Detroit Lions Mailbag: Surprise cuts the Lions could be making soon, one heartbreaker
The hard cuts are going to have to be made
OK, Detroit Lions fans. Let’s turn the page on the loss to the Eagles and move on with some good old-fashioned questions.
What’s the level of concern about the Lions missing the playoffs?
The concern level is pretty low. Almost nonexistent. Aside from the Seahawks, I don’t trust any of those teams. The Bears have played two teams over .500 all season, and they lost to both. They now have to go up against the Eagles, 49ers, Packers twice, and then the Lions. That’s a pretty hard road. The Packers have five divisional games, a matchup with the resurgent Ravens, and against the 9-2 Broncos. They also look nothing like the team the Lions played in Week 1.
The Lions are not a bad football team. They just got beaten by a team that is better right now. And it wasn’t that bad. Their defense dominated all day, even though the Eagles kept getting possession in their territory. I trust the defense that is soon getting back Kerby Joseph, Terrion Arnold, Josh Paschal, Marcus Davenport, D.J. Reed, Khalil Dorsey, and Malcolm Rodriguez. You should, too.
The offense had a bad night, but they’ve been effective for the most part this year. If they turn the corner they’re trying to turn, we know what this team can do. So yeah, I’m not worried about it.
With the returns from injury, who could be getting cut soon? Any surprises?
The Lions will have to make room for the eight guys (Miles Frazier makes eight) who could all be back by the end of November. So let’s figure out what we’re looking at here.
Let’s take out the guys we haven’t seen much of at the positions returning. So safety Erick Hallet, edge Quinton Jefferson, OL Michael Niese, edge Tyrus Wheat, and linebacker Ty Summers. I hate to use the term “easy cuts,” but those are the guys who make the most sense off the jump.
Here’s where it gets harder, with three more cuts to make. I love Mehki Wingo, and I think the Lions do too, but I also know they can’t find a spot for him right now. He’s been a healthy scratch every week. So moving on from a recent draft pick will be hard, and you hope you get him back on the practice squad, but it has to be done.
OK, now it gets extremely hard. The Lions have five running backs on their roster, so someone has to go. It won’t be Jahmyr Gibbs or David Montgomery. The Lions have big plans for Sione Vaki, and he’s great on special teams. Jacob Saylors is their kick returner, and he’s done fairly well at it.
That leaves the guy you’ve barely seen play this year, but love with all your heart. Craig Reynolds could absolutely be on the block here. At this juncture, you need guys who can do multiple things, and while Reynolds is good on special teams, you don’t see him any other time in the game. You hope he goes unclaimed and returns to the practice squad.
Down to one more spot, and this one is hard too. The Lions just don’t need six receivers. We’re barely seeing enough targets for the fourth and fifth guy as it is. That means they might have to move on from rookie Dominic Lovett. Again, he’s a guy you can get back on the practice squad, though.
You also have to account for the fact that this is football, and injuries often occur, so if they do, the Lions could open up spots by putting guys on the IR. But with limited return from IR spots left, they may have to just keep injured players they think will return on the roster at some point.
What’s going on with special teams?
The Lions are definitely having some problems there. They’ve been allowing at least one big return a game in the past few weeks. They just need to get downfield and get to their guy. Jake Bates shouldn’t be making multiple tackles a year. Getting Dorsey and Rodriguez back could make a big difference. Dorsey is one of the best gunners in football, and Rodriguez is always making stops on returns.
On the Lions returns, you love Kalif Raymond, but it might be time to give someone else a shot. If you’re keeping Lovett, let’s see him get a crack at it. On kick returns, I maintain that Saylors is close to breaking one. I will maintain this until I can’t.
How do you address the offensive line?
If I were Brad Holmes, I would have gotten on the phone with former Patriots guard Shaq Mason the day after Christian Mahogany’s injury, and I would have seen what Kingsley Eguakun can do at starting center.
What the Lions can do with their group is just hold down the interior as best they can. It won’t be perfect, but if you can just give Jared Goff enough time and keep him clean, things can happen. Guys need to step up. It’s really as simple as that. It might be worth seeing if Trystan Colon can play center and moving Graham Glasgow back to left guard.
The good news is that the Lions don’t play the Eagles every week, and they have some time to go back to the drawing board before they play them again in the playoffs, assuming this matchup happens again.
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