Over the past few weeks, the Lions fandom has been debating a few topics on Twitter (I'm never gonna call it X) centred around the makeup of the roster and the way the team uses some of its players. I, like everyone else, have my own opinions on these topics, so in lieu of a game preview this week (as we don't have a game to preview) and because I have missed the past few podcasts due to work, here's a little piece setting out my stall on these topics.
X WR: Yes, yes, I've spoken on this topic many a time by now. But as the debate over whether we do need to have a receiver who fills this role somewhere on the team rages on, I'll try and set out why I think we do one last time by answering the main questions around this topic, before I (hopefully) shut up about it for good.
Did any of the Xs we had on the 90-man do well enough to stake a claim on the 53? No, not really. Kaden Davis probably had the best shout but he's not a prototypical X at 6'1" 190 lbs.
Did Isaiah Williams deserve to make the 53? 100%, he was arguably our best receiver in preseason.
Can we trust any of our receivers to win a 50-50 ball on the outside if catching it meant we win a game? No, probably not. Maybe the Sun God could do it but at 5'11" 202 lbs, it's not putting him in the best position to succeed.
Will an X receiver get many targets in a game? No, probably not. But this goes beyond targets. We need a red-zone weapon on the outside, a physical presence who draws coverage away to open things up over the middle for the Sun God and LaGoata, and someone who by nature of their build can help block for screens and runs on the outside. That's not Leaf who is 5'8" 180 lbs, or Isaiah Williams who is 5'9" 186 lbs. Who were our top two run-blocking receivers last year? Antoine Green (57 snaps, 82.6 grade from PFF) and Josh Reynolds (395 snaps, 70.3 grade). What do they both have in common? They were two of our X receivers last year. What about pass blocking? The top two receivers here were DPJ (5 snaps, 79.4 grade) and Marvin Jones Jr. (2 snaps, 72.7 grade). What do these players have in common? They were our other two X receivers last year.
Is flexing out a TE to the X position a sustainable way to fill this role when it comes to those situations? No. We could do it on a handful of snaps a game, for sure, we did it with LaPorta last year. But if you do it for more than a couple of snaps a game, you're weakening the overall team.
Will an X receiver even play many snaps? Yes. While they will for the most part probably just be a blocker and clearout person, they will still probably play a lot of snaps. Last season, we were in 11 personnel on offence 64% of the time. Josh Reynolds played just over 1000 snaps last season (1003 to be exact), which was 73% of our offensive snaps (1382). The only receiver to play more was the Sun God with 1198 snaps. The next most at receiver was Jamo with 577. Even if we play more 12 personnel (21% last season, 12th-most in the league), and the usage of 11 falls to around 50%, the X receiver would still likely play a large number of snaps due to their blocking skills, even with Leaf subbing in on some packages or the Sun God flexing out and Isaiah Williams coming onto the field in the slot.
This is why I've been calling for a proper X to be on the team. Not because I think we need some AJ Brown 100 targets a year kind of receiver, but because we need someone with that body type to fill the role Josh Reynolds played in the overall offence in terms of blocking and drawing coverage outside to open up things over the middle, even if it is not with the kind of target share he commanded. With Allen Robinson and Tim Patrick on the practice squad, hopefully one of them can show enough in these departments to be elevated on gamedays to fill this role.
The SAM Experiment: This is a spicy one. I know people have been questioning over the past few weeks why the team keeps trying to push edges into the SAM role when it's not their forte. James Houston, Mathieu Betts and Mitchell Agude all got run there this offseason, to varying degrees of success. As the team had to come out and remove these duties off two of these players' metaphorical plates, and the third being cut and then signed to the practise squad, the SAM experiment with these players has been called into question, perhaps rightfully.
But the reason the team did it is quite simple to me. None of them are big enough to live full-time on the edge, so physically a hybrid role like the SAM position should be a better fit for these players. All three are 250 lbs or less (Betts 250 on the dot, Houston 245, Agude 242). The next lightest player to play on the DL for the Lions in the preseason is Isaac Ukwu, who is 260 lbs.
The team also has reason to believe none of them have an elite trait to hang their hat on (either due to not seeing it, or because the last time we saw it was technically two seasons ago). Therefore, due to the team's philosophy that if you can't do one thing well, you have to do many things to a good level, trying these players at the SAM position makes sense. Agude showed the best overall range in the preseason, even charting a coverage grade better than all but two defenders who wore the Honolulu blue in preseason (his 78.6 grade was only beaten by Amik's 84.9 and Rakestraw's 81.7), which is why I'm happy he's back on the practice squad.
Houston flashed enough in the game against Pittsburgh to get onto the 53, but the jury is still out on whether he can still have the elite dip and bend he showed in his rookie season after his ankle injury that flatlined his progress last year. That injury might also limit him to playing off one side of the formation, which limits his snaps, which could then be further limited if that side is the strong side of the offense's formation as he is not big enough to go up against a TE/OT double-team. Furthermore, Houston's run defence has historically been an issue for him (though he did show improvement in this area in the game against the Steelers). Maybe this was due to him playing the SAM role, but this was also the role he flashed in in his rookie season (only two snaps as a DE, 135 as an OLB), so it's not like the position has hindered his ability to play in the pros.
Therefore, while one could argue that trying to get these edges to do more than just pass rush is putting them in bad positions, if they were to stick at DE they would also have to be good in run defence which would be hard at their sizes. Therefore, taking them off the line and putting them at SAM should in theory be the best for them long-term, even if it means they are asked to do more than just be designated pass rushers.
Versatility on the DL: This brings me to the debate about using some of our defensive linemen across the line rather than keeping them at one position. In the past, we've used both Paschal and Commish at 7T, 5T or 3T depending on the situation. This season, we could also use Wingo and Levi in these positions, both inversely to how we will use Paschal. This is because of the similar body styles and skillsets of all of these players as all can be feasible closed/big ends in our scheme while also having the ability to be penetrating pass-rushing interior defenders on passing downs.
I know some people have argued that this versatility has hindered the progression of some of these players as neither Paschal nor Levi have perhaps not lived up to the draft pedigree of where they were picked. However, injuries have played a part in this lack of development in my opinion, and I would argue using them in these hybrid roles was the best thing for them as it gets them as many snaps as possible as they could back up more than one position. This season, I could see this being cut back slightly on the interior as Alim will be the presumptive starter at the 3T, leaving Levi as his backup, while Paschal will likely be the starter at the big end role after Commish's injury.
However, the ability of these two players to play both spots, as well as Wingo, could help the team with being versatile with how they deploy their fronts. Given how the team will likely flex between odd and even fronts depending on the situation, all three could play a large number of snaps in a range of positions. For instance, Paschal will be the starting 7T when we're in a 4-2-5 formation with an NB on the field but then could slide inside to the 5T when we play a 5-2-4/4-3-4 formation with the SAM on the field playing over his shoulder. Therefore, at least to me, training our backup DL to be versatile is the best thing for them as it gives the team more flexibility while also giving these backups chances for higher snap counts than if they just played one position. In case of injury for any of these players, Pat O'Connor can play a similar role if elevated off the practice squad.
Injured Players: This is probably less of a debate and more me being confused around the narrative surrounding a couple of players, most of all Emmanuel Moseley. With yesterday's cutdowns, the team chose to use one of its two special IR designations on Moseley, who up until he suffered a pec injury was having a great camp and was looking likely to be the starter in the nickel come Week 1. For all intents and purposes, he looked like he had put the ACL tears behind him. Yet, some people are writing him off and calling his career over.
These same people are also praising players like Houston who are also coming off injuries for battling through and trying to keep their roster spot after their recoveries. That is what is confusing to me, as it seems different players are getting different treatments in how they are being treated by some fans. While Moseley hasn't played a full game since 2022, his performance in camp suggested he had put these injuries behind him. Houston is only just beginning to show the same. So I wonder if something were to happen to Houston where he got injured again, or if he shows he will never get back to the dizzy heights of his rookie half-season, would fans give him the same treatment that Moseley has received? I doubt it.
Yes, Houston looked amazing in his rookie year. So did Moseley in his healthy seasons. Before his injury in 2022, he had one of the best ball-hawk rates in the league. In his first four seasons in the league, Moseley got either a PBU or interception on 18.3% of his targets, which was the 4th-highest rate of any outside corner in that time (with a minimum of 150 targets). While he has only played 2 snaps since then, due to him tearing his other ACL last year, reports were this old Moseley was back. Is it worth disregarding the ceiling of Moseley just because he tore his pec, which isn't even the same injury he's had before, and is an injury players have come back from and still played well (looking at you, T.J. Watt)? Especially since he plays a high-impact position and so his coming back could give us some veteran depth at a valuable position at a time when we are supposed to be poised to be making a deep playoff run? Not to me.
So, personally, I do not wish for Moseley to retire and I'm disappointed in the way some of our fans have been talking about Moseley when he could be a vital piece of our playoff run if he looks like he did in camp when he returns.
What do you think? Do you agree with my reasoning behind my answers to these questions, or am I not seeing the other side clearly? Let me know below.
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Thanks Ash, What's striking to me about the PS is the age profile.Lots of experience ,over development ,especially at WR ie we want a Vet who can come in and "Do your Job " , when required,not a Rookie on Work Experience. ( Though I'm shocked to see DPJ is only 25....)