Has this Lions mgt ever had a backup QB before the last minute?

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I think the Mims trade is just ok since we are getting a pick back in the deal and likely didn't surrender a a pick higher than a 5th or 6th. I'd be quite upset if we somehow gave a 4th round pick or higher back. Once Jamo is back I expect nothing from Mims other than to be our 4th guy in the rotation behind both Jamo and Jones.

I'm not seeing that Mims has any punt return experience, which surprises me a little given his straight line speed.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

So is the kicking job just going to be given to Riley Patterson during camp or are the Lions expecting some level of competition between him and John Parker Romo?

[MichiganCardinal]

RE backup QB, I think they want to see what Sudfeld brings to the table before spending any sort of big money on a backup. If the timeline is roughly as expected, that Hooker could compete for QB2 by mid-season, then you’d be paying Bridgewater or whoever a lot of money to hold a clipboard for half the season, and have that task not even be a need for the other half of the season… Sudfeld knows Ben Johnson and the playbook better than anyone but Goff by now, so you might as well see if he can at least be competent in the role during camp and the preseason. He’ll probably play nearly entire games in the preseason.

RE kicker, that surprised me too, but if I had to guess there was a lot of internal debate regarding the Badgley vs. Patterson decision last year, and they reflected on the last year in total and decided that there was no decision to be made this go around. I think it’s Patterson’s job.

[CMRivdogs]

Robbie Gould is available. 

[RandyMarsh]

I'd love to get Robbie Gould, I know the Lions are an aggressive team that likes to go for 4th downs instead of kicks more than most so in theory a kicker shouldn't be as important to them as other teams but still I would feel alot better about the team if I knew we had a reliable guy there and they don't get much more reliable than Gould particularly in the postseason where I believe he has yet to miss a kick in his entire career. 

 

[MichiganCardinal]

I just want a guy who they can semi-confidently trot out for a 50-yard attempt on a 4th and long.

[Sports_Freak]

On 7/20/2023 at 8:56 PM, RandyMarsh said:

I'd love to get Robbie Gould, I know the Lions are an aggressive team that likes to go for 4th downs instead of kicks more than most so in theory a kicker shouldn't be as important to them as other teams but still I would feel alot better about the team if I knew we had a reliable guy there and they don't get much more reliable than Gould particularly in the postseason where I believe he has yet to miss a kick in his entire career. 

 

But the reason the Lions went for it so many times on 4th down was because our kicking game was so inconsistent. 

[RandyMarsh]

21 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

But the reason the Lions went for it so many times on 4th down was because our kicking game was so inconsistent. 

That may have had something to do with it but I think in general Campbell and the LIons are more analytic based and the analytics usually side with going for it on 4th down and short inside the 40 regardless of who your kicker is.

[MichiganCardinal]

42 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

That may have had something to do with it but I think in general Campbell and the LIons are more analytic based and the analytics usually side with going for it on 4th down and short inside the 40 regardless of who your kicker is.

I also think a piece of it is that so many football games are decided by one score or fewer that when you are the “worse” team (or the team that “should” lose the game) you need to steal a possession or two. And one way to do that is being aggressive on 4th down.

I wouldn’t be surprised as this season progresses and we play teams that we are better than and should beat, if we play a little bit more conservatively than in years past. When you’re the “better” team coming in, your priority is taking care of the football, not making stupid mistakes, and taking the points that are given to you. That doesn’t mean you’re punting on 4/1 from the opposing 35, still trust your offense. But if you have more talent and do those things, you’ll win the game across four quarters much more often than not.

[buddha]

6 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

But the reason the Lions went for it so many times on 4th down was because our kicking game was so inconsistent. 

the defense was terrible.  that's a big reason why they went for it so much.  they had to score a ton of points to win.

as the defense improved, i think they slowed down on the 4th down conversion attempts (but still did a lot of them).

[RandyMarsh]

I know it's easy to armchair QB these things but honestly I think teams should intend on using 4 downs all the time once they get to midfield.  Yeah you may get burned once in awhile but in the grand scheme of things I believe it will pay off in the end. I think there is a reason teams score so often when they trail and in obvious 4 down situations and it's not just cause the defense is relaxed, it's because they know they are going to use 4 downs and call plays accordingly.

For instance in normal circumstances if it's 3rd and say 6 the defense knows that you are almost assuredly going to pass the ball but if you plan on using 4 downs that opens up delayed draws or other runs that can take advantage of the defense. 

[Sports_Freak]

8 minutes ago, buddha said:

the defense was terrible.  that's a big reason why they went for it so much.  they had to score a ton of points to win.

as the defense improved, i think they slowed down on the 4th down conversion attempts (but still did a lot of them).

Plus Campbell never had much to lose. Well see how often he goes for it now that he's help build a possible contender.

I remember a game against Minnesota when he went for a long FG, missed and gave them great field position. And with our weak defense, they drove for the winning score 

[RandyMarsh]

2 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

Plus Campbell never had much to lose. Well see how often he goes for it now that he's help build a possible contender.

I remember a game against Minnesota when he went for a long FG, missed and gave them great field position. And with our weak defense, they drove for the winning score 

That was arguably the dumbest move he has made as a coach and to his credit he atleast owned up to it afterwards. Even if we had Jason Hanson back there it just didn't make sense to try that long of FG since even if we hit we'd still only be up 6. You were much better off either going for it or punting away. 

[Sports_Freak]

9 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

That was arguably the dumbest move he has made as a coach and to his credit he atleast owned up to it afterwards. Even if we had Jason Hanson back there it just didn't make sense to try that long of FG since even if we hit we'd still only be up 6. You were much better off either going for it or punting away. 

Going for it to run out the clock. Giving the ball up was a sure loss with that defense. I think that was the season we only won 3 or 4 games. Many of those years all blend together.

[gehringer_2]

1 hour ago, RandyMarsh said:

I know it's easy to armchair QB these things but honestly I think teams should intend on using 4 downs all the time once they get to midfield.  Yeah you may get burned once in awhile but in the grand scheme of things I believe it will pay off in the end. I think there is a reason teams score so often when they trail and in obvious 4 down situations and it's not just cause the defense is relaxed, it's because they know they are going to use 4 downs and call plays accordingly.

For instance in normal circumstances if it's 3rd and say 6 the defense knows that you are almost assuredly going to pass the ball but if you plan on using 4 downs that opens up delayed draws or other runs that can take advantage of the defense. 

This depends a LOT on your running game. If you have Sewell and a power runner, you should get to where a yard is automatic.

Edited July 23, 2023 by gehringer_2

[MichiganCardinal]

 

[digitalpigsmuggler]

Laporta disappeared during camp. None of the beat writers seen him get injured. But none of them also saw him walk off. He was out there for the first hour. Could have just been rest or he had to be somewhere.

[digitalpigsmuggler]

Zylstra waived after knee injury.

Beat writters reported that Jameson William is having drop problems. He also got into a fight which is no big deal.

[MichiganCardinal]

7 minutes ago, digitalpigsmuggler said:

Laporta disappeared during camp. None of the beat writers seen him get injured. But none of them also saw him walk off. He was out there for the first hour. Could have just been rest or he had to be somewhere.

Could be an interesting attribute when running routes if Goff can still see him

[Shinzaki]

Jaymo seems a little high strung...hopefully he isn't Titus Young/Antoni Brown levels of high strung

[RedRamage]

3 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

Jaymo seems a little high strung...hopefully he isn't Titus Young/Antoni Brown levels of high strung

Yeah, I'm just not sure on him. Part of me wants to just dismiss it as a young kid doing young kid stupid stuff... that he'll grow out of it and mature. But part of me is also worried that these are Red Flags. I think it would be pretty easy to support either opinion on what relatively minimum evidence we have. Only time will tell for sure I guess.

 

[MichiganCardinal]

Rod Wood just announced on 97.1 that for the first time in Lions history, they are sold out of season tickets.