Guess who's back, back again? Yes, it's me, your annoying know-it-all little brother. My internet is back, just like our Lions are back in Arrowhead to give the reigning Super Bowl champs another swift kick up the jacksy. Like last season, here are a few things to look out for in Week 2 of the preseason.
Saviour Fromm the Gods?- After Sudfeld's frankly dismal performance against the Giants last week, and Hooker's concussion, the team thought it prudent to sign another QB in former Bulldog Jake Fromm (State Farm). In the two preseasons he's played in since he entered the league in 2021, he's not scored below an 80 in PFF offensive grade but fared worse in his two league starts with the Giants in 2021, scoring a 38.5 grade in those starts. Last preseason, he completed 68.3% of his passes for 262 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Fromm hasn't taken any team snaps during training camp so far, with Jeff Risdon stating heavily that Fromm is purely a camp arm on his latest mailbag on the Detroit Lions Podcast who will likely be cut after the game against the Chiefs. But in my (not so) humble opinion, giving Fromm some run against the Chiefs could allow the team to better evaluate the depth at receiver, especially at the X position, compared to the play that Sudfeld offers.
X Gon' Give It To Ya- Speaking of receivers, if you've listened to the podcast when I've been on this off-season, you will have heard me banging on about how we need an X-style receiver to step up on the outside with the loss of Josh Reynolds to Denver. Green unfortunately has been ruled out of the race with a concussion, leaving former Wolverine Donovan Peoples-Jones (67.7 receiving grade against the Giants) and former Northern Iowa Panther Daurice Fountain (51.9 receiving grade) to battle it out. Of course, the QB play has to improve for us to give us any idea of who is better, but this is a position group I'll be watching fairly closely on Saturday. Personally, I favour Fountain (as those who listen to the podcast know), but this competition is still open wide, and could even grow to include Kaden Davis (55.2 recieving grade) if he shows something on Saturday.
What Agude to Play Some Football- We roughly know who our top three edge rushers are (Hutch, Davenport and Paschal). Beyond that, it gets a bit murky. Nate Lynn looked really good last week, but his injury means he's no longer an option. Agude posted an 81.5 grade on his 25 snaps, recording 2 pressures and 5 tackles, including a team-best 3 run stops. UDFA out of Ole Miss Isacc Ukwu also looked good on his 40 snaps, posting a 71.8 grade with 2 pressures, 1 tackle and 2 run stops. The fact that these 3 were our highest-graded edges shows why you should have listened to me during our rookie camp podcast where I talked up all three😉. Behind them, Betts and Houston didn't look so hot, but with the team taking SAM responsibilities off their plates, things could become a lot easier with them having to think less, hopefully leading to better play from the pair.
Turn the Corner- Fixing the secondary has been a major focus of the team during this off-season. While it is highly unlikely that the major pieces won't play on Saturday, the depth behind them still needs to be sorted. FA signing Amik Robertson looks likely to start the game as CB1, be it in the slot or outside. But behind him, Steven Gilmore, Kindle Vildor and Khalil Dorsey are likely battling for a spot or two at the bottom of the cornerback depth chart, along with recent signings Essang Bassey and Javelin Guidry. Given how bad we were at stopping the pass last season, and how injury-prone cornerbacks can be, we need good depth if we are going to go as far as we'd like this season. CB1-4 is sorted, CB5 and potentially 6 need to be decided, and Saturday could go a long way to solidifying who's who and what's what.
Hogan's Hero- Last but certainly not least, LONG SNAPPER BATTLE TIME! We take pride in our loving snapper analysis here at ROTL UK, and will never waiver from this. Scott Daly has been the incumbent for the past few seasons, but the team has been looking for an upgrade. UDFA Hogan Hatten from the Idaho Vandals is this year's challenger, and boy does he have a chance. While the PFF grades do not reflect it, he made a real impact against the Giants. His previous experience as a linebacker certainly helped, especially with his taking 5 snaps on defence during the game. With the new special teams rules, his ability to snap and tackle could certainly serve him and the team well, hence my asking about him in every single mailbag a Lions beat writer does. If Hatten continues to look good against KC, he could usurp Scott and become Jack Fox's new best friend.
How do you see the game going? Will the Lions get back to .500, or will Kansas City avenge last year's asterisked loss?
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look forward to your conclusions on these players/positions after the game today, ty
Thanks Ash, RE TE's - Just to reiterate what Riz said ,& its worth noting what the Lions want their TE3 /4 to do, and how many game reps they'll actually get . Parker Hesse has been taking most Reps in camp primairly as blocker ( & FB ). Mitchel hasn't performed BUT, can Block & has some ST value,& was a draft pick. Zylstra is the best receiver -,but can't block - heresey on this team. So.........bearing in what Campbell said about the WR room ie its about the best players , irrespective of position......how about.......Mitchel as TE4 , & Zylstra ( TE5 ) taking the place of of WR5 ?
Ash, thank you so much for doing these. You and the rest of the ROTL UK gang are fantastic!
Greetings, I was glad to listen to your interesting interview. The season went really well. I liked the quality of your broadcast, which application did you use for this? Is it on this list? I just want to do live broadcasts