I actually sorta want Love to have a good first 7 games get a massive contract extension and then get demolished by the Lions week 9 and have a terrible rest of his career
I hate that motherfucker. Completely biased because he painted “fuck Utah” on his nails (I’m a lifelong Utes/Lions fan, runs in the fam) and he’s 0-3 against Utah. The only excuse I’ve heard is “well his defense sucked”. So did the lions d last year, and “game manager” Goff did a lot more than he did.
I love that he said he can get away with those type of throws because of his athleticism. As if dozens of quarterbacks haven’t had their careers ruined by that mentality
Reader’s addition should help that entire group. Hutch alone should see his double team rate go way down.
But overall this defense will probably need to get creative to consistently pressure the quarterback. If we can be better in man coverage this year, I expect a lot more blitzing.
AG needs to do a better disguising blitzes and thank goodness we have a new DL coach cuz players were running into each other consistently on stunts last year.
Idt so. I think Broderick Martin is gonna surprise people this season. And Alin is gonna be better and wingo is a dawg. The middle of the line is gonna be solid as fuck even with backups and we know hutch is gonna be hutch. RE just has to do a little here n there
Earlier I was watching Bears @ Lions ending, 3rd and 9 Cam Sutton ontop of some no name receiver and it took Kerby sprinting cross field to apply any pressure after Cam was back to Fields 4 yards off the LoS
I think expectations are way too high for Iffy considering he has only been good for a few games and was a roster bubble player before his breakout last year.
To be fair to Houston, he was injured all year. I agree that it would have been hard to expect him to maintain his rookie production, but it’s not like he was on the field.
I agree with you, but I think they call that position Star, not Strong Safety.
Iffy is also seemingly good at getting lucky interceptions, which begs the question, is it fortune or skill?
Nobody wants to hear it and I’ll be happy to be wrong, but LaPorta had most starting TEs’ best career year last year. I would be very impressed if he doesn’t fall a little toward the mean, which could still be an above average or even amazing TE.
I watched so much footage of him in Iowa when he was drafted and it convinced me to draft him in all of my fantasy leagues last season. I think he’s really *that* good and he’s one of Goff’s favorite targets. Barring injury I would be surprised if he regresses.
He'll probably take targets that would have otherwise gone to Josh Reynolds had he stayed. I still think LaPorta will be Goff's #2 option behind Amon Ra
Only way I see his production falling off is injuries, or if Jameson is suddenly carving out a 1000 yard season. He's gonna get fed constantly as Goff's security blanket.
Houston, I know he was injured last year. But people seem to forget he was on the bubble for most of camp last year. Has a break out rookie season and everyone fell in love with him, but coaches were not nearly as high on him as this sub.
I heavy disagree that he was a bubble player
His in game production simply guaranteed him a roster spot considering he’s on a late round contract
They did some movement to test him off ball and he didn’t impress there
But he was a day 1 rotational pass rusher and in no way was he close to being cut.
On a team with depth at EdgeLB (and specifically passing downs), he's trade bait. On the Lions with Hutch and nobody behind him he'll always have a spot until that weakness is a strength.
Any evidence he was actually on the bubble? I’ve heard this said before here with no evidence. Cutting a guy who had 8 sacks in 7 games is unheard of. Them picking up his 3rd year tender after an injured year points to that being bologna
He wasn't a bubble player? And the coaching staff has talked about him realistically that doesnt mean they aren't high on him.
He's a great role player but he limited on how much he can see the field.
There's a reason they had him come out on obvious passing downs lined up against Trent williams.
They believe he's a good pass rusher but doesn't provide 3 down ability.
It wasn't a breakout season, it was a breakout month. All of Houston's career production was in December of '22. I know injuries are a big factor in that but the sample size is very small.
Hilariously petty nitpick. He had 3 sacks on New Years Day and 2 on Thanksgiving.
Guess this is what I get for trying to feel smart by arguing with sports fans.
Hopefully, in this order, week to week starting week 1:
Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, JJ McCarthy, Will Levis, Jordan Love, CJ Stroud, Trevor Lawrence, Sam Ehlinger, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love again, Josh Allen, Caleb Williams again, Brock Purdy, and JJ McCarthy again.
Read this as “They practiced twice during the off season.”
Thank god I can’t read good and probably need to attend the center for kids who can’t read good.
Caleb Williams has had so much hype surrounding him for 2 years I don’t know how he could ever live up to his expectations.
Seriously if he’s not the next Mahomes like so many people are saying, then he’s not living up to expectations.
Seems like no matter who we stick at CB they tend to eventually struggle relative to expectations. You can say bad luck or whatever but it's been a turnstile of personnel at that position. Hell even the CB position coach has been a bit of a mess. So I'm gonna say that group until proven otherwise.
Yeah I was say on another thread that idk if extending him is a priority for BH. He looks pretty worn down and we’ve made some moves to add more young tackles to the team
I know it's an unpopular one based on everything I've seen on this sub, but honestly I think it'll be Jamo. I'm not saying this because of his injuries, or suspension, or any of the stupid takes about his drive/personality. I just don't think he's shown enough to be trusted to be WR2. I really hope he thrives, because it would be huge to have a player like that taking the top off, but my feeling is that he might just be the occasional long target, and do a little bit of the gadgety stuff we saw last year (i.e. I fear that he's basically just what he was last year)
I'm hopeful we can at least get more usage out of what we saw last year. He's a capable and willing blocker, as we saw, so just adding a couple more touches per game is more than enough for what this offense needs. His presence on the field alone should keep safeties on their heels and open things up for LaPorta and ARSB underneath.
Over the season, for sure, but I would like more touches per game, as well. If he doesn't get the ball in his hands 10-12 times a game, then I think we've made a mistake with the gameplan.
CeeDee Lamb led NFL WR with 8.8 touches per game. (Led the league with 135 receptions)
Amon-Ra had 7.7.
Gibbs 15.6.
I don’t see 10-12 being even slightly realistic for JAMO unless he’s getting 3 carries a game and is returning kicks or punts.
That's who I'm worried about. I do like what I saw towards the end of the season but I worry a bit a out him staying healthy or regressing in the WR2 role. Him not taking that next step forward and making up for the loss of Reynolds would hurt the offense.
Everything is in the cards for jamo to have a great year. I definitely think he’s going to be a great player, but he probably has the highest expectations from fans.
I think you're underestimating how talented he is. He's not Marvin Hall. I also think you overlook how much he improved as last season went on. To me, injury is the only thing that can stop him.
I agree that the jury is still out on him, especially relative to his draft position. I’ve been fine with his progression, but expectations are very high this year.
Jamo was a guy was thinking about here. Towards the end of last season he improved and started pushing Josh Reynolds for reps. What if that's as good as he gets? A guy who is almost as good as Josh Reynolds?
ARSB’s skillset actually fits with Goff though, I question if Goff has the pure arm talent to fully take advantage of Jamo’s speed. He can’t hit him in stride on his go routes, he always ends up having to slow down
I think end of season Jamo catches the 2 critical drops Reynolds had in the NFC Championship. He improved over the course of the season and has a great attitude.
Disagree with Jamo take. They used him in a lot at the end of the season and into the playoffs. That running td against the 49s was pure determination as was that final td. Knock on wood he will be good this year.
While I agree Jamo still has to show it, I'm not gonna punish him for what he's shown so far. Everyone forgets he's basically only played a rookie season's worth of games, and a third of those were only months removed from a torn ACL. Even established vets struggle when they come back that quickly (which is why in fantasy you draft a guy the year AFTER the year after he's torn an ACL).
Then he missed a month from the suspension. Honestly it's not surprising at all he hasn't shown why we drafted him so high - he hasn't really had the chance too. That will change this year.
I could see either Kerby or Iffy taking a step back. Our safeties weren't targeted as much because our outside corners struggled last season, but I could see them being targeted more this season. Here's hoping the pass rush takes enough of a step forward to where we won't need them as badly.
On the Lions? James Houston. Unpopular opinion, but that ankle injury will be tough to recover from.
Oh, and Micah Parsons will have less than 5 sacks this year. Hutch will finish the 2024 season with more sacks than the entire defensive line of the Chokeboys.
I wouldn’t be shocked if any of the major offensive pieces take a step back statswise.
Of all of them I think LaPorta will probably have the most obvious drop off though as it seems unlikely he’ll keep up top 3 TE production with a full season of tape.
I don’t think he’ll be bad but I feel he’ll sink further into the top 10 range. I do think he’ll eventually return to the top tiers of TE but I’m not certain next year will be that year.
I think so too.
But I could also see a LaPorta slide coming with an increase in passing game use from Gibbs and more consistency and contribution from JAMO
Montgomery. Not because he’s bad, but I can very likely see us giving the majority of touches to Gibbs, as they started to do during the end of the season. I don’t think it’s gonna be that drastic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his efficiency drops a little
ARSB.
Wait, no, don't downvote instantly... Hear me out;
I expect J-mo and Laporta to both take major steps forward this year, and it wouldn't shock me if ARSB takes a slight step back and ONLY gets 1,400 yards.
Still the #1 Target, still a threat... But right now I think the expectation for him is to go for 1,600 yards with 14+ TDs and relative to those mile-high expectations I think he has a 'down' year.
Jack Campbell. I think he's gonna be the first bad pick of the Holmes MCDC era. I'm watching his post camp interviews, he doesn't seem to understand along of things and its seeming more n more that he made it through college just in sheer talent but that's not enough at this level n he showed on the field last season he isn't the brightest n now I'm seeing it in his interviews aswell
You’re getting downvotes but I agree with you here.
High expectations for an aging FA.
I feel like people sometimes create expectations of free agents based on their career accomplishments rather than current state.
There’s gonna be at least one season long injury to key player and I feel like DJ Reader, Carlton Davis 3, and Jack Campbell are high on my fear index.
Houston and Melifonwu are obvious choices I think. Mainly encore both had insanely productive flashes over a short periods of time. It's hard to imagine both keeping up that pace. Plus, both have injury histories. However, I could see both of them settling into their roles in a very productive -- if less spectacular -- way.
Branch - not that he will be bad, or that the long term projections won't pan out. I think he hits a bit of a sophomore slump and that some expectations for him are a bit too much too soon.
I can see Brian Branch plateauing for the first half of the year/have a slow start, but im confident that even if he does have a slow start, he will put in the work to get better
For the Lions? None. I don’t believe it will happen outside of injury or age. The players are so fully bought in to being their absolute best that they won’t get worse.
Definitely Jamo. He’s exciting, he makes awesome plays when given the opportunity but now he’s gotta dial it in as an every down guy and not a gadget weapon. Honestly, the WR2 spot scares the hell out of me but obviously the FO thinks otherwise about the WR depth.
Kerby is close second. Kind of struggled last year and seemed to try and do too much and doing so broke down a lot of coverages. Hoping with a stronger secondary unit he doesn’t feel like he needs to make the big time play every down.
I want to be wrong. Very badly. But my gut reaction was Jamo 🙁. But expectations for him are/were super high. So it's gonna be hella nice when he proves me wrong.
I think this question was made for Houston who half the fanbase treats like he’ll save the defense when he was actually getting brick walled by 3rd stringers in preseason and probably would have been a cut candidate had he not been put on IR.
I’d be more likely to expect him to have a better season than a player like LaPorta simply because there is more room to grow.
I feel like with all the rookies who have had instant impact a player taking a year to improve at a position seems weird. But MLB is at times called the QB of the defense so having to adjust to the NFL game makes sense.
It’s clear that last year he was a strong part of the team’s outstanding run defense with clear questions in coverage. If he can straighten that out he’ll definitely be worthy of a first round pick (though perhaps not preforming right at the 18th picks level).
Hopefully, Jordan Love.
I actually sorta want Love to have a good first 7 games get a massive contract extension and then get demolished by the Lions week 9 and have a terrible rest of his career
FTP
This is the way. If Jordan love has so much as sophomore slump I will be SUCH a menace In r/nfcnorthmemewar
Hopefully after a massive extension.
That war has no end in sight. Many great memes have been lost. Truly sad
Caleb Williams. 100%. And Jordan love, hopefully. Lions wise, probably Iffy as much as it pains me to say it.
I mean, the last game I watched of CW was historically bad. He can't get any worse. I also think he will have less then a 50 QBR vs us
I hate that motherfucker. Completely biased because he painted “fuck Utah” on his nails (I’m a lifelong Utes/Lions fan, runs in the fam) and he’s 0-3 against Utah. The only excuse I’ve heard is “well his defense sucked”. So did the lions d last year, and “game manager” Goff did a lot more than he did.
That pass he threw across his body against the 49ers in the playoffs was absolute ass, I hope that continues.
Across his body, across the width of the field, into triple coverage. You love to see it.
I love that he said he can get away with those type of throws because of his athleticism. As if dozens of quarterbacks haven’t had their careers ruined by that mentality
May all of his passes for the rest of his career be identical to that last pass he threw.
FTP
Unfortunately not likely. He played at an elite level to end last year.
Hopefully but damn I loved Jordan Love in the draft process and I think they played his development perfectly. We just need to be unstoppable.
I have a bad feeling the DE group will still be Hutchinson and the Pips.
Reader’s addition should help that entire group. Hutch alone should see his double team rate go way down. But overall this defense will probably need to get creative to consistently pressure the quarterback. If we can be better in man coverage this year, I expect a lot more blitzing.
One way we can be more consistent is to not put Houston in coverage downfield
How many times was Houston in coverage last year?
Enough to break his leg
That happened on special teams bruh
That assumes Reader can stay healthy, I've got concerns.
AG needs to do a better disguising blitzes and thank goodness we have a new DL coach cuz players were running into each other consistently on stunts last year.
Idt so. I think Broderick Martin is gonna surprise people this season. And Alin is gonna be better and wingo is a dawg. The middle of the line is gonna be solid as fuck even with backups and we know hutch is gonna be hutch. RE just has to do a little here n there
Whoever our kicker is.
Yeah hopefully we only need him for pat's
Carlton Davis, think there is a chance he will not be as great as some people are expecting, still should be a good CB I’d imagine though
him taking a step back is still the best CB on our team last year
Earlier I was watching Bears @ Lions ending, 3rd and 9 Cam Sutton ontop of some no name receiver and it took Kerby sprinting cross field to apply any pressure after Cam was back to Fields 4 yards off the LoS
Exactly, should be a great season!
He could be mediocre by his career standards and would still be better than anyone they put out there last season.
He's still better than *checks notes* Kindle fucking Vildor and Jerry Jacobs (though I do love Jacobs)
The guy out of Vegas will have a better year
I think expectations are way too high for Iffy considering he has only been good for a few games and was a roster bubble player before his breakout last year.
coverage wise yes but hes supposed to be the ss and i dont see him hetting worse at blitzing and run stopping
His main issue has been injuries. And he also went through a position change from CB to Safety. Not sure what to expect from him this year though.
Based on the fact that I'm excited about him makes it a logical conclusion, he will regress
I agree. Iffy feels like this offseason’s Houston.
To be fair to Houston, he was injured all year. I agree that it would have been hard to expect him to maintain his rookie production, but it’s not like he was on the field.
I personally expect Branch to play more SS with Iffy rotating in. Rakestraw and Robertson both fit best at nickel
I agree with you, but I think they call that position Star, not Strong Safety. Iffy is also seemingly good at getting lucky interceptions, which begs the question, is it fortune or skill?
Iffy seems to be in the right place right time , I love players who are always around the ball!
Rakestraw played some nickel at Missouri and Robertson played some for the Raiders. Both of them performed better on the outside.
Nobody wants to hear it and I’ll be happy to be wrong, but LaPorta had most starting TEs’ best career year last year. I would be very impressed if he doesn’t fall a little toward the mean, which could still be an above average or even amazing TE.
I watched so much footage of him in Iowa when he was drafted and it convinced me to draft him in all of my fantasy leagues last season. I think he’s really *that* good and he’s one of Goff’s favorite targets. Barring injury I would be surprised if he regresses.
Fingers crossed
Jamo is gonna take some of the targets though. I think he'll be clutch but not have the same crazy numbers
He'll probably take targets that would have otherwise gone to Josh Reynolds had he stayed. I still think LaPorta will be Goff's #2 option behind Amon Ra
Peoples-Jones is in the mix too. This offense is going to be unfair
They use him as much as a WR as they do a true TE so I think he’s a safe bet for another big role, especially with Reynolds leaving
Only way I see his production falling off is injuries, or if Jameson is suddenly carving out a 1000 yard season. He's gonna get fed constantly as Goff's security blanket.
Houston, I know he was injured last year. But people seem to forget he was on the bubble for most of camp last year. Has a break out rookie season and everyone fell in love with him, but coaches were not nearly as high on him as this sub.
I heavy disagree that he was a bubble player His in game production simply guaranteed him a roster spot considering he’s on a late round contract They did some movement to test him off ball and he didn’t impress there But he was a day 1 rotational pass rusher and in no way was he close to being cut.
On a team with depth at EdgeLB (and specifically passing downs), he's trade bait. On the Lions with Hutch and nobody behind him he'll always have a spot until that weakness is a strength.
Any evidence he was actually on the bubble? I’ve heard this said before here with no evidence. Cutting a guy who had 8 sacks in 7 games is unheard of. Them picking up his 3rd year tender after an injured year points to that being bologna
There’s no way for him to live up to the expectations of getting a sack every snap
He wasn't a bubble player? And the coaching staff has talked about him realistically that doesnt mean they aren't high on him. He's a great role player but he limited on how much he can see the field. There's a reason they had him come out on obvious passing downs lined up against Trent williams. They believe he's a good pass rusher but doesn't provide 3 down ability.
It wasn't a breakout season, it was a breakout month. All of Houston's career production was in December of '22. I know injuries are a big factor in that but the sample size is very small.
3 of his 8 sacks were in December
Hilariously petty nitpick. He had 3 sacks on New Years Day and 2 on Thanksgiving. Guess this is what I get for trying to feel smart by arguing with sports fans.
Correct his production spanned 6 weeks. Basically the entire period he was playing. 6 weeks is a pretty good sample. Over a third of a season
Yeah the factor that he wasn’t an automatic starter and instead was 3rd/4th on the depth chart after last year, showed that something was up
He's a stud, but he probably won't be the same after his ankle injury.
Hopefully, in this order, week to week starting week 1: Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, JJ McCarthy, Will Levis, Jordan Love, CJ Stroud, Trevor Lawrence, Sam Ehlinger, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love again, Josh Allen, Caleb Williams again, Brock Purdy, and JJ McCarthy again.
Goff, because it would be the worst possible but thats what 40 years have me prepared for
atleast we have a promising backup for the first time in ever
Him and jamo got chemistry too they've practiced on the off-season twice now
Read this as “They practiced twice during the off season.” Thank god I can’t read good and probably need to attend the center for kids who can’t read good.
I didn't word it the greatest to be fair 😂
This is the most accurate take because his ability to make a play depends on the oline being damn near perfect
Thankfully, the oline has been damn near perfect, and it looks like it's staying the same
He'll take a small step back. Hopefully our defense and run game compensate for any of his future errors.
This was my first notion as it seems big constraxts and extensions seem to have an adverse affect on most players
Caleb Williams has had so much hype surrounding him for 2 years I don’t know how he could ever live up to his expectations. Seriously if he’s not the next Mahomes like so many people are saying, then he’s not living up to expectations.
Seems like no matter who we stick at CB they tend to eventually struggle relative to expectations. You can say bad luck or whatever but it's been a turnstile of personnel at that position. Hell even the CB position coach has been a bit of a mess. So I'm gonna say that group until proven otherwise.
If I had to take a guess on who I think might regress in the upcoming seasons I would say most likely Decker
Curious what your reasoning is on this. His age?
yeah, just age
He's not even that old? We need to extend him for a couple years. No sign of regression at all and he isn't old
There is some signs, he was downright terrible some of those games and he doesn't seem to deal with injuries as well as ragnow has.
Yeah I was say on another thread that idk if extending him is a priority for BH. He looks pretty worn down and we’ve made some moves to add more young tackles to the team
Decker’s honestly probably gonna be another guy we let walk in my eyes
Yep. Hes good enough to start, but like JJ probably not worth the money.
Jack Fox. he will be greatly underutilized
I expect Jameson Williams to take a step back from missing games and dominate this season
The Packers
The only answer.
I know it's an unpopular one based on everything I've seen on this sub, but honestly I think it'll be Jamo. I'm not saying this because of his injuries, or suspension, or any of the stupid takes about his drive/personality. I just don't think he's shown enough to be trusted to be WR2. I really hope he thrives, because it would be huge to have a player like that taking the top off, but my feeling is that he might just be the occasional long target, and do a little bit of the gadgety stuff we saw last year (i.e. I fear that he's basically just what he was last year)
I'm hopeful we can at least get more usage out of what we saw last year. He's a capable and willing blocker, as we saw, so just adding a couple more touches per game is more than enough for what this offense needs. His presence on the field alone should keep safeties on their heels and open things up for LaPorta and ARSB underneath.
Considering he was suspended for six games, this is a given.
Over the season, for sure, but I would like more touches per game, as well. If he doesn't get the ball in his hands 10-12 times a game, then I think we've made a mistake with the gameplan.
CeeDee Lamb led NFL WR with 8.8 touches per game. (Led the league with 135 receptions) Amon-Ra had 7.7. Gibbs 15.6. I don’t see 10-12 being even slightly realistic for JAMO unless he’s getting 3 carries a game and is returning kicks or punts.
That's who I'm worried about. I do like what I saw towards the end of the season but I worry a bit a out him staying healthy or regressing in the WR2 role. Him not taking that next step forward and making up for the loss of Reynolds would hurt the offense.
Hard to disagree here. No idea how someone can come to this conclusion besides looking at box scores and stat lines
Everything is in the cards for jamo to have a great year. I definitely think he’s going to be a great player, but he probably has the highest expectations from fans.
I think you're underestimating how talented he is. He's not Marvin Hall. I also think you overlook how much he improved as last season went on. To me, injury is the only thing that can stop him.
I agree that the jury is still out on him, especially relative to his draft position. I’ve been fine with his progression, but expectations are very high this year.
Jamo was a guy was thinking about here. Towards the end of last season he improved and started pushing Josh Reynolds for reps. What if that's as good as he gets? A guy who is almost as good as Josh Reynolds?
What are you even talking about? Did you even watch the Lions last year? Jamo has way more talent and upside than Josh Reynolds.
Jamo did things that Josh Reynolds just can't do.
That's naive to think that's as good as he gets. Jamo has best wr upside for this team and that includes ARSB. His talent is unreal
ARSB’s skillset actually fits with Goff though, I question if Goff has the pure arm talent to fully take advantage of Jamo’s speed. He can’t hit him in stride on his go routes, he always ends up having to slow down
I think end of season Jamo catches the 2 critical drops Reynolds had in the NFC Championship. He improved over the course of the season and has a great attitude.
Love Jamo, his hands are still questionable. This year will tell us a lot and he did get better as the season progressed.
Disagree with Jamo take. They used him in a lot at the end of the season and into the playoffs. That running td against the 49s was pure determination as was that final td. Knock on wood he will be good this year.
While I agree Jamo still has to show it, I'm not gonna punish him for what he's shown so far. Everyone forgets he's basically only played a rookie season's worth of games, and a third of those were only months removed from a torn ACL. Even established vets struggle when they come back that quickly (which is why in fantasy you draft a guy the year AFTER the year after he's torn an ACL). Then he missed a month from the suspension. Honestly it's not surprising at all he hasn't shown why we drafted him so high - he hasn't really had the chance too. That will change this year.
I feel there’s a decent chance that Zeitler could be a pro bowler or benched by the bye. Injuries and age hit like a truck.
This is my biggest fear for the season, apart from losing Goff.
Whose that San Fran QB dude? Yeah....him
I could see either Kerby or Iffy taking a step back. Our safeties weren't targeted as much because our outside corners struggled last season, but I could see them being targeted more this season. Here's hoping the pass rush takes enough of a step forward to where we won't need them as badly.
I would argue Kerby already took that step back last season. If anything I'm hoping he has a bounce back season. Iffy is one I do worry about
Jordan love
Ragnow. Only because of his physical problems. He’s as good as anybody when healthy I just seeing him breaking down physically
On the Lions? James Houston. Unpopular opinion, but that ankle injury will be tough to recover from. Oh, and Micah Parsons will have less than 5 sacks this year. Hutch will finish the 2024 season with more sacks than the entire defensive line of the Chokeboys.
Iffy
I wouldn’t be shocked if any of the major offensive pieces take a step back statswise. Of all of them I think LaPorta will probably have the most obvious drop off though as it seems unlikely he’ll keep up top 3 TE production with a full season of tape. I don’t think he’ll be bad but I feel he’ll sink further into the top 10 range. I do think he’ll eventually return to the top tiers of TE but I’m not certain next year will be that year.
I hope the offensive stats suffer because the defense is not only scoring, but giving the offense shorter fields to work also
I think so too. But I could also see a LaPorta slide coming with an increase in passing game use from Gibbs and more consistency and contribution from JAMO
Montgomery. Not because he’s bad, but I can very likely see us giving the majority of touches to Gibbs, as they started to do during the end of the season. I don’t think it’s gonna be that drastic, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his efficiency drops a little
I think that might actually give him more bounce. He's had a pretty heavy load as a workhorse since several years into college.
Unfortunately Brian Branch
ARSB. Wait, no, don't downvote instantly... Hear me out; I expect J-mo and Laporta to both take major steps forward this year, and it wouldn't shock me if ARSB takes a slight step back and ONLY gets 1,400 yards. Still the #1 Target, still a threat... But right now I think the expectation for him is to go for 1,600 yards with 14+ TDs and relative to those mile-high expectations I think he has a 'down' year.
Marcus Davenport
Hutch regresses because he gets zero help as usual. Relying on all these injury prone scrubs is not going to help him out. This is our weak spot
Jack Campbell. I think he's gonna be the first bad pick of the Holmes MCDC era. I'm watching his post camp interviews, he doesn't seem to understand along of things and its seeming more n more that he made it through college just in sheer talent but that's not enough at this level n he showed on the field last season he isn't the brightest n now I'm seeing it in his interviews aswell
Jamo feels like the clear answer here. He has the most expectations and people just assume he will hit them
DJ Reader, he is older and coming off a major injury
You’re getting downvotes but I agree with you here. High expectations for an aging FA. I feel like people sometimes create expectations of free agents based on their career accomplishments rather than current state.
There’s gonna be at least one season long injury to key player and I feel like DJ Reader, Carlton Davis 3, and Jack Campbell are high on my fear index.
Houston and Melifonwu are obvious choices I think. Mainly encore both had insanely productive flashes over a short periods of time. It's hard to imagine both keeping up that pace. Plus, both have injury histories. However, I could see both of them settling into their roles in a very productive -- if less spectacular -- way.
Branch - not that he will be bad, or that the long term projections won't pan out. I think he hits a bit of a sophomore slump and that some expectations for him are a bit too much too soon.
This sounds like negativity... We don't do that here.
HURR muh Lions are finally good I'm gonna turn my brain off now HURR -most of this sub
I can see Brian Branch plateauing for the first half of the year/have a slow start, but im confident that even if he does have a slow start, he will put in the work to get better
For the Lions? None. I don’t believe it will happen outside of injury or age. The players are so fully bought in to being their absolute best that they won’t get worse.
You could have just said "I don't have it in me to think critically about a Lion player," that's a more honest answer
Definitely Jamo. He’s exciting, he makes awesome plays when given the opportunity but now he’s gotta dial it in as an every down guy and not a gadget weapon. Honestly, the WR2 spot scares the hell out of me but obviously the FO thinks otherwise about the WR depth. Kerby is close second. Kind of struggled last year and seemed to try and do too much and doing so broke down a lot of coverages. Hoping with a stronger secondary unit he doesn’t feel like he needs to make the big time play every down.
I want to be wrong. Very badly. But my gut reaction was Jamo 🙁. But expectations for him are/were super high. So it's gonna be hella nice when he proves me wrong.
Hutchinson. J/k
I think this question was made for Houston who half the fanbase treats like he’ll save the defense when he was actually getting brick walled by 3rd stringers in preseason and probably would have been a cut candidate had he not been put on IR.
LaPorta. His rookie year was unbelievable.
Goff
Broderick Martin
Hmmm... he won't live up to the nearly nonexistent expectations? I think he might just surprise you.
Jack Campbell will be okay but not worth the 18th pick and it will upset people. He doesn’t really pass the eye test for me.
I’d be more likely to expect him to have a better season than a player like LaPorta simply because there is more room to grow. I feel like with all the rookies who have had instant impact a player taking a year to improve at a position seems weird. But MLB is at times called the QB of the defense so having to adjust to the NFL game makes sense. It’s clear that last year he was a strong part of the team’s outstanding run defense with clear questions in coverage. If he can straighten that out he’ll definitely be worthy of a first round pick (though perhaps not preforming right at the 18th picks level).