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**Mainevent** · October 16, 2024, 09:20 AM

That's a good call out Mason. Levi's played really well, and his versatility is an asset. My guess is they offer a solid deal but nothing breaking the bank and he'll need to make a decision on if he wants to hit the market or maybe take a hometown discount. But just looking at the deals that were handed out last year, some dude named Grover Stewart go 3/$39M with the Colts, Justin Jones 3/$31M with the Cards. And both of those guys were older than Levi (though with longer track records of solid play). So it might be hard to keep him from hitting the open market.

Holmes has been really loyal to his dudes and they've invested in Levi when they could have given up the last couple of years. But you can't sign everybody, so at some point they'll have to make some tough decisions. And maybe this is just one of those and it's next man up with Wingo. They also have Cominsky who's contract will be up.

**froot loops** · October 16, 2024, 10:39 AM

Originally posted by Forsh View Post

That's a lotta dough for a DT. Hope he steps it up with Hutch out

We'll have to wait for the contract details but as the initial numbers are reported, it seems relatively cheap. 55 million guaranteed over 4 seasons is not that steep.

**whatever_gong82** · October 16, 2024, 11:03 AM

Paywall article from the Freep.

Isaac Ukwu part of Detroit Lions' plan to replace Aidan Hutchinson: 'Can't let them down'

Dave Birkett

On the first play after Aidan Hutchinson suffered what likely was a season-ending leg injury, his temporary replacement, Isaac Ukwu, got a welcome-to-the-NFL moment.

Ukwu, playing his first career game as a practice-squad elevation, lined up at the right defensive end spot across from Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyler Smith. He charged two steps forward at the snap, and before he could loop around two teammates on an inside stunt, Cowboys fullback Hunter Luepke decked him with a chip block that knocked him to the ground.

Ukwu got up and immediately found himself face-to-face with nine-time Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin.

An undrafted rookie from Ole Miss, Ukwu played 36 snaps in his NFL debut, most of them after Hutchinson was carted off the field with a fractured tibia and fibula that required immediate surgery.

He finished with two tackles, both on fourth-quarter rushing plays, and had a pressure as part of a six-man blitz to force an incompletion on third down but did little else to stand out in a game that was finished by backups on both teams.

"That was his first taste of real NFL football," Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday. "I thought as the game went on, he got better, and it looked like it was his first NFL game. That’s just the truth."

The Lions have lost both of their Week 1 starting defensive ends, Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport, to injuries this season, and while they are exploring potential replacements via trade, they plan to lean heavily on their in-house backups for now.

Josh Paschal took Davenport's place in the starting lineup last week and played well in his 41 defensive snaps. Trevor Nowaske got his first sack eight plays after Hutchinson's injury, when Dak Prescott tried to step up in the pocket with no receivers open downfield. The Lions signed Isaiah Thomas off the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad on Tuesday. And Ukwu could continue to get reps as one of four edge rushers on the Lions' practice squad.

"I see that guy every day in practice," Campbell said. "I see (Mitchell) Agude every day in practice, we just got (Al-Quadin) Muhammad here, I’ve known what he’s been able to do for a while. And so, man, those are guys that they’re going to do what we ask them to do and they’re going to go all out to do it, and while they’re doing it, they’re going to continue to grow. Ukwu will get better every week."

Ukwu made a strong preseason push for a 53-man roster spot, logging three sacks in as many exhibition games.

He said Sunday he was nervous for his NFL debut, but felt at home "after the first couple plays."

"I got the jitters out and I really feel like I got into a groove as the game went on," Ukwu said. "Obviously, I wasn't expecting to play as much as I did given what happened to Hutch, and that was terrible. It was bad, honestly, so it's hard to shake back and just go from that situation happening, especially as a guy who's had a bunch of injuries in the past and I know how much that can suck and to just try and go to the next play."

Ukwu, who tore his ACL twice at James Madison before transferring to Ole Miss, said he has improved in two areas in particular since the end of training camp.

Coaches have helped him better understand what offenses are trying to do based on their personnel on the field, and teammates like Hutchinson have impressed upon him the importance of attention to detail.

"Even a guy who's as freakishly talented and God-gifted as he is, he still pays attention to detail as if he's a guy who wasn't blessed with all those gifts physically," Ukwu said. "And I think that's something where it applies all levels of the spectrum, whether you're a guy who's undrafted or you're a guy who's a top-two pick. And yeah, just watching him honestly is enough advice just in and of itself. He's a guy who really leads by example."

Ukwu won't have Hutchinson's example to follow the rest of the season, and in many ways it will be up to him if he earns some of Hutchinson's snaps.

Hutchinson leads the NFL with 7½ sacks, and the Lions need at least one edge rusher who can consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks going forward.

As long as he continues to play well in practice, Ukwu could get first crack at the job.

"I feel like when a lot of the older guys and the guys who are vets and starters are looking to me to pick up the slack and I can't let them down," he said. "So that's really the mindset I'm going to go in with, just keep working hard, keep going as if I'm going to be the guy, as if I'm going to be playing a lot and just try and stack days."

Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline" at 7 p.m. Monday at 24 Seconds Bar & Grill in Berkley, and from 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday at Stadium Cards & Comics in Ypsilanti. Order your copy here.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

**whatever_gong82** · October 16, 2024, 11:09 AM

Yet another paywall Freep article.

Yes, the Detroit Lions need help. But they can't sell the future to reach the Super Bowl

Shawn Windsor

So, all Brad Holmes has to do is trade for Maxx Crosby or Myles Garrett or possibly Trey Hendrickson and then light the cigar and map the parade down Woodward.

Sell the future, bank on the present, right?

Easy to say in "Monopoly,” when all that’s at stake is pride. Harder to pull off when you’ve helped rebuild a long-suffering franchise and suddenly, you’re asked to put the plan aside, especially when the plan has been working, and you understand math.

Holmes most certainly does.

And while he almost certainly doesn’t care what bookies think, he understands the odds and the random nature of this league. The folks that set those odds soured on the Detroit Lions’ Super Bowl chances after Aidan Hutchinson broke his leg Sunday afternoon in Texas.

And yet?

They weren't ruling them out.

Their Super Bowl chances fell from 8% to 4%. Yes, that’s a 50% drop, but any good general manager will focus on the 8%, understanding this entire endeavor is a crapshoot anyway — no matter the talent on the roster.

In other words, the odds the Lions faced with Hutchinson manning the edge of the defensive line were hardly a given. It’s easy to forget that in times like these.

It’s easy to forget this, too: Crosby or Garrett or Hendrickson is a guarantee of nothing, except gutting next year’s draft capital. Because the margins are too thin in the NFL.

Ask the San Francisco 49ers, who added a “dominant” defensive end in Chase Young to a loaded roster last season at the trade deadline and still came up short of a championship.

Great edge rushers can obviously change a defense. They are critical, and valuable, but they aren’t essential to great defense, or even to solid defense. Partly because the best pressure comes from the middle. And partly because linebacking and secondary play can cover for a lot.

Tampa Bay won a Super Bowl this way a few years back, anchored by the interior of its defensive line, stellar linebacking and playmakers in the defensive backfield. The Lions don’t quite have the talent that Bucs’ team did up the middle, but they are getting better in those areas and have time to get better still ... this season.

The safeties are young. A couple linebackers are, too. And the player who anchors the middle up front?

Alim McNeill is young, too, and coming, and just got extended by the Lions on a four-year, $97 million contract.

As Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Monday when asked what the blossoming, fourth-year defensive tackle means going forward after a noteworthy performance against Dallas:

“A lot. And he’s one of those guys we’re going to lean on. He doesn’t have to be Superman, but we’ve got to get that out of him every week, and he’s got that ability. Played a heck of a game yesterday.”

Quarterbacks can elude heat from the outside by stepping up inside, but there’s nowhere to go when big, quick and nimble fellas blast up the middle. No one does it better than Chris Jones at the moment.

The Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle is the best in the game in that spot now that Aaron Donald retired. Without him, the Chiefs probably don’t win the past two Super Bowls. Nor do they win without terrific corners and good linebackers.

Obviously, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the key, but last season’s championship team didn’t have its usual explosive offense. The defense made the difference.

But the title-winning team of 2022 had one of the best offenses in the NFL and a middle-of-the-pack defense, even with Jones. Kansas City ranked 16th that season. The year before, the Rams won the Super Bowl with the 15th ranked defense and a top-10 offense.

You remember that team, no? A former Lion manned the huddle.

Yes, it helps to have a top-10 defense, particularly when the offense is merely good. Yet recent trends suggest that a great offense and middling defense are enough.

This is where the Lions must reside. Their offense looks not only explosive, but like it’s just getting started.

As for the defense?

Of course it will miss Hutchinson. Of course the Lions won’t be the same without him.

But then, this season is no longer about what kind of team these Lions might have been with their star defensive end. That changed Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

The question now is this: What kind of team can they be without him?

A Super Bowl team, that’s what. Perhaps even a Super Bowl-winning team. Their offense is that good. And their defense has more talent than it did a year ago, and is better positioned to absorb Hutchinson’s considerable loss.

Plus, the Lions have time. Time to see who they are, time to see who they can be, time to adapt, time to make a trade if they need — the deadline is still a little less than three weeks away.

Yes, they must replace him, but no one can really replace him. The Lions know this, and it's why Campbell told WXYT-FM (97.1) Tuesday that the team was looking for a “role” player to help fill the void.

“Somebody, I think, that can set an edge, that can transition into rush,” he said on the radio. “I mean, look, as you guys know, the elite rushers and edge setters and all that don’t just fall off trees, or if they do, then you’re going to have to sell the farm to get them. But I do think there could be some guys out there, man, that’ll fit into what we’re doing defensively.”

For now, they’ll have to get creative and try to manufacture pressure using the deep and capable cadre of defensive backs and linebackers. Maybe a young defensive end will hit, as James Houston did as a rookie a couple of years ago.

Everyone will need to do a little more.

Will it be enough?

Who knows?

But know this: All the Lions must do is keep their defense from falling out of the teens and they will have a shot — it has been a top-10 unit so far.

That’s possible with the roster they already have.

Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him@shawnwindsor.

**whatever_gong82** · October 16, 2024, 11:11 AM

Another paywall Freep article.

Detroit Lions' latest splurge on Alim McNeill shows just how good 2021 draft class was

Dave Birkett

Brad Holmes built the core of the Detroit Lions' Super Bowl-contending roster over three days in April of 2021 – and he spent the past few months making sure it's not going anywhere.

The Lions re-signed the third member of their star-studded 2021 draft to a multi-year extension Tuesday, agreeing to terms on a four-year deal with defensive tackle Alim McNeill.

The deal is worth $97 million in new money and includes $55 million guaranteed.

A third-round pick out of North Carolina State in 2021, McNeill is the sixth key member of the Lions to sign an extension in the past six months.

Penei Sewell, the Lions' first-round pick in '21, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, a fourth-rounder the same year, signed four-year deals worth a combined $232 million in April. Jared Goff (four years, $212 million), Taylor Decker (three years, $60 million) and David Montgomery (two years, $18.5 million) also have finalized extensions since the spring.

In all, the Lions have committed $619.5 million to those six cornerstone players.

McNeill, 24, has long said he hoped to sign an extension with the Lions, and his new contract puts him among the game's highest paid interior defensive lineman.

He had a career-high five sacks in 13 games last season and had two sacks in the Lions' 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

"Mac wasn’t pleased with the way he played against Seattle (in Week 4), and so he was a man on a mission before the bye, coming out, and he was locked in this week," Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday. "His mind was right, and he was going to be a factor in this game and that’s what we expect every week out of Mac, is just that."

Campbell said the Lions are counting on more pass-rush production from McNeill to help fill the void on their defensive line left by the likely season-ending injury to Aidan Hutchinson. Hutchinson fractured to tibia and fibula in his left leg Sunday against the Cowboys.

"He’s one of those guys we’re going to lean on," Campbell said. "He doesn’t have to be Superman, but we’ve got to get that out of him every week, and he’s got that ability. Played a heck of a game (Sunday).”

Holmes, in his fourth season as Lions general manager, took over a team that went 5-11 in 2020 and has built one of the NFL's best rosters in four years. All seven of Holmes' 2021 draft picks are still on the roster, including practice squad running back Jermar Jefferson, and the Lions have made contract overtures to more members of that year's draft class, second-rounder Levi Onwuzurike and fourth-rounder Derrick Barnes.

The Lions had another big draft haul in 2022, when they landed Hutchinson, Jameson Williams and Kerby Joseph, and will be able to begin negotiating extensions with members of that year's class after the season.

"We’ve always felt the earlier the better for everybody," Holmes said in August of signing core players to contract extensions. "First of all, I know that the player doesn’t want to wait around and be strung along, and us as an organization, we do a lot of planning and preparation to reward these players as early as possible because you don’t know what’s going to happen the next week, the next month. You don’t know who’s going to – but we just have to worry about what we have to do, and we try to do with the best we can in terms of prediction and operating with discernment with all that stuff. But that’s how we choose to operate."

Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline" at 7 p.m., Oct. 21, at 24 Seconds Bar & Grill in Berkley, and from 5:30-7 p.m., Oct. 22 at Stadium Cards & Comics in Ypsilanti. Order your copy here.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

**whatever_gong82** · October 16, 2024, 11:24 AM

Pride of Detroit Direct

by Jeremy Reisman

The Lions can't replace Aidan Hutchinson

Author for this article is by Ty Schalter

Aidan Hutchinson was having the best season of any defender in the NFL when he broke his leg on Sunday—and with apologies to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Isaiah Thomas, and Thomas’s agent, signing Thomas off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad does not constitute the “much-needed edge rush help” the Detroit Lions seem to need so much.

Going big wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem, either. Maxx Crosby is not available at any price the Lions could conceivably pay. Pride of Detroit’s own Ryan Mathews detailed why Haason Reddick’s skill set wouldn’t replace Hutchinson’s. Just about any other player would represent at least one step down—if not several—from Hutchinson’s level of production.

If you’re an analytics nerd like me, you can probably feel the Moneyball quote coming.

“Guys,” Brad-Pitt-as-Billy-Beane says in the movie, “you're still trying to replace [departed superstar Jason] Giambi. I told you we can't do it, and we can't do it. Now, what we might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate.“

Lions GM Brad Holmes might, or might not, make a bigger move than signing Thomas to address the holes in the front seven. But the truth is, the Lions aren’t going to be able to replace Hutchinson or re-create him in the aggregate.

After saying that line in the movie, Brad-Pitt-as-Billy-Beane goes on to add up Giambi’s on-base percentage with two other players’ percentage, divide by three, and explain they just need to replace all three of them with players with the same average OBP.

Just for fun, let’s try swapping out hitters and OBP for edge rushers and pressure rate.

Hutchinson’s pressure rate this year, per NFL Pro, has been 16.2 percent. The Lions’ next-best healthy edge players with a qualifying number of snaps are Levi Onwuzurike (8.5 percent) and Isaac Ukwu (4.2 percent).

So to “replace [Hutchinson] in the aggregate,” the Lions would have to bring in three starting edge rushers with a collective average pressure rate of 9.6 percent.

A trio of, say, Clelin Ferrell, George Karlaftis, and Kwity Paye would fit the bill—but getting the Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, and Indianapolis Colts each to part with three young, productive, recent first-round picks from the wouldn’t be any cheaper or easier than getting Crosby away from the Raiders. And we haven’t even touched the salary cap yet.

This is why when Detroit head coach Dan Campbell talked about the situation, he talked about the players (and coaches) who are already on the payroll.

“I have a lot of faith in that D-line room,” he said. “(Lions DL Alim McNeill) Mac and (Lions DL) Levi (Onwuzurike) and (Lions DL DJ) Reader and (Lions DL Josh) Paschal and that group that’s going in there – (Lions DL Isaac) Ukwu, we’ve got (Lions LB Al-Quadin) Muhammad on practice squad, (Lions LB Mitchell) Agude, (Lions DL James) Houston’s still here. So, we’ve got options and it’s why we play with three phases. So, we play offense, defense, special teams, that’s why we do it. And we help each other out. So, we’ll be just fine, we’re going to move forward, and I’ll kind of leave it at that."

Reader’s an interior guy, and his 60 pass-rush snaps are under NFL Pro’s current qualifying threshold, but his pressure rate is 10.0 percent. McNeill primarily plays inside, too, but his is 9.7 percent. The remaining non-qualifiers—Paschal, Trevor Nowaske, and Mekhi Wingo—are all between 7.0 and 7.7 percent.

We haven’t seen any of Muhammad, Agude, or Thomas in regular-season action for Detroit, but Lions leadership clearly believes they’ll have opportunities to contribute. And while Houston’s 11 no-pressure, two-penalty pass rushes merit every bit of the implied shade Campbell threw at them by saying nothing beyond the fact that he’s “still here,” a chance to play as a pure hand-down edge rusher again might flip the tantalizingly talented Houston’s switch back to ON.

So now, we’re not talking about the difference between Hutchinson’s 16.2 percent and Onwuzurike’s 8.5 percent. We’re talking about Onwuzurike and three or four other guys stepping up and getting pressure on an extra snap or two a game each, collectively hitting that 9.6 percent average.

And how do you get closer-to-elite production out of less-than-elite players? You scheme it up.

"What gives me hope moving forward,” Campbell said, “is (Lions Defensive Coordinator) Aaron Glenn. We’ve been coaching here four years and he’s done everything in his power to work around any personnel we have and use the players that we have and get the most production we can, and we will be able to adapt to that.”

Campbell’s absolutely right.

The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner immediately noted what a lot of close Lions-watchers know to be true: Glenn’s played some of his best chess matches when his favorite pieces have been taken away.

Just last year, in the four weeks after losing new keystone free-agent signing C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the Lions held opponents to an average of 14 points and 248 pass yards per game. The year before, Detroit held the Green Bay Packers to nine points (and picked off Aaron Rodgers three times) with a mix-and-match secondary of Jeff Okudah, Will Harris, Mike Hughes, Jerry Jacobs, DeShon Elliott and Kerby Joseph.

What the Vikings are doing in Minnesota, for example, is all about scheme. They’re eighth in team pressure rate (36.4 percent) and third in EPA per pass play (-0.28), despite having only two snap-qualified pass rushers with a pressure rate over 8 percent (Jonathan Greenard, 13.5 percent, and Patrick Jones II, at 10.3 percent). Their secret? Five more non-qualifying linemen and linebackers, plus safety Jay Ward, with pressure rates from ranging from 8.7 percent to 16.7 percent on snap counts ranging from 12 to 158.

Of course, it’s easier to scheme up role players when you have a Hutchinson drawing extra blockers. And the Vikings blitz far more often than the Lions (41.1 percent vs. 28.5 percent), putting extra pressure on their secondary. Throwing more bodies forward to create pressure necessarily means you have fewer back there.

But Glenn has never shied away from sending a safety or a corner at the quarterback when the situation is ripe—and what’s the downside, when the alternative is simply not generating enough pressure?

Of course, there are limits. No one’s argued earlier or louder than me that Hutchinson has been the Lions’ best and most important player. Missing him is going to hurt. And all of Glenn’s best jerry-rigged defenses got overrun eventually; after that four-week run in 2023 Detroit allowed a brutal 31.3 points per game the rest of the way ...

…the rest of the way to a 12-5 record, the NFC North crown, and eventually the NFC Championship game.

You see, the 2023 edition of the Lions finished the regular season as the No. 5 scoring offense and No. 23 scoring defense. They outscored opponents by an average of 3.9 points per game.

Now? They’re ranked No. 1 and No. 8, respectively. They’re outscoring opponents by an average of 12 points per game—the second-best scoring differential in the NFL, behind only the Vikings. They’re No. 2 in DVOA, behind only the Vikings. They’re the hottest team in football, and they only have to go 8-4 the rest of the way to match last year’s record.

And as long as at least one of those eight wins comes against the Vikings, they should be every bit as much in the mix for the NFC’s No. 1 seed as they were last year. And guess what? This Sunday, they play the Vikings.

The “much-needed” help for the pass rush won’t come in time for this weekend’s game, if such help ever comes. As I wrote, Detroit re-signed McNeil to a massive four-year, $97 million extension—almost as if to make a statement to the rest of the league that the guys who got them this far will be the guys who carry them to this season’s finish line, and beyond.

All that’s left is for Glenn to put a period on the end of that statement by beating the only team currently standing between them and the NFC’s No. 1 seed.

**El Axe** · October 17, 2024, 11:42 PM

**froot loops** · October 18, 2024, 05:47 AM

Goff is like most veteran quarterbacks. To make them ineffective you have to hit him, but he has so much experience he welcomes the blitz. I remember Gary Danielson saying on his talk show how much he wanted teams to blitz as he got older.