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Detroit Lions Mailbag: Which player will be the biggest positive surprise of 2024?
Welcome to the dead zone. We've got five weeks until training camp opens up for the Detroit Lions and the questions are about to start piling up. We've already got a lot of them from Lions fans this week. Here's a jumbo mailbag:
Right now they're just ok. As we know, there are other teams interested in him. The Packers, Commanders and Ravens have also requested that he come in for a visit. The Lions had him in the building on Tuesday, but a deal did not get done. That likely means he's going to want to consider all options. We'll see where things go in the coming weeks.
The Commanders are going to be a real threat after they released Brandon McManus. They're his next stop. They'll likely try to make sure he doesn't make it out of there.
My guess is that it's going to be this combination:
- CB: Carlton Davis
- CB: Terrion Arnold
- NCB: Ennis Rakestraw
- S: Brian Branch
- S: Kerby Joseph
Ifeatu Melifonwu and Amik Robertson will come off the bench and rotate in and out.
If any one has a chance to make the team as the backup center, it's Kinglsey Eguakun. The likelihood is that the Lions would use Graham Glasgow as the teams center and then bring rookie Christian Mahogany up to play guard
The UDFA's that have the best shots to make it right now are safety Loren Strickland, receiver Isaiah Williams and kicker James Turner.
I think running back is going to be a very interesting one to watch. Just how many guys to they plan to carry into the season? It's all likely to depend on just how good of a camp that Sione Vaki has.
It's not at all out of the question to think that the Lions could have a top 10 defense in 2024. The Lions were 12th in fewest yards allowed last year and were 13th in defensive DVOA. The Lions defense was nowhere near as bad as it may have seemed for those few weeks last year.
They went out and seemingly fixed their biggest issue with the secondary. If that shows up the way it's supposed to, it will go a long way towards the Lions having one of the best defenses in the league to go with that hot offense.
For the defense the I think this would be the best setup for them:
- DE: Aidan Hutchinson
- DT: DJ Reader
- DT: Alim McNeill
- DE: Marcus Davenport
- LB: Alex Anzalone
- LB: Jack Campbell
- CB: Carlton Davis
- CB: Terrion Arnold
- NCB: Ennis Rakestraw
- S: Brian Branch
- S: Kerby Joseph
In terms of the 3,000 yard thing, that is incredibly hard to do. You're going to need both running backs to get over 1,000 yards. That's only happened seven times in NFL history. Montgomery and Gibbs came 55 yards away from making it eight times last year. It's definitely possible they hit that mark in 2024.
Getting the extra thousand or so to bring them to 3,000 is going to be hard since Montgomery doesn't get used a lot in the pass game and Gibbs would have to make up a ton of slack. Then again, Christian McCaffrey had over a 1,000 yards receiving last year, so it's not impossible.
The Lions are going to continue to be aggressive. That's their identity, but if they did have a better kicking option, they may look to play the smart game over the risky game more often than they have in the past.
Bates is exciting. Anyone that can kick a 64-yard field goal in impressive. The misses are concerning. He had seven of them in 11 games. Having the leg doesn't mean anything if you can't be accurate.
We have not and we probably never will. Maybe I'm on an island on this, but I don't see it as that big of a deal. It doesn't really have any bearing on anything and it's not the start of some conspiracy theory plot to take down the Lions. It's just a small thing.
Going with the under this year. This will be the first time in his career that he's going to be a big part of the offense and he's still going to have to share targets with St. Brown, LaPorta, Gibbs and whoever else the Lions decide to throw the ball too.
My guess is he has a season that's something like 55 receptions for 650 yards and seven touchdowns. That would be a phenomenal upgrade for him. The 1,000 yard thing will come at some point. If it's in 2024, then that's even better.
I thought so before OTAs and minicamp, now I'm not so sure anymore. The Lions may be set at safety with Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Ifeatu Melifonwu, C.J. Moore and Brandon Joseph. I don't see them going over five to start the year. That means Tracy Walker, who I assume you're talking about, might have to find a different spot to play this year. I would be shocked if he doesn't find a roster that needs him during camp or the season.
I'm going with Marcus Davenport on this one. He's had some issues staying heathy, but he's always been a good player when he is. I'm hereby making the prediction that he does stay healthy and he has a 10 sack season under Terrell Williams. We'll come back and look at this later to see how right or wrong I was.
