What I Am Hoping To See in Pre-Season Games

[Nnivolcm]

35 minutes ago, Sllim Pickens said:

Eze I am hoping pushes Nelson out but the limited snaps isn't a great sign IMO.  He is really raw and still super new to football.  He needs reps and any and all backups need game reps.  If he was ahead on the depth chart, I would assume he would have played.  Based on the guys with a similar snap count, he is firmly on the roster bubble.  There have been positive reviews of his growth in camp but he had a long ways to go.  He has the physical tools but has to match them up with the mental side.  Also in his limited snaps, he had the second worse PFF grade on the team, so as bad as Nelson was, Eze was worse. I know nothing about Connor Galvin but he had the highest o-line grade of the bunch in 19 snaps.  

They could be hoping to stash Eze on the practice squad and not want to showcase him for other teams. 

[Sllim Pickens]

Just now, Nnivolcm said:

They could be hoping to stash Eze on the practice squad and not want to showcase him for other teams. 

Maybe, but I think thats wishful thinking more than what we are seeing.  He played late in the game with the rest of the 3rd string guys and UDFA's.  I don't think we have to do much to get him on the practice squad.  

[nagahide13]

6 hours ago, General Tso said:

9:34 All I see is Sudfeld trying to fit a ball into triple coverage. Not sure what Jamo is supposed to do there to be competitive.

The play starts at 9 mins. There is 30 seconds of talking about Jamo's bad route and no attempt on the ball. It went right over his head. You can even see him kind of flail his arms at it.

Some people in the comments of that video say that he was prioritizing health over preseason. I'll take that. He definitely could have gotten killed by a corner (Flott?) coming over the middle.

That breakdown also completely missed his dropped TD. He talks about it in the comments as well.

Edited August 14, 2023 by nagahide13

[Louis Friend]

I love Jamo and think alot of the press about him is uncalled for, but he needs to work on catching the ball. Team has said it, he has said it, it’s obviously his biggest need at this point and will determine his role/snap count when he does return. Would love to see him adopt ARSBs jug routine and maybe extra reps with Bridgewater will help him out. I think it would help him a great deal. 
 

I want to see the starters get a little action. I want to see how our revamped secondary looks out there. I want to see how Alim plays slimmed down. 

[Just Want A Title]

Things to watch with joint practices with the Jags:

1.  The performance of our re-vamped secondary against Trevor Lawrence

2.  The play of our LBs against Evan Engram and Travis Etienne.  Their cover skills will be challenged

3.  I am hoping to see Brodric Martin get a lot of reps against Brandon Scherff.  It will be a good barometer for his development and probably teach him a lot.  

[Sllim Pickens]

2 hours ago, Louis Friend said:

I love Jamo and think alot of the press about him is uncalled for, but he needs to work on catching the ball. Team has said it, he has said it, it’s obviously his biggest need at this point and will determine his role/snap count when he does return. Would love to see him adopt ARSBs jug routine and maybe extra reps with Bridgewater will help him out. I think it would help him a great deal. 
 

I want to see the starters get a little action. I want to see how our revamped secondary looks out there. I want to see how Alim plays slimmed down. 

I agree.  The Ticket yesterday was eating him alive and its not that deep.  Its like they see his stat line and the drop and thats all they took from the game.  Ignored Sudfeld is trash, ignored the fact he was wide open a few times and he made another tough catch that was called back for formation that wasn't his fault.  Everyone says not to put too much into preseason yet they ignore their own words when it comes to Jamo.  He obviously is raw and has a lot to work on but give him a break.  

[Louis Friend]

2 hours ago, Sllim Pickens said:

I agree.  The Ticket yesterday was eating him alive and its not that deep.  Its like they see his stat line and the drop and thats all they took from the game.  Ignored Sudfeld is trash, ignored the fact he was wide open a few times and he made another tough catch that was called back for formation that wasn't his fault.  Everyone says not to put too much into preseason yet they ignore their own words when it comes to Jamo.  He obviously is raw and has a lot to work on but give him a break.  

Like Jamo said, it’s the most snaps he’s played in 1.5 years. He’s going to be rusty. He’s going to need to find his timing. His blocking, attitude on the field, and locker room presence are things that he exhibited  through injury and all look good. ARSB and Goff are going into year 3 together and are now seeing great chemistry. Jamo hasn’t had that time yet. People need to gripe about legit gripes and be reasonable with the rest. 

[Just Want A Title]

I might be wrong about this but I think a lot of what is being written in player analysis in the first pre-season game is being over-thought.  Neither team gave their project top players much run at all.  This game was about giving reps to the middle and lower parts of the roster to see what they have and let them put something tangible on tape.  Examples of over-hype:

1.  It was great to see Julian Okwara flash but he is going into his 4th year in the NFL and playing against 2d and 3rd string players.  He has been pretty quiet for most of training camp so I don't think this is a "break-out performance.

2.  Jack Campbell was solid but he is still a rookie who has never played an NFL game.  This was a good way to get him exposure to something closer to the pace of a regular season game.  He has been pretty good in training camp but Derrick Barnes has played well enough earn the starting job at this point.  Could he move ahead of Derrick Barnes at some point during the season?  Maybe.  Maybe the Lions could consider some 3-LB looks With Barnes, Anzalone and Campbell.

3.  Everything about Jameson Williams.  He is an athletic marvel but is a raw WR.  He is transitioning from a player who could rely on his speed and athletic ability to overcome other weakness to a player who plays the NFL game like an NFL WR.  I get the feeling that a lot this talk will seem kind of ridiculous by the end of the year.

On the opposite side here are two under-hyped things from the first pre-season game:

1.  Antoine Green showing the ability to separate.  His early post-route early looked really good.  Some players just know how find the soft spots in a defense and he seems like one of those players.

2.  Brodric Martin commanding double-teams.   A lot was made of Jack Campbell's performance but I noticed on at least one of his flash plays Brodric Martin had two blockers tied up.  Those double teams happened on more than one of his reps.  Even thought he is a work-in-progress he is developing faster than most folks expected.  If he draws double-teams during the regular season it will make our other D-Lineman and LBs a lot more effective.

Edited August 15, 2023 by Just Want A Title

[Sllim Pickens]

1 hour ago, Just Want A Title said:

I might be wrong about this but I think a lot of what is being written in player analysis in the first pre-season game is being over-thought.  Neither team gave their project top players much run at all.  This game was about giving reps to the middle and lower parts of the roster to see what they have and let them put something tangible on tape.  Examples of over-hype:

1.  It was great to see Julian Okwara flash but he is going into his 4th year in the NFL and playing against 2d and 3rd string players.  He has been pretty quiet for most of training camp so I don't think this is a "break-out performance.

2.  Jack Campbell was solid but he is still a rookie who has never played an NFL game.  This was a good way to get him exposure to something closer to the pace of a regular season game.  He has been pretty good in training camp but Derrick Barnes has played well enough earn the starting job at this point.  Could he move ahead of Derrick Barnes at some point during the season?  Maybe.  Maybe the Lions could consider some 3-LB looks With Barnes, Anzalone and Campbell.

3.  Everything about Jameson Williams.  He is an athletic marvel but is a raw WR.  He is transitioning from a player who could rely on his speed and athletic ability to overcome other weakness to a player who plays the NFL game like an NFL WR.  I get the feeling that a lot this talk will seem kind of ridiculous by the end of the year.

On the opposite side here are two under-hyped things from the first pre-season game:

1.  Antoine Green showing the ability to separate.  His early post-route early looked really good.  Some players just know how find the soft spots in a defense and he seems like one of those players.

2.  Brodric Martin commanding double-teams.   A lot was made of Jack Campbell's performance but I noticed on at least one of his flash plays Brodric Martin had two blockers tied up.  Those double teams happened on more than one of his reps.  Even thought he is a work-in-progress he is developing faster than most folks expected.  If he draws double-teams during the regular season it will make our other D-Lineman and LBs a lot more effective.

I'm not sure Barnes is ahead of Campbell but agree they needed to get Campbell a few reps, which is why he only played like 15 snaps.  Same with Branch, Laporta and Gibbs.  All are likely to be starters but being rookies, needed reps and some game action against other teams.  I think reading into Campbell playing but not Barnes is reading too much into the pre-season as well and that the battle for starting LB will go through the end of the preseason most likely. 

Okwara was doing it against bad competition and I think most know that.  But he still did it against bad players either.  So he is showing he belongs on the team, or at least in the league.  He was a level above those guys who are likely to be cut and it was obvious.  He isnt going to do that regularly or earn a starting spot for it, but it can save him from being cut.  His big things is trying to take that play and intensity into practice, because DC mentioned he hasn't seen that side of Julian Okwara in campo yet. 

I agree people are reading way too much into pre-season, let alone the first pre-season game.   We did not open up the playbook, we didn't have starters play, and for many of these guys they depend on others to look good.  Jahmyr Gibbs had a 3.2 yards per carry but nobody freaks out about that because they know the starting O LIne wasn't out there yet they blame Jamo for not being able to throw to himself.  And similarly the line as a whole wasn't bad, but looks bad on paper because Nelson and Eze were pretty bad at LT.  Which also makes Sudfeld look bad which then makes Jamo look bad.  That alone is why we can't judge much from this.  The coaches know who was supposed to do what and who did their part even if the results didn't show up in the box score.  The only things I am taking from this game is the team is gritty and that we have some depth now which should help us manage injuries better than most years.  Also that I am glad we signed Teddy Bridgewater and may need to sign a backup LT but I am not freaking out about it because Nelson has been decent in the past.  

[Just Want A Title]

1 hour ago, Sllim Pickens said:

I'm not sure Barnes is ahead of Campbell but agree they needed to get Campbell a few reps, which is why he only played like 15 snaps.  Same with Branch, Laporta and Gibbs.  All are likely to be starters but being rookies, needed reps and some game action against other teams.  I think reading into Campbell playing but not Barnes is reading too much into the pre-season as well and that the battle for starting LB will go through the end of the preseason most likely. 

Okwara was doing it against bad competition and I think most know that.  But he still did it against bad players either.  So he is showing he belongs on the team, or at least in the league.  He was a level above those guys who are likely to be cut and it was obvious.  He isnt going to do that regularly or earn a starting spot for it, but it can save him from being cut.  His big things is trying to take that play and intensity into practice, because DC mentioned he hasn't seen that side of Julian Okwara in campo yet. 

I agree people are reading way too much into pre-season, let alone the first pre-season game.   We did not open up the playbook, we didn't have starters play, and for many of these guys they depend on others to look good.  Jahmyr Gibbs had a 3.2 yards per carry but nobody freaks out about that because they know the starting O LIne wasn't out there yet they blame Jamo for not being able to throw to himself.  And similarly the line as a whole wasn't bad, but looks bad on paper because Nelson and Eze were pretty bad at LT.  Which also makes Sudfeld look bad which then makes Jamo look bad.  That alone is why we can't judge much from this.  The coaches know who was supposed to do what and who did their part even if the results didn't show up in the box score.  The only things I am taking from this game is the team is gritty and that we have some depth now which should help us manage injuries better than most years.  Also that I am glad we signed Teddy Bridgewater and may need to sign a backup LT but I am not freaking out about it because Nelson has been decent in the past.  

I think hyping up Germain Ifedi is probably a but a bit much as well.  Dude has 7-seasons under his belt.  Showing out against 2nd and 3rd-stringers isn't an accomplishment

[Louis Friend]

On 8/15/2023 at 4:24 PM, Just Want A Title said:

I think hyping up Germain Ifedi is probably a but a bit much as well.  Dude has 7-seasons under his belt.  Showing out against 2nd and 3rd-stringers isn't an accomplishment

It’s better than not showing out against 2nd and 3rd stringers like the other guys.