Brad Holmes has his hands full right now. I give him high marks so far for hs handling of Campbell and the rest of the coaching staff and I like how he dealt with Stafford. Quickly and aggressively.
What I want to see starting pretty much now is Brad taking full control of whatever plan he wants to put in place. Be aggressive with it. Whatever he wants to do…commit to it fully and do it balls to the wall. Go all in and be aggressive,
I am not saying trade all our draft picks at all. I am not saying go all in in free agents. I am saying whatever his plan is do what needs to be done so you are not chasing the tail of a plan, you are implementing that plan. Prioritize what needs to happen next and do it. Control your fate versus letting fate control you.
We have a QB Holmes likes. Now what does he do? $ is likely tight. I want to see a vision in place.
I am not advocating for a path but I want to see a path and I want to see him getting after it.
I want to add a for example here to highlight my point above:
If you think DT is the cornerstone of defense and your plan is to draft a rookie and put your defensive scheme in the hands of an unproven player I don’t like that plan.
If you NEED DT…go trade for one. Find a way to get what you need and build this team by going after the assets you need.
Another example…we traded for Goff, his contract and draft picks. Unless you trade Goff immediately…you should build around him now. Get him the WRs he needs to be successful otherwise, why in the hell did you make that move for Goff at all? Why do that. Trade him or add talented players around him but don’t half ass it.
Our new OC had a hell of a lot of success with WR Keenan Allen as his #1. Seems to me looking for a WR like that should be a priority. A GREAT route runner. Do we have that in Chepus? Seems to me that free agent WR is a priority but who? Also the draft can and does help but what asset to use to get the guy you want?
Brad Holmes, his LA running mate Ray Agnew, and John Dorsey will be doing this together, though Brad will pull the trigger. Until further notice, I’m gonna believe that Brad and Ray were essential parts of the Rams front office drafting so well and I am going to believe that will continue here with the Lions. John Dorsey has proved his chops in the past and he will make those two question their assumptions, which got them both Greg Robinson and Aaron Donald in the same draft.
Because of this presumed expertise, this year’s salary cap, and the the state of Lions roster, I think they will seek out and be very willing to trade down with our early picks and trust their eye for talent.
I think that’s the plan. If Penei Sewell Is not available at #7 and one of the top four quarterbacks is— as I think will be the case— Brad, Ray and John will bet on themselves.
I think if there is a year to trade down this is the year. Aside from Sewell maybe. This draft is gonna be crazy and I think all these mocks are going to be a joke and off base afterwards. They mostly are anyway. We’ll see though
John Dorsey drafted for the Browns from 2017-2019. That team looks really good right now AND they were aggressive with getting WR Beckham.
Just for fun I looked at John’s drafts. Very interesting:
2017- DE Myles #1 OA, Safety Peppers and TE Njoku. All 1st rounders. Then a QB (Kizer) and a DT. A really solid draft.
2018- QB Baker, CB Ward, Corbett (their Center) RB Chubb in rd. 2 and then solid role players including LBer Avery. A great draft.
2019- No 1st rd. pick. They went all defense until they took a kicker in rd., 5.
Not sure I see a trend there but that is some solid picks. However, they rolled with Kizer as a rookie and he got totally killed. Blown up. They took DE Garrett over Mitch T., Mahomes and Watson. John fixed that in 2018.
I know! That gives me hope that Holmes, his staff and the coaches all know the defense needs help and the biggest area of need is a badass at DT. From there we need a badass LBer. Get those pieces and maybe, just maybe we can see real foundation for defensive success here in 2021 and beyond.
I don’t know what Holmes will do but I have been pimping the idea of using the 2022 1st rd. pick for Washington’s DT Jonathan Allen. I would be all about that. Pull a deal like that and add Parsons in RD. 1 moving Collins to the strong side and that might be something worth building from in two moves.
If we add a safety in round 2 or 3 there is a lot to like there. Sound in the middle of the defense.
Holmes has a ton of flexibility now so whatever he does I hope he doesn’t leave the fate of this team only in the hands of rookies not on the team yet. DT Jonathan Allen turned 26 in January for example and if a guy like him is a scheme fit and he will sign an extension here that would make me VERY happy.
I like we at least asked about Donald. They can only say no.
I do like that plan. I think it’s unwise to trade for somebody that helps you now vs drafting someone that can help you later when you’ve begun to field a better team than you have at the moment. What are we going to give up to get a decent DT, or any other NL vet? And for what? So the Lions can win maybe 6 games instead of 3 or 4?
IMHO, this is not the time to be spending a lot of money or picks on FAs that will be gone in a year or two. This is a time to be making the most out of your picks, UDFAs, and lower priced FAs. Too many times in the past, the Lions have brought in productive players at a high cost only to see them underperform their contracts. Well screw that, this team needs low-cost guys who will overperform their contracts.
The Lions are not going to fix all their problems in one draft or one off-season; too many holes and not enough money and picks to address everything. True, rookies screw up, but if your coaching is good then they learn and develop into productive players in year 2 and thereafter.
One other point: just because you want a good, proven DT or whatever does not mean you can get one without overpaying or maybe not all all. Guys don’t come to Detroit or any reason other than money. We can’t offer anybody a shot at a ring or even the playoffs. Yet. And the Lions need to be careful with their cap space so they can extend somebody like Ragnow next year and thereafter.
One item I think you will like is that Holmes/Snead were very good at being a year ahead of the need. Example, they took 2 safeties (3rd and 6th rd) this year after taking a safety last year in the 2nd round. They knew that John Johnson was coming up for FA and drafted his replacements early.
Holmes will look at each position and look to upgrade it and ensure 2-3 good players at every single spot. That is why 6 picks is not enough. He needs to find 40 guys that can come in for training camp and compete at every position.
Right on Wise. I get ya’. I think waiting is the wrong way to go.
No, the team isn’t going to fix everything in one draft. But this first season needs to set everything in motion. We lost Matt and that sucks. We added Goff and by any measure that is a step down. If we try to follow the lose more so we can get better I am outta here (finally). There are other paths available. Stafford’s trade gives us valuable flexibility and time as we are not starting a helpless rookie.
If your vision is strong through the middle then do something about that NOW. Set the future in motion the right way. Don’t build a car by building the trunk and moon roof first. Put the engine together.
Look at the Lions like this is 2010. There are now a few pieces in place but more work is required. Makegood draft decisions but don’t be afraid to get the guys we need to make this team move forward. Be creative. Losing to win, accumulating draft picks and waiting isn’t in the cards for me now and I don’t think the Lions need to do that.
This year should be written off, they should be purging bad contracts to get the cap in good shape while assessing the current players… They’ll add pieces to build towards the future, but 2021 is a lost cause. 2022 is when they need to move towards their “vision” and should hopefully be pushing for .500/playoffs. I don’t have much optimism for DC, but that should be the FO’s plan.
He reached out and got Jarvis Landry as well. And he actually got good value in that trade because it wasn’t premium picks.
Considering Dorsey’s history of trading for receivers and Holmes experience with the Rams trading for receivers (Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks) i could see them pulling off another trade.
I would LOVE to see the Lions trade for a WR. This year might not be the best trade market due to all the fine free agents out there but hell you never know.
For example, QB X is on the board and guess who picks after us in the draft:
the Panthers.
Give us DJ Moore for example? Kind of a silly example but possible.
But here IS a real, concrete idea worth looking at in terms of trade:
Robbie Anderson.
28 in May and the Panthers have DJ Moore (a stud) and Curtis Samuel is a free agent in 2021. If they want Curtis back it may be hard for them to also have Robbie back. Robbie is signed through 2022 and he had a hell of a season with the Panthers. Most importantly Robbie is always around that 15 yards per catch mark despite playing with shit with the Jets. He could be a fine deep threat here. 28 in May, signed in 2021 (but not past that) and maybe available. Yep, this is a trade that could benefit both teams IF the Panthers want to bring nacl Curtis Samuel.
Robby is also 6’3" and should be a 7-12 TD/year guy, not a 3 TD a year guy like he was in Carolina last season.