I think Reader’s going to be gone regardless. Lopez might stay.
McNeill’s a tough call because it’s clear that the lack of training camp/inter-squad scrimmages (iron sharpens iron), and coming onboard late in the season, adversely affected his play.
Onzuwurike & Paschal should both be gone.
It’s back to the trenches for the 2026 offseason. The offensive line is just as important. If our offense regresses at all, we are in trouble. We have proven we can win with just an elite offense. Now I’m not suggesting the defensive line is fine, just simply stating they are both massively must improves.
Yeah, Reader should go.
I wasn’t watching closely enough to vouch for the quality of his snap-to-snap play, but Lopez seemed like a relative bright spot to me.
You forgot to mention that McNeill was also coming off a major injury and that they insisted on playing him out of position much of the time. I don’t see a remotely tough call there. The caveat is always - if another team comes knocking, of course you talk. Alim isn’t among the Lions’ few ‘untouchables’ (Goff, Penei, Hutch, Gibbs, Campbell). But, barring an unlikely offer, he stays.
Paschal, OTOH… injured and otherwise average-at-best? Kid has a great personal story and I’d wish him the best, but he should go.
Still bummed that we didn’t get to see what O had to offer this year. He really had a chance to be the difference-maker the interior DL desperately needed. As it is, he’s another one who’ll likely need a year of play to get back to where he was.
So “we’re good” was greatly exaggerated?
Complete rebuild?
That’s a bit of an over reaction.
I do think the DL took a step back under Kacy Rodger’s this year and so did the run game.
The DL has some solid pieces …. Hutch is a stud. McNeil is coming off injury and should return to form in time.
Williams is a rookie and has shown promise.
Reader in my opinion isn’t living up to his contract and it’s time to move on.
The revolving door opposite Hutch needs to be better.
AQM will likely be lost in free agency.
Complete rebuild?…. No… but there’s some serious questions that need to be answered.
Lopez has been a very pleasant surprise in my opinion. He’s a keeper for sure.
Alim will be fine with a healthy offseason behind him. Need to reinforce both trenches this offseason. Been out physicaled much of this year and especially so these last 2 weeks.
Lopez looked directly responsible for one of the 45 plus yard runs yesterday…
Take the best available DE, OT, or CB in the first. Take the best available DE, OT, CB, or OC in the second. Do not take the same position in the first and second.
That Mike Payton has it all figured out.
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