Lions News

[ghandi]

"We've had some great conversations with Jamo, even since the season ended, and I know his mind is going to be right when he gets back in here in the springtime."

Reading between the lines...Does that mean he is not in the right frame of mind right now?.....Also I dont see them paying DJ Chark big money this offseason, not with so many unrestricted free agents......I dotn see the team being able to keep quite a few of these guys unless they either take a discount or the Lions release a few guys......Im not sure Jamo is ready to move into Chark's spot though...maybe he is more in the role of a Kalif?

[Forsh]

Think it's more that he was thinking too much after the injury, but won't be in the fall

[whatever_gong82]

Lions DL coach Todd Wash leaves for Panthers job

Detroit Lions defensive line coach Todd Wash is reportedly leaving the team to take the same job with the Carolina Panthers, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano. The news has since been confirmed by the Panthers.

It’s unclear at this point why Wash is making a lateral move like this. Duce Staley, the team’s former assistant head coach/running backs coach, made a similar move to the Panthers this offseason, but that was due to a desire to be closer to an ailing family member.

Wash has been with the Lions in each of the two past seasons and received a lot of credit for helping Detroit’s young pass rushers develop quickly. In 2021, former first-round pick Charles Harris had a career year under Wash (7.5 sacks) after failing to work out with the Dolphins and Falcons. Last season, Aidan Hutchinson (9.5 sacks) and James Houston (8.0) sacks had phenomenal rookie seasons in part due to Wash.

If the Lions do not decide to replace Wash with an external hire, they do have Cameron Davis—the team’s current assistant defensive line coach—as an option. Davis was hired in 2022, his first NFL coaching job, but had been coaching among the college ranks since 2013.

[Cody_Russell]

In the most Logan Roy way I can say this… Panthers need to F-off.

- Released Baker Mayfield that led to 2 dumbassed Rams wins.
- Defeated the Lions late in the season that basically knocked our team out of the playoffs.
- Tried to hire Ben Johnson.
- Hired away Duce Staley and Todd Wash.
- This last bullet point isn’t upsetting, but they hired Jim Caldwell and Dom Capers too… they really trying to be like the Lions??

What’s next… are they going to offer Jamaal Williams a contract he can’t refuse and take him too?!

Too bad they didn’t get to Hank Fraley… arguably the best position coach. Ha, Panthers! Losing out.

[Forsh]

In the most Logan Roy way I can say this… Panthers need to F-off.

- Released Baker Mayfield that led to 2 dumbassed Rams wins.
- Defeated the Lions late in the season that basically knocked our team out of the playoffs.
- Tried to hire Ben Johnson.
- Hired away Duce Staley and Todd Wash.
- This last bullet point isn’t upsetting, but they hired Jim Caldwell and Dom Capers too… they really trying to be like the Lions??

What’s next… are they going to offer Jamaal Williams a contract he can’t refuse and take him too?!

Too bad they didn’t get to Hank Fraley… arguably the best position coach. Ha, Panthers! Losing out.

Yeah that's terrible stuff. Man. Those Rams wins and the playoffs ... bah. If they'd gotten Johnson!$%&!

[kayrone]

Here's an article from today's paper:

When Brown, wearing his best suit, arrived in Detroit, he was in for another shock: Instead of being whisked away by limousine, he spent the long ride to the Pontiac Silverdome scrunched in the front seat of an equipment staffer’s car.

“We introduce ourself to each other and I see he’s got one arm, so I’m like saying in my mind, ‘OK, I’m going to grab my own bag. I’m not going to make this guy grab my bag,’ ” Brown said. “So we walk out of the airport, McNamara or whatever the little thing was called back then, and we were just walking and walking, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ And it’s cold now. It’s April, it’s cold up there in Detroit.

“So we walk to the parking lot and in the parking lot he came to pick me up in his car and it was a straight hooptie. It was rusted out at the bottom. I forgot what make and model it was, but it was a hooptie. And I’m like. ‘Oh my God.’ I’m saying to myself, ‘Man, I’m the sixth pick in the draft and they send a one-armed equipment guy to come pick me up in this hooptie, man.’ And I’m telling you, I froze from that. Cause again, it was rusted out at the bottom. I froze from the airport all the way out to the Pontiac Silverdome, and that was my first experience with the Lions.”

[froot loops]

In the most Logan Roy way I can say this… Panthers need to F-off.

- Released Baker Mayfield that led to 2 dumbassed Rams wins.
- Defeated the Lions late in the season that basically knocked our team out of the playoffs.
- Tried to hire Ben Johnson.
- Hired away Duce Staley and Todd Wash.
- This last bullet point isn’t upsetting, but they hired Jim Caldwell and Dom Capers too… they really trying to be like the Lions??

What’s next… are they going to offer Jamaal Williams a contract he can’t refuse and take him too?!

Too bad they didn’t get to Hank Fraley… arguably the best position coach. Ha, Panthers! Losing out.

I missed the part where Todd Wash was some great position coach.

[wcfwtf]

“That’s a big ass(k)” Dan

[ghandi]

I missed the part where Todd Wash was some great position coach.

He must have done something right with harris, Houston, and Aidan...Aidan even credited him in an interview with helping him alot.

[edindetroit]

Lions Have Plan to Improve Jared Goff

Read more on how Ben Johnson plans on improving the Detroit Lions' offense in 2023.

The Detroit Lions' offense made a huge jump in production from the 2021 campaign to this past season. It went from the 25th-best scoring offense (19.1 points per game) to the fifth-most productive offense (26.6 points a game).

And, a significant chunk of that can be attributed to Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's strong rapport with Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff.

The 2022 season marked Johnson's first full season of calling plays, and Goff subsequently experienced a career resurgence.

"We saw him make tremendous growth from the end of last year through training camp," Johnson said of Goff on the Tim Twentyman-hosted "Twentyman in the Huddle" podcast Wednesday. "(During the) bye week, we dove into how he could improve as a player, and I thought we saw the dividends of that in the second half of the season."

The former L.A. Rams passer went from throwing just 19 touchdowns and 3,245 yards in 2021, to throwing for 29 TDs and 4,438 yards over this past season.

"The good news is this: When he (Goff) comes back in the building, we're going to have another plan of action for him to take another few steps forward, to where he can continue to progress and be an even better player than he was this past year," Johnson told Twentyman. "That's the exciting thing. And, knowing him, he's going to embrace it, and run with it."

As part of Johnson's preparations to get the offense to improve as a unit in 2023, he doesn't envision "reinventing the wheel."
"The secret sauce (to improving the offense) is really teaching and executing just a little bit better than we did a year ago," Johnson expressed.


https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/li...ove-jared-goff

[whatever_gong82]

I'm about to post the entire NFL in the NFL thread, but I wanted to first put out in the Lions thread what The Athletic thought the Lions needed for 2023:


The biggest offseason needs for all 32 NFL teams and how teams can fill them


The Athletic NFL Staff

Feb 20, 2023

Every NFL season reveals teams’ potential and limitations, successes and failures. And it also reveals every team’s needs, even for the best teams.

Some teams appear to be in perpetual pursuit of a franchise quarterback, while others are looking for the final pieces to a championship puzzle.

With the 2022 season complete and the NFL Scouting Combine and free agency beginning within the next month, The Athletic’s NFL staff identifies the biggest need for every NFL team this offseason and how each may go about filling it.

Detroit Lions

Position of greatest need: Cornerback


If the Lions are going to take the next step, they must invest in the cornerback position. Jeff Okudah looked serviceable at times, but he was benched toward the end of the season and simply hasn’t looked like a No. 3 pick. Since Okudah, who was drafted by the previous front office, the Lions have selected only one other cornerback in the first three rounds. That would be 2021 third-rounder Ifeatu Melifonwu, who is now a safety. With two firsts in 2023 and five selections among the top 85, it’s time for Detroit to add young talent at cornerback. — Colton Pouncy

[-Deborah-]

Hi all, been away a bit. Sorry if this has all been covered. I skimmed a bit but didn't see it mentioned.

I saw that the Duce is loose and we hired a former WR who has coached basically every offensive position including QB to replace him as RB coach/assistant HC. Then he interviews for TB OC immediately. Are we to understand that this interview was already lined up before the Lions hired him and that he got the OK, or did he get hired and immediately decide he wanted to be someplace else?

I thought this was odd, too.

[jaadam4]

TB interviewed a long list of coaches for the OC position. It sounds like they cast a wide net. I don't think the Lions were too worried. It feels like he's prob someone that can take over for Ben Johnson if he leaves next season.

[Futureshock]

Welcome back Mega...

Calvin Johnson excited to be around the Lions, with an improved relationship

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 22, 2023, 6:10 AM EST

Getty Images

Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson finally appears to be ready to bury the hatchet with the Lions.

Johnson, who said recently that his relationship with the Lions is “trending up,” elaborated on that in an interview with Jim Rome, saying Lions Chief Operating Officer Mike Disner has reached out to mend fences in a way that previous Lions executives refused to do.

“We’re having some good conversations,” Johnson said. “Mike Disner over there with the Lions . . . he’s putting the effort in to bring the two of us together, on the same page. I’m excited about him actually reaching out and putting the effort forth to try to make that happen. That’s the difference that I have not seen in the past that’s happening now. So I’m excited about it because I want to get back around football and help out the team. Not that they need my help, but I have a lot of experience to share with those guys, whether it’s football or off the field. I definitely can be of value to the organization. I’m excited to be around the team again. Just being around football and allowing my kids to see some of the things that I was able to do while I was in Detroit.”

When Johnson retired, the Lions forced him to pay back $1.6 million of his signing bonus, and that has never sat right with Johnson. Although the Lions had a contractual right to do that, teams often decide not to squeeze money out of their retired players, especially players like Johnson, who was one of the greatest in franchise history on the field as well as a good man off the field. It’s easy to understand why Johnson’s feathers were ruffled.

But that was seven years ago, and much has changed since then: Disner has arrived as COO, a different member of the Ford family functions as the team owner, and the coach and GM from that time are long gone. Johnson seems ready to let the past be the past and build a new relationship with his old team.

[Futureshock]