Sure. Too early to say whether it will be enough. I see us picking between 7-11. I think that barring injury Thibedoux goes top 3. Assuming the Rams are a playoff team that could mean as much as both firsts and a second. If so that’s too rich for my blood.
3-4 years seems about right to completely overhaul our front 7.
I’m expecting Brockers, Collins, and Flowers to all be gone by 2023. So I figure we need 1 DT, 1 Edge and 2 LBers bare minimum to properly overhaul the unit. That’s not including depth.
Our front 7 is slow by NFL standards and we need an infusion of both talent and speed.
I get that Capers liked to blitz as a coach but he’s not calling the plays and the last couple of teams he’s been on have been middle-of-the-pack at blitz %…but you need CB’s that can cover to blitz and hopefully we finally have that.
Our two new DTs are fast/athletic relative to the standard at their position. As is Julian if he pans out. Barnes is fast for a MIKE. If those two pan out we need one more twitchy edge and a couple speedy off ball LBers. I’m struggling to see how it takes us 3-4 years when we’ll likely have 20ish draft picks and ample salary cap space over the next two years.
I don’t like to speak for others… but I know I still myself in shock that the Lions have extra premium draft picks over the next 2 years… and a promising cap situation.
If you use those picks over the next two years that would be year 3 of an overhaul.
Do you believe that front 7 overhaul will be done in 2 years or less? …… that would mean the overhaul would be complete by the end of the next years draft…. I would say that is extremely optimistic.
Also your counting on every pick we have made this year and last as being the answer. There’s always a few hits and misses. Not to mention injuries. McNeill and Okwara were a 3rd pick. Most 3rd rounders don’t start. (At least right away) Most are backups. Barnes was 4th. Most 4th rounders are out of the league in 4 years or are career back-ups. To expect guys like that to be the long term answer is also extremely optimistic. I like who we drafted but I realize that some will stick and some will not.
Your also failing to recognize that Collins, Brockers, Hand, Flowers and more will likely be gone over the next couple years. You have to replace that talent too.
It will easily take 3-4 years to overhaul that front 7.
I suspect S, DL, WR and LB will be our top priorities next offseason.
In this day and age, you’re constantly turning over your roster to fit the cap and team needs. The NFL is designed so you can’t fill every position and/or position group.
As soon as you have a good group, you have to let guys walk or you’re drafting to fill other groups.
To think we need to replace EVERY guy in that front 7 group is not real…but maybe in 4 years you will replace at least half anyways…probably more than half, now that I think about it more.
Our d-line “speed” is good and our LB’s are just a hair below avg imo.