This is exactly what the Lions were expecting. They already have the highest payroll for OLine and they know they will have to back up the Brinks truck Sewell...
BTW - Jackson is gone... Signed with the Rams 3 years $51M... $17M is too much for the Lions budget.... They will being in another FA guard and draft at least 1.
Power-Johnson is the dream pick but most likely will not be there at 29 (unless Brad jumps up to grab him) - but there are plenty of high quality guards in the draft to grab one at 61 or 73...
Keegan is going to be there in the 6th or 7th, but a great pick up.... If we are talking about FA Guards, I'm kinda surprised no one has mention the grape eating monster Micheal Onwenu, home town boy, top flight guard with the ability to kick out to Right Tackle IF the Lions do not extend Decker....
Would Mike give his home team a slight discount to have Mama's cooking everyday?
On the Lions Podcast, they mentioned that Holmes loves to pick people like Zinter for many reasons...Skill...Talent...mentality...but injured which causes them to slide in the draft as some teams shy away from injured players...
They noted that before his injury he was rated as the highest IOL in this class, but the injury may cost him in the draft. With that being stated, IF he is there at 73 (top of the 3rd round) it would not surprise them that Holmes scoops him up and laughs all the way to the bank... A starting caliber Guard picked at the top of the 3rd round would be a steal...
Not to mention that a certain coach holds the 69th pick in the draft and is in tune with Zinter and what he can do...
There is no way Zinter goes past the top of the third round.
I agree that Blake's 40 time and 20 shuttle time will be crucial to his draft status, but I have to believe there is a certain coach out in LA that would not let him slip past him at Pick 106 (top of the 4th round) IF he is still there...
Put in my votes, its early but it appears that 3 plays in particular are pulling ahead for the top play of the year (with 1 in particular edging ahead of the other 2). Don't want to be a spoiler, so go click the link and speak your voice...
While it would be completely cool if Brad did this. I find it highly unlikely, For as special as Mikey is he essentially plays the same position as Brian Branch Detroit needs a true CB1, Mikey is more of a talented hybrid...
As for JJ, I have stated for several months now (not on this board but whatever) that JJ will be a Top Ten pick. Not only that, but I believe that once the combine is done (complete with interviews and such) JJ could be the #2 QB taken. <-----HAWT TAKE ALERT ---->
As for Blake, there is no way he makes it past the 3rd round. IF he is available in the 3rd round I am pretty sure there is a certain coach in LA that would LOVE to have him to supplement and eventually replace Eckler... But his 40 time and 20 yard shuffle time will be scrutinized.... He runs a 4.50 or lower, he is golden. Runs greater than a 4.50, there will be some questions...
While overall I get your point, but Washington is getting gutted (draft and portal) even worse than us and USC is a 1 side football team. Both of those teams are a step down from Texas, Oregon, and Ohio State...
If you Google "NFL Draft Big Boards" you'll get plenty of solid responses. There is also links to mock draft simulators if your a junkie and want to play GM. I use Pro Football Network site, but there are others. These sites have all the players ranked as well...
Pro Football Network site has Michigan players ranked as follow:
21 - JJ
97 - Blake
94 - Roman Wilson
280 - Cornelius Johnson
200 - AJ
168 - Henderson
400 - Barnhart
145 - Zinter
492!! - Keegan
162 - Nugent
423 - Trente Jones
61 - Jenkins
564 - Cam Goode
309 - McGregor
323 - Harrell
106 - Colson
565!! - Barrett
331 - Wallace
415 - Turner
Johnson is not listed...
The update their Big Board every other week. At least this one source is not as high on some of the players as we are (personally I believe 14 is a safe floor and 16 is possible) and the others would be scoped up as UDFA
3 of the Guards for the Lions are Free Agents this off season (Jackson, Viti, and Glasglow), the first 2 have yet to play an entire season over the past 2 years.
As much as I would bet the bank on Harbaugh drafting Blake, it would seem as a no brainer for the Lions to swoop in and take Zak in the 3rd round...
Home games (9) - Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo
None of those games should "scare" anyone... Way too early prediction....7-2 as the floor, more likely 8-1 with an outside chance at 9-0
Road games (8) - Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, Arizona, Houston, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Dallas
Even with a split (4-4) on the road would net them a 11-6 / 12-5 seaon and in contention for the #1 seed next year...
Are there some challenging games next year, sure @SF again, @Dallas, and @Houston, but it is ceratinly not something that I would call "Brutal"
Also, its a long off season, lets see what other teams are going to do. I am just optimistic that the Lions will be better next season, the question is what about the other teams...
Not a jinx, but you are pointing out just how FUBAR events had to go to derail the last Lions winning franchise prior to this one.
I am going to go out on a limb and state that I do not believe there will be another set of events that drastically alter a teams fortunes.
In addition unlike the 90's, I have 100% more faith in Brad Holmes to continue to add talent to this team that has already won and is one of the younger teams in the league...
Will GB be good, yes, will Chicago be better, yes... But so will the Lions. If people feel this is the ends to a means, they are clearly missing the big picure here. The window is just opening up, this is not like in Dallas or Buffalo or Miami or Baltimore where they are aging franchises that will face major roster turnover...
Big decision are forthcoming for Holmes, contract extensions for Goeff, Sewell, Decker are on the top of the list. Cap management will really start taking effect over the next couple of year but the Lions are $45M UNDER the cap. Plenty of room to work with...
Badgely is a career journeyman kicker. He is good, but he is NOT Tucker / Butker. I have to believe that within Campbell's calculas of deciding to either kick or go for it, it was plainly obvious that he preferred to give his Offense the chance over Badgely. Now if Campbell gets a kicker that he trust, I believe his calculas changes...
But for now, Campbell clearly does not completely trust Badgely otherwise he kicks the 46 yarder in the 3rd quarter and the 48 yarder in the 4th.
It is way too convient for Monday morning armchair coaches to state... "Awww those are such sure fire makeable FG, outdoors in SF" (Keep in mind that Moody missed from 48 earlier in the game heading in the same direction)
Bottomline, Campbell showed more faith in his offense over his kicker. Get a better kicker and the calculas changes....
You can pretty much go through most Super Bowl teams can point to a play or two within their run that simply can not be explained...
Eli's prayer to Tyree to beat NE in the Super Bowl...
Stafford having a sure fire INT drop in the last 2 minutes of the game just 1 play before hitting the long pass for the winning TD...
Ayuke pass catch will fall into that category, the pass was a terrible one by Purdy (over threw the receiver by 3-4 yards). Yet somehow the ball A) goes right through the hands of Vildor... B) hits his facemask.... C) bounces straight up like a soft toss for Ayuke to catch it....
That play changed the complection of the game. Certainly there are several other plays post that one, but the momentum swing on that play was tangible...
PS: I'll add Edlerman's double bounce catch off the Atlanta's CB back as another crazy play that was critical in TB's Super Bowl win...
The Lions have 7 picks in this upcoming draft. In addition, 4 of them are in the top 100. Holmes strength has been the ability to find players in the 2nd/3rd/4th round.
Each of the past 3 drafts, Holmes has been able to pull 4-5 players in each draft. I would expect much less in this draft. In addition, with the talent they have collected, Holmes will be able to be more selective with his targets. Also, Holmes has made it clear is that he will move up or down the draft board to get who he wants. I suspect there will be more "targeted" players that Holmes go after in this draft meaning maybe less overall picks but concentrating on positions of need.
The Lions need:
Priority 1 - A CB, fortunately this draft appears to have plenty of quality CB - my early preference (and BIG TEN slated) - DeJean - Iowa
Prioity 2 - DE, pass rushing
Priority 3 - K - Many will hammer Campbell for his failed 4th down attempts, but I have to believe that within his calculas is that he is not completely confident in. He believes that he does NOT have a Justin Tucker or Butker. Having a top notch kicker changes the calculas on these 4th down decisions
Priority 4 - G - Yay, the Lions have one of the better OL, but OL in the NFL needs to be treated like OL in college recruiting. Need to consistently keep adding to the line. Zak Zinter in the 2nd or 3rd round would be perfect...
Priority 5 - DT - See OL above, need to consistently keep adding players to this group...
Priority 6 - Big Receiver. Yes they have St. Brown and Laporta, and Gibbs, but you can never have enough weapons. Needs to be an outside receiver. Jamison is just starting to come into his own as a receiver to take the top off and St. Brown is excellent over the middle. Need a big receiver to add to the mix
Yes, I'll root for Jim. I did when he was at Stanford and SF (albeit I had to plug my nose a bit as a Lions fan)
And especially now since Jim did come to Michigan and kept his promise to bring Michigan back to the top of college football and leave it in better shape that he found it.
There is ZERO arguments that he did not do what he promised. I suspect that Jim believed that it would have all happened sooner than later, but he stuck with it and it got done. (Yay I know that he was within an Vikings Owners whim of heading to Minnesota. It didn't happen and that is the past)
As for winning a Super Bowl. Its possible, on the plus side he has 1 of the best young QB (particularly talent wise) in the league. That alone is a great start. Secondly, they have top end talent on defense (just shockingly bad at how they play together) but the talent is there.
The biggest hurdle they have to manage right now is the fact that his skilled players on the offense are getting older (by NFL standards) and the Chargers are $54M over the cap. That will take a year or 2 to sort out then they will be ready for lift off. Only to face a competitive AFC with Jackson, Burrow, Allen, and Mahomes.
Last two thoughts...
1) I would not bet against Jim, his track record states he will get it done...
2) Bet your home equity on Jim drafting Blake in this upcoming draft...
Similar story, my brother is a Mormon and back in that day, I would play Saturday Church league basketball with him.
Well sure enough, one day Scott Mitchell came to play. First impression, OMG its Scott Mitchell... Second impression... OMG look how soft / fat he is!!! Who in their right mind would give this dough boy millions?
FYI - I get it was just a Church league game, but what a wuss he was on the court....
Wait til next year. OSU is going for broke and when we come to the Toilet Bowl next November and have multiple Orji's in their endzone, it'll be glorious...
Gotta be Rutgers. My first guess was the Rose Bowl because of the red helmets lined up on D. Plus I could not make out the scoreboard and with the stadium configuration very similar between Michigan and the Rose Bowl, I thought Rose Bowl.
But without the Rose Bowl emblem on their jersey, would have to revert to Rutgers...
I love that image, but I am going to go with Blake but when he snarled at the camera after scoring the winning TD in the Rose Bowl. To me that was a "I TOLD YA WE WOULD DO THIS!" snarl...
They were about to defeat the dynasty and put themselves on the doorstep of their destiny...
Given that Harbaugh is having a 2nd interview with the Falcons, this is very much a possibility. As others have stated, this is far from over and the big factor is where JH goes. As I believe there is little doubt that IF Harbaugh takes either the Chargers or Falcons job, Minter will surely follow...
Holmes first HUGE decision for longevity of this run is coming up.... Goff is up for his next contract. He will certainly be looking for a huge contract.... It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Goff is better than good, he did actually win a Super Bowl. That's no small feat. He does have his limitations (not very mobile) but is more than "good" enough.
While you are correct, I believe these are artifacts of what happened up front that led to the focus on the OL and DL.
From what I have heard, Shelia is an astute business person and truly personally invested in seeing the Lions win. To me, it starts there. She made a great hire by bringing in Chris Spielman as a consultant - vast network, smart evaluator of talent, and vested interest in the Lions success.
This led to the hiring of Brad Holms, who at the time was the assistant GM for the Rams and was credited in the drafting of most of the talent the Rams acquired for their Super Bowl...
From there, they went off the chart and picked Dan Campbell, a former Lion, understands Detroit, has the personality that fits Detroit, and was a raising Assistant under Sean Peyton (good pedigree)...
The first sign they were going to be different was on Draft day 2021 when they are jumping up and down visibly celebrating that Sewell fell to them. It showed just how much they value OL...
Now Holmes has continued to show is skill in drafting talent, acquiring ~4 legit NFL players each draft he has handled. Three drafts in and the results are really showing:
2021 - Sewell, McNeill, Melifonwu, St. Brown, and Barnes - The simple fact that in his first draft, his first 3 picks were OL, DL, DL spoke volumes about him...
2022 - Hutch, Williams, Paschal, Joseph, Mitchell, Rodriguez, Huston - Note that 10 of his first 14 picks - 10 were for Defense; 6 of his first 14 picks - OL/DL. Building the lines and a defense
2023 - Gibbs, LaPorta, Branch, and Campbell - If you recall, the "talking heads" were critical of this draft. "Holmes is not following 'Draft position slotting'!!! What is he doing? He is over valuing players! Why take a RB and TE this high?" Well thank goodness Holmes is the smart one making the calls while the dim lighted talking heads are just that, blowing a ton of hot air...
If there was a redraft today, both Gibbs and LaPorta are top 10 picks...
So you have 16 impact players from the last 3 drafts (plus stashing a potential QB of the future in Hooker). Stick that with a QB you believe in (and acquired additional draft capital with it), you now have a winning franchise...
Makes me feel good about the upcoming off season, not because the draft was normally known as the Lions "Super Bowl" but seeing Holmes track record in drafting. Adding another 3-4 impact players to this team (PLEASE PLEASE BE 2 - CBs and another impact DE) makes this team set up for a good run.
Oh BTW, the Lions are also way under the cap ($45M going into next year), so they have room to resign key personal (Sewell, Hutch) while selectively look through the FA market for any additional help....
Ekeler is not the type of RB that would fit Harbaugh's preferred offense.
I have not read through all of this thread yet, but one also has to consider the Chargers are $54M OVER THE CAP...
While this team has talent, any personal changes will be hard to come by, they are even in a position where they have to shed talent (and salary). A win now mentality should be their direction, major shifts in game philosophy would prolong the expected rewards...
HAWT TAKE - Next year's Defense could be the best yet. Two All American type DT... 2 DE pass rush demons... All American CB1... High level talent and depth at Safety... Plenty of high end PROVEN talent coming back. The only "holes" (CB2 and 2 Linebackers) have experienced talent coming back.
The only first world question is, will there be the same amount of depth (8 DL playing - 3 LBs playing 2 spots)?
An article just came out stating they have scheduled an interview with Dan Quinn for this Friday...
I find that encouraging as they have already met the NFL's criteria of mandated interviews and already interviewed JH yet they are still interviewing...
From what I have been able to read, they have already interviewed several candidates:
Current Interim HC - Giff Smith; Dallas OC Kellen Moore; Ravens DC Mike McDonald; 49ers DC Steve Wilks (dont know about this one as the 49ers are still in the playoffs)
Here is a link stating the Chargers have set up an interview with Dallas DC: Dan Quinn
Also read an article (Bleacher Report so I won't link and take it as you wish) that the "vibe" from LA is that Jim is their top choice, but nothing is imminent as JH is being deliberate. One thing to remember about the Chargers, they are in salary cap hell with Herbert's contract ($54M OVER the cap with $24M of dead money; source - overthecap.com). Several restricts what they can do from a personal standpoint.
There is also a blurb that IF Jerry Jones fires McCarthy, JH would shoot to the top of the list, but I am not too worried about that one as I could not see anyway that JH and Jerry could coexists for more that 2 hours...
MGrowOld threw out an interesting thought about IF Philly cleans house. Now that one I would add to the short list of teams that could get JH to leave for the NFL
Given these requests from Jim and yes, I say requests because most are very reasonable. Three things can be concluded...
1) The contract must be close to ready. When you start giving very specific requests and clauses, it usually means all of the meat and potatoes portion of the contract is settled. Just hashing out the details.
2) Jim does not trust Warde's judgement. May like him as a person, but certainly lacking respect in Warde's judgement
3) Jim wants a last shot at the NFL specifically the Chargers. To me is either the Chargers or bust. There is not another opening that really fits into what I would presume is JH criteria for taking a job.
No one can determine JH's fate, but Michigan certainly needs to make every attempt to satisfy JH's requests. None of these are too far out in leftfield. Even the committee one, don't care if this is something that has been previously done for execs only.
If you are looking for the Big Lakes (Michigan or Huron), then here are several (really can't go wrong just depends on how much snow you want to tolerate and what size metropolitan you want to be:
1) Holland (33K pop) - comparatively moderate snow - larger metro with GR (~300K metro) just 30 minutes away
2) Ludington (8K) - more snow - smaller town feel
3) Grand Haven (10K) - West side, 30 minutes from GR
4) South Haven (4K) - Further south, 30 minutes from Kalamazoo (great bike trail between South Haven and Kazoo
5) Traverse City (16K) - More snow, isolated metro but decent size, great schools
6) Manistee (6K) - smaller town, more isolated
7) Petoskey/Harbor Springs/Charlevoix - All smaller town, more summer homes, more outdoor activities, no major metro near by
8) Cheboygan - starting on Lake Huron, located close to Mackinaw Island
9) Alpena (10K) to me, this is one of the hidden gems on the east side, but isolated.
Most of the inland lakes (Torch, Mullet, Burt, Charleviox, Hubbard) are more "summer" towns. The lakes are lined with a majority of summer homes.
One more thing to consider. The more north you go, the winters last closer to 6 months then 3-4. In the northern cities, the snow will fly from October to April, with November to March a solid winter. This is why Holland is the prime choice, nice city size, more moderate seasons, close to GR and great school districts. But if you like the winter activities or prefer a smaller community any of the other choices are can't miss....
I do not agree here. From a physical talent standpoint, there is VERY little difference between the 2. Justin has a slightly better arm strength, but I would say that JJ is more accurate (Herberts percentages were low to mid 60's in college - very good, but JJ is better 64% last year, 72% this year).
Processing, even. JJ has shown repeatedly this year to go through progressions...
Ability to throw on the run. JJ has the slight advantage. When Justin runs, he needs to reset his feet before he makes a good throw. How many times in the past 2 years have we seen JJ rollout and throw while on the run....?
Intangibles, right now at this point of college careers, JJ is clearly ahead of Justin...
You are falling for the same trick that many do....rating straight line arm strength too high in the list of attributes of a QB. Bill Walsh use to say that arm strength was like the 5th or 6th trait he considered when evaluating a QB...
With that being stated, both can, and will be, great QBs in the NFL...
Getting a little slanted in "rough" seasons? COVID was clearly the exception. Aside from that year, 6 out of 8 season with double digit wins? So two "rough" seasons? Certainly there were many bitter defeats over the past 8 season before this year, but that is what makes championships so great and so special. They are truly hard to come by...
A poor spot here... no championship
An untimely injury and a missed tackle there... no national championship
Here is a perfect Youtube for you. I do personally like it as it grounds me in all the bitterness it took to reach the mountain top, but the ending is glorious....
I believe you touched on a critical point that needs to be stressed. The latest trend is to hire a younger coach. We all love Jim, but he is 60... His track record is perfect (he turned EVERY program - Pro and college - into winner...
I could see the Ownership talking themselves into, hey we could get a Harbaugh lite at half the price... And they wouldn't be too far off...
It certainly appears the Chargers are the only viable "threat" in terms of Jim leaving. I do want to make it clear. IF Jim leaves, I will cheer for him wherever he goes. He came here, made a promise to put Michigan back on top. He met that promise and that deserves a ton of respect.
But the selfish side of me wants him to stay for another 10 years and build upon the legend he has established...
I asked this question to my boys (23 and 17 so the term is loosely applied) while watching...
'Does Moore actually sit on plays purposely though the game?'
What I mean by that is from the failed PASS attempt 3rd and 4 - a simple speed out that was covered - on the third drive of the game (when at that point we were AVERAGING 19 YARDS PER CARRY!!) all the way to the midpoint of the 3rd quarter. It just appeared that Moore was more or less content to just keep running plays on what I call Page 1 plays of the playbook.
Yet once JJ broke through on the long run on 3rd down, the next 3-4 plays were "Where in the heck were these plays all game?!?"
Don't get me wrong, I am still euphoric right now and I have re-watched the Rose Bowl and Natty multiple time the past 10 days (and certainly plan on continuing til at least 2026).
But the in game gut feeling was, put this team away. Your playing with fire "allowing" Washington to hang around. As noted above, I too am a grizzly vet remember way too many Carr games like that.
In the end, the boys are champions and we have a fan base can take our love (and arrogance) to a whole new level and simply don't care what anyone else thinks...
Im pretty sure the one you are talking about is actually on Moore, but I would need to see the all-22. It looked like everyone else was playing blanket coverage at the first down marker and Mikey was in his spot.
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Anywhere but Minnesota, I can not imagine having to root against him...
I believe the Giants will take him or the Raiders jump up to take him in the top 10
There is also 'rumors' that he could be the 2nd or 3rd QB taken. Daniels declining all Combine health / interviews / throwing turn some off.
My Dark horse is New England taking him at 3 over Daniels....
Zinter or Barner are the most likely. Johnson in the 6th or 7th is an outside possibility depends on if they bring back Reynolds...
This is exactly what the Lions were expecting. They already have the highest payroll for OLine and they know they will have to back up the Brinks truck Sewell...
BTW - Jackson is gone... Signed with the Rams 3 years $51M... $17M is too much for the Lions budget.... They will being in another FA guard and draft at least 1.
https://www.mlive.com/lions/2024/03/jonah-jackson-leaves-lions-for-reported-51-million-deal-with-los-angeles-rams.html
Power-Johnson is the dream pick but most likely will not be there at 29 (unless Brad jumps up to grab him) - but there are plenty of high quality guards in the draft to grab one at 61 or 73...
Keegan is going to be there in the 6th or 7th, but a great pick up.... If we are talking about FA Guards, I'm kinda surprised no one has mention the grape eating monster Micheal Onwenu, home town boy, top flight guard with the ability to kick out to Right Tackle IF the Lions do not extend Decker....
Would Mike give his home team a slight discount to have Mama's cooking everyday?
With the sharp increase in the salary cap, top guards are asking for $15M-$17M, so relatively speaking, Glasgow is a steal...
On the Lions Podcast, they mentioned that Holmes loves to pick people like Zinter for many reasons...Skill...Talent...mentality...but injured which causes them to slide in the draft as some teams shy away from injured players...
They noted that before his injury he was rated as the highest IOL in this class, but the injury may cost him in the draft. With that being stated, IF he is there at 73 (top of the 3rd round) it would not surprise them that Holmes scoops him up and laughs all the way to the bank... A starting caliber Guard picked at the top of the 3rd round would be a steal...
Not to mention that a certain coach holds the 69th pick in the draft and is in tune with Zinter and what he can do...
There is no way Zinter goes past the top of the third round.
I agree that Blake's 40 time and 20 shuttle time will be crucial to his draft status, but I have to believe there is a certain coach out in LA that would not let him slip past him at Pick 106 (top of the 4th round) IF he is still there...
Put in my votes, its early but it appears that 3 plays in particular are pulling ahead for the top play of the year (with 1 in particular edging ahead of the other 2). Don't want to be a spoiler, so go click the link and speak your voice...
Looking forward to the great video...
https://giphy…
No where did I say I was the ONLY one... Just simply that I have had this belief for a long time that JJ will be a high 1st round pick...
Just ask Skubal who is now touching 100 MPH gas occassionally
While it would be completely cool if Brad did this. I find it highly unlikely, For as special as Mikey is he essentially plays the same position as Brian Branch Detroit needs a true CB1, Mikey is more of a talented hybrid...
As for JJ, I have stated for several months now (not on this board but whatever) that JJ will be a Top Ten pick. Not only that, but I believe that once the combine is done (complete with interviews and such) JJ could be the #2 QB taken. <-----HAWT TAKE ALERT ---->
As for Blake, there is no way he makes it past the 3rd round. IF he is available in the 3rd round I am pretty sure there is a certain coach in LA that would LOVE to have him to supplement and eventually replace Eckler... But his 40 time and 20 yard shuffle time will be scrutinized.... He runs a 4.50 or lower, he is golden. Runs greater than a 4.50, there will be some questions...
While overall I get your point, but Washington is getting gutted (draft and portal) even worse than us and USC is a 1 side football team. Both of those teams are a step down from Texas, Oregon, and Ohio State...
If you Google "NFL Draft Big Boards" you'll get plenty of solid responses. There is also links to mock draft simulators if your a junkie and want to play GM. I use Pro Football Network site, but there are others. These sites have all the players ranked as well...
Pro Football Network site has Michigan players ranked as follow:
21 - JJ
97 - Blake
94 - Roman Wilson
280 - Cornelius Johnson
200 - AJ
168 - Henderson
400 - Barnhart
145 - Zinter
492!! - Keegan
162 - Nugent
423 - Trente Jones
61 - Jenkins
564 - Cam Goode
309 - McGregor
323 - Harrell
106 - Colson
565!! - Barrett
331 - Wallace
415 - Turner
Johnson is not listed...
The update their Big Board every other week. At least this one source is not as high on some of the players as we are (personally I believe 14 is a safe floor and 16 is possible) and the others would be scoped up as UDFA
The draft is April 25th - 27th....
Don't know how that aligns with Michigan Finals...
Baking Soda.... Let is soak, the shop vac it up....
3 of the Guards for the Lions are Free Agents this off season (Jackson, Viti, and Glasglow), the first 2 have yet to play an entire season over the past 2 years.
As much as I would bet the bank on Harbaugh drafting Blake, it would seem as a no brainer for the Lions to swoop in and take Zak in the 3rd round...
I have a feeling Brian's post was just for the sole purpose of venting...
Lions 2024 schedule (dates TBD) but...
Home games (9) - Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo
None of those games should "scare" anyone... Way too early prediction....7-2 as the floor, more likely 8-1 with an outside chance at 9-0
Road games (8) - Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, Arizona, Houston, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Dallas
Even with a split (4-4) on the road would net them a 11-6 / 12-5 seaon and in contention for the #1 seed next year...
Are there some challenging games next year, sure @SF again, @Dallas, and @Houston, but it is ceratinly not something that I would call "Brutal"
Also, its a long off season, lets see what other teams are going to do. I am just optimistic that the Lions will be better next season, the question is what about the other teams...
Not a jinx, but you are pointing out just how FUBAR events had to go to derail the last Lions winning franchise prior to this one.
I am going to go out on a limb and state that I do not believe there will be another set of events that drastically alter a teams fortunes.
In addition unlike the 90's, I have 100% more faith in Brad Holmes to continue to add talent to this team that has already won and is one of the younger teams in the league...
Will GB be good, yes, will Chicago be better, yes... But so will the Lions. If people feel this is the ends to a means, they are clearly missing the big picure here. The window is just opening up, this is not like in Dallas or Buffalo or Miami or Baltimore where they are aging franchises that will face major roster turnover...
Big decision are forthcoming for Holmes, contract extensions for Goeff, Sewell, Decker are on the top of the list. Cap management will really start taking effect over the next couple of year but the Lions are $45M UNDER the cap. Plenty of room to work with...
FYI..
Dallas - $22M OVER the cap
Buffalo - $53M! OVER the cap
Miami - $58M! OVER the cap
Baltimore - $5M Under the cap
https://overthecap.com/salary-cap-space
Badgely is a career journeyman kicker. He is good, but he is NOT Tucker / Butker. I have to believe that within Campbell's calculas of deciding to either kick or go for it, it was plainly obvious that he preferred to give his Offense the chance over Badgely. Now if Campbell gets a kicker that he trust, I believe his calculas changes...
But for now, Campbell clearly does not completely trust Badgely otherwise he kicks the 46 yarder in the 3rd quarter and the 48 yarder in the 4th.
It is way too convient for Monday morning armchair coaches to state... "Awww those are such sure fire makeable FG, outdoors in SF" (Keep in mind that Moody missed from 48 earlier in the game heading in the same direction)
Bottomline, Campbell showed more faith in his offense over his kicker. Get a better kicker and the calculas changes....
You can pretty much go through most Super Bowl teams can point to a play or two within their run that simply can not be explained...
Eli's prayer to Tyree to beat NE in the Super Bowl...
Stafford having a sure fire INT drop in the last 2 minutes of the game just 1 play before hitting the long pass for the winning TD...
Ayuke pass catch will fall into that category, the pass was a terrible one by Purdy (over threw the receiver by 3-4 yards). Yet somehow the ball A) goes right through the hands of Vildor... B) hits his facemask.... C) bounces straight up like a soft toss for Ayuke to catch it....
That play changed the complection of the game. Certainly there are several other plays post that one, but the momentum swing on that play was tangible...
PS: I'll add Edlerman's double bounce catch off the Atlanta's CB back as another crazy play that was critical in TB's Super Bowl win...
The Lions have 7 picks in this upcoming draft. In addition, 4 of them are in the top 100. Holmes strength has been the ability to find players in the 2nd/3rd/4th round.
Each of the past 3 drafts, Holmes has been able to pull 4-5 players in each draft. I would expect much less in this draft. In addition, with the talent they have collected, Holmes will be able to be more selective with his targets. Also, Holmes has made it clear is that he will move up or down the draft board to get who he wants. I suspect there will be more "targeted" players that Holmes go after in this draft meaning maybe less overall picks but concentrating on positions of need.
The Lions need:
Priority 1 - A CB, fortunately this draft appears to have plenty of quality CB - my early preference (and BIG TEN slated) - DeJean - Iowa
Prioity 2 - DE, pass rushing
Priority 3 - K - Many will hammer Campbell for his failed 4th down attempts, but I have to believe that within his calculas is that he is not completely confident in. He believes that he does NOT have a Justin Tucker or Butker. Having a top notch kicker changes the calculas on these 4th down decisions
Priority 4 - G - Yay, the Lions have one of the better OL, but OL in the NFL needs to be treated like OL in college recruiting. Need to consistently keep adding to the line. Zak Zinter in the 2nd or 3rd round would be perfect...
Priority 5 - DT - See OL above, need to consistently keep adding players to this group...
Priority 6 - Big Receiver. Yes they have St. Brown and Laporta, and Gibbs, but you can never have enough weapons. Needs to be an outside receiver. Jamison is just starting to come into his own as a receiver to take the top off and St. Brown is excellent over the middle. Need a big receiver to add to the mix
Yes, I'll root for Jim. I did when he was at Stanford and SF (albeit I had to plug my nose a bit as a Lions fan)
And especially now since Jim did come to Michigan and kept his promise to bring Michigan back to the top of college football and leave it in better shape that he found it.
There is ZERO arguments that he did not do what he promised. I suspect that Jim believed that it would have all happened sooner than later, but he stuck with it and it got done. (Yay I know that he was within an Vikings Owners whim of heading to Minnesota. It didn't happen and that is the past)
As for winning a Super Bowl. Its possible, on the plus side he has 1 of the best young QB (particularly talent wise) in the league. That alone is a great start. Secondly, they have top end talent on defense (just shockingly bad at how they play together) but the talent is there.
The biggest hurdle they have to manage right now is the fact that his skilled players on the offense are getting older (by NFL standards) and the Chargers are $54M over the cap. That will take a year or 2 to sort out then they will be ready for lift off. Only to face a competitive AFC with Jackson, Burrow, Allen, and Mahomes.
Last two thoughts...
1) I would not bet against Jim, his track record states he will get it done...
2) Bet your home equity on Jim drafting Blake in this upcoming draft...
LOL that Kenneth Grant isn't on this list. That's fine, it is obvious that he needs at least 2 more years to prepare for the NFL...... /s
Similar story, my brother is a Mormon and back in that day, I would play Saturday Church league basketball with him.
Well sure enough, one day Scott Mitchell came to play. First impression, OMG its Scott Mitchell... Second impression... OMG look how soft / fat he is!!! Who in their right mind would give this dough boy millions?
FYI - I get it was just a Church league game, but what a wuss he was on the court....
Wait til next year. OSU is going for broke and when we come to the Toilet Bowl next November and have multiple Orji's in their endzone, it'll be glorious...
Gotta be Rutgers. My first guess was the Rose Bowl because of the red helmets lined up on D. Plus I could not make out the scoreboard and with the stadium configuration very similar between Michigan and the Rose Bowl, I thought Rose Bowl.
But without the Rose Bowl emblem on their jersey, would have to revert to Rutgers...
Nice call...
A perfect lunch time review!!
Thanks
Just snipped it off of YouTube for ya. To me it was a culmination of 3 years of work...
nm Can't be the Rose Bowl, there is no emblem on JJ jersey...
I love that image, but I am going to go with Blake but when he snarled at the camera after scoring the winning TD in the Rose Bowl. To me that was a "I TOLD YA WE WOULD DO THIS!" snarl...
They were about to defeat the dynasty and put themselves on the doorstep of their destiny...
Doug English from the "Silver Rush"...
Billy Sims... A potential future HOF who had his career cut waaaaaayyyyy to short because of a terrible knee injury
Bennie Blades and Jerry Ball...
Given that Harbaugh is having a 2nd interview with the Falcons, this is very much a possibility. As others have stated, this is far from over and the big factor is where JH goes. As I believe there is little doubt that IF Harbaugh takes either the Chargers or Falcons job, Minter will surely follow...
Holmes first HUGE decision for longevity of this run is coming up.... Goff is up for his next contract. He will certainly be looking for a huge contract.... It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Goff is better than good, he did actually win a Super Bowl. That's no small feat. He does have his limitations (not very mobile) but is more than "good" enough.
The final four is a perfect example of which one is not like the others...
Purdy played terrible against GB, fortunately for him (and unfortunately for the Lions), it's suppose to be sunny and mid 60s next Sunday...
With that being stated, Deebo's injury status will be huge...
Nice condense version of what I just posted....
While you are correct, I believe these are artifacts of what happened up front that led to the focus on the OL and DL.
From what I have heard, Shelia is an astute business person and truly personally invested in seeing the Lions win. To me, it starts there. She made a great hire by bringing in Chris Spielman as a consultant - vast network, smart evaluator of talent, and vested interest in the Lions success.
This led to the hiring of Brad Holms, who at the time was the assistant GM for the Rams and was credited in the drafting of most of the talent the Rams acquired for their Super Bowl...
From there, they went off the chart and picked Dan Campbell, a former Lion, understands Detroit, has the personality that fits Detroit, and was a raising Assistant under Sean Peyton (good pedigree)...
The first sign they were going to be different was on Draft day 2021 when they are jumping up and down visibly celebrating that Sewell fell to them. It showed just how much they value OL...
Now Holmes has continued to show is skill in drafting talent, acquiring ~4 legit NFL players each draft he has handled. Three drafts in and the results are really showing:
2021 - Sewell, McNeill, Melifonwu, St. Brown, and Barnes - The simple fact that in his first draft, his first 3 picks were OL, DL, DL spoke volumes about him...
2022 - Hutch, Williams, Paschal, Joseph, Mitchell, Rodriguez, Huston - Note that 10 of his first 14 picks - 10 were for Defense; 6 of his first 14 picks - OL/DL. Building the lines and a defense
2023 - Gibbs, LaPorta, Branch, and Campbell - If you recall, the "talking heads" were critical of this draft. "Holmes is not following 'Draft position slotting'!!! What is he doing? He is over valuing players! Why take a RB and TE this high?" Well thank goodness Holmes is the smart one making the calls while the dim lighted talking heads are just that, blowing a ton of hot air...
If there was a redraft today, both Gibbs and LaPorta are top 10 picks...
So you have 16 impact players from the last 3 drafts (plus stashing a potential QB of the future in Hooker). Stick that with a QB you believe in (and acquired additional draft capital with it), you now have a winning franchise...
Makes me feel good about the upcoming off season, not because the draft was normally known as the Lions "Super Bowl" but seeing Holmes track record in drafting. Adding another 3-4 impact players to this team (PLEASE PLEASE BE 2 - CBs and another impact DE) makes this team set up for a good run.
Oh BTW, the Lions are also way under the cap ($45M going into next year), so they have room to resign key personal (Sewell, Hutch) while selectively look through the FA market for any additional help....
Ekeler is not the type of RB that would fit Harbaugh's preferred offense.
I have not read through all of this thread yet, but one also has to consider the Chargers are $54M OVER THE CAP...
While this team has talent, any personal changes will be hard to come by, they are even in a position where they have to shed talent (and salary). A win now mentality should be their direction, major shifts in game philosophy would prolong the expected rewards...
I'll say it now and you can lock it in.
HAWT TAKE - Next year's Defense could be the best yet. Two All American type DT... 2 DE pass rush demons... All American CB1... High level talent and depth at Safety... Plenty of high end PROVEN talent coming back. The only "holes" (CB2 and 2 Linebackers) have experienced talent coming back.
The only first world question is, will there be the same amount of depth (8 DL playing - 3 LBs playing 2 spots)?
An article just came out stating they have scheduled an interview with Dan Quinn for this Friday...
I find that encouraging as they have already met the NFL's criteria of mandated interviews and already interviewed JH yet they are still interviewing...
From what I have been able to read, they have already interviewed several candidates:
Current Interim HC - Giff Smith; Dallas OC Kellen Moore; Ravens DC Mike McDonald; 49ers DC Steve Wilks (dont know about this one as the 49ers are still in the playoffs)
Here is a link stating the Chargers have set up an interview with Dallas DC: Dan Quinn
Also read an article (Bleacher Report so I won't link and take it as you wish) that the "vibe" from LA is that Jim is their top choice, but nothing is imminent as JH is being deliberate. One thing to remember about the Chargers, they are in salary cap hell with Herbert's contract ($54M OVER the cap with $24M of dead money; source - overthecap.com). Several restricts what they can do from a personal standpoint.
There is also a blurb that IF Jerry Jones fires McCarthy, JH would shoot to the top of the list, but I am not too worried about that one as I could not see anyway that JH and Jerry could coexists for more that 2 hours...
MGrowOld threw out an interesting thought about IF Philly cleans house. Now that one I would add to the short list of teams that could get JH to leave for the NFL
Given these requests from Jim and yes, I say requests because most are very reasonable. Three things can be concluded...
1) The contract must be close to ready. When you start giving very specific requests and clauses, it usually means all of the meat and potatoes portion of the contract is settled. Just hashing out the details.
2) Jim does not trust Warde's judgement. May like him as a person, but certainly lacking respect in Warde's judgement
3) Jim wants a last shot at the NFL specifically the Chargers. To me is either the Chargers or bust. There is not another opening that really fits into what I would presume is JH criteria for taking a job.
No one can determine JH's fate, but Michigan certainly needs to make every attempt to satisfy JH's requests. None of these are too far out in leftfield. Even the committee one, don't care if this is something that has been previously done for execs only.
If you are looking for the Big Lakes (Michigan or Huron), then here are several (really can't go wrong just depends on how much snow you want to tolerate and what size metropolitan you want to be:
1) Holland (33K pop) - comparatively moderate snow - larger metro with GR (~300K metro) just 30 minutes away
2) Ludington (8K) - more snow - smaller town feel
3) Grand Haven (10K) - West side, 30 minutes from GR
4) South Haven (4K) - Further south, 30 minutes from Kalamazoo (great bike trail between South Haven and Kazoo
5) Traverse City (16K) - More snow, isolated metro but decent size, great schools
6) Manistee (6K) - smaller town, more isolated
7) Petoskey/Harbor Springs/Charlevoix - All smaller town, more summer homes, more outdoor activities, no major metro near by
8) Cheboygan - starting on Lake Huron, located close to Mackinaw Island
9) Alpena (10K) to me, this is one of the hidden gems on the east side, but isolated.
Most of the inland lakes (Torch, Mullet, Burt, Charleviox, Hubbard) are more "summer" towns. The lakes are lined with a majority of summer homes.
One more thing to consider. The more north you go, the winters last closer to 6 months then 3-4. In the northern cities, the snow will fly from October to April, with November to March a solid winter. This is why Holland is the prime choice, nice city size, more moderate seasons, close to GR and great school districts. But if you like the winter activities or prefer a smaller community any of the other choices are can't miss....
I do not agree here. From a physical talent standpoint, there is VERY little difference between the 2. Justin has a slightly better arm strength, but I would say that JJ is more accurate (Herberts percentages were low to mid 60's in college - very good, but JJ is better 64% last year, 72% this year).
Processing, even. JJ has shown repeatedly this year to go through progressions...
Ability to throw on the run. JJ has the slight advantage. When Justin runs, he needs to reset his feet before he makes a good throw. How many times in the past 2 years have we seen JJ rollout and throw while on the run....?
Intangibles, right now at this point of college careers, JJ is clearly ahead of Justin...
You are falling for the same trick that many do....rating straight line arm strength too high in the list of attributes of a QB. Bill Walsh use to say that arm strength was like the 5th or 6th trait he considered when evaluating a QB...
With that being stated, both can, and will be, great QBs in the NFL...
Getting a little slanted in "rough" seasons? COVID was clearly the exception. Aside from that year, 6 out of 8 season with double digit wins? So two "rough" seasons? Certainly there were many bitter defeats over the past 8 season before this year, but that is what makes championships so great and so special. They are truly hard to come by...
A poor spot here... no championship
An untimely injury and a missed tackle there... no national championship
Here is a perfect Youtube for you. I do personally like it as it grounds me in all the bitterness it took to reach the mountain top, but the ending is glorious....
PS - FAIR WARNING.... The first 2 minutes is a ROUGH watch....
I believe you touched on a critical point that needs to be stressed. The latest trend is to hire a younger coach. We all love Jim, but he is 60... His track record is perfect (he turned EVERY program - Pro and college - into winner...
I could see the Ownership talking themselves into, hey we could get a Harbaugh lite at half the price... And they wouldn't be too far off...
It certainly appears the Chargers are the only viable "threat" in terms of Jim leaving. I do want to make it clear. IF Jim leaves, I will cheer for him wherever he goes. He came here, made a promise to put Michigan back on top. He met that promise and that deserves a ton of respect.
But the selfish side of me wants him to stay for another 10 years and build upon the legend he has established...
I asked this question to my boys (23 and 17 so the term is loosely applied) while watching...
'Does Moore actually sit on plays purposely though the game?'
What I mean by that is from the failed PASS attempt 3rd and 4 - a simple speed out that was covered - on the third drive of the game (when at that point we were AVERAGING 19 YARDS PER CARRY!!) all the way to the midpoint of the 3rd quarter. It just appeared that Moore was more or less content to just keep running plays on what I call Page 1 plays of the playbook.
Yet once JJ broke through on the long run on 3rd down, the next 3-4 plays were "Where in the heck were these plays all game?!?"
Don't get me wrong, I am still euphoric right now and I have re-watched the Rose Bowl and Natty multiple time the past 10 days (and certainly plan on continuing til at least 2026).
But the in game gut feeling was, put this team away. Your playing with fire "allowing" Washington to hang around. As noted above, I too am a grizzly vet remember way too many Carr games like that.
In the end, the boys are champions and we have a fan base can take our love (and arrogance) to a whole new level and simply don't care what anyone else thinks...
Im pretty sure the one you are talking about is actually on Moore, but I would need to see the all-22. It looked like everyone else was playing blanket coverage at the first down marker and Mikey was in his spot.