I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.
You bring in a brand new QB and restructure his contract so he’s the starting QB for at least the next two years. Meanwhile, you have potentially the worst WR corps in the league.
Aren’t they almost cornered into picking a receiver for him at #7 with the wealth of talent at that position that will be available in that spot this year? Don’t they need to get a guy that Goff can get a connection with and rely on as his #1 guy?
No, I don’t think so. I think we can add a WR in round 2 or 3 that can help right away. If we were making the best pick for Goff than I’d say take Sewell or Slater at 7. Let’s not forget Swift and Hock will be the focal point and a QB’s best friend is a good run game.
The reality is that drafting a WR at #7 doesn’t mean that that guy isn’t going to have an NFL learning curve. There IS a “wealth of talent” at that position this year, so the urgency simply doesn’t exist for me. On the flip side if we don’t get an off to move out of #7, a WR is likely to be the BPA and you shouldn’t ignore that.
It is the direction I personally think they should go, but the short answer is no. With the way things stand right now, Goff has enough to work with. Plus we still have the draft and more moves To make in free agency with almost 25mil in cap space.
Currently he has a solid O-line. Decker and Ragnow are both very good players and Jackson showed a lot of promise last year. That is a great start. Crosby was pretty average last year, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If him and Vaitai are our opening day starters on the right side we would still have a solid Oline because of what is on the other side.
Swift showed a ton of promise as a rookie and I love Williams as his 1B. I think with the Oline and two really good run blocking TEs we will have a good ground game to lean on.
Then you have a Pro Bowl TE who is really starting to come into his own. On top of that you have a very solid #2 in Tyrell Williams and a guy who played excellent to close out 2019 in Tampa and still played solid with Darnold at QB. I think Perriman is a very good third option at WR. Behind him we have Cephus who was solid Raymond and Ratley who offer a lot of speed. Obviously a #1 is lacking, but Hockenson can be that guy like Kittle has been for San Fran. It is not ideal but there is enough around Goff to have success.
Obviously we will be adding to the WR room in this draft just don’t know when. I think as it stands today though there are no excuses for Goff on offense.
And Javonte
I was glad to hear MCD mentioning both Ratley and especially Raymond as part of the receiver equation. I know Raymond is slotted as the return man, but he made some impressive plays on offense for the Titans last year.
I don’t think Raymond will amount to anything special here, but fills the old Marvin Hall/Jamal Agnew role very well in one player. Ratley is just an upside flier to me. He has got the physical tools, but he is just as likely to not make the roster than to make it.
Williams, Perriman, Cephus, Raymond, Ratley, Alison
I think Williams, Perriman, and Raymond are locks. I am starting to wonder about Cephus because of the emphasis we are putting on speed, but I like his potential as a Jason Avant type, reliable possession receiver. That leaves 1, maybe 2 spots up for grabs and we are taking at least 1 WR in the draft.
If the Lions are able to run the ball, Goff’s chances of success go up considerably. I like their RB room right now, but I fully expect them to draft another RB. If this coaching staff can get a solid player out of Big V, that helps a lot. That leaves a hole at starting WR, and either an OG or RT (depending on where they see big V). 3 holes on offense remain as I see it. OL probably needs to be addressed thru the draft (I doubt Schwartz will want to finish his career with the Lions), but WR & RB could still be FA.
I think the remaining majority of draft picks will probably be addressed in the draft. DL seems improved on paper, but the back 7 still needs plenty of work IMO.
I like what folks have said here so far.
No, there are more ways to help Goff. I think we have two credible outside WRs right now in Perriman and Tyrell Williams. Adding a guy who can work underneath seems to be the plan and there are a number of guys who can do that in rd. 2 and 3.
We have good deep threats now in Perriman and Williams. We have Cephus who can play this game. Add a rookie WR.
Then we have Hock and solid RBs. We don’t have to add a WR early.
I think Goff would vote for a 1st round O-lineman, and second round WR.
We def need a guy like Chase though to add to our current group … someone with breakaway speed, that is also quick/strong to play slot wr.
(Mylions … we posted the same thing at the same time. Lol)
In 2020, Justin Jefferson went No. 22 overall.
In 2019, Marquise Brown went No. 25 overall.
In 2017, both JuJu Schuster, No. 62 overall, and Kenny Golliday, No. 96 overall, both outplayed No. 5 overall Corey Davis.
In 2013, Deandre Hopkins went No. 27 overall.
So, no, I don’t think they’re setting up Goff to fail. Lions don’t need to take a WR at No. 7 overall.
If the Lions had taken Adrian Peterson instead of Calvin Johnson, would that have set up Matt Stafford to fail? During the entire time Calvin was with the Lions, they won zero playoff games and, arguably, Stafford improved greatly after Calvin was gone because he became less dependent on a single player.
I agree with everyone mentioning Hock here. He, Kelce, and Kittle will be the top 3 TEs in football in their own tier next year. I don’t think some of us really get just how good Hockenson is going to be. Swift too. He’ll be a top RB next year.
All that said, the reciever core is absolute garbage compared to where it needs to be. The Bucs and Chiefs both have 3 guys I’d take over anyone on this roster right now. A bunch of “solid no. 2 guys” doesn’t make it a good reciever core. KC and Tampa both have 3 guys you could’ve classified as no. 1 recievers, especially here. I’m sick of Detroit teams putting together average to above average players and expecting to get anything more than that. It takes great players to make great teams.
I’m on the Devonta Smith hype train. I want him at 7 over anyone not named Penei Sewell to help this current team.
I don’t think so. Goff is walking in to a line with an All Pro Center and LT that was rated highly enough to be a borderline Pro Bowl Player. Jackson is sound at LG and will only get better. The right side needs work soooooooooooo… what if we end up with Sewell instead of one of WR’s? Would that not be setting Goff up for better protection? Or even a TD for Slater or Darrisaw? Yes. He also has a Pro Bowl TE and a dynamic RB threat.
WR is pretty deep and there are some speed guys like Tutu and Stevenson later on in the draft that would be a great addition in the slot as a deep threat. Sort of Waddle lite kind of guys. I do believe if we end up stuck at 7, one of the top 3 WR’s will be there and will “probably” be the highest rated player on the board IF Sewell goes. If he somehow falls, which is possible, then it’s going to be very hard to pass on that monster who would almost certainly be the highest rated player at 7. Even if we go Parsons or TD a bit for a pass rusher, there are plenty of WR’s and Olineman later we can get to help Goff. But I’d say the situation he is walking into even right now, isn’t all that dire offensively. But will surely be improved before we line up in September.
Looking at this from a “helping Goff” perspective, I would say an elite OL would help both the running game and give Goff plenty of time/protection which combined might be even MORE beneficial to Goff’s success than a single top shelf WR.
In my simple mind it goes Option 1= Sewell. Option 2= Chase. Option 3= trade down. Option 4 = Parsons.
Plenty of WR depth in the draft, so solid talent can be added late. I expect to see at least 2 new faces in the WR room from draft/FA.
Not sure who these three WR’s are on either team? Only WR on Kansas City’s roster I would take over Tyrell Williams is Tyreke Hill. Hardman has been extremely inconsistent so far and who else are you thinking of Demarcus Robinson? Hard pass. The Bucs obviously have Evans and Godwin, but who else? Brown is a free agent and Scotty Miller is Danny Amendola on his best days.
We have a solid WR depth chart from #2-#6. We obviously need that #1, but Hockenson can fill that role if needed. I am all on the WR train at #7, but if we get a good offer to trade down and miss out on the top 3 WR’s it isn’t the end of the world, IMO. There is more then enough depth to take a guy in the 2nd and we role into 2021 without an alpha dog #1.
On a side note the 2022 free agent class of WR’s is stacked and we will have plenty of cap space. Obviously quite a few of these guys won’t be available, but quite a few will.
Chris Godwin
Allen Robinson
D.J. Chark
Mike Williams
Courtland Sutton
Michael Gallup
Tyler Lockett
Christian Kirk
Davante Adams
Robby Anderson
Will Fuller
JuJu
I was referring to last year’s teams, because those were the ones that made the Super Bowl
So it was…
Evans
Godwin
AB (minus the issues)
And
Hill
Watkins
And I’d take Hardman
Lots of good thoughts in here.
The only thing I’d counter with is that when I see the thoughts of “Perriman and Williams are enough at WR” I get the same feeling I did when I saw “Whoever we get will easily replace Diggs and Slay.”
It doesn’t sit well with me at all.
Let’s make sure we keep our eye on the ball here, and remember what the goal is. The goal is to win games, as many as possible and to get better at it from game to game and year to year. No doubt setting Goff up to be more successful would help, but winning games is as much dependent on preventing the other team from scoring as it is scoring more points yourself. And that means the Lions might take a defensive player in the 1st round and grab a WR in the 2nd. Maybe they’ll trade down and the top 3 WRs will all be gone. It ain’t just about this year, but the years that follow.
We have no idea what WR group will look like in Sept.
Anyone here predict injuries you will make millions.
I don’t think we need to draft a WR in rd one unless we trade down.
So until trade downs happen I would be happy with a WR at pick 71 the first in rd 3
If Lions pick one At #7 It should be Chase or Pitts an yes he carries the TE tag but he really is a big WR that is a miss match