Detroit Lions Mailbag: Who's replacing Ben Johnson?
The bye week is over and so is the week where we didn't do a mailbag. The Detroit Lions are back and so are the questions and answers. Let's jump into some of those shall we? It's hard to argue with the massive improvement the Lions defense has gone through. I think it's fair to […]
The bye week is over and so is the week where we didn't do a mailbag. The Detroit Lions are back and so are the questions and answers. Let's jump into some of those shall we?
It's hard to argue with the massive improvement the Lions defense has gone through. I think it's fair to give Glenn a good amount of the credit for that. The personnel has largely remained the same between last year and this year and we really started to see the defense start to get better last year. So I think it's fair to say that the personnel has improved because of him. I'm really interested to see what he can do down the stretch and what he can do if he gets one more year with the Lions. That is if he doesn't get hired away.
That game against the Bears in December is worrisome. It's possibly in the elements where anything can happen and Justin Fields is a problem on his feet. He ran for 279 yards on the Lions last year. Could he hurt them with his feet again?
You hope it would be Jameson Williams, but I just don't know with him anymore. Seems like it might be a 2024 thing for him if it happens at all. Jack Campbell has been playing really well in the run stopping game this year. I'd like to see more from him everywhere else and I think you will.
As far as the player I see a lot for in the second half of the year, It has to be Jahmyr Gibbs. I think this team is about to let him loose after two really good games. Even with Montgomery coming back, you still have to ride the hot hand. Gibbs is that hot hand.
Yes. Goff is about to get paid handsomely after this season. Especially if the Lions win the division and have some playoff success. Right now he's 16th in total value in the league. I think he winds up getting some like $50 million a year. That would put him in the top five salaries. He won't be the highest paid guy, but he's going to get paid.
I don't think so. I think Staley's days with the Chargers are numbered, but I think since they're a team that could still wiggle their way into the playoffs down the stretch. I think that could help Staley keep his gig. Even if the team doesn't make the playoffs, I could still see him getting fired on Black Monday instead of this early in the year. The Raiders kind of in their own world and they act as such.
I think it's just a trust thing. Johnson has spent so much more time around the rest of this offense and there's a rapport there. Williams spent most of his first season hurt and then didn't really practice a lot in the second half of the year and as soon as things started to come together this season, Williams got hurt during camp and then served a suspension.
They've spent so much time without him that they're struggling to find a way to get him involved and to find that trust. That's not to say that it's over for him or anything like that. There's still time to find that. But Williams needs to make the most out of the opportunities he gets and he's struggled to do that.
Not at this time. Gardner-Johnson was telling everyone in IG Live that he would back during the divisional round of the playoffs and Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell said that Houston could be back in December. That's the most we know so far.
I don't think it's totally set in stone that Johnson would leave. It's really going to depend on who's hiring and if the Lions give out another pay raise. If he does leave, passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand seems like the favorite to take over Johnson's job. He's spent a lot of time working hand in hand with Johnson over the last two seasons and the belief is that he's got a good mind for the game.
Here is a nice list for you.
- Romeo Okwara
- Charles Harris
- C.J. Gardner-Johnson
- Emmanuel Moseley
- Halapoulivaati Vaitai
- Josh Reynolds
- Teddy Bridgewater
- Will Harris
- Jason Cabinda
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Nate Sudfeld
- Matt Nelson
- Julian Okwara
- Jonah Jackson
- Craig Reynolds
- Donovan Peoples-Jones
Jonah Jackson is the clear priority here.
Biggest surprises of the Lions season so far
Week 9 is over and done with. Now it's time for us to look back at the first half of the Detroit Lions season. That's just what we're going to do. All this week we're going to be doing a series of mid-season articles. We'll be talking about both the good and the bad of […]
