Ok, we all saw it last night. Two former Detroit Lions went out there and balled out on Thursday night football. TJ Hockenson had seven catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns and D'Andre Swift had a career night with 175 yards and a touchdown. Not bad at all. 

This, of course, prompted many Lions fans to hit their social media apps and talk about how the Lions made a mistake trading these guys or that Brad Holmes could be fired if he keeps doing stuff like this. 

Yes, these guys were good last night, but don't let that distract you from the reasons they were traded int he first place. How about a nice reminder? 

 Swift

I, like you, wanted to see Swift succeed so badly here in Detroit. He just couldn't do it. It wasn't because the Lions didn't know how to use him or becasue they didn't use him enough. That latter argument needs to die by the way. In 2021 he got two less carries than Jamaal Williams. In 2022 he got significantly less, but he also played significantly less. That was always the bigger issue with Swift. He was hardly ever around, and if he was, the team was taking it easy with him. 

He had a concussion in 2020, a groin injury and an AC joint injury 2021 and then he had an ankle injury in 2022. Swift missed  seven games in three years. When he did play, he was playing through an injury and had to be used less. 

When healthy and ready to go, Swift can do anything. He can have nights like he did last night. That just never really happened in Detroit. So they moved on by trading him and drafting a young weapon that can do more with the football than Swift can and can be a bigger part of the Lions offense. 

Hockenson

Lions fans are so weird with this guy. First they hated him becasue of something he couldn't control like the Lions taking another tight end high in the draft years before him and that tight end not working out. Then when Hockenson did do well, it wasn't well enough. Now that he's gone, the Lions have somehow made a mistake? 

Hockenson got traded for multiple reasons. The first one being that he simply did not fit what the Lions were trying to do with their offense and that position. You could see it very early on in the 2022 season. It was like he wasn't even there. He played for the Lions for seven games that year an only got targeted 43 times. 

The next reason is that Hockenson was going to come looking for the bag. He got it in Minnesota. He's now one of the highest paid tight ends in the NFL. He makes more than all five tight ends that are with the Lions now combined. If Hockenson is here now, the Lions are paying him that money and they're paying a guy that don't feel fits their system. 

Lastly

Don't forget what the Lions got out of these trades. The Lions took TJ Hockenson and D'Andre Swift and turned them into Hendon Hooker, Brodric Martin, Antoine Green a 2024 3rd round pick and and 2025 4th round pick. That's a quarterback of the future or really good trade bait later, the future of the Lions interior defensive line, a receiver that can be a good contributor someday and then two picks that Brad Holmes will surely trade into something that shocks you down the road. The Lions did the right thing moving on from these guys. 

NFL officials told Dan Campbell that St. Brown was one pump away from a flag

Sometimes life imitates art. For the Detroit Lions, that apparently happened on Thursday after Amon-Ra St. Brown's first touchdown of the year. St. Brown did a touchdown dance that's very reminiscent of the infamous Key & Peele sketch that features the official counting the amount of pumps that tight end Hingle McCringleberry does after his […]

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