SB 61 Champ Minnesota missing. Lol
Sorry, I meant to count at the end to make sure I grabbed everyone.
They have some serious work to do on that OL first and foremost.
Much like my Lions.
Two teams that finished above.500 that had an incredibly tough time protecting their QBs.
I've said this about Detroit -- this particular March is the biggest free agency in the Brad Holmes/ Dan Campbell era. They have taken the approach the last few years of "we're mostly good with what we have". They simply cannot do that this year. Campbell admitted in December that they were not prepared for the retirement of Ragnow in June. I mean, he was only 29 then. Injuries were piling up though. He made a smart decision for his life.
So, Detroit needs to not only retool that OL but add some pass rushing to the defense.
Then, you have the safety situation. The Lions started last year with perhaps the best safety combo in the NFL. Now, Branch will be out 8-12 months. The latest I've seen is hoping for mid year. The quiet issue is Kerby Joseph. This one is full of speculation but pretty scary to be honest....
Here's a link about Kerby..
Latest speculation on Kerby Joseph's injury fuels doomsday scenario for the Lions
Latest speculation on Kerby Joseph's injury fuels doomsday scenario for the Lions
So, the Lions needs in FA and the draft...
Rebuild the trenches!
Safety help
Depth everywhere
Second RB
I expect they let Monty go. Unfortunately, Campbell and company went away from the running game a lot last year. Yes, the OL wasn't like the 2023 and 2024 units but there was some mysterious stuff going on. Monty certainly wasn't happy and many of the fans were not either.
Might as well grab a backup QB as well. I'm still shocked #16 made it through the season without being knocked out.
So, I've sort of turned this into a Lions off-season discussion... And I DO expect them to be aggressive. I think they realize the window is getting smaller for some of these guys. The time to act is now. They go from having a top 3 hardest schedule to a pretty easy one next year. The playoffs should be a given. Now, let's build this team to sustain injuries and make a playoff run.
Back to the Vikings... That team somehow went 8-9 with just an awful OL and a murky QB situation all year. Pretty impressive. That's the coach. If they can build a legit OL this division will be right back to be the toughest in football.