Biggest need for 2023?

I would think if we don’t resign Williams, or another of the many available upcoming FA RBs, maybe use vikes 2nd round pick on one. There are a couple good ones that would fall in the draft, and we have other bigger needs for earlier picks IMO.

I wholeheartedly agree with the “plan ahead” theory. It was the same rationale that I had for drafting Aaron Donald. The Lions had Suh, Fairley, and CJ Mosley all scheduled to be unrestricted free agents the following year. I also thought drafting Donald might give the Lions more leverage in negotiating with Suh because the cupboard wouldn’t have been completely bare.

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I don’t know. I heard that talked about as a plan on the inside. I’d think so. We know he can tackle and blitz a bit and he seems more quick than fast.

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Dominating DT, shutdown corner, LB, OG, developmental QB.
RB wouldn’t hurt either.

CB & Saftey are must in this draft.

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Dont overlook an actual quality backup QB who can come in and keep the season on track if Goff goes down for some time.

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How did AO fall off so badly after last season? It’s almost like a player getting the yips. He just can cover anything.

Secondary definitely a huge necessity for this team going into 2023.

I would personally rank them as follows:

1)DT
2) Cb
3)LB
4) DE
5) real backup QB
6) OL depth pick
7) RB

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Our CB group is definitely the weakest group on the team, but I still would prefer we get a dominant DT. I just think it does a lot more for this defense.

At CB we need two starting capable players. Jacobs is playing well, but in no way am I handing him a starting role in 2023. Let him earn it. I would also bring back Will Harris as depth at both outside CB and nickel.

Sign a starting caliber CB in FA and add another high in the draft. Go into 2023 with Okudah, Jacobs, High draft Pick, starting caliber FA, Will Harris, and maybe Chase Lucas.

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I really don’t see a need. We’ve been fine and extremely productive with Wright and Zylstra. They aren’t sexy, but they do what we need them to do.

Well, right now Houston’s looking good. As is Comisky. Throw in two Okwaras and maybe Harris, and I’m okay with what we’ve got there.

I don’t like drafting RBs high though. Shelf life is too short, and a decent RB behind a good O-line is good enough for me. I like Williams, and Swift has been better lately- we’ll see how he finishes the year out. Justin Jackson has been a pleasant addition too. But we do need to resign Williams, and if we aren’t going to move forward w/ Swift, I agree it becomes more of a need.

I’m fine with Vaitai, Brown, or Kramer there. We’re playing our… what… 6th RG this year and Goff didn’t get sacked last game. That’s impressive. I’m perfectly fine with drafting more trench players- don’t get me wrong- but RG should be 3rd-4th round or later.

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I imagine it depends a lot on how the Ram’s pick ends up playing out and who is available, but 1A DT and 1B CB makes a lot of sense to me. As does LB as the next pick. After that? I’m not sure. OL, QB, RB I think. I’m okay w/ the DE, and not super worried about QB, though a developmental long-term pick could make sense.

I have been talked into Carter, actually not true his play on the field did it, but in no way have I been talked into the Clemson d-lineman. Their own fans think they’re overrated. Go read a Clemson board. If Carter is off the table, go corner.

I would say our biggest need is a slot defender who is versatile enough to line up all over the field. A slot safety. I also feel like we could desperately use a RG to complete this OLine. You are only as good as the weakest link and upgraded there would be a definite difference maker on the ground.

I would love to add some depth to the OL, but Evan Brown has been a reliable player when healthy this year. I think this staff also likes Tommy Kraemar a lot as well. Hopefully Big V’s health is also trending in the right direction as I believe he would be open to a pay cut to return. I personally think we have potential starting options already on the roster at RG.

What we could really use is an unexpected victory by the Bears. They’re a team that probably won’t take a QB and will likely grab Carter (I hope they take Anderson instead, but all of the mocks have them taking Carter).

Surprised no one seems to think Safety is a need. I am not sure Walker is ready at season start plus he and Joseph are both better at FS than SS. I really think we can improve dramatically with a really good SS. I think needs are DT (1), CB (2), SS (3), LB (4), RG (depth) - this is assuming we resign most of our own. The only UFA we have I would NOT try to resign is AO and Bryant. I would cut Brockers and seriously consider cutting Charles Harris (I think we have much better options on the team) and would try to rework Big V’s contract.

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I’m really interested to see what they do with our RB position this off season. Starting next season we should see this team making annual playoff runs, and having a competent Running Back room is going to be critical to that.

We currently have Swift and Williams as our main features at RB. Anything past them is simply spot duty guys that I do not want to see as our main RBs.

Swift is currently signed through the 2023 season, so he’s on the roster next year unless we cut him, which doesn’t seem likely. But do we really want to go into our window of opportunity with Swift as our feature back. Just his injury history alone worries me. Will he be available to help move this team forward or will he be on the sideline nursing an injury? And in my opinion, something about Swift’s attitude seems off to me right now. I’m not sure he’s happy with his current role and seems to be carrying some resentment about something. His on the field performance has taken a hit since he came back from injury as well. He doesn’t seem to be the explosive threat that he was when the season started. Is that due to a carry over from the injuries, or is it due to some chip on his shoulder that he’s carrying around. Either way, I don’t feel we can rely on Swift being on this team past 2023.

Next up is Williams, a pending UFA after this season. I love having Williams on this team and hope we resign him, but even if we do, do we really envision Williams as carrying the load at RB for us throughout a whole season? Can he be our feature running back as we enter our window of opportunity. He’s a great rotational back IMO, but I do not want him to be our feature back.

Bottom line for me is that we have to take our running back position more serious than some are talking about on here. It’s critical to our offense that we have 2 high quality RBs to keep our running game where it needs to be to make our offense work.

DB and DL…duh, that’s easy to identify. I hope we take our RB position seriously as well.

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100%

I think by stating that it is a need, people assume we are advocating for taking one high. I’m not saying we need to commit one of our top 3 picks to RB, but you probably should be thinking about it somewhere near the 3rd round anyway.

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What are your thoughts on Elliot? He’s been good, from what I’ve seen. I agree that depth is a little lacking, though. DB depth (CB/NB/SS) is always good to have anyway. I feel like you can always find a 300 lb NT to plug into the line without too much issue, but drop a FA DB into the lineup mid season, and bad things can happen.

Most assume Elliot is back. Jospeh and Elliot are a reliable tandem and then we have Walker coming back off injury. Melifonwu adds a talented chess piece to the group as well. I would see us adding a mid rounder to the group, but I doubt much more assuming we re-sign Elliot.

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