One thing I got out of session was Dan saying they will try attck DB issues with experience and upside. He said Holmes was "looking at a veteran guy...some Safeties on other teams...that are promising young players that we can potentially poach and bring in"
I still think the "O" can carry the Lions into the playoffs...especially with the Bears, Minny and The Pack all having their troubles. But in no way is this "D" battle hardened for a playoff run. I keep looking at the Seahawks with a bunch of no-names getting it done.
Never seen Dan Campbell look so down in the mouth and obviously frustrated. Almost like he's not sure what to do next because they just don't have the players.
That's on Mr. Holmes and his personnel team. I would expect that Dan Campbell is a part of that as well- when he has the time. But while we have a slew of high profile, high quality players, we are not strong throughout. On defense we're bandaids and fill ins. With a DC who is learning how to do this on the job.
It's a tough situation: 2-3 bad drafts in a row, topped with free agent signings that either didn't pan out due to talent, or due to injury. (What was the entire point of the Greg Dortch signing?).
There is no easy way out of this. I still see the Lions as a middling team this year. A lot of changes will have to take place over the next year or maybe two, to do a rebuild on the fly while we have those key players on offense, and a couple on D signed to extensions.
Hey...if I'm wrong and they take the NFC North and get into the playoffs- great. But I don't see this as a playoff team. Not currently. And not with that defensive back end.
Sounds like Dan had the firehose going, blasting out a ton of info. Better than the Wings completely closed-mouth approach, by contrast. So many uncontrollables in the league, understandable that all the focus is on what we can control. But man, they better win the next three.
Safe to say, the entire secondary needs an overhaul, which is pretty sobering contrasting how we felt about it this time last year. Branch isn't even a sure thing, and I'm not sure how they handle that going forward with him being a FA.
I find it interesting that he mentioned the kickoff return unit is leaving a lot of meat on the bone.I could see in 2 returns that Dortch is way more explosive than Kennedy. I will never understand that call.
When Dan said "And then, really, we had a couple of guys that were responsible for the other hundred that can get cleaned up", do you which couple of guys that he was referring to?
Wonnum, Campbell, Moore, Hutchinson, and White were the culprits in run defense. White and Hutchinson were particularly bad.
Guessing Izzy will take Maddox spot at S. McCreary or Abney will take the full time slot role. Rodrigo will play over White. And then edge - Wonnum probably gets one more shot based on past performance before he cedes more snaps to someone else, guessing Lacy.
I've never seen an organization continually act so defiant to the obvious truth. We all know that Kerby is not going to magically be ready to play if he isn't already. The whole thing is ridiculous at this point, and I don't understand why they keep the narrative alive. Perhaps it is because this is another example of Holmes making a big move ($) that fails massively, and they can't let it go.
One thing I got out of session was Dan saying they will try attck DB issues with experience and upside. He said Holmes was "looking at a veteran guy...some Safeties on other teams...that are promising young players that we can potentially poach and bring in"
Obviously they don't feel the answer is In House.
I still think the "O" can carry the Lions into the playoffs...especially with the Bears, Minny and The Pack all having their troubles. But in no way is this "D" battle hardened for a playoff run. I keep looking at the Seahawks with a bunch of no-names getting it done.
Never seen Dan Campbell look so down in the mouth and obviously frustrated. Almost like he's not sure what to do next because they just don't have the players.
That's on Mr. Holmes and his personnel team. I would expect that Dan Campbell is a part of that as well- when he has the time. But while we have a slew of high profile, high quality players, we are not strong throughout. On defense we're bandaids and fill ins. With a DC who is learning how to do this on the job.
It's a tough situation: 2-3 bad drafts in a row, topped with free agent signings that either didn't pan out due to talent, or due to injury. (What was the entire point of the Greg Dortch signing?).
There is no easy way out of this. I still see the Lions as a middling team this year. A lot of changes will have to take place over the next year or maybe two, to do a rebuild on the fly while we have those key players on offense, and a couple on D signed to extensions.
Hey...if I'm wrong and they take the NFC North and get into the playoffs- great. But I don't see this as a playoff team. Not currently. And not with that defensive back end.
Sounds like Dan had the firehose going, blasting out a ton of info. Better than the Wings completely closed-mouth approach, by contrast. So many uncontrollables in the league, understandable that all the focus is on what we can control. But man, they better win the next three.
Safe to say, the entire secondary needs an overhaul, which is pretty sobering contrasting how we felt about it this time last year. Branch isn't even a sure thing, and I'm not sure how they handle that going forward with him being a FA.
I find it interesting that he mentioned the kickoff return unit is leaving a lot of meat on the bone.I could see in 2 returns that Dortch is way more explosive than Kennedy. I will never understand that call.
Obviously Dortch is both a better wr and return man than Tom Kennedy.
There are often other reasons that a player isn't a fit on a particular team.
Chemistry with coaches, players or management comes into play.
The Lions have cut, or taken talented free agents and draft prospects off their board for a variety of off field reasons.
Not everyone can be a Lion.
When Dan said "And then, really, we had a couple of guys that were responsible for the other hundred that can get cleaned up", do you which couple of guys that he was referring to?
Wonnum, Campbell, Moore, Hutchinson, and White were the culprits in run defense. White and Hutchinson were particularly bad.
Guessing Izzy will take Maddox spot at S. McCreary or Abney will take the full time slot role. Rodrigo will play over White. And then edge - Wonnum probably gets one more shot based on past performance before he cedes more snaps to someone else, guessing Lacy.
I've never seen an organization continually act so defiant to the obvious truth. We all know that Kerby is not going to magically be ready to play if he isn't already. The whole thing is ridiculous at this point, and I don't understand why they keep the narrative alive. Perhaps it is because this is another example of Holmes making a big move ($) that fails massively, and they can't let it go.
They can't cut him and he's not taking up a roster spot. What would you like them to do?