True and he had an “experimental” procedure that we do not know if Okudah got or not. I count on Okudah for zero moving forward and hope to be wrong.
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I’d agree with it and it’s not that hot of a take.
He was drafted at #3 over all and not only has he been hurt for more than one season, when he’s been on the field he hasn’t looked at all worthy of his pick.
IMO, “Dangerously Close” to being a bust is not only accurate…it’s generous.
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I expected him to end up as a safety even before the injury. His skill set screams stud safety to me.
See it the same way Air. Our pass defense was hot garbage last year. Fielding the same guys does nothing to improve that. Now if the pass rush is 30% better, there may be incremental progress. Iffy has upside, Okudah may or may not ever be anything, but Harris?Nice guy who should be cut.
Point being, if a potential CB1 (McDuffie, Gardner, McCreary, Booth, Gordon) fell to us at 32 or 34 we’d be foolish not to at least strongly consider grabbing one. All of this depends on what the staff thinks of any particular guy. But a CB1 would significantly elevate this defense. That said so would an elite safety or or edge rusher. So many needs….!
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Okudah at CB vs Safety reminds me of Rashan Gary at DE/OLB vs DT. Both could have been better players at the lower paying, less glamorous position. I can’t fault them for doing it. But the Peter Principle applies to both of these guys based on where they were drafted. They will never be able to play up to expectations because they aren’t at their prime positions.
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Great to see, he’s moving well only 5 or 6 months out of surgery. Being able to plant, push off and come back to the ball, he might be ready to play week 1 barring any setbacks.
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He’s faster than me, already
(Not saying much)
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Now let’s just hope he can absorb coaching and stay healthy!
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This dude works out, it’s like getting an extra first rounder.
Shit’s about to get real. Sending love and strength to you, El Jeffe!
Go get that shit, brother!
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I stick with my pre draft assessment of Okudah….he would have done best in GB. Not many other places he could get away with his grabby nature. He excelled at Ohio State for the same reason and he was never going to get that benefit of the doubt in Detroit. I only had to watch of few of his college games back then to see that his first reaction was always to grab onto his assignment, and more times then not got away with it. His speed, reaction time & instincts just didn’t impress me. As a cover corner I just didn’t/don’t see a bright future for him. I think his only chance would be as a safety where he has a tad more time to assess a situation and doesn’t necessarily require the same type of speed. Never thought he was a bad guy, just never thought he was worth his draft position. Hoped for the best but expected the worst.
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Don’t forget that Firestone thing…OH, and that aluminum truck bed thing, too.
I think any good roster needs balance. We have a bunch of young guys at corner who had to play a lot last year. We have a young player in amani who has proven he can start. I think we need to go get a real starting corner in free agency. Charvarius ward… Kyle Fuller… maybe we make a run at a top player in jc Jackson?
Richard Sherman made an amazing career being a physical, grabby corner. Even in today’s game…it’s not like they call it all the time. If okudah can recover physically… he has speed for his size. He has quickness. Oddly the problem has been him thinking too much, and his technique… which I also partially blame Patricia and Steve Gregory for. He has the tools to be a good physical corner. Safety would be a terrible position for him. He’s not great in space. He’s best on the island in close quarters. His skill set fits as a boundary corner.
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After seeing what the coaches did with patchwork defense last year I’m in a holding pattern on Okudah.
Will see how strong he comes back from the injury, then see what the coaches do with him.
Kid is putting in the work which has never been an issue from what I recall.
A wild card, hopefully he hits.
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I want him to make it because I love who he is as a man…not just a good football player, this dude is a leader. It sends a HUGE message if he comes back and does amazing, after all he’s been through.
Also, let’s be honest…what he was asked to do under Patricia (just puked a little), was utter nonsense. NO DB would do well at what he was being asked to do under those dudes.
Really excited to see what he can do under these coaches. he will be somewhere between serviceable and really good. He’s a massive X-factor in how our Defense turns out this time around. I’m hoping we don’t pick CB early, but I ultimately trust the bald dude.
Go get 'em, Bear!
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He’s a good kid so it is hard not to root for him.
Matt P. was an utter disaster but I think Okudah should have shown more even under those circumstances. While it’s fair to give him an asterisk I don’t think he deserves a free pass.
I’m a little torn on this to be honest. I think we have to address our secondary. It clearly needs help at both Safety and CB. We really do not have a CB1 or slot CB. We have hope in youth but that’s about it. If Walker hits free agency then we will need two starting caliber safeties too.
I think we will be drafting a DB with one of our first 3 picks. Either a safety or a CB then another later in the draft. We have too many holes and question marks.
I think the Lions have to either resign Walker or land a quality safety via free agency too. It wouldn’t shock me if we sign a nickel CB in free agency as well.
My best guess is we sign a safety via free agency. Either Walker or an upgrade. I think it’s going to be a versatile strong safety type like Whitehead.
Then I think we will crab a free safety either late round one, pick 34, or somewhere in round two if we trade down.
Then I also think we grab a CB either late round 3 or at the end of the draft. Probably a slot CB type since they are routinely found late in the draft.
However I also believe that if the right CB presents itself on day one or day two that we will have to seriously think about taking him.
I think if we rolled out the same team we had last year, we’d win at least 6 games (no further additions).
Add in health, draft picks, FA, a year’s experience (coaches and players), etc.
I think we win 10, next season. I feel like our coaches are trenches first mentality.
This is gonna be dependent on…
-BPA
-What they think of Okudah
-What they think of Alim
-What they think of Levi
-How draft dominos fall
-What they think of our DBs that showed promise last season
…and likely much more than none of us know about.
I’m a huge trenches first guy.
Let’s go DE first.
I’m with you that S is our biggest hole/area of need. If we could switch that from the single biggest area of need to our best player w/Hammy? Who knows?
I want to see A-a-Ron on his back crying.
You don’t think being down that long has anything to do with it ?
I assume your referring to Akers.
Maybe but I doubt it. At least not to the full effect it was
RB’s come back off injury and either shine or they don’t.
He says he’s 100% but maybe he’s not. Who knows.
What we do is players coming back from Achilles injuries are rarely 100%. Almost all of them have some form of decline.