Lions News

[Mainevent]

Branch is so good. I figured S was his long term position, but the extent to which he’s just immediately become one of the elite guys in the league is incredible. Just an absolute baller.

[whatever_gong82]

[whatever_gong82]

https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2024/11/21/24302412/7-most-important-lions-coordinator-quotes-how-jameson-williams-fixes-offense

[Marko69]

Thought that was actor Jackie Cooper talking about the Lions being the best in ANYONES lifetime, (which is just incredible) , but its Mike Florio. Hadn't ever seen him before.

And for me, (because I basically know feck all) -->> got to put faith in MCKMDC (kneecap munchin') that he knows when to sit the starters. Won't moan the man-boobs off again (along with MicroMike) that he "needs to rest the players". Was explained beautifully by Dan.

Be like Hibs signing Messi, ( aye ok then) ...., being 5-0 up @ HT ( aye ok then)......, benching Messi, then getting pumped 6-5.

[chemiclord]

You're never gonna see any coach pulling starters at the point either Hutch or Anzalone was injured, no matter what the score is. It sucks, and I know some people want to think there was a reasonable decision that could have been made that would have kept both players from getting hurt... but there really isn't. Any coach with that sort of power of precognition would never lose a game in their careers.

[Mainevent]

Yeah, Anzalone was injured in the first half and Hutch on the Cowboys first drive of the 2nd half. As much as you want to protect these guys there’s still a game going on and you can’t pull everybody off the field. Even Goff last game I saw some online criticism that he wasn’t pulled soon enough but he finished the drive that started in the 3rd quarter and then sat for almost the entire 4Q.

The other thing that you have to realize is, these guys want to rack up yards, score TDs, get sacks, get picks. It’s how they win awards and get big contracts.

[El Axe]

‘We hate the Lions’: Why sportsbooks are scared of a Detroit Super Bowl win

By Ben Fawkes
6h ago

The Detroit Lions’ Week 11 52-6 dismantling of the Jacksonville Jaguars, combined with the Kansas City Chiefs’ 30-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, vaulted the Lions into a unique position. For one of the few times in the history of the franchise, they became the consensus Super Bowl favorite at around +325 odds. In fact, by the account of several oddsmakers, it’s likely the first time the team has been favored to win the title in 70 years. After all, the Lions have only made the playoffs 18 times since 1935.

That status has also positioned the Lions as the team most likely to keep those oddsmakers up at night after roaring to a 9-1 start this season. After last season’s inspiring run to the NFC Championship Game, the money has poured in on Detroit, which could cost sportsbooks significantly in payouts to bettors if the Lions were to win Super Bowl LIX.

“They’re by far our biggest Super Bowl liability and pretty much our only one at this point,” BetMGM trader Christian Cipollini told The Athletic. “Anything inside of 10-1 [odds] we don’t tend to build crazy liability that we’re worried about, but everybody has been on them. At this point, the Lions winning the Super Bowl would be a huge problem for us. If I could remove them from futures, I would.”

Adding to the growing liability on Detroit, fans tend to favor their home team with their wagers, and Michigan is one of the 38 states with legal sports betting (and the 10th-largest by population). The Lions opened the offseason in the 12-1 range to win the Super Bowl, but those odds have dropped significantly to just over 3-1 since. The betting money has followed that success.

“The betting momentum in favor of Detroit started prior to the season as they attracted a large number of Super Bowl future wagers,” said Brad Bryant, general manager at Mohegan Sun FanDuel Sportsbook, noting the Lions have been one of the Mohegan Sun’s “top-wagered teams on a weekly basis.”

At DraftKings Sportsbook, 31 percent of bets (No. 1 among NFL teams) and 31 percent of total dollars wagered (also No. 1) were on Detroit to win the Super Bowl earlier this week. The Lions are third in ticket count for Super Bowl futures at The Borgata in Atlantic City, where sportsbook director Thomas Gable noted Detroit has the most total dollars wagered to win the Super Bowl “by a pretty good stretch.”

“We hate the Lions,” Cipollini said, adding that the number of bets on the Lions is the first thing that he looks at every week. “I haven’t seen something like this in my time at BetMGM. Every single week, they’re our worst team. I think something like 95 percent of the bets last week [vs. the Jaguars] were on Detroit.”

With an NFC-best 9-1 record and winners of eight straight games, the Lions have vaulted from a top-five preseason power rating among oddsmakers to the consensus No. 1 team in the league. Out of 10 oddsmakers The Athletic polled, nine of them had the Lions as their highest power-rated team. (One had the Baltimore Ravens slightly above Detroit.)

The Lions also have the NFL’s best record at 8-2 against the spread, and bettors placing a moneyline wager or standard six-point teaser on Detroit have cashed that ticket in nine of 10 weeks.

And the action isn’t only in Michigan. Bookmakers noted the increased interest in betting the Lions at several sportsbooks from Mississippi to Las Vegas.

“That’s 100 percent true,” Ed Salmons, vice president of risk at The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, said. “Weekly bets on Lions point spread, moneyline, teasers and game over and Lions team total over.”

Several other oddsmakers agreed, noting they’d seen an increase in betting on the Lions compared to previous seasons and that the public was regularly tossing Detroit in moneyline parlays and teasers. In the upcoming Week 12, Lions at -7.5 is currently the most-bet Week 12 side by both total money and tickets at BetMGM and DraftKings.

“[The public] will include Detroit in parlays and tease the spread down,” The Borgata’s Gable noted. “We opened [with] the Lions -8 against the Colts [in Week 12] and took respected money right away against the Colts. Now it’s 7.5.”

It’s easy to see why the public is in love: The Lions are a ridiculous 41-16 ATS (72 percent) in their past 57 games since the middle of the 2021 season. That includes a 22-8 ATS mark in the first half since the start of last season. Double-digit favorites in the NFL are 5-0 ATS this season, and the Lions are responsible for two of those covers — the 52-6 laugher vs. Jacksonville as a 14-point favorite and a 52-14 demolition of the Tennessee Titans as a 13-point favorite. It’s one thing to cover a 14-point spread; it’s another to have it be a rocking-chair win.

Looking ahead to a potential title matchup, when six oddsmakers were asked to make a spread on a Chiefs-Lions matchup on a neutral field, their responses were:

Lions -4.5
Lions -2.5
Lions -2
Lions -1.5
Lions -1
And one pick-em

The oddsmaker framing the matchup as a pick-em explained, “One concern I have is the coach. When you talk about Detroit vs. the Chiefs and Andy Reid, there’s a big difference there. And the Lions haven’t gotten [to the Super Bowl] yet. The Chiefs have been there.”

As the Lions keep steamrolling through teams, oddsmakers are certainly rooting against a Detroit Super Bowl victory. And history might be on their side.

Several of the oddsmakers contacted by The Athletic, who have worked in sports betting since the 1970s, could not recall a time when Detroit had been favored to win pro football’s championship. Per Pro Football Reference, however, the Lions were favored by three points 70 years ago in the 1954 championship game against the Cleveland Browns … who obliterated the favorites by a score of 56-10.

[whatever_gong82]

Pride of Detroit Direct
by Jeremy Reisman


Before we get into this week’s preview newsletter, a reminder that we’re holding our first ever live-recording of the PODcast at 7pm on Wednesday, December 4th at the Magic Stick in downtown Detroit. It’s less than two weeks away, and TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

Would love to see you there. You can find more details about it at this post. And if you have any questions (or just want to tell us how excited you are to be there) about the event--or that you want us to answer at the event--please feel free to reply to this email!


Onto Week 12:


The Colts’ unique threat on offense will provide the Lions with a huge, important test

Despite what the title suggests, I’m not of the belief that the Lions are on upset alert this week. They’re clearly the more talented team, and I don’t think the Colts defense has enough talent on the defensive side of the ball to slow the Lions offense.


But when it comes to preparing for their Super Bowl run, the Colts are a very good test run for the Lions defense, because they offer something that is rare, but must be dealt with on the path to the Super Bowl: a physical rushing quarterback paired with a legitimate running back.

Before we get too far into this, let’s be clear: this is far from an elite Colts run game. They’re 24th in EPA for the season and 29th in success rate. But when Anthony Richardson is in the game with Jonathan Taylor, they’re much better.


Here’s their rush EPA number with Richardson vs. games that Joe Flacco started:

With Richardson: -11.2 EPA
Without Richardson: -14.0 EPA


Okay, so it’s not that different and it’s not that good either way, but, hey, that’s not the point.

The point is that they produce a unique stress on the Lions defense: run-pass options, zone reads, and a quarterback who is strong and physical. Lions fans have a deeply-ingrained fear of mobile quarterbacks and for good reason. In previous seasons, they’ve really struggled against them.


This year, it hasn’t been much of a problem, but they also haven’t faced a true rushing quarterback since Week 3 against Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. You may remember in that game, Murray rushed for 34 yards on two carries in the first quarter, then the Lions shut him down the rest of the game (three carries, 11 yards). But in that game, the Lions had Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes, and Alex Anzalone. Those guys have been replaced by Josh Paschal, Za’Darius Smith, Trevor Nowaske, and Malcolm Rodriguez.

Aaron Glenn knows this is a challenge, and he’s been preparing the team all week.


“The number one thing that we talked about as a defensive staff and with the players is, discipline has to be on high alert this week,” Glenn said Thursday. “Because of the nature of their offense every play has a run-pass option in it, so our eyes have to be in the right place on every snap, and then our ability to get the ball down has to be important.”

Having young, relatively inexperienced players all up and down the front seven could make this a challenging week for the run defense. But it’s a test they absolutely need to pass.


Look at Detroit’s biggest NFC threat: the Philadelphia Eagles. They have an elite quarterback-running back rushing duo in Jalen Hurts (third in yards among QBs) and Saquon Barkley (second among RBs). And when you look at potential Super Bowl matchups, the duo of Lamar Jackson (first) and Derrick Henry (first) is unmatched. And if you’re looking for quarterbacks who are equally physical and dangerous when tucking and running, look no further than the prototype for that kind of attack: Josh Allen and the 8-2 Buffalo Bills.

So while the Lions may be facing a D- version of those attacks, it’s a challenge nonetheless. And if they can’t hold Richardson and Taylor in check, it could be a major flaw they’ll need to figure out before the postseason comes.


5 biggest threats to a Lions Super Bowl


Unfortunately, I struck out on the three different players I was targeting for one-on-one interviews this week. That’s just part of the business. You can try to create as many backup plans as possible, but sometimes the stars just don’t align with which players end up being available.

Anyways, I wasn’t going to leave you empty handed, so in the words of Monty Python, “Now time for something completely different.”

Here are the five biggest threats to a Lions Super Bowl:


Patrick Mahomes

The Lions are by far the best team in the NFL by DVOA and most metrics, but Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs don’t care all that much. Last year, the Baltimore Ravens were the best regular season team followed by the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills. Mahomes buzz-sawed through all three of them. He’s a completely different animal in the playoffs. He’s 15-3 in 18 playoff appearances, completing 67.9% of his passes for 5,135 yards, 41 touchdowns, just eight interceptions and a 105.8 passer rating–the all-time highest rating among any NFL postseason quarterback. He may not look like a worldbeater right now, but people were saying the same thing around this time last year.


Injuries

The Lions have done a great job navigating injuries thus far. Losing the defensive player of the year, several depth pieces along the defensive line, and a couple linebackers hasn’t slowed Detroit’s defense from producing top-five numbers. But if the injuries keep coming–particularly at positions that are already thin due to injury–it’s only a matter of time before it’s felt on gameday. The Lions cannot really afford any more injuries at EDGE or LB for the rest of the season.

Additionally, the Lions have been relatively healthy on offense, but we saw just how fragile things are if a piece of that offensive line is missing. All it took was Taylor Decker missing a game (okay, and a good Texans defense) for the offensive production to collapse for a game.


The Ravens offense

I just got done talking about how Richardson-Taylor will provide an early test for the Jackson-Henry duo that is wreaking havoc on the NFL right now. The Lions may have the No. 1 scoring offense, but the Ravens offense ranks first in yards per play (7.0 vs. Lions’ 6.3), first in DVOA, first in EPA/play, and first in success rate. They are, without a doubt, the one team in the NFL that could keep up with the Lions in a shootout. The Lions defense had no answers for that offense last year, and it remains to be seen whether they can hold up this year. Throw in Lamar Jackson’s 23-1 record against NFC teams, and the odds will be stacked against Detroit.


The Eagles trenches

I know people want to dismiss the Eagles because of Nick Sirianni or whatever preconceived notions they have of Philly, but they are built to be a contender. Their defensive line is good enough that they could challenge the Lions offensive line much like the Texans did. Their offensive line (third in PFF rankings) is producing one of the best running games in football and have done a good job protecting Jalen Hurts. We’ll know a lot more about their legitimacy in the next month (games vs. Rams, Ravens, Steelers and Commanders), but for now, they look for real.


Dumb luck

People don’t want to admit it, but sometimes a football game is just decided by dumb luck. It could be bad officiating, an unfortunate bounce of the football, or a rare lapse in judgment. Or, say, your extremely sure-handed receiver may have two uncharacteristic drops in critical moments in the NFC Championship game–theoretically speaking, of course.

In any single-game elimination playoff structure, all it takes is one bad day for everything to come to an end. The best team doesn’t always win. Ask the 2007 New England Patriots.

 
VIDEO: First Byte Lions vs. Colts preview with Zach Hicks
 
You can watch this week's First Byte RIGHT HERE!

[whatever_gong82]

6 thoughts to end the week: How 2024 defense stacks up to 2014 and how Za'Darius Smith's superpower developed

Justin Rogers
Nov 22


Allen Park — Here are six thoughts to end the week as the Detroit Lions prepare to hit the road to face the Indianapolis Colts.


Best defense since…

In 2014, the Lions put together their best defensive season of my lifetime, and arguably the Super Bowl era. With star power at every level, the team finished second in yardage and points allowed, were the league’s best against the run, and finished top-10 on third down and with takeaway generation.

Statistically, this year’s group is challenging that one. They’re allowing a few more yards and a couple more points each week, but they’re better on third down and producing takeaways at an even higher rate.


Advanced metrics actually favor the current Detroit defense. In 2014, they finished third in DVOA — a down-by-down efficiency metric that factors in the strength of the opponents. This year, they’re second in that ranking. Pro Football Reference’s Simple Rating System also has this year’s version slightly ahead of the one from a decade ago.

In a hypothetical where every player is healthy, and at the age they were that season, it’s difficult to determine which way to lean if you needed to rely on one of those units for a single game.


Let’s start with the fronts. The 2014 group was led by Ndamukong Suh on the inside and Ezekiel Ansah on the edge. The team also had a lot of quality depth along its interior with former first-round pick Nick Fairley and quality veteran C.J. Mosely. The edges beyond Ansah were less impactful, with Jason Jones occupying the other starting job and George Johnson and Devin Taylor as the depth.

Detroit had excellent linebacking talent during that era, although Stephen Tulloch missed most of that year with a torn ACL. DeAndre Levy was at his peak and Tahir Whitehead was coming into his own, replacing Tulloch in the lineup after the knee injury.


And the secondary had a nice mix of veterans and youth with Glover Quin, James Ihedigbo and Rashean Mathis supplementing youngster Darius Slay. If there was a weak spot it was at nickel, which was manned by free-agent addition Cassius Vaughn.

Detroit’s current defensive front, assuming a healthy Aidan Hutchinson, stacks up with that group, especially after the recent addition of Za’Darius Smith. The linebacker group is deeper now, but I’d give the slight edge to the starting trio of Tulloch, Levy and Whitehead over Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes.


The secondary is close to a wash. Slay was further ahead of his development than Terrion Arnold, but Branch is far and away the better option than Ihedigbo, who was a really solid starter. I’d also take Amik Robertson (or Emmanuel Moseley in the hypothetical where everyone is healthy) over Vaughn.

Attrition will likely catch up to the current group, especially after the recent loss of Anzalone. That should keep 2014 on top of the statistical mountain for recent Detroit defenses, but it’s remarkable how close the talent and production level of the units have proved to be.


Hypothetical bullet dodged

Remember ahead of the 2023 draft, when some were convinced the Lions would select quarterback Anthony Richardson if he made it to the No. 6 pick the team held as the remaining piece from the Matthew Stafford trade two years earlier?


It seems so silly now and brings me back to a Brad Holmes quote from January that year: “I think it's a lot easier to get worse at quarterback than to get better at quarterback in this league.”

Richardson would end up going No. 4 to the Colts, while the Lions traded down and ended up snagging running back Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta, who both played significant roles in the team’s run to the NFC Championship.


More notably, whatever lingering doubt the fan base had about Jared Goff has largely been wiped out. In 2024, orchestrating the league’s highest-scoring offense, Goff has a career-best 112.5 passer rating.

Richardson, meanwhile, was recently benched a couple of games and has completed just 52.2% of his passes in his brief career. That’s not to say he won’t figure it out and become a good player in this league, but the Lions would probably be in a far worse place now had they drafted him, missing out on multiple playmakers that have fueled their ascension to Super Bowl favorites, while unnecessarily manufacturing a long-term QB controversy that potentially ends up making them worse at the position.


Overdue change

Not NFL, but I’m pretty excited for the 12-team college football playoffs. I’d have been content with an eight-team bracket — something I've wanted to see for years — but I’ve been closely monitoring the weekly rankings and fascinated by the possible matchups.

There were some thoughts this setup would cheapen the regular season, but it doesn’t feel that way, at all. It’s actually nice to know one loss won't end most teams' championship hopes, plus, there’s still incentive to run the table because of the value of a first-round bye.


Those playoff games should provide a nice distraction in the calm evening moments while the Lions chase locking up the NFC's No. 1 seed.


Searching for a better comp

While I appreciate and respect Dan Campbell’s comparison of David Montgomery to Hall of Fame running backs Walter Payton and Earl Campbell, they felt lofty. It sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to find a better comp, and let me tell you, it proved more difficult than expected.


Here are the overlapping traits I was looking for in a back matching Montgomery's traits and production:


Bigger build

Below-average long speed

High-end short-area burst

Power runner

Impressive elusiveness in close quarters

Capable pass catcher


Among the names I considered were Steven Jackson, Frank Gore and Willis McGahee.

Jackson was a little too big and ran more upright than Montgomery. Gore was smaller, but I felt had comparative wiggle and tackle-breaking ability between the tackles. Willis, even after his injuries, was faster than Detroit's back.


Two I ended up liking quite a bit more were Arian Foster and Rudi Johnson. At their peaks, they checked all the same boxes, running with power, shake and contact balance between the tackles. Of course, their peaks also came with heavier workloads than Montgomery experiences here because of Jahmyr Gibbs' ability to share the load. That should lead to more longevity for Montgomery.

I’d love to hear some of your comps, perhaps some that go back even further into the 1980s and 90s.


Teachers at heart

Campbell’s Friday press conferences can go off on tangents because most of the storylines for the upcoming matchup have already been addressed.


Unplanned, I ended up steering this end-of-week conversation toward player development, which delivered another realization about what makes Campbell and his staff so effective at their jobs.

We often talk about great coaches adjusting schemes to fit personnel, as opposed to shoehorning pieces into roles that don’t match skill sets, but the personalized approach to players extends beyond the field for Campbell.


Answering a question about identifying the line between overconfidence and coachability, Campbell said it’s important to learn how to communicate with each individual player.

That grabbed my attention and I asked about the importance of that philosophy to overall development.


“That is job number one for the coaches,” Campbell said. “For us, as coaches, we have to find a way to — what is the best way for them to learn? What is the best way to motivate them? You don’t always know. You get a guy, he’s got a lot of talent, well why doesn’t it work out?"

Campbell said the two most common reasons players with enough talent fail in the NFL are they can't handle the pressure or they don't care enough to succeed.


"This is a hard business," Campbell said. "You’re around the best of the best and not everybody can do it, no matter how talented you are. You see a slew of guys every year, the amount of talent and they just can’t get it. But us as coaches, we have to find a way to communicate and whatever it takes to do that.”

The complete absence of a my-way-or-the-highway attitude never ceases to be refreshing.


A teachable superpower

When you turn on the tape of Za’Darius Smith, the first thing that jumps off the screen is his violent hands.


I mentioned it to Aaron Glenn this week and the defensive coordinator said, “That’s his superpower and the one thing I talked about last week, how violent his hands are.”

Curious about the cultivation of the skill, I caught up with Smith in the locker room and asked him about it. It turns out it wasn’t something he considered a strength until 2018, his fourth season in the NFL.


Entering the final year of his rookie contract with Baltimore, Smith’s former position coach at East Mississippi Community College, Jimmy Brumbaugh, put his former pupil in touch with Pete Jenkins, a legendary defensive line coach who spent most of his career at LSU.

“That’s when it all clicked.”


I was fortunate to stumble upon a 2019 video posted by Jenkins of Smith doing work on his hands.

coachpetejenkins

A post shared by @coachpetejenkins

That offseason work coincided with a turning point in Smith’s career. After recording 9.0 sacks his first three seasons combined, he racked up 8.5 in 2018, parlaying that success into a four-year, $66 million contract from the Packers in free agency the following year.


In Green Bay, Smith posted double-digit sacks in three of the next four seasons.

“I’ve always got a plan (with my hands),” Smith said. “I’ve always got my toolbox. If the first move doesn’t work, I’m always ready to go to the next one.”


I asked Smith how much emphasis he’s putting on imparting the lessons he’s learned from Jenkins to some of Detroit's younger players, namely Josh Paschal.

“You can teach it. It’s all about how you use it. I’m always working on my hands. Even when I hit the corner walking out the door, I’m doing it,” Smith said, miming a two-handed swat. …I’m going to keep working with the young guys. I can see there’s not a lot they do here with their hands, so I’ll emphasize that practice.”


Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net

X: Justin_Rogers

Bluesky: Justin-Rogers

[whatever_gong82]

Lions don't have secret sauce when drafting: 'The tape is louder than anything else'

Paywall News article.

Richard Silva
The Detroit News




Allen Park — The NFL Draft is an inexact science.

Teams employ expansive scouting departments and pour hours upon hours of work into making correct decisions, and yet somehow, players often don't work out with the team that initially drafts them.

That makes what the Detroit Lions have been able to do over the last four years so impressive. The Lions have selected 29 players since Brad Holmes was hired as general manager, and 27 of them remain with the team. In short: That group is the core of a roster with Super Bowl aspirations.


The Lions look for players who fit their culture of "grit" when adding to the roster, but there's not exactly a concrete strategy they deploy with every player when drafting.

"I don't know if there's a question," head coach Dan Campbell said Friday when asked if there's a particular query he leans on most in player interviews. "Brad does a hell of a job. There's a lot of people involved, but I'm always going to tell you: I think Brad is a master evaluator. It starts with him, and then it just kind of permeates, obviously — because he's the leader of that group — throughout the scouts and personnel department.


"He's got a real good way about him, about figuring guys out. ... The tape speaks for itself. The tape is louder than anything else. It really is. And then you just kind of get around them a little bit, ask them a few things. But I can't tell you there's one question that's going to nail it or not nail it."

An example of a player with the mentality Detroit enjoys is rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold. Arnold started his career with a rash of pass-interference penalties, but he's had a short memory and is seemingly improving each week. He's also uber-confident.


"Most rookies when they come in, you don't always know," Campbell said. "They've got to find their own way, and we've got to figure out how to communicate one way or another. I don't think it's all that easy. You're talking about 15 minutes (with prospects), and then you get a visit. So, that's cool. You get maybe an hour with them, or a couple.

"But I think you do the best you can. The tape will always speak for itself. That's going to tell you the most of anything, and then you do your homework. Brad's got those scouts doing a great job of deep diving into everything we can find on their background and anybody that's had a relationship with them. Kind of what they're like pieced together with the tape, and then sit down with them as much as you can and then draw your conclusions."


Sorsdal 'plays much faster' in Year 2

Colby Sorsdal appeared in all but two games last season after getting selected No. 152 overall in 2023, chipping in on special teams in each of his outings but also logging 253 offensive snaps over five games. That hasn't been the case in 2024 — he's often been a healthy scratch on game day — as he's gotten on the field just once this season.

"If you're not disappointed not being active, then we've got the wrong guy in here," offensive line coach Hank Fraley said Friday. "Not saying Colby is disappointed, but we want guys that want to be players and starters. That's the mentality in here. If you're not starting, it's like, 'OK, I'm supporting my teammates. But when it's my turn, I'm not giving it over.' ...


"Colby has grown as a player, he plays much faster in all positions. We move him around a lot. He's reliable, you can put him anywhere in the offense on the O-line. ... He's done a good job. He's grown. We only get to dress eight. You wish (it was like) college and you can dress everybody and have all that, but we only get to dress eight. The eight that we dress, they play multiple positions."

Sorsdal played left guard, right guard and right tackle at times last season, filling in for injured teammates. Kayode Awosika has been the first reserve interior lineman up this season when a starter couldn't go, and Dan Skipper filled in for Taylor Decker at tackle against the Texans.


But the opportunity could be there for Sorsdal to jump back in if the situation is right.

"If we did lose a guy, he's in the mix to be one of those next guys up," Fraley said. "He's able to play tackle and guard. He's good. He's got flexibility, play the left side, right side. That's where he's grown probably the most, is being more comfortable going around playing other positions and not flinching or feeling awkward over there."


rsilva@detroitnews.com

@rich_silva18

[whatever_gong82]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/11/22/detroit-lions-cb-terrion-arnold-defense-is-going-to-get-me-paid/76486660007/

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/11/22/sam-laporta-injury-update-status-lions-colts-game/76498362007/

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2024/11/22/dan-campbell-brad-holmes-draft-picks-lions-colts/76499309007/

[whatever_gong82]

How the Lions are navigating the delicate balance of pulling starters during blowouts

Paywall 'The Athletic' article.

By Colton Pouncy
Nov 22, 2024


When you’re an NFL head coach and your team is putting up numbers like Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions are, there are bound to be unintended consequences of winning. But their current predicament, admittedly, is a new one.

The Lions have a plus-159-point differential — the 11th-best mark through 10 games in NFL history. They’ve scored 50 or more points twice and 40 or more four times. They beat the Titans by 38 points, and handed the Cowboys their worst loss of the Jerry Jones era and the Jaguars their worst loss in franchise history.


It doesn’t happen every week, but it has happened enough to spark the conversation: At what point in these games should the Lions bench their starters?

“This is another one of those bizarre things that you’re running into,” head coach Dan Campbell said after Sunday’s 52-6 win over the Jaguars. “Normally, this doesn’t happen. It’s just like the third time this has come up this season, which, it’s a good problem to have.”

Except, it’s not that bizarre. At least not for this team. The Lions are the third in the Super Bowl era to record three wins of 35 points or more through the first 10 games of a season. After obtaining such a large lead, their starters have gotten the hook early in the fourth quarter.


Naturally, there’s a balancing act to it all. One worth discussing.


NFL teams are allowed to have up to 48 active players on game day. In the rare instances where leads feel insurmountable and mass subs occur, it’s on the coach to decide who to pull, who to insert and at what point in the game to make the call.

As with most decisions he makes, determining when to take players out and when to keep them in is a gut feeling for Campbell. And truthfully, it’s an inexact science for anyone.


Campbell’s seen a lot of football in his 25 years associated with the league. But he didn’t have to look far for an example. During prep for the Jaguars, Campbell watched film of the Jaguars-Eagles game in early November. The Eagles jumped out to a 22-0 lead with 9:25 left in the third quarter. The Jaguars would answer with a four-minute touchdown drive, followed by a 35-yard fumble recovery touchdown. They scored two touchdowns in 14 seconds with back-to-back two-point conversions. Just like that, a 22-0 lead became 22-16 in a matter of minutes.


“What you don’t want to do is, you get in one those — you’re up, and then you decide you’re gonna let off the gas and, ‘Let’s get the starters out,’ and then they mount a comeback,” Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday. “Because it can happen. …These things happen, man, and you don’t know what’s coming down the wire. Yeah, the odds are low, but man, you gotta be careful. You sure as hell don’t wanna be up like that and end up getting in a dogfight at the end and something bad happens.”


And yet, some have criticized Campbell for leaving players in too long. Almost all of it stems from a fear of injury. The Lions have lost a pair of defensive captains in blowout wins this season. Star pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson fractured his tibia and fibula during the win over the Cowboys, while veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone broke his forearm in the Jaguars victory. But what realistically could’ve been done differently in those scenarios?


Hutchinson’s injury occurred with a little over 11 minutes left in the third quarter, up 34-6. Anzalone’s happened with a little over two minutes in the second quarter, up 28-3. The Cowboys and Jaguars certainly weren’t going to throw in the towel at that point in the game. You don’t often see coaches empty the bench that early in a game.

Campbell said he wants to make sure his starters end the day on a high note before he takes them out — preferably early in the fourth quarter, as the Lions have done in all three scenarios this season. He believes how you finish one game can set the tone for how you start one the following week. And while the injuries suffered by Hutchinson and Anzalone were unfortunate, they don’t change Campbell’s approach.


“You wanna make sure that you end on a good note,” Campbell continued. “You’re playing good, efficient football. The guys feel good about it. You’re in a rhythm. I think it bleeds into the next week and I think that’s important, so we did that. And then the right time is to pull them out there. If you’re able to pull them out in the early fourth, great. And we were able to do that. But if you’re asking me to pull somebody out in the third quarter or you’re asking me to pull somebody out right before the second quarter before Anzalone gets hurt, I’m never gonna do that. Ever.”

It might not have happened as early as some would’ve liked, but the Lions have, in fact, pulled their starters with plenty of time left in these big wins. With just under 10 minutes to go vs. the Jaguars, the Lions trotted out an offensive lineup that consisted of the following players: QB Hendon Hooker, RB Craig Reynolds, WRs Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond and Allen Robinson, TE James Mitchell, LT Dan Skipper, LG Graham Glasgow, C Michael Niese, RG Kayode Awosika and RT Penei Sewell. Over on defense, the lineup following that possession featured James Houston, Mekhi Wingo, Pat O’Connor, Levi Onwuzurike, Malcolm Rodriguez, Ben Niemann, Jack Campbell, Khalil Dorsey, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Kerby Joseph and Brandon Joseph.


Essentially, you’re talking about four or five starters: Patrick, Glasgow, Sewell, Campbell and Kerby Joseph. All are easy to explain. There were only eight active offensive linemen on gameday. Five were starters. That meant the Lions could only sub out three. Campbell went by seniority for those decisions. He benched the oft-injured Frank Ragnow, 35-year-old right guard Kevin Zeitler and left tackle Taylor Decker, who’s missed time with injuries this season. Glasgow, the younger and healthier guard, and Sewell, a 24-year-old man of steel, stayed in the game.

The Lions had only five active receivers on Sunday, and needed three to continue playing. They sat Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, their two best. Over at safety, the Lions chose to sit Brian Branch and sub in Brandon Joseph to play alongside Kerby Joseph. They were the only three active safeties on Sunday, and Brandon Joseph is Branch’s direct backup — hence the move there. As for Jack Campbell, Detroit’s linebacker depth has been hit hard. Anzalone went down early in this one, Derrick Barnes suffered an injury in Week 3 and Jalen Reeves-Maybin is on IR. They were thin and Jack Campbell is a youngin’. He stayed in the game.


For what it’s worth, players have no issue with the timing of these substitutions. Or if they happen at all.


“Yeah, I don’t think about it, nor do I really think there is a right or wrong answer to that,” quarterback Jared Goff said after the game. “It’s quite the luxury to have in the NFL — to be able to take out players ever. So, if we’re able to do that, great. If we don’t, great. We don’t care.”

Resting players in game is only a fraction of what goes into the Lions’ workload/injury management, and truthfully, something you can’t really plan for.


When the Lions acquired veteran pass-rusher Za’Darius Smith — traded during what would’ve been his bye week with the Browns — they gave him two days off of practice to rest and handle some personal matters following the move to Detroit. Although he could’ve played vs. the Texans in a limited package, the Lions chose to sit him then, too. A few days later, Campbell told 97.1 that the Lions are mindful of workloads and have 11 more games. For those doing the math at home, that’s eight regular season games, two playoff games and the Super Bowl.

Tight end Sam LaPorta suffered a shoulder injury against the Texans. He’s a player who’s proven capable of playing through difficult injuries, but the Lions decided to take it easy with their young tight end and give him time to heal. He didn’t play against the Jaguars. The Lions scored 52 points without him.



Carlton Davis was one of the first defensive starters to sit on the bench Sunday vs. the Jaguars. Playing through a broken thumb, the Lions opted to be cautious with their best cornerback, knowing they’re going to need him as close to 100 percent as possible. They swapped him out for Kindle Vildor.

And finally, Campbell made changes to Detroit’s practice schedule this month. Starting in Week 10, Campbell has turned Wednesday practices into closed walkthroughs, so players can have an extra day to recover after games. It’s something new he’s tried as his team is a year older, a year wiser in the system. You can get away with it when you have the continuity the Lions have.


“I think it’s been good for us,” Campbell said this week. “Every year has been different for us, and you’ve got to go with what you feel like is best for your team in that moment, in that year, and so every year it’s kind of evolved. I mean, last year we were still going, we were still practicing pretty good Wednesdays, Thursdays, but we also had a different schedule, we were a little bit younger.

“Our core of this team is older now, more mature. We’re not old but we’ve played a lot of football together and so they kind of know what to expect, played with each other long enough, the staff’s been together, myself, the whole thing, so I feel like it was something we can handle, and if you can handle it, it does help. I feel like it helps you bounce back just a little bit quicker for these games, it gives you just a little more juice.”


Aside from added rest for the starters, one of the benefits of these blowout wins is developmental snaps for Detroit’s younger players. Hooker, the Lions’ backup quarterback, is a player who needs them. He believes he gets better every time he takes a snap during a game, no matter when it comes.

“Very valuable,” Hooker said Thursday when asked about the late-game snaps in blowout wins. “Anytime I can just get on the field and get some game-time experience, it’s very valuable. Especially, when we’re just out there playing ball. We weren’t out there trying to run out the clock. We were truly running plays, efficient plays, to make first downs and eventually try to go score. That’s what we’re trying to do. So, getting out there with guys just taking command of the huddle, playing confident, it’s very valuable.”


These are strange times here in Detroit. The Lions’ new position as a juggernaut is going to take some getting used to. They’re learning how to navigate life as an NFL elite.

One blowout at a time.

[-Deborah-]

Teachers at heart

Campbell’s Friday press conferences can go off on tangents because most of the storylines for the upcoming matchup have already been addressed.


Unplanned, I ended up steering this end-of-week conversation toward player development, which delivered another realization about what makes Campbell and his staff so effective at their jobs.

We often talk about great coaches adjusting schemes to fit personnel, as opposed to shoehorning pieces into roles that don’t match skill sets, but the personalized approach to players extends beyond the field for Campbell.


Answering a question about identifying the line between overconfidence and coachability, Campbell said it’s important to learn how to communicate with each individual player.

That grabbed my attention and I asked about the importance of that philosophy to overall development.


“That is job number one for the coaches,” Campbell said. “For us, as coaches, we have to find a way to — what is the best way for them to learn? What is the best way to motivate them? You don’t always know. You get a guy, he’s got a lot of talent, well why doesn’t it work out?"

Campbell said the two most common reasons players with enough talent fail in the NFL are they can't handle the pressure or they don't care enough to succeed.


"This is a hard business," Campbell said. "You’re around the best of the best and not everybody can do it, no matter how talented you are. You see a slew of guys every year, the amount of talent and they just can’t get it. But us as coaches, we have to find a way to communicate and whatever it takes to do that.”

The complete absence of a my-way-or-the-highway attitude never ceases to be refreshing.

Love this!!! Refreshing, indeed.

[whatever_gong82]

The Great Anthony Richardson Debate

An paywall article on tomorrow's QB for the Indy Colts vs. the Detroit Lions. Enjoy!!


One scout say "He cannot play quarterback." One says "Sky’s the limit. Probably more Lamar Jackson with a little bit of Josh Allen thrown in there." Bob McGinn explores the NFL's greatest mystery.

Nov 23


This is the continuation of a 2023 series looking at active players and their current situation vis a vis what it was entering the NFL draft. The comments from personnel men were made in the months leading up to the draft for my NFL Draft Series, which dates to 1985. Scouting football prospects is an inexact science, particularly when it comes to off-the-field considerations. It has been said that no two evaluators view a player exactly the same way.


By Bob McGinn

When Anthony Richardson lines up under center Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium neither fans of his Indianapolis Colts nor of the visiting Detroit Lions have any idea what’s in store for them.


Will Richardson be the error-prone, scatter-armed, overmatched quarterback that led to his benching for two games just a month ago?

Or will he be the poised, rugged, dynamic playmaker of last Sunday on the road against the Jets in the most complete performance of his fledgling career?


“We don’t know,” said Bill Polian, the Hall of Fame general manager for the Bills, Panthers and Colts in an NFL career that spanned 32 seasons. “You’re hoping that at the end of the year the arrow will be up and he’ll stay healthy. The injuries are a concern, obviously. Accuracy, touch, all that stuff is still in the developmental stage. He’s a developmental player at this point.”

Nineteen months ago, Richardson became the fourth quarterback selected at the No. 4 slot since the inception of the common draft in 1967. The Dolphins’ Bob Griese (1967) made the Pro Bowl as a rookie and is enshrined in Canton, the Colts’ Art Schlichter (1981) started merely six games in his woeful, gambling-marred career and the Chargers’ Philip Rivers (2004) sat behind Drew Brees for two years before making the Pro Bowl in his third season.



Limited by injury to just four games as a rookie, Richardson has been up and down in seven starts in Year 2. The Colts fully expected this would be the case given the fact he made only 13 starts in an injury-punctuated three seasons at Florida.

Polian worked for Colts owner Jim Irsay in Indianapolis and is well-acquainted with Chris Ballard since he was hired to replace Ryan Grigson as the team’s general manager in January 2017.


“Chris Ballard knows exactly what the road map is for him,” Polian said. “He’s told that to Jim; Jim’s mentioned it to me. They understand. The thing they’ve got to do is get the kid past the media and fan whiplash that will take place because everybody expects instant success. And no one has instant success.”

Well, some have. The list of quarterbacks that were an immediate hit includes Dan Marino, Ben Roethlisberger, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan and C.J. Stroud.


But Polian’s spot on when he says most rookies have difficulty. “Peyton (Manning) threw 26 (actually, 28) in his rookie year,” he cracked. “It’s still a record.”

Others that needed at least two seasons to find themselves were Jim Plunkett, Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Jared Goff, Ryan Tannehill, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen.


“The NFL has a major quarterback development problem,” an executive in personnel for an AFC team said. “Just the level of impatience anymore. It’s like petulant toddlers and their expectations of people. They take like Dan Marino’s rookie year and treat it like the norm. That’s not the norm.

“The NFL is such a win-now league, and it’s only become worse with the advent of all this social media and everyone’s a genius. That’s why you’re seeing guys having success a little bit later in their careers after they were deemed garbage. Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold. Jared Goff was like a throw-in to the (Matthew Stafford) trade, and now he’s great.”



Of course, some quarterbacks flop almost from the first day they step on the practice field. That long list surely would include these 15 names: Rich Campbell, Ryan Leaf, JaMarcus Russell, Zach Wilson, Josh Rosen, Cade McNown, Matt Leinart, Johnny Manziel, Jake Locker, Brady Quinn, Joey Harrington, Chuck Long, Todd Blackledge, Brandon Weeden and Dwayne Haskins.


“That’s true,” Polian acknowledged. “That’s right.”


Richardson’s rank inexperience, callow youth (he’s 22 ½) and boundless athletic gifts gives the Colts at least a puncher’s chance to be proven correct in the final judgment.

“There’s a lot of data that would support him failing,” the AFC executive said. “But the more I watched (before the ’23 draft), this guy does too many things that nobody else can do. Sometimes when you see that much talent you’ve just got to swing the bat. The minute you start being afraid to be wrong then you’re kind of not valuable. Then you’re conservative and end up being 8-9 every year. People don’t understand there’s not a quarterback tree in the backyard.”


According to Polian, he “absolutely” would have taken Richardson at No. 4 had he been back running the Colts’ draft.

Intel on the Colts’ thinking in drafting Anthony Richardson, what comes next and how (many) scouts around the NFL view the QB


“You couldn’t pass up that talent,” he said. “As far as physically, as gifted a quarterback as I’ve seen. Physically, he’s got everything you want. But he’s still exceedingly young chronologically and from an experience standpoint. So it’s a work in progress, and we’ll see what happens when he reaches full maturity.”


Granted, the 28-27 victory over the Jets was one game, and scouts said it was the best Richardson has played.


That exquisite tape showed seven snaps in which Richardson drilled the ball on receivers at least 15 yards downfield. It showed perfect touch and accuracy on a 31-yard corner route. It showed him stiff-arming defensive end Micheal Clemons to turn the corner and demolishing safety Jalen Mills on a 2-yard touchdown run, then powering through cornerback D.J. Reed from 4 yards out to score the winning touchdown standing up. And it showed him completing an 11-yard pass on third and 9 with Clemons draped on his back.

At the same time, there were a pair of fumbles and an overthrown two-point pass and a third-and-4 pass that missed badly at point-blank range.


“If you had one word to tattoo on this guy’s arm right now it would be immature,” one scout said. “All of his mistakes are mainly immature. Kind of doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

“Players respect talent because they know they’re getting an opportunity to win. Yes, they want guys to work and be pros. But if you’re a real vet and have a good, solid mindset you’ll understand this is a 22-year-old kid and it might take a little bit of time.”


BASICS

Height: 6-4 1/4. Weight: 244 (246 at pro day). Age: 22. From: Gainesville, Fla.

40-yard dash: 4.41. Vertical jump: 40 1/2 inches. Broad jump: 10-9. Wonderlic test: 21. Arms: 32 ¾. Hands: 10 ½. His 40, vertical jump and broad jump surpassed all quarterbacks at the combine; it was one of the best testing performances ever by a quarterback.


His family moved from Miami to Gainesville when he was 11. His mother, LaShanda Lane, enrolled him at Professional Academies Magnet at Loften High School, where students were trained to become first responders in various occupations. Since Loften had no interscholastic athletics program, he played football and basketball at Eastside High School.

“He was not recruited to a high school, as most of these guys are,” said Polian. “He did not go to a private school. His mother sent him to a school where the aim was to get people ready to be EMTs and firefighters. It was a specialized school, and he had to commute to go play football. His mom was dedicated to seeing to it that he got a good education. I met him. He’s a nice, level-headed kid.”


A wide receiver as a freshman, Richardson shifted to quarterback when another player was injured. As a junior, he suffered a meniscus tear that never healed properly. His senior season was cut short to six games by a season-ending right shoulder injury. He finished his four-year varsity career with 37 passing touchdowns and 41 rushing touchdowns.

Richardson committed to nearby Florida in the summer between his sophomore and junior year. After decommitting and almost signing with Penn State, he went back to the Gators. He averaged 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds as a junior, his final season of prep basketball.


As a freshman in 2020, Richardson attempted two passes in just four games, preserving his redshirt status as the Gators went 8-4 under coach Dan Mullen. The top two quarterbacks were Kyle Trask and Emory Jones.

The Gators slipped to 6-7 in 2021 and Mullen was fired after 11 games. He made one start, in Game 8 against Georgia when Florida went off as a 14-point underdog. Richardson struggled in the 34-7 defeat, passing for 82 yards and two interceptions before leaving near the halfway mark after taking a shot to the head and neck area.


In all, Richardson completed 38 of 64 passes (59.4%) for an NFL passer rating of 84.7. His injuries in 2021 included a pulled hamstring, a concussion and a meniscus tear in his knee that he reportedly suffered while dancing in the team hotel and missed the Nov. 6 game at South Carolina. He reinjured the knee three weeks later in the finale against Florida State and underwent cartilage surgery.

In April 2022, Richardson was ticketed for driving 105 mph in a 60-mph zone at 4:11 a.m. outside of Gainesville. He pleaded no contest and was ordered to complete a traffic safety course, write an essay and pay a $349 fine.


Two months later, Richardson was drunk at the Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls State (La.) University. The police reportedly became angry when he leaned on a squad car. Manning staffers ushered him into a van but Richardson screamed an obscenity at officers as he departed the scene. No arrest was made.

Under new coach Billy Napier, Richardson started 12 games in another 6-7 season, opting out of the bowl game and giving up his final two years of eligibility to enter the NFL draft. His passer rating was 85.3 in 2022, and 85.1 for his career. Also, he rushed 161 times for 1,116 yards, a 6.9-yard average and 12 touchdowns. He fumbled eight times in three seasons. His career completion mark was 54.7%. His career won-lost record was 6-7.



DRAFT NIGHT

Chris Ballard was about to enter his third season as general manager of the Colts in August 2019 when quarterback Andrew Luck announced his retirement. Abruptly, and without warning.

It was “a nuclear weapon launched in the middle of that regime,” an executive in personnel for an AFC South Division team said.


With Luck, the successor to all-time quarterback Peyton Manning, the Colts reached the playoffs four times and won four playoff games in his seven years. A pack of veterans — Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan — each held the job for one year from 2019-’22. Their composite record of 31-34-1 (and 0-1 in the playoffs) left the Colts with tremendous urgency to draft a quarterback in 2023.

After doing their due diligence for months, the Colts determined that Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud and Florida’s Anthony Richardson, in that order, were the top prospects. Alabama’s Bryce Young wasn’t a consideration. Kentucky’s Will Levis was the other candidate.


In my survey of 16 evaluators that April, Young finished with 10 first-place votes and 72 points followed by Stroud (two, 56), Levis (three, 46) and Richardson (one, 40). When asked which of the leading quarterbacks had the best chance to bust, Richardson drew eight votes, Levis had five, Stroud got two and Young had one.

The evaluations of Richardson by the Colts included early reports from assistant director of college scouting/Southeast area scout Jamie Moore and chief personnel executive Morocco Brown, who handled the cross-check. That was during the 2022 season. After the season, Ballard, assistant GM Ed Dodds and the entire scouting division studied tape of the quarterbacks in group and individual sessions.


“I give Roc (Brown) credit, he was fired up about it (Richardson) from the start,” Dodds told reporters in Indianapolis a few days after the selection of Richardson. “I went down there early in the year, and he wasn’t playing as well. It’s just a hard study, right?

“Last year, I’m talking his sophomore year (2021), he threw like 60 balls. There’s really not an accurate grade on the scale for a guy that, ‘OK, he’s got blue traits but there’s no resume.’ Then the very little part that he has, it was a roller coaster all year. I was kind of late. I was hard on him at first.”


After Richardson made waves posting the extraordinary testing numbers at the combine in late February, the Colts sent only Brown to his pro day in Gainesville. Later, some of their coaches and scouts worked him out privately in Florida and then had him in for a visit at the team’s facility.

Richardson’s score of 21 on the Wonderlic test was a mild concern for the coaches after the combine. Later, after putting Richardson on the so-called board peppering him with tactical football questions, those concerns were alleviated. There also were questions involving the inexperience, the inaccurate passing, the injury history and the off-field incidents.



“There are a lot of guys that I know that I trust that I talked to about him and everything was right at the top of the list as far as that concern,” said Shane Steichen, who had yet to coach his first game for the Colts. “Then, just going through having him here, getting to know him as a person, talking football with him, I think he’s got a chance to be a really good player in this league.”

On April 27, Young went No. 1 to Carolina, Stroud went No. 2 to Houston, edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. of Alabama went No. 3 to Houston and Richardson went No. 4 to Indianapolis.


Driving home April 29 upon completion of the three-day draft, Ballard got to the heart of the matter to select this talented but untamed quarterback in an interview with NBC’s Peter King.

“I would rather take the risk, the risk that he might fail, than pass on him and see him become a star somewhere else,” Ballard said. “We’re taking a guy not only for what he can do today but for what he can become tomorrow.


“I’ve told our guys here: Anthony might have some games where he’s nine of 22 for 105 but in the game he’ll run 10 times for 115 yards. It just might look different for a while.

“We gotta get him in here and see where he is. We don’t know. He turns 21 this month (May 22) — he’s so young still. Let us figure out what he can handle before making any decisions. But there’s not many people who can do what he does.”

continued..

[whatever_gong82]

NFL CAREER

The Colts went to training camp in 2023 with Gardner Minshew, a five-year veteran; Sam Ehlinger, a three-year veteran, and Richardson at quarterback.


On his first drive in the exhibition opener at Buffalo, Richardson threw a careless, wayward pass in the flat that was intercepted and set up a touchdown. Two days later, Shane Steichen informed Richardson and Minshew that the rookie would start the season.

“Honestly, I was shocked,” said Richardson. “I want to be great. I want to be remembered. I don’t want to just be one of those guys like, ‘Well, he was in the league.’ I want my legacy to be remembered forever.”


Said Minshew: “This is his franchise. That’s the reason they picked him where he is. And he’s going to be really special.”

In Game 2 of the regular season, Richardson suffered a concussion in the second quarter at Houston on the second of his two touchdown runs. After sitting out a week, he returned to start against the Rams (a 29-23 overtime loss) and against the Titans (a 23-16 win). His season ended in the first half against Tennessee when linebacker Harold Landry dragged him down on a scramble. He suffered a sprain of the AC joint in his right shoulder and underwent surgery.


“You go back and watch tape from 2023 prior to his injury and he was playing pretty well,” an AFC South scout said. “I didn’t think he was making bad mental decisions. Only thing he didn’t do well was take too many hits. He’s not necessarily the best at being tackled. When you get to the NFL, where there are a lot of big, strong guys, you’ve got to use your head a little bit more. That’s what his biggest blunder was early in his rookie year.”

Playing just 12 quarters, Richardson posted a passer rating of 87.3 while rushing for 136 yards and four touchdowns.


This year, the Colts signed Joe Flacco for one year and $5 million while bringing back Ehlinger, who is close to Richardson and operates almost as the de-facto assistant quarterbacks coach.

“It’s a lot on him now,” Ballard said in late August. “Now all of a sudden you get drafted, you got the injury, you become a dad — handling the pressure and the expectations. He’s still young. I mean, like any 22-year-old young man, they’re not fully matured yet even though they think they are. But just being probably more aware of everything that he’s got going on around him. Responsible, really tightening his circle up of who’s involved, who’s with him.


“Like with any young player, there’s ups and there’s downs, and they look bad and they’ll look great. That’s normal. They get beat, they miss a pass, they drop a ball. I mean, (bleep) happens. Unfortunately, Twitter today accentuates the one negative. There might be 10 positives but there’s the one negative that they’ll pull out and just needle at.”

The Colts got off to a 2-2 start. In Game 4, a 27-24 victory over Pittsburgh, Richardson suffered oblique and hip injuries and missed the next two games.


After misfiring on some easy passes and tossing two interceptions Sept. 22 in a 21-16 victory over Chicago, Richardson tried to explain his frustrations.

“Not necessarily pressing but it’s, like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s wide open, let me give him the ball,’” Richardson said. “And I just get too excited and I just miss. So I’ve just got to let it spin and just give him the ball. Just get too antsy.”


Asked if he was injury prone a few days after being hurt against the Steelers, Richardson replied: “I’m pretty sure if they (people that wonder if he’s injury prone) got out of the house and came out here and got hit by somebody that’s running 20-plus miles per hour every week, I’m pretty sure they’d be dealing with injuries as well. People are going to talk. That’s what people do.”


Back in the lineup Oct. 27 at Houston, Richardson turned in possibly his worst performance of the season in a 23-20 loss. At one point, he removed himself from the game for one play after he ran around and was tackled. “Tired — I ain’t going to lie,” he said.


Amid deafening criticism from far and wide, and amid obvious concerns about a disgruntled locker room, Steichen announced the change to Joe Flacco while maintaining that the tap-out didn’t impact the decision.

“I mean, he knows he can’t do that in that situation,” he said. “That’s part of the growth and development process that we go through … I feel that Joe gives us the best chance to win right now. With that being said, not giving up on Anthony by any means — really not.”


Said Flacco, the 17-year veteran: “He’s very young with a bright future. Now I know this is a little bit different because it feels like you’re getting something taken away from you. I think there are a lot of advantages of being able to remove yourself a little bit and watch from a distance and learn. Not to talk for the Colts and Shane, but you would think that’s part of the thought process, at least a little bit, is to try to help him out.”


Two days after the Colts went 0-2 under Flacco, Steichen switched back to Richardson in a move he said was for the remainder of the season. The next day, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a nine-year veteran, reiterated what Steichen had been suggesting for weeks. Namely, that Richardson would have to devote even more time and energy to his job.


“As a player, to go where you have never been and become the player that you want to be, you have to be willing to do things that you’ve never done and make certain sacrifices you’ve never made,” said Buckner. “At the end of the day, there’s a price that needs to be paid. I feel like within this process the past two weeks, he’s been able to really see that and that’s what gives us so much confidence in him. Knowing that he’s rooting in the process and he’s developing as a pro.”


Richardson’s first game back probably was the finest of his career in the come-from-behind 28-27 road victory over the Jets.


His 2024 stats include a 4-3 record, a 66.2 passer rating and 274 rushing yards. After 11 games (6-5 record), his career passer rating is 73.4.



WHAT SCOUTS SAID BEFORE THE DRAFT

NFC scout: “It depends on where he goes. Teams can really screw these guys up. He has rare stuff. Really, really unique tools to work with. He’s not as far off as I thought he’d be when you really study him. The narrative was he was this huge project. I don’t see it as that big of a project. You’re closer to getting him on the field than he was given credit for.”


AFC scout: “If there was a dunk contest he’d win. We don’t love him but he’s talented. He hasn’t played. Started one year and wasn’t very good.”


NFC scout: “He cannot play quarterback. This guy has no feel for the position at all. He is raw as raw can be. He’s got no vision, no feel. His delivery is like he’s never thrown a football before. He’s not accurate. He’ll have a couple wow plays just running around but he isn’t even that special just running around. He doesn’t know when to run and when not to run. Lacks pocket poise. He’s a project, a gadget guy project. Guys like this don’t change ... Maybe once a game he’ll move around and just chuck it. Besides that, he chucks it up into coverage all the time. Ten times he just chucks it up into coverage vs. the one time it actually looks good … Let me know the first time there’s a combine warrior quarterback that’s a Super Bowl champ or MVP. Amazing. Vertical jump and 40 – what does that have to do with playing quarterback? Or reading the defense? Nothing.”


AFC scout: “Great kid. Does he live it enough to do the extra that it’s going to take so he can catch up to the others with regard to footwork and being able to process and look at the defense, (make) post-snap reads and decision-making? With him, you just don’t know. You have to be able to play the position … Think Michael Vick with a Brett Favre arm. Ripped-up muscle. This dude ran 4.42. He’s a monster. He has the highest ceiling I’ve ever seen in a quarterback. Even higher than Cam Newton. Cam was fast and big but not as fast as this kid. Cam had a strong arm but not as strong as this kid. This kid is unique … If you hit on him, oh my God, you’re talking perennial Pro Bowl (and) All-Pro. But it’s a big if. Are you going to be employed long enough to see it through? Or will it be another (coaching) staff?”

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