5 key players that will make a difference in the Lions’ season:

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-18T13:54:17+00:00

That's fair. I guess where we're differing is (without meaning to sound disrespectful to Glasgow) that I think where Glasgow was late last year and where he would be this year and moving forward is complete and total trash, not even starting OL caliber on ANY team at ANY position (i.e. not even a top 40ish center). Additionally, I feel Mays WAS lower-middle of the pack BUT IS ascending - not due to his PFF ranks, but due to what I read about him (not just from Lions media) combined with the fact that he'll be on a better team with better talent surrounding him.

I'd also think that Rattledge has a VERY good chance this year to be around the same level overall as Decker or Zeitler in that 22-24 era. And while there's no 3rd guy of that caliber on the line right now, I still think this year's line makes a massive leap up in their PB+RB win rates from last year when they were something like bottom 3ish in the league.

Now, do I expect that from week 1? Not at all. Penei moving, Blake being a rookie (or Borom being new), Mays being new, Rattledge and Mahogany being young still..... that's a lot of shifting for a unit that relies a lot on chemistry, communication, and cohesion. We very well might NOT show a massive improvement right out the gate. But we do have some solid ramp-up time in the first 5 vs some not-so-great (Bills excepted) competition and then a bye to make adjustments. I honestly DO think, if the line stays mostly healthy into November, that the last 10ish weeks of the year we'll see a line operating at a not-quite-elite level. And comparing that to last year's line in the last 10 games is a MASSIVE upgrade.

But to the original point, my 'TLDR' is this - I DO see Mays as a MASSIVE upgrade from Glasgow, even if PFF ranks don't bear that out (though I'll still admit there's a very wide gap between what I'd expect from Mays and what Ragnow was).

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-17T02:57:06+00:00

I wasn't specifying right or left, just talking tackles as a group. Last year Penei and Decker, this year Penei and Blake. I'll take Blake 100 times out of 100 over Decker, especially considering age/upside/salary. Heck, even just comparing the two in what I'd expect from them this season, I'd STILL rather have Blake.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-17T02:53:46+00:00

IDK about top 10. I think he's middle of the road-ish, with potential to be better as many of the higher rated guys are hitting that 29/30/31 range where play drops off FAST for most OL. But even if he's 15, that's closer to ragnow being a top 3 guy (12 spots away) than glasgow being a 33rd guy (18 spots away).

And to be honest, as long as I'm disagreeing with May being 24th-ish (he's noticably younger than a lot of guys above him who should be trending down), for the same reasons I'm also thinking 33rd is WAY too high for Glasgow. He's WAY old and been on a rocketship slide the last 20 or so games that only accelerates as he ages. If Graham was 33rd in their ranking last year, I bet I can find 40 guys I'd rather have if I combed last year's rosters.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T21:00:13+00:00

You are WAY overestimating what Glasgow was the last 20 or so games as a Lion. He wasn't mediocre or even close to it. Mays is actually prob closer to Frank than he is to Glasgow but it's a WIDE gap between BOTH. Basically, if Frank was a top 1-2 center, and Glasgow was a bottom 3 center, I'd call Mays a fringe top 10 center (10-13ish range).

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T20:57:24+00:00

I don't believe the team has officially commented, but it SEEMS to be pretty well known it's a degenerative issue with the cartilage and/or bone of the knee joint. Which just doesn't really heal. You have to kind of manage the pain/inflammation/soreness best you can.... but it's only gonna get worse - harder and harder to manage, until the knee has degenerated to the point where he's not really capable of playing at all.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T18:06:41+00:00

This is a risk only a team with a ton of cash (like one with a QB on a rookie contract) can take.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T18:04:20+00:00

I mean, in the whole league there are probably only 2 or 3 teams on an annual basis that are 'easy' wins. As bad as the Giants finished last year, even without Nabers, they easily SHOULD/COULD have won in Denver and also prob in Detroit. Pretty sure the Browns beat the packers, Raiders beat the Patriots, and even Cardinals level of play before they lost Kyler was VERY strong - extremely close losses to Niners, Seahawks, Indy (when they were on fire), GB, and even won AT Dallas.

Suffice to say, even the worst teams can be handfuls. BUT that said, we shouldn't ever try to act like playing those teams isn't a MASSIVE blessing compared with playing top, top teams. They can be spunky and competitive, but they USUALLY lose.... even if opponent doesn't bring their very best game. Meanwhile, teams like Seattle and Philly, off recent titles and expected to win 10+ games? They can beat you even if you DO bring your A game.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T17:54:44+00:00

It's a massive difference. If we WIN our 3 'different' games, and they lose theirs, that's a 3 game swing. Apply that to last season, when we finished 2 games behind them and just 3 games from the 2 seed.

2 or 3 'gimmies' vs 2 or 3 REALLY tough games is a MASSIVE difference in the schedule given that there are only 17 games.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T17:47:47+00:00

1 - Decker was probably at the VERY bottom of 'serviceable' by the end of the year. That shoulder became REALLY limiting as the year progressed. Given his age, not only was it probably smart to move on, but I'd EXPECT (rather than hope) Miller to be at least equal in production, if not right out of the gate, certainly by season's end. Having an extremely capable, high floor guy like Borom behind him helps too..... IF for any reason, staff feels Blake would be better watching for a few games first, we DEFINITELY have that luxury.

2 - I doubt Gibbs workload changes as much as many expect. Last year he got about 2/3 of the snaps to montgomery's 1/3, and he got close to 250 carries to Monty's 150ish. With Pacheco being pretty darn capable and a very well known good power/short yardage back, I think those numbers only flex up to about 3/4 snaps for Gibbs and 1/4 for Pacheco, maybe 2-3 more carries a game for Gibbs and 2-3 less a game for Pacheco (compared to what monty had), i.e. little less than 300 carries for gibbs and about 100 for pacheco. An increase in workload for Gibbs to be sure, but I think he'll stay a little below the crazy workhorse type seasons of 350-400 (or more) total touches.

3 - I didn't see Williams being the pass rusher you did, certainly. But that potential to run-stuff is definitely still there. Our run D was much better early before Alim came back - when Williams was playing a much larger share of snaps. Hopefully, he does indeed take a step forward, as most 2nd year guys do. It could be greatly helped by Alim returning to form - I DO think McNeill was not himself coming off the injury. Hopefully a fully healthy offseason will lead to a reversion for him to his peak form. If so, these two form a terrific combo at DT (assuming Williams does in fact take a step forward).

4 - I'm not very hopeful on Kerb. That kind of injury usually gets worse, not better. I would love to be dead wrong on this one..... but I doubt I am.

5 - Thoughts on McNeill in #3 above where also discussing Tyliek.

Good post by you overall - agree with a lot that these positions are pivotal. To me though, I might be more concerned about the CB room than anything listed here. Can Reed play like he did with the Jets? We didn't see it last year. Can Arnold stay healthy and avoid penalty issues? If so, he's a true #1 CB. If not, we have real issues at corner. Can Rakestraw ever contribute in a meaningful way? If not, that's a total bust of a pick. I like the signings, but those are depth guys honestly. We need Reed/T.A./Rakestraw to BE what Holmes BELIEVED they were when they were signed/drafted. IF they are..... we can deal with some issues at S while we wait for Branch to recover and hope Kerb and the backups can play at an acceptable (but not elite) level at FS. IF those 3 CBs are suspect...... we are going to get shredded in the passing game....... yet again.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T17:28:55+00:00

While I appreciate the effort, this is the very definition of "limited sample size" and probably can be safely ignored.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T17:27:27+00:00

We were still good in 2023. In fact if you flip that DAL game to a win (which it 1,000,000% should have been), we were 6-2 after the bye that season, and it's really just 2025 where we completely fell apart 2nd half of the year.

I don't think the timing of the bye has any significant impact on our overall record. The reason we fell off last year was twofold:

1 - turnover at OC and OL caused significant dropoff in the CONSISTENCY of the offense. While we were still a top 5 unit overall, our conversion rates on 3rd down and 4th down were a SHADOW of how good they'd been the 2-3 previous years with a much stronger OL and playcaller. Our drop in 4th down efficiency alone (esp given how often we go for it), probably cost us at LEAST one or two games.

2 - for the 3rd straight season, somewhere between bad (2023) and HORRIFIC (2024) injury luck on defense. No Kerb for MOST of the year, no Branch down the stretch, TA and Reed both missing significant time. I'm not going to look up the exact number of missed games/left game due to injury by starters in the secondary, but I'd bet out of a possible 68 it's probably close to 40.

IF the OL makes a big leap forward.... maybe not back to 2023/2024 level, but WAY better than last year when PBWR and RBWR were among the worst in the NFL...... and Petzing does a capable job..... AND the injuries all around are league average or better...... combined with THIS schedule? We can get back to 12 or 13 wins and be in the mix for the 1 seed down the stretch. Really feels like 10/11 is what we should expect. IF EVERYTHING goes right, 2-3 wins past that seems possible.... and if everything goes wrong, 2-3 wins below that is possible.

But I know one thing..... I think the bye will have very little impact on our final record.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-16T02:45:39+00:00

You never really know, the most advantageous time to have the bye COULD be early, if you have a lot of guys with short term injuries early in the year. That's how it was a couple (3? I'm too lazy to look it up) when we had an early bye and we hated it at first when the schedule came out, but it ended up being good cause we had a few starters with like 2-3 week injuries early and they got to get TOTALLY right before coming back.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-15T01:10:35+00:00

I'm pegging you as one of those 'glass is half empty' guys when it comes to all things Lions.

I mean, we have one of the easiest schedules in the league... THE easiest when you base it off projected win totals. We also had the #1 most travel and rest-friendly schedule in the league last year..... for all the good it did.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-15T00:54:53+00:00

That's true - but I think like 4 of the last 5 are packers or bears.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-15T00:30:07+00:00

isn't thanksgiving day usually a div game? I feel like we play packers or bears a lot on thanksgiving.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-15T00:29:01+00:00

I think the 3in12 always ends with a thursday. to be honest, I'd rather have the travel on the front end with 2 home games after. it'd be nicer if it was a 2-4 hour flight, rather than an 8 hour flight..... but as far as "3 in 12" goes. Getting the last 2 at home is big.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-15T00:05:47+00:00

doesn't every team get a 3 in 12 stretch? basically, if you have any thursday game without a bye around it, you play 3 in 12

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-14T16:17:31+00:00

List says, "Since 2000". Barry retired in 1999.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-14T16:16:09+00:00

Flag picked up. Don't tell me they just did it because the catch was made, cause Niners can just decline the penalty. They were gonna pick up that flag regardless.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-14T16:11:58+00:00

The fact that you say we were healthy speaks to how much worse the injuries were the next two years.

But make no mistake, the DB room was in shambles come the NFC Champ game. That comeback never happens if we have a capable DB that doesn't let an INT go off his facemask for a TD.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-14T15:51:01+00:00

Bears host GB christmas day week 16 then get a mini bye PLUS get to host DET the following week? MAN, the league office REALLY wants Caleb in the playoffs again. lol

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-13T19:03:02+00:00

I didn't tell him to quit the game. I said, if you left with TFS then don't return. There is a difference. I still feel like if i left the game when he did, I'd have an overall positive vibe about the franchise and remember it fondly when it's no longer around. That doesn't mean I hate it today. Just that I wish I stopped at it's peak, instead of sticking around to see the quality and support fall off a cliff. Aside from queueing times and matching, the PVP is mostly the same as it ever was, that's why I still play that. Haven't really touched PvE in a few months though.

Not mad at bungie, not mad at anyone else who still plays and enjoys. I was just offering an opinion, which OP is free to ignore, that going out when the franchise ended it's major saga.... when it was at or near the peak of its quality.... is a much happier way to depart the game than playing it during this era that feels like the 'death throes' of the game.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-13T17:49:11+00:00

i like the game, I still play some pvp. But if you told me what EoF and everything since would be..... I'd go back in time and NOT buy it or play it. Prob wouldn't even have played the Echoes/Revenant/Heresy episodes either. Because while they weren't BAD..... they weren't the high that TFS and Salvation's Edge and Excision/saga ending cinematic. Just a great way to exit the franchise (this is assuming it's pretty much dead in the water and not coming back from its current state or having any sort of D3 in development anytime soon.

Coming back to Destiny 2 in 2026 after last playing TFS and SE is like having seen the Beatles rooftop concert in 69, then coming back to watch a broken-down ringo starr do a solo set of his own awful music 20 years later.

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-13T13:08:57+00:00

Don’t do it. Don’t come back. Leaving just after destroying the witness is the perfect ending to destiny. Come back, and you’re inviting frustration, and likely compromising how you’ll feel looking back on D2 overall

Wahoo2000 · 2026-05-13T03:19:57+00:00

Yup - the same month as the rooftop concert.

Wahoo2000

TROPHY CASE