ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!?!?! Well, not real football. There are highlights of the Lions OTAs to watch. I’ll take it. Every week we’re getting closer to the launch of another season folks. And as always, I’m here to help you keep up with the fast and furious avalanche/typhoon/tornado/light breeze that is this week in Lions news.
Will the return of DeAndre Levy and a healthy Haloti Ngata be enough for the Lions defense to rebound from the downturn it took in 2015? The veteran leadership of these two players will definitely be key in the upcoming season for the Lions, particularly Ngata, who went from being last year’s new guy, to one of the more experienced defensive tackles within this defensive system; only Caraun Reid remains within the defensive tackle group from the 2014 season. The Lions’ linebackers are largely the same group as they were two years ago, particularly if the Stephen Tulloch situation just stays as it is, but the injection of Levy in to last year’s group can not be overstated in its importance. Opposing teams used the Lions’ lack of coverage ability at the linebacker position to gain yardage on underneath throws, and Levy is among the best in the league at taking that away when healthy.
Reading a Drew Sharp article always makes me angry, and makes me feel like I should probably take a shower. It’s like banging an ex on a drunken friday night. I just keep asking why I clicked on it. I knew how it was going to turn out, I knew it would feel like this, I knew they weren’t going to change. And yet here I find myself, posting the evidence of my poor decision to click on the article, like a morning-after selfie with that ex in the back ground. In this particular article he says that if Eric Ebron doesn’t outperform Aaron Donald, Taylor Leywan (Who the Titans may move to right tackle by the way), and Odell Beckham Jr, Ebron is a bust. I don’t love the player, I’ve been critical of the 7.1% drop rate last season previously, but to continue to write this same article once a month has to get boring for Sharp does it not? This is what the same article looks like from someone filled with less hate; thank you Josh Katzenstein. Eric Ebron is the 25th highest paid tight end in the NFL, and 20th in receptions among his position group. You want to talk about a tight end that needs to prove he should have a job? Let’s discuss that Brandon Pettigrew is the 20th highest paid tight end and has 17 receptions in the last two seasons. Is there a tight end on the roster that needs to prove he should have a job? Yes, but it’s not Eric Ebron, no matter how many times Drew Sharp writes it. Morning intel will never, I repeat NEVER repeatedly bring up the same subject again, and again, and again, and again, and again. That will LITERALLY never happen.
I also hate the videos that are popping up on every one of these articles. Life pro tips gentlemen, if I can see your belt line when you’re sitting down, you’re doing it wrong. and for God’s sake, if there is a camera, look at the damn camera, you’re addressing the audience, the audience is the point of making the video, not the guy you’re sitting in the room with. Also, stop making videos. Should morning intel start making these? I can awkwardly show you the side of my head in poor lighting while I all but read the text written below. is that what you people want?
Taylor Decker is playing left tackle. Given that the most common words to describe Riley Reiff’s play at left tackle have been “adequate” and “good enough” the team trying the new guy out on the left side can’t really be surprising. Reiff came in to the league playing for a team that was starting Jeff Backus, Rob Sims, STEPHEN PETERMAN, and Gosder Cherilus at positions he could have played, and his position that season was goal line tight end. Given the current trend of ripping the previous administration’s draft picks, how about throwing some shade at Reiff? Actually, you know what, it’s not his fault he was drafted in the first round either, he’ll make someone a good right tackle if the Lions let him go.
Ameer Abdullah is going to miss the offseason program after shoulder surgery. A part of me want’s to pull the “here we go again, a promising young Lions running back has injury issues.” card, but given that I’ve just ripped Drew Sharp for beating the same drum forever, it would be somewhat hypocritical to bring up the history of Lions running backs as though it were an inevitable part of the offseason schedule. But damnit I’m a hypocrite so: again (Kevin Jones), and again (Kevin Smith), and again (Jhavid Best), and again (Mikel Leshoure), and again (Ameer Abdulah); the Lions just can’t seem to catch a break at the running back spot. The sky is not falling, this is not like those other things, take a breath.
And that’s the Sunday morning intel for this week. I’m going to be travelling for a while, so as I said last time, morning intel is a weekly column until training camp rolls out. [Editors note: Morning Intel will be a weekly Sunday column when I don’t fuck the scheduling up]
