Don’t be a kool-aid drinking maniac. Be reasonable here.
Players here, draft assets, cap space, coaching, and front office combined, are we better than anyone else in the league, and if so, who, and why?
I’ll start by saying I’m taking our situation right now over the Falcons, because I think we’re in a better positon money wise and draft wise to improve the pieces we already have to build on like Sewell, Ragnow, St. Brown, Swift, Hock, Decker and Jackson.
Even though they now have a lot of capital, I’m liking our situation better than the Seahawks because they’ll probably be looking for a new regime soon. I see Carroll retiring in at most 3 years and I don’t think Schneider will do too great with this new high round capital he has.
Even though they got 3 1st round picks for Watson, I like our situation better than the Texans because we don’t have Jack Easterby running the show here.
Jacksonville and Chicago are TBD in my opinion because they at least know who their ideal franchise QB is.
The Bengals would have been at the bottom of this list only two years ago. The Bills before 2018 were one of the five worst teams. The Browns had their 1-31 streak. Rams before McVay were blah as it gets. Titans before Vrabel. Saints before Payton and Brees. Pats before Belichick and Brady.
I’m the exact same. I like Brad, I want him to succeed and think he can. But this entire Brad Holmes has ‘supernatural abilities’ and is the ‘greatest GM the Lions have ever had’ and treating him like a messiah after a single season (that we went 3-14-1 in, no less) is a little much for me. And even beyond that, any slightest notion that you aren’t on board with something he does, you get lambasted by those drunk on the kool-aid…it’s incredibly off-putting to me.
He’s done some things I like, he’s done some things I haven’t liked. The jury should definitely still be out on him. I guess if that makes me a pessimist, so be it.
But I would agree with the teams HSV listed. I think we’re in a better spot right now than the teams he mentioned. Although, I’d add CHI to the definite because I’ve never been a believer in Justin Fields, so I think they’re gonna waste 4-5 years on him and not get results.
Most teams are better then us. Texans are a dumpster fire and the jags are as well but that could change under pederson but they still have Ballard at GM and his FA stinks of desperate to save his job.
Chicago is aging but they have a sound minded regime in there so who knows. Same with the Vikings.
I would say we are on the upswing……I’ll be a lot more confident in the upswing after the draft and just seeing who the lions grab. There is valid concern about just signing your own basically from a 3 win team and brining back Davis when thst could stand in the way of Barnes development or say a FA lb doesn’t choose them BC after the draft bc of the depth by a player who really doesn’t have a high ceiling.
I actually have hope that Glenn can turn Davis into a pass rush specialist……but who knows.
the only ones that i would add are the Jets and Giants. even with their two top 10 draft picks, i’d give us the edge in coaching, front office, and the rosters are close. possibly Washington.
by mid 2023, after the draft, if its not 50% of the teams, we’re in trouble.
This is where I’m at, it’s too early to tell. After year two it will be much easier to judge these guys one way or the other. All the posts about how amazing they’ve been kill me. they won 3 games. I think it’s ok to pump the breaks and wait and see. By the way I’m cautiously optimistic, but I was cautiously optimistic about BQ as well, and Mayhew before him. And people said all the same glowing things about all those guys too early on, so we will see. 8 wins or more will give me a lot more confidence in these guys.
Cautiously optimistic is a popular term… but I’m almost cautiously pessimistic. I really like Coach Campbell and Brad Holmes as people. Of all the Lions braintrusts we’ve seen, nobody I’d rather see succeed and have a beer with more than these guys. But we’re already in year 2 and I just haven’t seen much yet personally. I’m clearly a hardcore sports fan with my teams - the other teams being the Celtics and Cardinals. I watch those franchises restock with young up-and-coming talent, I see them with homegrown franchise cornerstones, I see the winning culture that surrounds these franchises… and I just never see it with the Lions. It felt like in 2016 they might be finally turning the corner - remember they had Stafford in his prime, Calvin, Ziggy Ansah, Decker, Diggs, Glasgow, Marvin Jones, Levy was a beast, Glover Quin roaming back there making picks left and right, Golden Tate, Darius Slay. Hell even their guards were Larry Warford and Laken Tomlinson before they both were pro bowlers (what could have been). That was the first time since Barry retired that I felt like “oh hey, this team is finally a squad.” They got jobbed on that Pettigrew call, fell a hair short of double digit wins the following season, and then Bob Quinn took a wrecking ball to the franchise.
I’d love to get back to that 2016 feeling of a franchise that’s on the rise with a bunch of talent - but we’re sooooo far from that. This roster is pitiful. There are very few cornerstones. It’s sobering looking up and down the depth chart. I feel for Holmes and MCDC because they took over an awful situation, but they need to start adding talent. Quickly.
This is well stated throughout imo. I tend to get frustrated at the takes of some posters because the optimism is so high. I wish I still had that for the Lions, but that faded over the years.
I really love having a franchise Tackle and Center to start. In ensures that the Lions will have a pretty good OLine for the next decade. That’s a good start to this rebuild. Outside of that though, there isn’t much in terms of elite talent or franchise building blocks. I really like Hock and Swift, but I don’t see Hock as a game changer. As for Swift, he has two years left before you have to pay him. Do you pay for a RB in todays NFL? I don’t think you do. Hate to see him go, but if he’s really good he’s expensive. And if he’s not so good, do you want him back?
Guys like ARSB, Jonah Jackson, Levi, Alim, Barnes are nice young players. But I don’t see any of them as potential stars. Decker/Goff/Okwara/Walker are solid NFL starters (Decker better than solid), but are they with this team in 2024 and beyond? At that point do we want them to be?
It’s just a roster that doesn’t inspire for me. But a lot of people think it’s on the cusp. Can view it as every single player or draft pick hitting their ceiling. there’s just only so much a coach staff and GM can do. At some point we need above average talent. I have a hard time finding average talent. But a lot can change in a year, especially with a team so young. So for that reason I have some hope. I do find my self as a pessimist because of the outlook of the board at times. But I swear in the comfort of my own living room, I’m a die hard who loves my Lions! Haha
I love the process of this rebuild. I would like to be competitive in 2023 and beyond. This year, I don’t see it and that’s ok for me. I think I have more patients than most here.
In high school or possibly college. In the NFL the there is so much talent on the field that even the worst teams can show up on Sunday and be better than the other team that day. That’s why you can list off the worst teams in NFL history and only 2 of them ever went 0-16. The Lions actually beat a team, but the refs stepped in. The Browns were literally trying to go 0-16 after they accidentally went 1-15. They stepped it up a notch the following year to finally achieve 0-16.
There are a few on this board who are way over the top on Brad and Dan C. too. They have been drinking the Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell bath water all year.
I like them both so far but the jury is very much out on them and they have made plenty of questionable moves. Neither deserves the level of praise their getting.
A lot of these same posters were the same way with Matt P and BQ early on too.
For me the praise starts when the results match.
We are all Lions fans and we all want to see him succeed. But your absolutely right. It’s over the top.
The sad part is if you say wait a second let’s hold off the praise until he’s actually accomplishes something. Then you are branded a hater.
Bears. They keep shedding talent after drafting a rookie QB high…supposed to be the other way doofuses. Plus their rookie franchise QB is well, umm…no one realky knows.
Jags- Until proven otherwise, they are a mess. Now with fat wallets.
Jets- Mess without fat wallets.
Atlanta- Worst skill group in football? Bottom 3 for sure, and the D was a problem. Oy.
Carolina- What a football team would look like if it were this Austin Powers scene
Giants- Just when you think you have the QB+RB+ WR1/2/3, TE Cowboys game plan…and you dont really have any of that now, do you?
RedComms- How many wins did they have last year? Whatever the number, I cant believe they actually pulled that off. Nice DL investment also…
Texans- Easterby’s master plan…get the fans to assasinate the owner, take over.
There are a couple more that are debatable, but these in my mind are fairly clear
