The rankings were generated by Zoltan Buday of PFF and discussed by Trevor Sikkema and Dalton Wasserman. I think Buday is a bidet, but that’s sophomoric for a senior like me.
Chicago at #4:
Detroit at #13:
Also, Vikings at #7 and Packers at #14. You know that Dan will play the Rodney Dangerfield card all season long.
It could take a while for the OL to gel. That’s why I only made tournament bets on the Lions, and not on win totals or NFC North champion. I guess I’m conceding they may have a point. I’m a very bad Lions fan…
The fact is, like they pointed out in the video, we weren’t the greatest pass-blocking unit last year. Back half of the league. So in some ways that gives me confidence. Everyone’s worried about how Goff the statue will do behind a line that struggles to block the pass, but to some extent we just saw how he did last year… great.
Coaching, culture, and strategy are all 10/10…and that matters.
Stir that in with how much easier our skill positions, pre-snap reads, etc make things for them. Flat-out talent took a hit this year, but our guys will peak at the right time and make us all damn proud. GG and Kenny powers are the biggest X-factors on our team now.
Jamo and Gibby will stretch the field both horizontally and vertically. Probably Tesla some by season’s end too.
Safety valves in Ra, Patrick, Laporta, et al. Defenses have much to worry about in the area of blitz-beaters and “staying home”.
Goff’s ability to pre-snap read and audiblize is going to massively help as well.
We’ll have better depth, but less starting talent. EVERY NFL team will have OL injuries this season, and our backups won’t be as big a dropoff as most…possibly any.
Both Ratledge and Frazier were better in pass than run blocking. Mahogany was praised for his run blocking last year, but he also held up on pass protection. So maybe the OL will be better at pass protection, but worse against the run. Sight unseen, part of me wants the Lions to keep Glasgow as a backup and skip to the future with Mahogany, Ratledge and Frazier learning on the job. We’ll see.
It will be fun to watch unfold. Well, hopefully. Growing pains could hurt… literally, in Goff’s case. But I’m not overly worried about it. Our line has been an elite run blocking line since Dan got here and I don’t think that will change, and play action is our bread and butter in the passing game anyway.
Also, I expect Mahogany to step in right away and be great. One of the league’s best guards. I saw enough in two starts last year to say he’s got it. I think I may be higher on him than anyone else on the board. I think he’ll be our best OG of the Holmes/Campbell era. So to me that one’s sorted.
Personally, I’m not sure our best threesome won’t be Muti-Ratledge-Mahogany. Netane is really, really good. He’s just less reliable than Davenport injury-wise. So we can’t count on him staying healthy, but at least he could give us some time to blood the other guys. Really interested to see how Kingsley looks in TC as well.
I like the ceiling of our depth, but right now at least it’s very unproven. I’m hoping Glasgow becomes depth which will help, but right now I think he’s odds on to start somewhere.
I mean, we lost our all pro center, andwill be starting a rookie and a guy who has what, 4 games exp? Yes, Sewell alone puts you top 15, but it’s completely understandable to rank our OLine low ish.
Well, I’m pretty sure PFF graders aren’t on this board, so you maybe safe there. Most talking heads aren’t ready to crown his *ss yet, but they will when he continues that play from last season.
That’s like saying someone is uglier than The Elephant Man. You hammered that point home.
I assume I’m on the older end of the age scale among Den posters and it’s always been my position that PFF can eat a bag of dicks. It might be sophomoric, but I still believe it’s a valid belief.
