I’m not saying Manu is the answer. Lots of struggles in pass pro. But for example Skipper started vs the Texans on the road last year. You know the 5 interception game that we somehow won. The guy Skipper was blocking hit Goff 6 different times, 2 directly leading to INTs.
After Decker it aint pretty for us. Whether it’s Manu or Skipper but we gotta get them a ton of help scheme wise. Can’t be having Goff take so many hits. Look at Cinci and Ravens without their franchise qb. We don’t wanna see that
The issue some fans have is the same as some GMs, quick to crown and quick to discard.
It wasn’t great. But it could’ve been a lot worse his 1st start as a rookie Yes he’s a rookie last year was a red shit year . We drafted him with our 2025 3rd round pick. and he’s up against DPoY candidate Trey
I respect the heck out of Skipper. Cause he is a fighter and keeps coming back. But he is a 31 year old journeyman. He’s been cut 15 times and no one wants him. He might be slightly better than Manu right now cause of experience. We will see. But this idea that Skipper steps in and Goff is no longer gonna get hit is hilarious
100% my point in saying if you are going to scheme up help for skipper just play Manu.. he very possibly surpasses him with the reps before the bye and let Decker rest. Decker comes back and we now have a potentially serviceable backup and jumbo TE for the stretch run.
Its possible that Goff gets hurt which would be devastating but I am not sure that likelihood is really much greater with Manu over Skip.
I’ve been posting for 2 years that OT depth is the weakest position on the entire team. Never been a huge fan of Skipper but he has been dependable in a pinch.
And Dan loves Skipper.
Skipper repped in front of Manu all summer until getting hurt towards the end of camp and again in the first week of the regular season.
If Skipper is healthy, I expect him to start in front of Manu.
A bad game is one thing. Rat, Glasgow, and Mahogany had a bad first game but Dan never mentioned any other options.
Manu was barely off the field and he was mentioning other options for next week.
Skipper is probably the better option mentally. As far as processing info and getting audibles. That is very important. He just gets beat physically haha
So if skipper is a 6 and Manu is a 4 in your example, you are telling me that if the Lions felt like Manu will become a 7 (as a reserve tackle) if he gets the reps for the next two games leading into the bye that they wouldn’t and shouldn’t play him?
I personally don’t see skipper as much of a step up from what I saw from Manu and am more interested in seeing if he can develop if we are going to have to scheme help to our LT anyway.
It also isnt a guarantee that they cant have Skipper and Cochran active in the event that Manu struggles more than he did against Hendrickson. In fact I would pretty much expect it and the game plan wouldn’t change because of it.
Hopefully Decker comes back this week and we won’t have to debate about who is the suckiest LT on the team anymore.
Also, I hope that our brain trust realize that we are one Decker injury away from being fuked at one of the most important positions…and they do something to fix it.
If they’re both about a 4 (say Skip getting beat more often, Manu missing more assignments, but generally a wash) then it does make sense to play Manu given the short-term potential to be more than a 4 sooner than Skip.
I went back and watched every play Manu made this week and I can honestly say he had more downs than ups.
With that said I was a bit surprised that the Lions didn’t give him more support. There was no scheme adjustments to help the kid. I feel like they wanted a full film evaluation of him.
With that said there were too many mental mistake. Honestly, for a guy making his first career start at LT, Manu held his own better than I would have expected (for a guy who got zero scheme help). The run blocking wasn’t bad…..he moved people a bit and played with good effort. The Lions still ran for over 100 yards, and he was part of that.
That said, the pass pro had some honest rookie moments. He got beat badly by Hendrickson early for the strip sack and gave up another one later to Ossai. You could see his footwork and timing still need work against true NFL speed rushers. Not to mention pad level…. When he had help (rarely) or on play action, he looked fine, but in pure dropbacks, he got shaky.
All in all, I’d call it a C- or C type debut . Not a disaster by any means…. just a young player learning on the job. He’s got the tools and fought hard all game. If Decker’s out again, I wouldn’t panic, but he clearly needs a little polish before he’s ready for full-time duty. A little scheme help wouldn’t be a bad thing.
I say give him the start again this week and see how he does…. He’s got work to do but I think he could develop into a starter with time. But…. I doubt that happens by next season…. So if Decker retires this year I think LT becomes our top priority.
That is exactly what Risdon says in his article, and he goes through it really thoroughly. Justin Rogers article about it is even more thorough, but of course behind a pay wall. The consensus is more bad than good, but enough good to be excited.
Great post Air. Take emotions out of it and that is a great breakdown. There are some good reps there and also a lot of bad ones. Mostly pass pro.
A second start vs anyone not named Trey and he may look a bit better. Left tackle is a brutal position to play. If a corner ■■■■■ up it’s a TD. If a left tackle ■■■■■ up the qb might be in the hospital. If a DT ■■■■■ up it’s an 8 yard rush.
His future may actually be at guard. He can run block. But facing the other teams best edge rusher every week not sure that’s gonna work out. But we could turn him into a decent guard. @Thats2 has mentioned that a few times.
The thing is, he clearly moves like a tackle. He looked almost lithe out there. Worst case we can try him at guard, but I definitely think he’s got the athleticism to be a tackle.
I think the biggest question with him is the mentality side of things. Can he get over mistakes? Can he learn from them? Can he apply what he learns from experience? Will he calm down as the game slows down for him? It’s all gonna come down to the mental side of things, because physically, he’s got everything you could want.