Lions News

[Mainevent]

And get him live game reps if they can in week 18 at home if that game doesn’t matter.

[Iron Lion]

Not to mention the 3rd QB rule that the Lions got passed.

[froot loops]

Not to mention the 3rd QB rule that the Lions got passed.

Good catch, they would actually have a 49 man active roster in a game because they have been suiting up 8 offensive lineman to get them the extra man.

[El Axe]

And get him live game reps if they can in week 18 at home if that game doesn’t matter.

I think the only way that game doesn't matter is for the Lions and 49ers to win their next two and for the Eagles and Cowboys to lose their next two. That would lock Lions into #2 seed.

Eagles play Giants and Cardinals at home, so not likely.

[Mainevent]

Lions beat Minny and Dallas wins the next two could lock the Lions into the 3rd spot because they’d have a head to head loss to Dallas and be a game back headed into the last week. Though not sure about tiebreakers with Philly v Detroit under that scenario.

[CGVT]

Lions beat Minny and Dallas wins the next two could lock the Lions into the 3rd spot because they’d have a head to head loss to Dallas and be a game back headed into the last week, though not sure about tiebreakers with Philly v Detroit under that scenario.

Dallas is a different team at home. If the Lions have a shot to make some noise, I think they need that 2 seed, but even if they end up at 3 it would help a shit-ton if Dallas does not win their division.

We all need to be Miami fans Sunday

[Mainevent]

I always root for Dallas to lose (unless it somehow benefits the Lions). So SOP as far as that’s concerned.

[-Deborah-]

FB_IMG_1703190714840.jpg

[whatever_gong82]

Some more Sam LaPorta love:

As Sam LaPorta makes history, not even Detroit Lions knew he'd be this good this quickly


Shawn Windsor
Detroit Free Press



The Detroit Lions knew Sam LaPorta had the chance to be good. They wouldn’t have taken him early in the second round of last spring’s NFL draft if they didn’t.

But did they know he’d be this good this quickly?



Of course not. They got lucky or, as a friend recently put it: the Lions showed “informed luck.” Which is to say they did their homework, saw some things, and got lucky.



This is the secret to talent evaluation, right? And to team building? To spot something others don’t and then lean on conviction to go get the talent. Again, expecting a second-round pick to produce is the standard. Yet to the level LaPorta is showing?

“You would love to say that every rookie’s going to come in and fill that vision immediately, but that’s not the reality, that’s not the truth,” said Dan Campbell. “Everybody grows at different rates. Some of them, it does happen fast, some of them, it’s late in the year, some of them, it’s Year 2, some of it is Year 3, which we’re seeing with a couple of our guys right now.”

Sam LaPorta against P.J. Locke 12-16-2023.jpg

And some of them ... it’s never. The Lions have had their share of those.

LaPorta has been so good he’s setting records by the week. Or at least it seems like it. He leads all tight ends with nine touchdowns. He’s third in yardage. He’s third — all-time — in catches for a rookie. I could go on. And on.



Let’s let Campbell do it instead:

“It’s not easy all that he’s been able to do to grasp and produce this fast in all the areas, honestly. I mean, I just go back to this, his run blocking and pass blocking has improved significantly on top of what everybody sees, the catches, the routes, the run after catch.”



Leave it to a coach to highlight the blocking, especially a coach who used to play tight end, especially a former tight end who never had the hands LaPorta has. Or the speed. Or the moves.

Speaking of moves, when LaPorta juked Denver linebacker Josey Jewell on Saturday night near the sideline, then sprinted 18 yards for a touchdown, you could see exactly what Brad Holmes talked about on draft day last April.

“He's not the biggest guy, he's not a 6-5, 250 (pound) guy,” said Holmes, “but he plays a lot bigger in line than you think. What really stands out (is) when he detaches from the core ... he can beat a (defensive back), he can catch contested, he can run the slant, he's got very good ball skills.”



And by the way, when we talk about the way LaPorta runs, can we use the word sprint?

Not rumble. Or amble. Or bulls. Or any word that conjures a large, but slowish fella working his way down a football field. No, LaPorta runs. Swiftly. Smoothly. Is it a bit deceptive at times? Sure. But that’s partly expectation and what the eye is conditioned to see.


He’s a tight end, after all.

Yet LaPorta ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. This isn’t slow. Yeah, it was a 4.59, and that’s close to a 4.6, but there are receivers who run a 4.5. Besides, he gets going in a hurry, which is another thing that goes against what we’re conditioned to think about tight ends.



In other words, he’s quick. Like, actually quick.



Again, let’s go back to Holmes on draft day:

“He's just a really good athlete.”

Sam LaPorta takes field vs. Denver Broncos 12-16-2023.jpg

Want more?

“He can bend,” Holmes continued. “He can change direction, and again, I just really like (that) he plays football, man. He's just got a gritty feel about him. Although he's athletic and he can do all that stuff in the pass game and he can be a mismatch all that stuff, he still has a gritty finishing style, especially with the ball in his hands.”



OK, OK, we almost got outta there without a reference to grit. Though can you blame him? Because LaPorta isn’t just an athlete. And he is a football player, which is another way of saying he loves the game and enjoys lowering his shoulder.



That was evident on opening night. And again the next game against Seattle, a loss, yes, but a game with a bit of foreshadowing. LaPorta caught five balls for 63 yards that Sunday.

What I remember are the contested catches over the middle, the ones where he hauled in the ball and kept running, dragging a defender with him. That told us he was more than a pretty route runner with uncommon speed for the position.



But back to Holmes’ draft day description of LaPorta, when he used phrases like “he can bend” and “change direction.” This is how scouts describe defensive backs.

And as critical as it is to love this game, to love the contact, to have a feel for time and space on a football field, those traits — and talents — only take a player so far. You need more to start setting records. You need more to catch the third most touchdown passes ever for a rookie, and to do the same for yards.



You need to able to deke a defender and run fast down the sideline, or to turn a five yarder into a 15-yarder ... or even a 48-yarder. He can sit down beyond the first-down marker on third down, shield the defender like a big man blocking out for a rebound in basketball, and vacuum a critical ball late in a game – he did this against New Orleans.

And, yes, he can block, both in the running game and the passing game.


Findling players like LaPorta is obviously the key to building playoff contending teams. General managers have to get difference makers outside the first round. Yes, LaPorta came only two picks after the end of the first round. But some didn’t think he was worth the pick. They worried about positional value. They had their reasons – and numbers – to back them up.

Holmes and Campbell, though, had a good idea they were drafting someone a little different. At the very least, they knew they were getting someone with versatility, and who could be difficult to match up with.



“We saw a complete tight end,” said Campbell.

Or the makings of one, anyway. What they didn’t see, and could not have anticipated, is that he’d be making history, that he’d be this good this quick or this complete of a player this quick. They got lucky. Every team needs that, too.



Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him@shawnwindsor.



Next up: Vikings


Matchup: Lions (10-4) vs. Minnesota (7-7).

Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday; US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis.

TV/radio: Fox; WXYT-FM (97.1).

Line: Lions by 3.

[whatever_gong82]

These 2 links below should be free.

Please let me know if they aren't.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2023/12/21/detroit-lions-sam-laporta-nfl-rookie-of-the-week/72000035007/

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2023/12/21/detroit-lions-ben-johnson-head-coach-opportunities-aaron-glenn/72001529007/

[whatever_gong82]

Why the Honey Badger is back kicking for the team:


Detroit Lions chose Michael Badgley over Riley Patterson as kicker based on practice


Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press



Riley Patterson kicked well enough in games that the Detroit Lions would have felt comfortable with him handling those duties down the stretch, but Michael Badgley was more consistent in practice and that ultimately led the Lions to pick Badgley as their kicker this week.

"It was clear at the end of the day that he was playing better," Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said Thursday. "My job is to really have the best interests of the whole team in mind, or the whole locker room and all those players sitting in that meeting, and it’s not just one person but it’s really I have a responsibility to be fair to all of them by playing whoever I think’s the best player. With a kicker it’s pretty clear, makes and misses and percentages. And I do think that practice matters and I do think that players trend towards what their practice stuff is."



Fipp said the Lions held a kicking competition between Patterson — who they cut Tuesday to make room for rookie quarterback Hendon Hooker on the 53-man roster — and Badgley, who remains temporarily on practice squad, since returning from their bye in early November.

Michael Badgley vs. Denver Broncos 12-16-2023.jpg

Patterson made the game-winning 41-yard field goal as time expired in a Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers and his only two other field goal attempts in the past five games, but he missed extra points in losses to the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving and Chicago Bears in early December.



Badgley, who made 20 of 24 field goals in 12 games with the Lions last season, was the more accurate kicker in practice, Fipp said.

"They would each get roughly six kicks a day and we kicked them at least twice a week, so 12 kicks a week," he said. "And over the course of six weeks, Badgley had been better and we didn’t want to rush to make that decision right away, we felt like he deserved as fair of an opportunity as we could have given him."


Badgley made all six of his extra points in last week's win over the Denver Broncos and should handle most kicking duties going forward. The Lions can elevate him to kick two more times from practice squad before they have to promote him to the 53-man roster.

Fipp reiterated the decision was not about leg strength; the Lions attempted just four kicks of 40-plus yards this season (and two beyond 50) with Patterson, but Badgley is "very comparable" in terms of range.



And he said he feels "very comfortable" with Badgley as his kicker going forward.

"It was definitely tough, but ultimately it was fairly clear to all of us, I think," he said. "The one thing I love about him is he’s going to swing at the ball the exact same way every time. It doesn’t matter if it's a 53-yarder or it's, whatever, a 22-yarder. He’s going to approach the ball the same way every single time. He’s very consistent and mentally he really doesn’t waver. Make, miss, he knows that he’s going to miss some. We all do. Obviously, we hope not very many, but he’s very, very flat-line."



Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

[jaadam4]

They probably want Hooker to continue practicing and that's only possible by activating him. That's your backup for next season and he can run scout team.

I don’t disagree but it’s win now time. We need all the positional players that we can get.

[froot loops]

They will be fine on position players, most of the guys they might cut will just go back to the PS.

[whatever_gong82]

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2023/12/21/24010318/lions-week-16-injury-report-penei-sewell-upgraded-jerry-jacobs-still-out

[whatever_gong82]

I hope that this isn't a jinx:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2Rh7FMqf14