I have some pretty usage questions about the lines. I believe Holmes believes the lines are critical to sustained success while also believing in playmakers *thus the drafting of Jameson Williams). I have some questions about:
John Cominsky, Josh Paschal and Romeo Okwara. Do these guys all play the same position? How did we use these guys? When I look at snap counts I see this defense was a hell of a lot better when John played but how did we use him? With a healthy Romeo, a healthy and more experienced Josh Paschal and a re-signed John Cominsky…do we need a 3 tech? ESP. if we re-sign Buggs and maybe even Benito Jones?
I WAS in the get a DT ar #6 and I still pull the trigger if Jalen Carter is there (minus a Fairley work ethic concern)…but I have to say maybe this isn’t the need I thought it was? Wnen Holmes drafted Paschal Romeo was far away from recovering. When Brad claimed Cominsky that was in May and Josh was having health issues and Romeo wasn’t close to ready. In 2023 all should be good to go. How does this shake out?
John Cominsky is a BIG man who disrupted (listed at 285 LBS…maybe bigger than that now?). How will this shake out AND how does this usage and reality affect free agency and the draft? This is a GREAT issue to have as we got lucky with Cominsky.
Are we set with edge rushers with Hutch, James Houston, Charles Harris and Julian Okwara as deep and affordable depth? There are some GREAT edge players in this draft…should we re-think edge as a need or are we good there? ESP. when talking about a high draft pick. Romeo is a free agent after 2023 and he turns 28 in June.
Right now to me the DL looks like:
Hutch, Alim, Josh Paschal (he is 280+ pounds by the way), Romeo Okwara, hopefully a re-signed Cominshy, hopefully a re-signed Buggs and Levi O. who may be good still or may be done.
At edge we have James Houston, Charles Harris and Julian Okwara.
That is 10 guys who are edge/DL guys.
If we re-sign Cominsky (and Buggs as he should be VERY affordable)…does that signal we are done on the DL? Should we be done?
The OL I am in the re-sign Jonah Jackson NOW. BUT…ROG and Vaitai/Evan Brown is a concern. I did a little digging on a guy currently on the roster: Ross Pierschbacher. Ross is 28 in June and was a 5th rd. draft pick of the Redskins in 2019. Rpss lasted two years there before ending up with the Jets 2021-2022 and Holmes claimed him in September 2022 and he has been here since. Ross was a 4 year starter at Alabama and a 2 time all SEC first team. I see some sites note that Ross can play center.
To me the logical course of action is to get year old Vaitai (in June ) t take a large pay cut. We have viable guard depth in Tommy Kraemer and now we have Ross Pierschbacher. I save $ right here and if Vaitai doesn’t take a paycut I cut him…I think he takes the pay cut. I like Evan but I don’t think he is a better guard than Vaitai and I am not overpaying for OL depth.
Point is if Jalen Carter is gone I think I am now in the draft Bijan Robinson camp! I like a LOT of CBs who might be there @ #18. DT Bresee might fall (I like this kid but #6 is too high for him). I think I take the RB and then a CB in rd. now. I re-sign Jamaal Williams still as my red zone guy and I make Swift my explosive 3rd down back and I look to Robinson to me a homerun threat.
Is this club better without Alex Anzalone? My answer is no, we need Alex back as a floor option. As in if you want to play Rodriguez or barnes, beat out Alex. If we draft a rookie they must beat out Alex, Rodrigo and Barnes first and I like that. Alex played really well down the stretch for us. Alex is 29 in September.
Last, does Holmes want DeShon Elliott back? I sure hope so as we really played well when DeShon stepped up after getting benched. Iffy gives me hop as a 3rd year depth guy but I am not relying on him as a starter and I cannot believe Holmes might want a rookie starting at SS safety.
Chark also has to come back. But damn, Chark, Jamaal Williams, John Cominsky, DeShon Elliott, Alex Anzalone and Buggs is a LOT to bring back while Brad also deals with other areas like kicker, swing OT Matt Nelson (likely back as a depth guy again).
If I have to pick a guy from that list to say goodbye I now believe Chark is that guy. I want DJ back but we can live at WR with Jameson Williams, Amon Ra, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond and ? is we have to. Chark makes that a dangerous group. But if I can bring back basically three starters on defense and Jamaal Williams as well as Buggs I am going to do that and see if I can find a solid rookie to help with depth at WR.
We definitely need to draft a defensive tackle. Even if we resign bugs and cominsky the depth is thin. I wouldn’t count on Levi until he shows that his back issues are behind him. Same goes for guard. We should never again be in a position to have Dan skipper playing guard. We also need tackle depth as I don’t really trust skipper or Nelson.
I agree with this. But, roster spots are limited. To start the season we lost BOTH guards AND Ragnow (Frank for one game) AND Kraemer was also injured.
No NFL can replace three starters and a depth guy (4 players out).
Most NFL teams keep 8 or 9 total OL guys.
The Lions have Decker, Jonah, Ragnow, Vaitai (hopefully taking a pay cut), Sewell, hopefully Nelson back with Kraemer and our Ross P. As center depth. That is 8 guys right there. That may be the 2023 OL.
Right but you can structure your roster with a couple swing guys. We had brown who can play center and guard but we didn’t have tackles that can play inside and out reasonably well. That’s the player we need to look for in the draft. We don’t need a swing tackle since we can always move Sewell to left tackle.
In 4-down looks, they have all played snaps at DE.
In some 4-down looks, Commish and Paschal can rotate inside, effectively taking DT snaps.
In 3-down looks, Romeo should come off the field while both Paschal and Commish can play DE.
Hutch, Romeo, Harris and Houston, yes. Bryant and Julian are gone, IMO.
Are we “set”? I would say yes-ish. If I’m need-shopping, I’m staying out of the Edge aisle, but you have to take what the draft gives you. If the 2023 draft is strong on CB and DE and you’re looking at a tier 2 DE vs a tier 3 CB at pick 18, you take the DE/Edge.
I am not certain that we might be better getting a stud 1T vs a 3T. I think Alim can slim down and provide interior pressure. Cominsky and Paschal both can shift inside and play 3T as well and Buggs actually provided some interior pressure. Once Hutch settled in and Cominsky came back from injury we did fairly well containing the outside run game. But we still continued to get gashed (especially by Fields) on runs up the gut.
Yeah, you’re hitting on things that cross my mind the same way. This is about the time I start drifting into analysis paralysis.
Here’s where I’m kind of settled right now, though.
McNeil is their NT. That’s what they drafted him as and that’s what they refer to him as.
Buggs is a good backup who possesses some similarities in that there’s a burst and moves that can catch a blocker off-guard, but ultimately they’re both NT/1T players because they’re not likely to develop into the true interior rusher that can get a guy drafted high.
Commish can play inside and provide good run-support, but not much rush.
Paschal can play inside AND provide pressure, but is that where you want him other than in sub packages?
Hutch can also play inside, but that’s clearly in sub.
So with all dashes, x’s, crosses and eraser marks, I land at pass-rushing 3t being the biggest need up front.
It could be a major game changer for us - of course the coaches know what each guy can do better than us. But when I look at this team the two areas we can make the biggest improvement (by upgrading a player) are at DT and CB I think.
Valion…I didn’t mention that about Vaitai (that he can play OT) but yes that is a factor for me. IF he is healthy. Big V is ath OT IF we have a solid guard who can step in and Sewell can play either side. That is HUGE. hat is why Kraemer is a viable depth guy and Ross P. I think he a viable back uo C/G too. Those are also vet. min guys and you need that. I think we get Matt Nelson back at vet. min. as the swing OT.
BigNatty…IF Holmes drafts a guard after rd. 3 my guess is that guy might not make the roster. There is an open question concerning Matt Nelson however as I’m not sure Matt is worth his vet. min. overall for a swing tackle.
We all WANT a DT as we all get Levi is a HUGE gamble (fool Brad once…) but HOW to get a DT is a HUGE question. In free agency that will cost you BIG time. I’m not sure Brad wants to go there in free agency. The draft makes more sense but that means for a true and healthy DT upgrade using rounds 1, 2 or 3 is necessary. That means rolling the dice. I am looking at a list that looks like this (maybe in this order?):
Bresee with # 18
Calijah Kancey
Karl Brooks (26 career sacks at Bowling Green, from Lansing)
and then others like Gervon Dexter Sr. and many more than some of our board scouts have pointed out.
Adding a top rookie DT should make this DL loaded with an incredible rotation.
Line…I’m not sure why Julian would be gone. He is under contract for one more season, he is affordable and he made the club in 2022. He is a solid #4 edge guy who should not dress most Sundays. I am cool with that. He hasn’t put it together yet but he has talent.
10 is the target (4 inside DL 6 outside DL)
Inside:
McNeil, Buggs, TBD, Levi/TBD
Outside:
Hutch, Paschal, Cominsky, Houston, Romeo, Harris
You’ll have to cut one of those outsider guys to make room for Julian. Commish is a must-sign, don’t you think? Julian would be #7.
I agree with that but I am also fine keeping 11 DL/Edge guys.
I am only keeping 4 off-ball LBers (re-signed Anzalone, Rodrigo, Barnes and ?). Maybe 5 IF I have a special team demon like Josh Woods back. I hope we add one more rookie LBer to this mix and then Josh Woods for 5.
That would be 15/16 LBers and DL/Edge total and that is a roughly standard amount. That leaves 9 or 10 for safety and CBs and that feels about right.
Both 21 and 22 began the season with 11 DL, so you could be right.
They began the season with 5 off-ball linebackers both years, too.
But, even when there were 11 DL, there were only 6 outside guys. The variance between 10 and 11 has been with either 4 or 5 interior lineman.
DB started with 10 in 21, and 11 in 22. (They had only 23 offensive players to start 2022)
I’m leaning toward a 24/26 split for an offensive/defensive players.
10 DL, 5 LB and 11 DBs.