Until pads come on it will be difficult to gauge the Paschal vs. Davenport and Levi O. vs. Peko vs. Wingo Battles. Beat writers will just comment on who is repping with the first team.
BroMart will get plenty of reps with Reader still out and Alim will get some reps at NT in addition to 3T. Peko can play some NT as well as 3T and Big End but doesn’t offer much as a pass rusher.
I have no idea what will happen at Swing OT.
Manu will make the roster but he is obviously not ready for that position.
Skipper? Really?
The real action will be at CB and WR.
They don’t need full pads to have good competition.
How long can little Amik hold off TA for the starting CB2 position. What about Rake? Can he sneak in and steal the position?
WR3 seems to be a battle between DPJ and Green.
Are we sleeping on Tre’Quan Smith?
Let the Battles and Debate begin!
The No. 1 weakness. Would really like to see a veteran option there, but the pickings are slim:
Best Remaining Offensive Tackle Free Agents, 2024:
- Donovan Smith–30 years old
- David Bakhtiari–32 years old–injury issue–not retiring
- D.J. Humphries–30 years old–torn ACL in wk 17 of 2023
- Jason Peters–41 years old–refuses to retire
- Charles Leno–32 years old–underwent hip surgery
- Geron Christian–27 years old–25 starts
- Billy Turner–32 years old–
- Cameron Erving–31 years old
- Duane Brown–38 years old
- Riley Reiff–35 years old now–wow, time flies
- Conor McDermott–31 years old–only 17 starts
I dont see anyone on that list better than what we have.
OT
1 Sewell,
2 Decker
3 Skipper
4 Manu
5 Sorsdol
6 Galvin
7 Awosika
Best available FA according to PFF
D. Smith - KC - gets beat inside, holds a lot. Old.
C. Flemming - DEN -Old. Decent in pass pro, bad in run block
And anyone else isnt on PFF top 300 FA. O
The O-line is already pretty set:
Decker, Glasgow, Ragnow, Zetler, Penei
Manu, Sorsdal, Mahogany, Skipper, maybe Awosika (if they keep 10)
I think Sorsdal will be cross trained as an emergency OT.
Holmes could keep Galvin instead of Awosika if 10 OL are rostered.
Still a little scary any way you look at it if Decker or Sewell are lost for any length of time.
I really dont see many areas near the top of the depth chart to be concerned about at all.
QB - Goff, Hooker Sudfield. SOLID
RB - Gibbs, Month, Reynolds, Vaki, Knight, Jefferson, Funk. SOLID.
WR - St brown, Jamo, DPJ, Raymond, Smith, Williams, Kennedy, Alexander etc SOLID
TE - Laporta, Wright, Mitchell, Zylstra, Heese, McKeon, ELITE.
C - Rags, Eguakun, Neise, Hudson, Clemens, Farnoik. Solid.
G- Zeitler, Glasgaw, Sorsdal, Mahogany, Manu, Awosika, Muti, Neise, Farnoik, Hudson, Clemens. Solid.
T - Sewell, Decker, Skipper, Manu, Sorsdol, Galvin, Awosika. Good enough.
DT - Reader, McNeil, Wingo, Martin, Levi, Peko, Smith. SOLID.
DE - Hutch, Davenport, Paschal, Comish, Houston, Betts, agude, Uwku, Lynn. SOLID.
LB - AA, Barns, Campbell, Rodrego, JRM, Chambers, Gilbert. Solid
NB - Branch, Robertson, Rakestraw, Norris, SOLID.
CB - Davis, Robertson, Arnold, Moseley, Rakestraw, Dorsey, Gilmore, Vildor, James. SOLID.
Sa - Kerby, Iffy, Moore, Branch, Rakestraw, Brandon, Strickland, Garnes. good enough.
ST - Fox. Daly, Badgley, Turner, Hatten.
Good enough.
I would say its
1 OT Depth
2 Starting Kicking
3 SA Depth
4 WR Depth
5 Better DE starters.
Thats it. And even still, out side of kicking, i think the other 4 are the best groups weve had in decades
Based on this article.
- WR3? It doesn’t matter.
Raymond and DPJ will be used situationally.
DPJ, Longer downs and redzone
Raymond, fun speed plays.
The real battle is WR5+
Green, T. Smith, I. Williams. who’s making the roster.
OT.
I dont think its much of a battle as it is progression.
Skipper, Manu, Sorsdol.
They are all making the roster. And Skipper will be OT3. The hope is manu and Sorsdol develop this season to then become OT3 or even OT2.
DE2?
Personally looking at what Davenport can do when he has a halfway decent team around him, he can be GREAT!
Right now hes DE2. Comish had 1 goof season, paschal hasn’t developed, Houston is a pass rush specialist not a 3 down end. Betts is a project.
It will be interesting to see who can develop into that DE2. But my money right now is Davenport.
DT3?
I feel like the lions have NEVER had a decent DT3.
Wingo and BroMart are unproven.
Can’t count on Levi.
Hopefully the 2 young guns can develop.
But as for true battles?
The entire DB field is wide open.
Davis and Branch and Kerby will be starting.
But what about the other 2 positions, what about the depth? Its a solid group, but where do the pieces fit
I think this is a battle for the 3T2.
We are all set at NT with Reader, McNeill, and BroMart.
The question is the backup 3Tech behind McNeill.
Hopefully it is Levi O. and Wingo (Paschal and Commish are also capable of playing some.
If Levi isn’t ready to make that next step and Wingo is still too raw, Williams may recommend a solid vet in his former player Peko.
I think 4 of the 5 DB positions are set.
Iffy and Kerby at Safety.
Branch at Slot CB.
C. Davis at CB1.
Now that Branch is out until summer camp, I think that helps T. Arnold win the CB2 job.
Amik and Rake are going to be getting a lot of reps at slot opening up the CB2 reps for TA. He may have the job on lock before camp even begins.
I think SS and CB2 and NB are all WIDE open.
Coach has talked about having branch play more all over the backfield.
Would i prefer he stay at NB absolutely. But what if he does develop onto a good SS?
CB2 - Robertson, Arnold, Moseley, Rakestraw.
NB - Branch, Rakestraw, Robertson
SS - Iffy, Branch, Moore, Rakestraw, Robertson.
They love moving those pieces around to provide different looks for the offense to figure out as well as to have more depth if/ when injuries happen.
DB’s will be well cross trained as they are the smallest players on the field and the most susceptible to injury.
But I believe having Branch play all over the backfield is not as a primary role, but a way to keep him on the field in most every sub-package.
Last season Branch was out of the lineup when there was no Nickel in the personnel package.
Also there is limited Safety depth. So Branch needs to be able to play Safety if either Iffy or Kerby is injured.
Finally there is succession planning.
Iffy is in the last year of his contract. If he is not brought back, Branch could be moved to Safety and a number of players could take over at slot.
Most everyone will be cross trained to some degree for flexibility and disguise, as well as injury insurance. Unless there is some severe change in performance up or down, I feel the primary starting positions are set outside of CB2.
Absolutely. I think your 100% correct that that iffy and branch will start at ss and NB respectively. BUT who knows if some one shines in off season at another position
So I would say 100% locked but 90%+.
But CB2 or should a say the CB opposite davis is 100% wide open.
Lions may have to wait until post-June 1 cuts or cuts after preseason to improve the depth at the backup OT position.
Skipper and Manu don’t inspire a lot of confidence.
You have zero fashion consciousness, bro. I guarantee they’re both surrounded by chicks at all times.
No they dont. However, do you really see the lions going out and paying a OT $5-7M to be the emergency backup? And will that player really be any better than Skipper who’s getting paid $1m? And OT on the market WILL demand that much because they could go be a starter on a struggling team.
Just pray both Deck & Sewell stay healthy all season.
Decker averages 2.4 missed games a season. As much as i would love that. Just cant rely on that.