I honestly doubt we have enough talent at DT to be contending by the bye. If we do it’s because our offense is rolling and keeping that defense off the field.
We really need more talent.
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Heavy sigh…
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So… Campbell says he has no concerns Levi will be ready Week 1 and somehow the sky is falling now? Am I missing something? If he’s a baller, he will succeed when the pads are on. It might take him a week or two to get rolling, but that can be said for most players this time of the year.
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I bet they are scouring every roster for bubble players harder than usual about now.
Anyone got a line on possible decent DT cuts?
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Without knowing more about the injury my gut is telling me the Lions need to quit fn around and elect to have surgery on whatever is ailing Onwuzurike.
If this is the same injury that hampered him last year then it’s safe to say rest/rehab isn’t going to cut it. Get him in for surgery, IR him, hire a vet for this season and re-evaluate next year.
If this injury is NOT the same as the one he had last year, everything I wrote above is wrong and should be disregarded. If it’s the same injury, they need to quit messing around and get it fixed so he can possibly have a career in the NFL.
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Sadly I think he’s a turd…
We have grown extremely well in a very short period of time.
The fact that most are on board with DT being the biggest need is a testament to the growth of this team.
Last year, ppl were talking about WRs, DBs, and LBs as the biggest holes.
This roster, IMO, is in better shape than most think. That one guy (my DT) makes life easier for Hutch, Paschal (who I think will eventually b the other DE in the 4-3 look), all of the DBs and LBs.
This year, we will rely on disguising coverages, blitzing, stunting, gapping, having some element of surprise and causing turnovers.
Gonna have to get a bit tricky, as we are undersized.
When we bring in my hybrid King Kong/INcredicble Hulk DT from the next draft, shit is gonna get very, very real (provided Goff holds up, that is). IF Goff were to come out and suck (which I doubt), we would have to go QB.
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Agreed.
When I think about the WR room last year vs today…Wow! Total 180.
Same for the DL and secondary - Another total 180.
I’m hoping we’ll find out the same thing for the LB room this year.
Every position group is better now than when Holmes took over, IMO (except for the most important position, of course). Let’s see if this pans out to be true and if Holmes can keep the train rolling!
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Maybe his play ? The guy sucks on the field. The sky might not be falling but when Levi is on the field it sure feels like your standing in the rain.
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Is it wise to come to such a definitive conclusion after watching a rookie with an injury that only played like…less than 20% of snaps last year?
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Did you watch him play ? It might not be wise to keep ignoring his play on the field and hoping for him to stay healthy and make a impact. Limited snaps is partially because he was so ineffective when he was in there.
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Yes, I did.
I’ve watched a lot of players that were rookies and/or injured that didn’t play up to their full potential.
Darius Slay, for example. Slay was atrocious in his rookie season and he was healthy. How did Slay turn out? Would it have been wise to make such a statement about Slay?
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Once again you’ve won me over with your ability to think deeply in ways that are not completely binary. Thank you for your wisdom, TC.
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That’s kinda where I’m at as well. I read that it’s the same injury. It was aggravated in the pile up. If it’s that easy to aggravate that doesn’t seem to bode well for onwuzurike playing through the season. I just wonder what the heck the injury is.
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I’ve probably thought about this way too much recently, but maybe they are planning to use Hutch and Paschal a bunch at DT and move them both around the D-line on a regular basis, especially passing downs.
Hutch was a 3 tech at Michigan early in his college career and Paschal played inside often as well at Kentucky. Maybe that’s why B. Holmes hasn’t added more depth and talent to the position because he expects those 2 to get a bunch of DT reps. That’s the only logical argument I can come up with.
Perhaps Hard Knocks will reveal some of this thinking/strategy!?
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Valid point, many rookies struggle early. I remember Slay getting benched even in his rookie season. Year 2 is the key for most players, will they turn a corner and improve or won’t they!? And the Lions are loaded with players entering year 2 and really loaded with young players overall.
St. Brown, Sewell, Alim, Barnes, Levi - Those 5 guys in my opinion are going to really determine if the Lions win 5 games this year or 8 or 9 games. If they improve a bunch, look out. If they don’t improve much, well I won’t go there for now… ha ha
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Amen!
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To me the wording of the tweet is confusing and could mean polar opposites depending on how you interpret it.
“Dan Campbell said no concerns that Levi Onwuzurike or Julian Okwara will miss the regular season opener,”
Could mean that both Onwuzuurike and Okwara are going to miss the opener but he’s not concerned about it.
or
He’s not concerned about it at this point in time because current indications are that they could be back for the opener.
Are there any other sources that clear this up?
Update:
Still not looking great.
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