Sweet relief comes with your daily dose of Detroit Lions Morning Intel.
When I think about the upcoming season I get a little nervous. This draft is huge, and Matthew Stafford really is the guy that is going to have to carry the offense now. There’s no emergency bail out plan any more with the retirement of Calvin Johnson. I like the direction the new GM has taken the roster, but the lack of obvious, and immediately impactful improvement is tempering my excitement in recent weeks. In today’s news, there are looks at plenty of guys that may become the next set of draftees for us all to get obnoxiously excited about before they ever play a down. And yes, we changed the name of the column, the original name was just the title I gave it to let Chris and Mike know what I had in mind, and the next thing I knew they went and published it. After further discussion about titles and timing, we came up with, “Lions Morning Intel”. Its the Lions news you need to start off your day. If you have any thoughts on the title, please let us know in the comment thread on Reddit. Now let’s get on with the Lions Morning Intel shall we?
Ameer Abdullah was the Lions best running back from the moment he set foot on the turf in the spring. I will admit that I hated this pick (Chris and Ash need a serious discussion about this – Ed.), and it’s not because he wasn’t the most gifted running back not named Todd Gurley in last year’s draft, it was the fumbling in college. It reared it’s ugly head again, but with Abdullah it’s always seemed like ball security was a focus more than that it was a physical problem of some kind. The Lions are expecting big things from him this year, and I can’t say that I don’t agree, after an expected (by me) issue with holding on to the ball, Abdullah put an end to the desperate arm flailing that sometimes occurs when he’s trying to make a play, got back on the field, and was the only Lions running back to average over four yards per carry.
My draftable quarterback quick takes to go along with this link:
Goff, Wentz, Cook, Lynch, and Hackenberg are all going too high for the Lions to be in the discussion as realistic Lions draft choices, you aren’t going to hear about them in today’s Morning Intel.
Jacoby Brissett: I don’t really like anything about him. He just doesn’t have anything great that he does. He’s not really athletic, he’s not really strong armed, but he is tall. and his weak swing pass to Leon Allen removed the best player on his team from draft eligibility. I’m not linking the injury, it’s one of those ones that makes you cringe.
Dak Prescott: Which one? The one that sets his feet when he’s throwing, is laser accurate, makes good decisions with the ball, and is leaving school with a masters degree, or the one that doesn’t do any of that, throws the ball off his back foot, or while jumping, couldn’t hit the ground if it was his intended target, and has issues with a drug charge in his past? A good QB coach could turn him in to a good player by eliminating the second guy. In the third round or later he’d be a great one to groom for the Lions, but it’s very possible that someone jumps on him before the Lions third round pick.
Cardale Jones: fifth or later, just not enough on tape. He’s capable of running an offense in a similar manner to Stafford, making the transition in case of an injury easy on the rest of the team, but likely not for a season or two of coaching.
Cody Kessler: He’s never going to be a starter in the NFL, but a Shaun Hill like career as a capable game managing back up is well within the realm of possibility. One of the sixth round picks would be a reasonable spot to grab him. I think he will be in the league longer than half of the quarterbacks that go in the first two rounds this year.
Kevin Hogan: I just don’t get it. I don’t see the NFL player.
Add Taylor Decker to the list of players who have been profiled on the Lions official site, and will thus not be drafted by the Lions.
Apparently wide receivers who don’t make catches aren’t expected to automatically make the team this year. On a completely related note; I like the new direction Bob Quinn is taking the team. Corey Fuller is supposed to be a really nice guy though and was one of the Lions who attended the PAL weight room equipment donation, I hope he turns it around and shocks the world in 2016.
Justin Rogers does good scouting reports. This one is on Justin Simmons, S, Boston College. Not the most gifted athlete, but frankly the league is full of guys who ran a 4.4 forty, and can’t play a lick. Speed isn’t everything.
Kendall Fuller isn’t my favorite corner in the draft, he’s really skinny, and is constantly trying to jump every route, rather than covering his man properly. Talented prospect, but I’d rather the team go elsewhere before the third. He plays like he thinks he’s Deon Sanders, and he just isn’t the guy that can play like that in the NFL.
Everyone wants to replace Reilly Reiff. Against Clay Matthews, Jared Allen, and others, the guy has allowed less than 5 sacks per year over the last three seasons. Teams were all over themselves to pay Mitchell Schwartz in free agency this year and he allowed ten in 2015. Not every available option is better than Riley Reiff despite what some media members might have you believe. Is he a top ten left tackle? Nope, but he’s also not so bad that the team needs to bankrupt itself trying to replace him. There are a lot of spots on the roster that need improving far more than left tackle.
Well after a slow weekend in Detroit Lions News, this week in Morning Intel is off to a roaring start. Have yourselves a merry little Tuesday morning. @a5hcrack on twitter or /r/detroitlions if you want to bring something to the attention of the world, or my very small twitter following at least.
