I don't care one bit about getting the second pick versus the first pick. There are two players of comparable worth at the top of the draft, just knowing that you can get one of them should be sufficient.

Sure, it was a meaningless win, but the Lions have gotten embarrased by Packer backups in meaningless games before - remember unstoppable throw god Matt Flynn? One game against the Lions got him a $20 million deal.

A win, even a meaningless win, is a good thing for the franchise. Now go build on it.

Completely agree, Booker!

I would say overall a solid season for this GM/Coach duo and I'm excited about things going forward. What say you guys?

Loved seeing the team play with all this excitement and couldn't care less if they are picking 1rst or 2nd. If this draft had a generational talent at QB then taking a knee on the last drive would have made some sense, as played I am fine with pick 2. It looked like they were genuinely having fun today as a group -

Happy to see St Brown balling out the last 6 weeks or so, will be interesting to see how they use him next year now that the training wheels are off, and presuming they add a true outside WR1

Obviously Swift can play and I really don't mind him splitting carries along with the punishment

Oline is a strength and even the backup 2nd and 3rd string players don't appear hopeless.

4 sacks? 6 QB hits? Lions with a pass rush? Hell I don't care if it has to come from linebackers but nice to see pressures. Adding a 1rst round DE certainly cant hurt

Secondary - who are these guys? No seriously, who are they? 5 defended passes, 2 INT Melifonwu sticking with Adams on his route like he knows how to play an all-pro. I can't wait to see the entire group healthy. Hopefully Aaron Glenn doesn't get poached

QB? Obviously an upgrade would be nice but Goff really didn't play that poorly down the stretch. Maybe coinciding with DC taking over play calling duties?

Lions 3-2-1 over the last 6 games and it finally feels like there is a long term improvement plan in place. I am excite!

Yeah, I definitely haven't felt this good about a Lions turnaround since we got our first look at Stafford. Sadly that never materialized for various reasons. Jim Schwartz was very inconsistent as a coach, Caldwell couldn't get the team to the next level, and Patricia was a dumpster fire.

The offense definitely underwent a transformation this year. Goff weeks 1-9 was unwatchable. Constant checkdowns, no attempts at a downfield passing attack. So many 3rd and longs where they just gave up. Week 10 Campbell takes over playcalling duties, and we get 3 straight games of a heavy running attack that manages to keep games close albeit pretty low scoring and boring. Then in the Minnesota game it all clicks and they look like a respectable NFL offense. There's a bit of backslide against Denver mostly because they fall behind early, but then they crush Arizona. Goff misses the next 2, but then comes back strong vs. Green Bay. So in 3 of the last 4 Goff Starts the offense looked pretty good. A formal announcement of Anthony Lynn's firing is expected later today. Dan Campbell sort of hinted he might be the playcaller going forward. I wouldn't hate it if they went QB in the first or second round in this draft, but they need to get it right if they do.

The defense is another story. We knew going into the season that this was a struggling unit. They looked completely hopeless under Patricia. No pass rush, inconsistent run D, and mostly horrible secondary. Results this year are mixed. They had some historically bad games against San Francisco, Philly, Denver, and Seattle. The run D in particular got gashed in those games. This is still a major concern going forward because once teams got rolling on the ground, the Lions could do little to stop them. When the Lions managed to bottle up the run early, and the offense got a lead, things were much better.

The corner play this year has to be the most surprising. Everyone expected this to be a disaster, but somehow they balled out. Jerry Jacobs (lets hope for a quick ACL turnaround) and AJ Parker look like legit starters. Melifonwu missed a lot of time but looked really good in limited action. Even Oruwariye who does occasionally get routed in coverage can ball hawk with the best of them. Okudah actually materializing into a starter would be the icing on the cake, but at least I have some confidence that if he is a total bust that the unit can manage without him.

D-Line was a mixed bag. Rookies McNeil and Onwuzarike showed some promise, but have some work to do. Harris balled out on the edge, hopefully they can get him resigned here. Even often injured Austin Bryant had an effective season. They still needed well timed blitzes, mostly on 3rd and long to get the job done, but it was effective. Credit Aaron Glenn here for knowing to bring pressure on 3rd and long and trusting the secondary to make a play or at least stop the guy short of the sticks. A star edge rusher can help a lot here.

Linebackers probably need the most help. They cut Jamie Collins early after the packers game, where he either has the legs of a 68 year old man or just phoned it in. Anzalone and Reeves-Maybin are OK, but they could use an upgrade here. Derrick Barnes showed some promise but has a ways to go. But they need to do something about those games where they just got destroyed on the ground.

I can't be too upset at this season, especially if you discount a lot of what went on in the first half as a new coaching staff and new young team trying to come together. We knew that Goff was a downgrade from Stafford. He can't sling it down field the way Matt did, but he can be effective in the short and mid range game. As long as whatever lead to the first half of the season Goff never ever happens again, I can accept trying to build around him.

Let me squash this optimism

Goff sucks

We are draft trash and go 5-12 next year

Like every year.

So on pace for a winning season in 2024 with a shot at the division by 2025? Works for me.

I'm optimistic currently but I still need to see the draft. If we do something like draft a QB at 2 in this current class like I've seen in one mock I will quickly go SOL.

We have some talent in place likely win 6-7games next season and then try to improve QB and hit that 10 win season.

I'd love to see DC go ape**** at the draft and select 3 QBs in a row.

What QB could possibly be a top 5 pick? Serious question, I cannot think of any realistic candidates. Haven’t really looked at much draft stuff yet.

Kenny Pickett is the top QB on most boards, but the consensus is there are none worth a top 10 pick. It will be interesting to see if there is a run on QBs late in the first round as teams try to jockey to get a guy in the 20s and 30s. The Lions will have pick 34 and then another in the 25-32 range. That could be a spot to go for a potential project guy. I still like Sam Howell but honestly any of them are fine.

Seems like if they really like a guy they'd have the capital to trade up and get him without wasting the #2 pick. I mean if the best QB available is Pickett, you'd be nuts to burn that pick on a QB ... and I think Pickett is pretty solid.

Honestly if they stay at 2 and the pick isn't Thibodaux or Hutchinson it will absolutely be the same old LOLions.

Yeah they could easily put a package together to make a trade similar to what the Bears did for Fields. I can stomach it if they grab a guy at 25 or 34 and he busts, that's the price of trying to find a QB in this league. If they do fall in love with a guy and trade up (which Brad Holmes apparently likes to do, supposedly he tried to move up for Jamar Chase), then the expectation is he's ready to take over for Goff next year, otherwise you probably screwed up.

Mel Kiper just put out his initial first round mock. Detroit gets Thibodeaux at #2, then has them getting Sam Howell at #28 after Pickett and Corral go at #18 and #20 respectively. I wouldn't complain. Howell is far from a sure thing but he's got an NFL arm and seems like the type who would benefit from spending a year on the bench. Mel makes a good point about the value of a late first round pick on a project player being that you get the 5th year option.

I would pass on these QB for the first three picks. So many good skill players will be there at 30

DL
then LB WR S or DL at 30 and 34

I think there will be a potential elite WR at the end of the first round they can’t pass up.

Stafford have to win the SB for you to change your view? Or you ready to admit it was our laughable organization's fault, not his?

He had a great season and a great game

He still choked in the playoffs here

It's also amazing how small the lines are in pro sports. If stafford loses that fumble with a minute to go and TB kicks a walk off FG stafford is labeled a choker forever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think the lines are both very small, but the gaps between the best players and the pretty good players is pretty damn big. Stafford still has some time to change what the narrative on his career is, but overall it's going to be "pretty good QB who makes too many mistakes to be considered top tier, and played for mostly bad teams his whole career." That's good enough for HoF he can notch a SB win or two. Without the wins probably not. But he's never going to be considered as in the same league as some of the best passers of this era. But he's easily in the same category as Eli/Ben without the team support giving him the same postseason success.

Brady is great but the amount of career rungood he has had is off the charts. The amount of ridiculous luck he had to have to even be in position to win most of his superbowls is nuts. It seems like every time he's in a hole and the only way out is for the opposing team to make tons of mistakes on offense, they do that. The Falcons fumbled away a 28-3 lead. The Rams fumbled away 27-3. Just don't drop the ball and you win easy, and they fumble 3 times. It's just this time he ran into Stafford, and winning a game with 42 seconds and no timeouts is peak Stafford.

This is a really good microcosm of the "Stafford sucks/Stafford chokes" narrative. Up until that point, Stafford had thrown for 300 yards, 2 TDs and no picks with 72.2% accuracy. His RBs had supported him with 25 carries for 52 yards (2.1 YPC), and his teammates had lost 4 fumbles. Stafford had played a borderline-great game up to that point, and if he'd just been above-average his team would have lost. But if he fumbles on a blindside sack you (speaking broadly to Stafford sucks group) come away more convinced he's a bum who can't win. IMO, that's clearly the wrong take.

Let's say he fumbled and lost the ball and TB kicked a FG to win


In that situation he choked a 17 point lead to cost him home field advantage and lost a 27-3 lead in the 3rd quarter with TWO qb fumbles

On top of all the choking he did here

Sure it's a fine line but that's life

He's the best QB the lions ever had

But he also won 0 playoff games and 0 division titles ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I seriously cannot even fathom the idea of labeling Stafford a loser when he literally played for the worst organization in the history of sports. The fact that the Rams are a lock to win the SB with him should not surprise anyone who watched him play in Detroit. Like I said before, if Montana or Brady played for the worst organization in the history of sports they would do no better than Stafford. They'd have the same kind've career arc and the same surrounding questions, the the same "loser" accusations from people who are too deluded to see the truth. And if Montana or Brady never left Detroit they would never make the HOF either.

If the Rams would've somehow lost that game I wouldve put 100% of the blame on Stafford. I would assume he infected the whole team with the lolions virus.

it could be someone who completely rips up the senior bowl week or just destroys the combine or both. Its not unheard of for somebody late in the process to get hype at the qb position and then a reach happens.

Actually I think it is a bit unheard of for a QB to get hyped up at this point because most of the time the #1 QB is etched in stone after the NCAA season. The combine just really doesn't matter all that much. Everyone knows these guys can throw, and we all know who the athletic QBs are so it's not like 40 time or other drills will be a huge boost. At least in terms of being in consideration for a top 5 pick.

What can happen though is some team comes out of the blue and grabs a guy way early that no one saw coming. I wouldn't be totally shocked if the Texans or the Panthers draft a guy at 4/6 respectively, or some other team trades up into the top 10 for one of the QBs. Kiper has 4 QBs going in picks 11-28 (with one to the Lions). It would not be that shocking for 1 or more to end up in the top 10, but teams are going to play that really close to the vest and we won't know it's coming, sort of like a Chicago trading for Trubisky move.

Maybe it's still early, but this draft seems less obvious at this point than past drafts, outside of the expected top 2 edge guys at 1/2. One thing I am fairly certain of is there will likely be 5 QBs or so taken in the top 50ish picks, and one of them is likely to have an NFL career that is at least better than Goff. The Lions will have 3 of those picks. I'm fine if they gamble a pick on a QB.