better. he never had an OL like this. he would have done great with Amon st brown, and had the best running game hes ever had. that said, he didnt want to go through a rebuild and at his age you couldnt blame him. he ended up winning a SB so hes done it all. happy for him. he can do it again with the Rams. But I like where we are with the Lions. top to bottom better team than any staffords been part of talent wise and only getting better. missing piece will be a QB that will play his career here and keep the Lions in playoff contention. shame we didnt have the competent management when stafford was younger.
Shut down corner...perhaps...I think a LB that can cover a TE is the biggest gap right now...how many times were drives extended by simple passes to the TE?
I could argue for DT too...DEs would start to collapse the pocket but with no interior rush the QB stepped up and ran or found a guy...how many times?
Matthew Stafford Yds/Att Att Cmp Cmp % TD INT Rate 6.9 303 206 68 10 8 87.4
Goff 7.6 587 382 65.1 29 7 99.3
I omitted total yards etc because of Stafford's injury. But the YPA, TD and INT ratio and QB rating is much better for Goff. Completion percentage, slight edge for Staffy.
Bigger question for me would be "What if we suddenly had Darius Slay?"
Say what you want about the Slay trade - but without the Slay trade the Lions wouldn't have Jonah Jackson. And I would rather have Jackson than Slay at this point in their careers.
Shut down corner...perhaps...I think a LB that can cover a TE is the biggest gap right now...how many times were drives extended by simple passes to the TE?
I could argue for DT too...DEs would start to collapse the pocket but with no interior rush the QB stepped up and ran or found a guy...how many times?
This is on point. So many elite teams have great TE's that keep drive alive and are real threats in the RZ. Anzelone will likely be traded so this is a big draft for defense I think. CB, is Jalen Carter falls to 6 that would be epic, but LB and Tracy Walker being back will help big time too
actually i think it was a god send bringing in patricia and totally destroying the team. we spent so many years "close to being competitive". but we got so bad we had to completely redo things. Hamp was the start. yes we lost some very good players but top to bottom our roster is better than its been in many years. and its getiing even better.
actually not just the roster, but the coaching staff as well. looking good......
Bigger question for me would be "What if we suddenly had Darius Slay?"
Say what you want about the Slay trade - but without the Slay trade the Lions wouldn't have Jonah Jackson. And I would rather have Jackson than Slay at this point in their careers.
We're obviously talking about a hypothetical reality. lol. But even with that said, Johah's overrated.
yeah letting caldwell go was dumb compared to ringing in patricia but would things have changed much keeping Caldwell?
They would probably have a better overall record and still no playoff wins, but with no hope of ever improving. So in that sense I agree with Trump - if they stuck with Caldwell, we'd still be in the abyss of futility the team has been in for 60+ years. At least now there is some hope of getting out.
dont agree. would have had same lame management holding things back. if we look for a new HC soon i would have no issue hiring Caldwell back.but when we had him we had crap above him. he wouldnt have been given the talent to elevate the team.
Post by rustyhilger on Feb 24, 2023 17:20:55 GMT -6
I can name at least 2 defensive starters at each position from the 2017 squad who would have had trouble even making the team in 2017. One of them literally didn't (Jared Davis). Anthony Zetell. Paul Worrilow. Akeem Spence.
These were the guys carrying the load, that Caldwell coached to a 9-7 record.
Last Edit: Feb 24, 2023 17:33:03 GMT -6 by rustyhilger
yeah letting caldwell go was dumb compared to ringing in patricia but would things have changed much keeping Caldwell?
If Caldwell had been paired with a good GM, then absolutely. Imagine what he could have done with an actual NFL roster.
Some of those CoachBot teams had talent. 2014 was probably the best Lions defense in the Super Bowl era. CoachBot coaches teams to what their record should be. Nothing more, nothing less. There's a reason he's never been offered a head coaching gig since.
If Caldwell had been paired with a good GM, then absolutely. Imagine what he could have done with an actual NFL roster.
Some of those CoachBot teams had talent. 2014 was probably the best Lions defense in the Super Bowl era.
Yea, and they had an 11-5 record and were in a strong position for a crack at the superbowl if not for a bad call. That team was well-prepared and executed strong game plans practically every time they stepped on the field.
By 2015, the gutting process of the team had already started and we were in full-on rebuild mode by 2017. Midseason coach shuffling, change in front office (not to mention constant front-office meddling), star players retiring or unsigned. Ownership change. And Caldwell still held that pile of shit together. The common narrative that Quinn and Patricia "gutted the team" wasn't accurate. It was already gutted.
Last Edit: Feb 25, 2023 16:19:29 GMT -6 by rustyhilger
Shut down corner...perhaps...I think a LB that can cover a TE is the biggest gap right now...how many times were drives extended by simple passes to the TE?
I could argue for DT too...DEs would start to collapse the pocket but with no interior rush the QB stepped up and ran or found a guy...how many times?
This!!! ^^^^
Agree completely LB and DT are the Lions biggest defensive weakness.
If it were me I would draft best player available at either position in the first followed by a CB and OG in the second