Za'Darius Smith

Alim is definitely a guy you don’t want to see coming at you as a QB.

After Alim and Hutch hit Stafford in the playoffs last year…

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Knocked the white off his teeth.

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Who said that? Are you a child?

Nobody was expecting Za’Darius to step in and produce like Hutch was. He had a sack in his first game and multiple pressures in his second. I don’t know what more you can ask from a guy who joined the team midseason and hasn’t really hit his stride yet. :person_shrugging:

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There’s a thread or two about it before Alim was extended.
And yes, I’m a bit of a child.

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Do I detect a new pressure-king?

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those things are always tardy

3 Dline and a “backup” LB in the top 5 bodes well.
I love Rodrigo. That kid is pure football and all about TEAM.

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Absolute stud for a 6th round pick. Whenever he gets a chance, he makes plays.

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I thought Smith looked like one of the bright spots on defense yesterday.

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hope we can keep him, when the next couple of waves of contracts start coming up

awesome contributor, and arguably the beat tackler on the team…between him and branch, but AA and Campbell are awesome too

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I think if he continues to grow he may get a starting level contract elsewhere.

Question is will the Lions bring Barnes back or look to add more youth at LBer.

Personally I think Barnes is back and Campbell is a long term solution. That leaves Rodrigo on the outside.

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Smith was a large part of how we got away with Vildor’s play and he helps Alim not to get doubled all the time.

Za’Darius S was literally the highest-ranked Lion on either side of the ball in the Colts game according to PFF, so…

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Rodrigo and Anzalone are both FAs in 2026… Do you want a 32 year old Anzalone or a 27 year old Rodriguez resigned? MR isn’t as good in space as AA, but he’s not a HUGE drop off IMO

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I would really prefer that Rodrigo not be a starting WLB. He’s best playing inside and downfield.

He won’t unseat SLB Barnes (assuming he’s back) or MLB Campbell.

When it comes time for AA to retire. I would expect the Lions to replace him with a LBer with exceptional coverage abilities.

My guess is someone will give Rodrigo a starting ILB spot. When the time comes.

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I agree that Rodrigo is best inside… Would thrive in a system like the Steelers… He’s just such a “Detroit” type player that I think they’d give him a shot at the starting WLB role, but at a minimal expense. If he’s offered real starter money outside the organization, he may chase that bag.

He made the rookie Dalton Tucker look foolish. Nelson was mostly on Reader.

Reader hit Richardson multiple times too :smiley:

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