bruised scapula is what I saw today…
out for rest of preseason with a “chance” to play opening day against Lions.
Holmes is definitely more comfortable with injury history players than I would be.
It’s like buying a car with a fender bender. As long as the frame, drivetrain, and electricals are ok, you can save a lot of money. If not, it’s a money pit.
Mixed bag availability here with some like Jamo, Hooker, and Levi seemingly completely recovered.
Part of the strategy has been to improve the sports medicine team in-house and they changed the leadership twice already since Dan has been here. They also spent extra on adding a new field to help prevent major injuries. I think that has gone a long way and may be the best $3mm Sheila spent.
Dan also seems to know how to take care of vets and admitted 2 days ago that they need to hit and go hard to be ready for the season and he knows that carries risk but will try to prevent pushing too hard.
Ultimately there is an injury likelyhood with the genetics of players themselves and I’d want to avoid injury-prone players if I knew how to spot them.
I read a report at the end of last season that showed in 2023 the Lions were above average in games/snaps played by starters. That was not the case in 2021 where the lions were near the bottom. Part of that is depth. Part of that is management. Part of that is players grit.
Hopefully we will see the same general trend in better overall health in 2024 knocks on wood. Last year at this time Kennedy and Zlystra had season ending injuries that roughly equate to Comminsky and Muti this year. There will be a few more injuries through the season no matter what. Seems like Brad has helped build game ready depth at all positions but kicker at this point.
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It’s very difficult. Some dudes don’t miss a game in college and then immediately blow out their knee or Achilles as a rookie. So hard to predict. A lot of times they are non contact injuries even.
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Romeo Doubs- WR2/3 (4th)
Rasheed Walker- LT1 (7th)
Zach Tom- RT1 (4th)
Karl Brooks- DT3 (6th)
D Wicks- WR4 (5th)
Those are the starters and heavy rotational players taken by the Packers in rounds 3-7 between 22-23…
C Conner- NB1 (4th)
N Johnson- CB2 (7th)
I Pacheco- RB1 (7th)
W Morris- OT (3rd)
Chiefs same parameters
Puka- WR2 (5th)
K Williams- RB1 (5th)
K Turner- DT1 (3rd)
B Young- Edge2 (3rd)
Q Lake- S2 (6th)
Rams same
Kerby Joseph- FS1 (3rd)
That is the Lions 3-7 round draftees projected to play major roles between 22-23’ drafts.
Consider what we got in 21’ in those rounds simply by drafting nfl ready talent- Iffy, Barnes, Alim, Saint- but see the utter lack of mid to late impact starters for 2 years, and factor how unlikely this years crop is to factor heavy.
You’re minimizing our haul:
Rigo – has already played a major role at LB and ST. Firm depth piece.
Houston – notched 8 sacks in '22, and can be a major rotational piece on passing downs.
Hooker – will be QB2.
Martin – will be in the rotation on the D-line. Very high upside.
Sorsdal – will be OL backup.
Green – competing for WR4/5.
You also overstate the importance of guys like
– K Brooks, ranked 133rd out of 143 interior linemen in '23
– R Walker, allowed 8 sacks last year as a rotational piece
– C Cooper, 83% reception rate (which is horrible)
– N Johnson, 5 tackles and 3 assists in 11 games in '22, didn’t play in '23, still questionable
– W Morris, arrested for drug possession
Those aren’t guys you should want to play major roles on your team.
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Part of the problem of evaluating later round draft picks in terms of “playing a major role” has a lot to do with the existing talent and depth on a roster. And we have a loaded roster.
There’s not much opportunity to eclipse anyone on the O-line, for example – and we already have top-notch talent at the skill positions as well. It’s difficult to find decent talent in the later rounds for the defensive backfield. You could make an argument for Young – but then we wouldn’t have Hooker.
Turner instead of BroMart – I can give you that one, but only with the caveat that he was already off the board when we picked.
In other words, you really have to cherry-pick. Which is always easier in hindsight.
Great contribution!
Right now we are 100% relying either Levi or Bro Mart to play heavy snaps and possibly even start for 4-6 weeks to begin the season- pending Reader’s health.
Right now we are 100% relying Jamo and DPJ do do far more than they did here last year when healthy.
Right now we are counting on Sordal to be our swing OT, and Awosika to be our swing OG, and hopefully they will be better than last year?
Right now we we are counting on Davenport, Paschal and Houston to be more impactful than Romeo, Harris, Paschal and Comish were last year.
In all of those groups we’ve had losses, no real adds except Davenport and Reader- but one is already hurt and the other always hurt?
And as ALWAYS….you’re OVERANALYZING, but carry on….
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Levi is looking good by all accounts. BroMart, as a developmental pick with high upside, should be projected to break out NEXT YEAR, but will get in more snaps this year to develop. This isn’t an either/or look. And Reader is almost ready to go. (Please don’t tell me you’re going to argue that Reader was a bad pickup in free agency.)
Jamo is gonna rock. Look at his TAPE from Week 15 through the playoffs. He’s already broken out, you just haven’t noticed.
Yes, OL depth is a concern. Sorsdal was pretty raw his first year, and we all knew it. 2024 will be the first year his body is in professional shape. I’m okay with evaluating this pick at the end of the year, even though technically a 5th round developmental pick shouldn’t be expected to contribute meaningfully until his 3rd year. Now, could we have gotten Zach Tom in '22, picked in the 4th round at 140? Only if we hadn’t swung for the fences on Jamo. I’d rather have the high ceiling.
Davenport is healthy now, while Romeo and Harris were injured after signing contracts. Whether Houston pans out depends on how well he can still bend after breaking his ankle (not an issue when he was drafted) – and that’s assuming he isn’t cut out for the SAM role.
Again, the only truly viable pick from your list for our team is Young, and only in cherry-picking hindsight. Well, if we’re going to properly evaluate developmental picks, we also have to do so in hindsight. Which means only the 2021 Class is actually ready for grades:
3.72 – McNeill. Finally showed what he can do in Year 3. Still climbing.
3.101 – Iffy. Finally showed what he can do in Year 3. Good rotational piece.
4.112 – Amon Ra. Broke out in the back half of Year 1. The EXCEPTION.
4.113 – Barnes. Middling-starter quality since Year 2. Does not have high upside.
7.257 – Jefferson. Late-round practice squad guy.
Looks pretty good to me!
The 2022 class, aside from Jamo, only has one other “developmental” pick: Paschal, coming out of Kentucky. This is the year we get to see what we really have in Paschal.
Patience is a virtue.
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Let’s talk about another type of ‘Gambling’ that both Dan and Brad are doing due to the limitations of a 53 man roster. That gambling is trying to force players to be more versatile.
One of the harder things in football is limiting the team to just 53 players. It means that you can’t have as many specialists.
Houston and Betts are being asked to be more versatile SAM LBs because there are too few Pass Rush only snaps to carry a specialist like that. They need to contribute snaps as a SAM or on Special Teams.
Bromart is a little different because there are few players at his size that can really eat up double teams and apply pressure. Teams like the Ravens and 49ers (perennial top 8 teams) will run it down your throat if you don’t have enough power on the DL. Bromart makes the defense more versatile and allows Alim to be more of an interior rush specialist instead of anchoring all the time.
So who is gambling here? Did Holmes gamble that Betts and Houston could become coverage guys too? Was that Campbell asking for rushers he hoped to develop into more complete ends? They clearly wanted to add some pass rush juice opposite Hutch. Holmes definitely took a risk that Davenport will stay healthy. As mentioned above, Holmes is more comfortable than I am with guys with injury history.
On Receiver, Josh Reynolds had significant speed limitations and was starting to show minor decline like Marvin Jones. They would have liked his experience back at the right price but it wasn’t to be. Instead, they see, like everyone has that Jamo is making massive strides. They probably saw enough from Green and DPJ last year that they feel one can fill in a portion of what Reynolds did last year.
Sorsdal by all accounts is improving and perhaps jumping other backups. He probably isn’t fleet footed enough to ever be as good as Decker. Even if he is forever a good backup, that is a worthy 5th round pick.
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I wish Brad Holmes took the WR position as a whole seriously. If Jamo doesn’t come out throwing flames this team is in trouble. Throw in a ARSB injury and we could be staring at a top 10 pick in ‘25 draft. Again, he’s been great, but the cupboards are bare in WR room. 1 all pro, 1 unproven high pick who’s yet to click fully in 2 seasons, 2 unproductive castaways from bad teams (KR/DPJ), one late round second year guy who caught 1 ball in rookie season. Fu@$ing barf. That’s not conference champion type stuff. I guess I’m just surprised he’d leave it this way so close to week 1.
*more seriously
I think he thinks of it very differently. Only so many snaps to go around and RBs and TEs take a lot of those passes. Plus have to be big in the running game. Jamo looks poised to make an impact, even if he doesn’t catch the ball he helps the run and pass game.
Does Goff have 3 great WRs? No. Does he have 5 top of the league weapons to throw to? Yes he does. Thank you Brad Holmes.
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Not how they see it.
They believe in weaponizing players. They view it as passing attack as a whole
Translation… Laporta, Gibby, Monty, et al.
Our offense is going to be fantastic
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I agree that in 1Q of week one they’ll have a fantastic O. My concern is a gross lack of depth at WR if the unthinkable happens to 14. I have to stop talking about it. Feel like I’m speaking it into existence. I just wish we had a 1A WR and right now we don’t. Jamo could change all that but I again have very serious concerns that that will be reality.
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Is this the real @colvin4prez or his sneaky step brother again who keeps hacking his account ? 
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Hopefully this will make you feel better about Jamo this year. His film – not his numbers – demonstrates that he has arrived.
Think Torry Holt.
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It really doesn’t. I just think a) he’s got a screw loose somewhere in his brain, b) his body type doesn’t seem like an nfl body type to me. But I suppose D Smith (PHI) I don’t know…I really truly want him to be the guy, I just have to see it. I’m not relying on it, and I don’t think Holmes should be either.