No thanks to the corpse of levy

I know this will come as a shock to everybody but...

Eric Ebron is missing practices with a hamstring injury

gg Kerry Hyder

Hopefully Hyder isn't hurt too bad, but if it's an achilles tear, he'd done. Ziggy still isn't practicing. One thing we're seeing from Bob the builder is he focuses a lot on depth, building up the 2nd and 3rd string, constantly shuffling guys around. There haven't been a whole lot of huge moves. It's time to see if that pays off, as both lines are likely to have starters missing some significant time.

We don't need the d-line backups to play at a pro-bowl level. Just don't suck, make an occasional play, keep the games close, and let Stafford work his magic.

Speaking of Stafford, that's likely the decision that will define Quinn early on. Pay too much and he regresses then it's lol SOL. Even if they don't get the deal done this year, he's pretty much a lock to get tagged next season. Bob, whatever you do, just don't **** this up.

Quinn is already investing heavily in the TE position, even if they aren't huge names. We'll see what Ebron's role in the offense is this season. Hopefully I'm wrong, but he strikes me as a guy that got where he is largely because he has the rare size/strength/speed combination that is difficult to find, but for some reason hasn't been able to develop into the complete TE needed. We'll see what % of downs he plays at TE this year, but it seems like he spends too much time split outside on obvious passing downs. If he can't be an every down TE, and isn't even a reliable red-zone target (Boldin filled that role last year, and Golladay is looking like a solid replacement) then I don't see much future for him. I guess he's a decent WR#4.

Hyder with a major achilles injury so he's out for the year

RIP season

Same old lolions

why is this so recurring? hes a decent option to staff when healthy

matt stafford, aka greear10, just inked 5/$135m.

Time to win some Super Bowls

Feel like this team is just a quintessential Lions team. Talented in plenty of spots, offense should be good, but we've just got a few glaring holes. LB and OT project to be bottom 5 units in the league which you just can't have to be a consistent, winning team.

OT is very weak until Decker comes back. Worried about Robinson getting Stafford killed the 1st half of the season

More worried about d-line than lb or o-line.

Stafford contract a no brainer.

Finally this craptacular preseason is over.

Lots to be worried about on this team, but there's still plenty of surprises possible.

LB I think they made some big improvements with Jarrad Davis and Paul Worrilow. Hopefully it's at least an "average" LB corps this year. Not surprised to see Antwione Williams cut. He had a golden opportunity last season to crack the lineup when Levy was hurt and there wasn't a single other capable LB on the roster and couldn't do it. Hopefully Whitehead does a better job on the outside, or gets displaced by someone else who steps up.

OL is scary, but LT is really the only position worrisome at the moment, as none of the backup LT's have shown starter like capability. Looks like Decker will miss at least six weeks. Yikes.

DL could be iffy. Ansah needs to bounce back. Robinson needs to take the next step forward, as does Anthony Zettel. I like what little I saw of Zettel last year, so hopefully he can play a big role going forward. There's a lot of youth on the line, and it's a safe bet they will all get a chance to prove themselves, or it will be a long season. Hopefully the improved LBs can force the QB to hold the ball just a millisecond longer and turn some of those knockdowns into sacks.

Draft picks look pretty meh this year. Especially Tabor. Hopefully he turns it around, or he's on pace to be another 2nd round bust. There's lots of hype around Golladay, hopefully he lives up to it. They really need Davis to shine at MLB though.

The only other surprise is Martin on the NFI list. Hopefully he doesn't lose his job over whatever is going on, but Redfern had a good preseason. But lol punters.

Finally, Stafford contract is a clear no-brainer. It's either that or gamble with an unproven commodity like Rudock or try to pick up Kaepernick or some other FA QB looking for a 2nd chance.

Don't think that they will be able to get any pressure from the dline outside of Ansah which is not going to be good

I'll make a bold stupid prediction. Zettel has an absolute breakout performance this year. Kerry Hyder who? I expect them to use Whitehead in Blitz packages too, but front 4 pressure is important, and it was certainly lacking last year.

Some other stupid predictions:

Tion Green works his way up to #2 RB. Zenner is average at best, and Washington isn't great either. I'm surprised they kept both of them. Riddick fills a niche, but is not a true RB. That beastmode-esque run was impressive. I don't care if it was against Buffalo's 4th string. The guy can play.

Abdullah has a bounce back year and averages 5 YPC.

Stafford throws for 4800+ yards.

Lions win the NFC North because the division is garbage, and not even Aaron Rodgers can save it. I'm not sure the final record yet. I'll make a 16 game prediction at some point this week.

Riddick is a great NFL back. Criminally underrated player in the league. Matchup nightmare for teams.

I think the Lions are gonna be good. No glaring holes and a top 10-15 QB. Good enough for 8-8 at worst and hopefully 11-5 and a shot at a division title.

Riddick is a career 3.5YPC rusher after 4 seasons. He's more effective as a WR or running routes out of the backfield, but in the ground game he's more of a decoy or change of pace. While he's a good weapon, they're mostly one dimensional when he lines up at RB.

Maybe I've got too big of a boner for Tion Green based on one play, but he showed some serious skills in the preseason. Abdullah still deserves the #1 spot, but I seriously believe Green has what it takes to be a good RB in the NFL, and am glad they kept him. He was too good to risk putting on the practice squad, someone would've snatched him up.

6-10

4-12

7-9

10-6 if they stay healthy at key positions. If Stafford, Abdullah, or Ansah miss significant time, sub .500.

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7-9 is probably the most likely result, but most of the variance is upside, so there's that.

The defense is gonna be terrible, it's just up to scoring a bunch of points, which means the OL needs to be good. Maybe I'm an idiot but I think they have a chance to be good.

The first 8 games are extremely brutal. If they can somehow start 4-4, I'll be pretty happy, but they could very easily start 2-6 or worse.