The Lions are still building their foundation

Nice write up by Kevin Clark of the The Ringer who is one of the best in the biz.

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Great read and perfect analysis for those who want it all right NOW. Thanks for posting!

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Really great read and share!!!

  1. Sewell, Ragnow, Hock, Hutch- and if we all get really lucky…. AO could all have Pro Bowl type seasons…

  2. If #1 happens, or even 60% of it, then I expect we will see 65-75 PFF type seasons from Goff, ASB, McNeill, Decker, Jackson, C Harris, Walker, Swift… and if we are lucky Chark…

That would be 14 “plus”‘starters….

  • leaving Okudah, Brockers, Big V, Elliott, Barnes, Anzalone, W Harris, and Reynolds as our biggest question marks week 1….

THINK ABOUT THAT!

Okudah is being counted on as a functional starter and hopefully a 50-55 grade type player- WE ARE STILL HOPING FOR AN ELITE CB, but we are just counting on a starter…

Brockers likely doesn’t offer a ton, but I think a better surrounding cast and more winning will put some wind back in his sail…. That and we are hoping that Levi O gets healthy and takes this spot anyway right?

Big V May just have been our #1-2 most consistent OL player last year, and now we are just counting on him being healthy as he’s our weakest link! That’s pretty damn good!

Elliott has been a solid pro when healthy. A much better SS player and fit than W Harris was… combine that with 3rd round youngsters Iffy and Joseph fighting for Elliotts snaps, and I expect iron to sharpen iron here.

I wrote down Barnes and Anzalone, but it could easily be Boards and MRod or David right? Either way our top 2 LBs from last year will at the very least be more scheme ready…. Or one or both get beat out, BUT NO MATTER WHAT OUR LB ROOM IS BETTER! More continuity, more experience, more talent. ITS A WEAK SPOT, BUT STILL BETTER!

W Harris at CB is intriguing. If we do go 4-2-5 as often as expected, I bet it’s he and Jacobs fighting for this spot? Either way it will probably be our 1-2nd weakest spot for now.

Lastly we had Reynolds as our top outside WR with no depth and now he’s behind Chark, and will concede his snaps to Jamo making him our #3 outside threat not #1.

Having improved so much in both talent additions and health, and of course scheme familiarity, it’s hard not to see a quantum leap of progress coming.

Jamo
Romeo
Paschal
Joseph
Levi O
M Rod
Cephus
Julian O
A Bryant
Joseph
Iffy

Think about how crazy it is that the above list of 10 guys isn’t really in the conversation for starting snaps right now!!! NOT EVEN FACTORED IN THE ABOVE DEOTH CHART!!

  • JO and Bryant were #2 and #3 in sacks last year, and they are now #5-6 on our projected edge depth chart by mid year!!!

  • Joseph and Iffy have to compete to with each other to steal safety snaps form Elliott, and I bet all 3 are light years better than Harris was last year at safety.

-Cephus and Jamo would have easily been our top 2 outside WR threats last year, and we aren’t counting on them to start, and when Jamo is ready the combo of he Chark and ASB is superior talentwise to even the Tate, Marvin and Golladay corps.

Levi O feels like a bust and he might be… but he didn’t do shit last year either, so if he does the same we don’t regress.

McNeill will be better, Brockers will be better and I think Cominsky sneaks on the roster. Maybe Taylor too

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Eh, I think the comments and observations on Goff were pretty much wrong. He claims that, “Nearly everyone in Detroit swears to me that they like Jared Goff, but not as a long-term solution.” Really, if “nearly everyone” believe’s that then it’s amazing that we’ve not heard this from anyone else. Goff’s increase in production coincided with 3 separate events, Clark only mentions the play calling. So the acquisition of Reynolds had nothing to do with Goff’s play or third the emergence of Amon Ra? He made observations that came from a stat sheet instead of what actually happened on the field.

So far I think that the rebuild has gone OK. I will with hold judgement until I see how the D does this year. The O is going to start the season with a real no shit WR group, a “cross your fingers that they stay healthy” O Line and in general NFL depth across the board for backups with the exception of QB. I have actually tempered my expectations on their record for next season, I’m very concerned about the D.

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Thanks for posting @ThePuke, good read.
I hope the staff is right in building back Goff. Assuming he is the QB of the future, I would expect him to be prepared to sign a very team friendly contract extension moving forward. He’s a smart guy, he knows he needs the O-line and receivers.

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And Fox

Nice post, bro.

I think we are further along than the article suggest.
I believe in Goff a bit more than the author does, as well.
If Brother Goff works out, I think next year is a deep playoff year for us.
We’ll have a tougher schedule, almost certainly, so our improvement may not necessarily show in our w/l column as much as we’d like (keep in mind we’re winning 10 this year).

I think getting the hurt guys is INTENTINOAL. They know it’s gonna most likely help draft status, and we can still get a fair amount of wins as, develop lots of players, and continue to build the culture.

Every single move they have made has been a long term move.

This staff is fantastic! You’ll see. :wink:

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I chuckled at the “nearly everyone” comment as well.

I mean, I don’t have to have it ALL right now, but more then 1 playoff victory in my 35 years of fandom wouldn’t hurt.

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Goff also got better when decker came back and solidified the offensive line. That was a big factor as well. Especially when decker rounded into season form.

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I don’t buy that statement either. I highly doubt anyone on the Lions staff would tell him that and he claims everyone has. Teams do not do that. Goff would demand a trade if he heard that the team has no faith in him long term.

This statement by Holmes stood out to me.

The thing that gets overlooked, when Les Snead got there in 2012, it’s sort of recency bias. Everyone sees the big moves, and going all in, and not drafting first-round picks. But when I was with them, we went almost five straight years of just drafting.

So I couldn’t help but think that Holmes needs 5 years of foundational roster building before he will be ready to go all in and take his shots?

Gawd I hope not!

I don’t think there’s a magic number of years
I think it will depend on the success or lack of success with their picks
So far, it’s hard to be optimistic about some of the DL selections made
Especially at DT
Feels too much like we have to keep our fingers crossed at this point
Feels like the defense is still two years away from being good
I would not want to see them go “all in” next year (based on what we’re seeing early on)
Feels like this year will be a big test for AG

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This defense could transform very quickly depending on who we draft next year. Hutchinson seems like he’s going to be an impact player. McNeil is solid with good upside. If we can land a suh like defensive tackle that changes everything. We appear to have a solid group of corners. A solid secondary and a great defensive line can win you a lot of games. Linebacker needs to be upgraded in the draft or free agency for sure. The hardest part is finding that elite defensive tackle. They don’t come around very often.

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I feel like I owe you a hug after that post. Looks like I wrote the damn thing. LOL

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I just got a very short haircut so obviously I’m getting smarter the less hair I have on top of my head. :thinking::rofl:

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#Science is real

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