Too bad for the kid. Everyone thought this would be his year. I really don’t understand at all how this coaching staff found a flamethrower at edge and decided he would be better covering TEs in space and dropping in coverage.
It served to both make our rush worse and expose our defense in the flat
Yea for sure. Brutal injury. We might get him back by December. Might. Heard he was exploring surgery options.
Wait a minute, I thought our Dline depth was a solid. Have I been misled?
Well to be fair he was dropped into coverage so much they weren’t really using him as DL 
Great discussion. The guy who I thought would step up this year was McNeil. All this stuff about eating right, sleeping right, losing weight and getting quicker hasn’t translated at all.
Many of us were saying Kancey woudn’t be a fit because we needed a space eater. And we had several optinns for 3T’s and pressure up the gut with a lighter McNeil, Pascal, etc. etc. Just not happening.
The Den: Man let’s translate Houston’s eight sacks to a full season…maybe we lucked out and found a Micah Parsons Jr.
Coaches: We’re hoping to see James develop alot more this year. He needs to work on play recognition and coverage skills.
The Den: Wait, let’s have him rush the passer? He’s got unreal bend. Use it, please!
Coaches: He has a long way to go, but he’s getting there.
The Den: Can he please just rush the passer?
Coaches: We have a great pass rush. James need to work on his overall game.
The Den:
I wish someone was really “talking to Jon” and we could get honest, 100% verifiable info from inside. Because WTF was the coaching staff thinking?
I’m always confused when people choose the dumbest shit possible.
Houston as DE. Houston as a rushing/blitzing LB. Houston as a DE trying some crazy stunts through the A gap. Let’s do that.
Coaching staff wants him downfield? Didn’t we JUST spend a 1st round pick on the best coverage LB in the draft?
I’m so confused.
The truth is, just like in the rest of the real world. A lot of dumb people work in football. The two most important coaches on any staff after the head coach are the coordinators. If you got a head coach, & two solid coordinators the rest of the coaches can just be average if they can connect with players & communicate the game plan. Unfortunately I fear the Lions only have one good coordinator & he doesn’t work on the defensive side of the ball
You surely aren’t saying we could use, oh, someone like Jalen Carter, are you? Shame, block your eyes and ears fellow fans.
I have zero issues with McNeil or what he is. I just have never bought into the idea that he’s going to be a 3tech.
I’ve probably overreacted to the 4-down fronts and even James Houston’s lining up off the ball. After watching a little more of the replay I do see that they’re presenting the 3-4 fronts that I would advocate for. But, when they are 4-down as shown above, we’re not playing to the team’s strengths, truth be told.
He is the ultimate 3t. Modern-day Kevin Williams. But the baggage, just too much. The concerns expressed by his own coaches are all the red flags you need to know he wasn’t coming here.