How many "starters" do we need?

The War Room Detroit Lions — The Den
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On offense we need 1. There isn’t a legit right guard under contract.

There aren’t even any developmental players that could realistically slide in there and start at either position.

Defense YIKES

I like Amani but is he hands down a starter? I don’t know. I don’t think Tavai can play passing downs or consistently drop into coverage but he’s good the 1st 2 downs. I don’t think Will Harris is a starting caliber safety but he was a 3rd round pick so maybe he gets his shot.

Say we needed to stop a game winning drive where the opponent needed to throw to win the game, how many players are currently under contract do you trust on the field for that drive.

Hand if healthy, Flowers, Slay, Walker, Kennard, maaaybe Jarrod Davis and Tavai?

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IMO, this entire defense needs to be built from the ground up. That’s why I’ve repeatedly referred to this as a rebuild despite the presence of Stafford and an okay offense (the run game was garbage when Stafford was playing and you can’t have a great offense without a running game IMO). Trading Tate, trading Diggs, cutting Snacks, possibly trading Slay, this is what rebuilding teams do, not teams that are in win-now mode.

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I’ll play. I’ll go position by position with my opinions.

TL/DR

RB (1), OG (1), OT (1), DE (1), DT (2), CB (2), P (1), LS (1). Considered LB (1) and SS (1).

RB: The Lions need a starting RB. I love Kerryon Johnson but he’s proved that he can’t be the bell cow. The Lions would improve significantly on the ground if KJ was the #2 in my opinion.

OG: The Lions need a starting guard after losing Glasgow (he’s gone). They do have Garnett and Benzschawel, but I’m not sure if either could be considered a quality starter. Is Wiggins coming back? If so, maybe they have a starting caliber guard there somewhere?

OT: On paper, the Lions have Rick Wagner. The top RT free agent in his class signed to a record deal at the time of his signing. He dominated in Baltimore. Once he put on a Lions uniform he seems to have forgotten how to pass block consistently and dominate in the run game. If Quinn is admitting mistakes with snacks and Diggs, why is he not doing so here?

DE: I like Okwara, but I like him a lot more coming off the bench. I like Kennard as well, but would prefer a #1 DE playing opposite Flowers. Because of that, I’m going to say the Lions need another starting caliber DE.

DT: The Lions might need 2 starting DT’s + backups. Snacks is gone. Daniels was a non-factor that might be out of gas. Robinson will be a FA and I suspect he won’t be back. So, I’m going to say they could use 2 starters at DT.

CB: We know they need at least 1 starter opposite Slay and with Slay looking like he’s on his way out we can safely bump that number up to 2. Coleman is our starter in the slot.

P: Punters are people too, and Martin is on his way out. Add it to the list.

I considered stating we need a starter at MLB, OLB, and SS as well. I think the Lions like Davis and Jones though at the LB spots. I think they like Will Harris enough to give him a crack at it though.

So, I’ve got the Lions needing 9 quality starters right now.

Oh…and there’s Muhlbach as well if we want to count long snapper. Shall we call it 10?

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DT 2 plus a strong 4th,DE CB2,FS and we could upgrade any of the LB spots.

OG, RB1/2

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Offense: If Glasgow leaves, they need one starter there. This offense wasn’t half bad with Stafford in there and he didn’t have Scarborough to bust things between the tackles. As far as backups go, I ain’t happy with the backup QB situation; I think they should bring in a better QB2. Adding another RB to the RBBC mix would be fine, but IMHO somewhat down on the priority list. Sign an FA RB and focus on defense. Are they going to keep Wiggins? They need a backup IOL if he’s gone.

Defense: Here’s where the problems are. Harrison is gone, and maybe A’Shawn and Daniels are too, so the cupboard is kinda bare at DT. None of the three played particularly well in 2019, so the Lions probably need 2 new DT starters. I think they need at least 1 new starter at CB to replace Melvin, and maybe another one if Slay leaves. Maybe Oruwariye steps up to become a starting CB, but does he need one more year to develop more? Same with Will Harris, he got some PT this year and took his lumps but how much better can he be in 2020 and beyond? I think they need to keep Tavon Wilson one more year or sign a better FA Safety. Wouldn’t hurt to upgrade at LB too, they gotta have somebody that can cover TEs and RBs out of the backfield. In short, there’s quite a few places where the Lions could use an upgrade on Defense.

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Starters
RB1, FB, RG, RDT, LDE, CB2

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I’m with you on developing a RBBC, though I would like to see them get 2 new RBs and send Scarborough back to the grocery store where he belongs.

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Are we assuming Slay stays, because that doesn’t seem very likely at this point in time.

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Hard to really listen to your point a view when your thinking this way. 4.2 yards per carry 377 yards total. In 6 games I would say that is good for picking him up from grocery store. This opinion sounds like a fan who doesn’t like Alabama. Try extending those numbers out over 16 games? I would take them an considering we used backup QBs for 6 games.

You can dislike him but he did ok for Lions an tell me who is better at his cost to likely be #3 on depth chart this coming season .

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I would take anyone more talented and there’s plenty of talent out there. There’s a reason Scarborough was unemployed. Lions fans tend to greatly overvalue their players and this is no exception. Scarborough did nothing to impress me. Nothing at all.

He couldn’t cut it with Dallas, he couldn’t cut it with Jacksonville, he couldn’t cut it with Seattle, but suddenly he’s worth something in Detroit? He is the definition of fool’s gold. BS is a dime a dozen running back and the lions can do better. If he’s not cut before the 2020 season I will know BQ didn’t do enough to address the RB position. I want dynamic players, not JAGs.

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RB, G, 2 DTs, DE, LB, CB1 & CB2, S, P

I know WH is supposed to be a S of the future, but he looked like crap to me. Hopefully he improves. Tavai looks like nothing more than a mediocre MLB. Davis is garbage. This whole defense lacks playmakers, that’s the major problem, not that they lack all these starters.

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RB Jordan Howard in FA and Evans or Vaughn in the 5th.
OL Tyre Phillips with the 2nd pick in the 5th. Did you forget about Crosby?
DE Hand is your starter opposite Flowers. Did we cut Bryant?
DT Blacklock in the 2nd, Reader in FA and try and re-sign Robinson on the cheap.
CB Re-sign Slay or simply keep him w/o an extension, Okudah in the 1st.
WR Claypool in the 4th
OLB Cam Brown in the 6th.
SS Re-sign Wilson and work Harris into the game.

Not a lot of money in FA spent even if we sign Slay to an extension.

Re-sign Mule, let Martin walk.

This gets better if we get Young OR get a trade down, but I would put this team on the field tomorrow and not feel bad.

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Nice.

I just don’t know enough about Crosby to pencil him in as a starter.

Bryant is essentially a rookie after missing nearly his entire 1st season with injury. Hand is always injured. I want to believe one of them would be a quality starter, but they just haven’t proved enough for me to consider them one.

Yeah, no doubt this list will look significantly different after FA and we have some answers about Slay. Should be interesting.

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I’m really not sure what’s giving you guys so much confidence that Slay is going to be here in 2020 when all the signs seem to point to him getting traded.

I all but guarantee that if you do not extend him or trade him, he will sit the season out, and that’s exactly what I would do if I were him. Why would he waste future security on possibly getting injured playing for this dumpster fire of an organization? Slay is not dumb. He will sit.

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He would kiss 12 mil away an get a year older ? an Lions can still tag him next year. You say he is not stupid well siting out would be stupid.

I am not saying he will be back but if Lions don’t get what they want he will be back. He is signed an can be tagged next season. There is no reason Lions need to give him away.

$13,368,750 is his Cap hit an he will sit out? ( I doubt ) He is 29 years old. Next January he will be 30 years old. Most not all but most CB hit the wall around 30 years old. I am guessing he has likely 3 good years left to make likely average 14 million per year if he stays healthy an doesn’t hit wall.

So you think he is not stupid an would sit out an kiss a playing year away along with 12 million? And even if he did sit out Lions could if they want tag him an he could sign or sit another year.

I think your wrong about he would sit out Cus he is not stupid…

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After reading this I will in future avoid responding. I know after year when its waste of time.

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Everyone who has sat in the past has kissed millions goodbye, it’s worked for some and not for others.

I think you underestimate Slay’s willingness to bet on himself. He wants a long-term deal, not $12M.

Tagging Slay a year after he sits sounds like something dumb enough for the lions to do.

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Move along if you’re so sensitive.

But if you can find it in yourself to actually respond to me, please enlighten us about all the playmakers this D has, or what a fantastic season Tavai and WH, or how Davis has just lit it up over his career. I’ll be waiting to hear that one. lol

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I’d rather they trade Slay than keep him and tag him.

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What do you know, a poster who gets it!