(12-02-2022, 04:09 PM)JagFan81 Wrote:

(12-02-2022, 02:49 PM)D6 Wrote: Thanks. JagFan81.

An added dimension to this game from the standpoint of the Lions Defense attempting to limit the impact of Travis Lawrence, is that edge player James Houston was signed from the Practice Squad early this week. Houston was elevated to the Game Day roster against the Bills on Thanksgiving Day and had 2 sacks on only 5 snaps. Not the clean up type of sacks.  

James Houston is familiar to UF and SEC fans in general, as he was with the Gators until transferring to Jackson St. for his final college season.  Houston was drafted by the Lions in the latter part of Round 6 in the 2022 Draft.  He showed promise in training camp but didn't survive the cutdown to 53 players.  Houston cleared waivers and signed a Practice Squad contract with the Lions.  Then, taking advantage of his first regular season game opportunity 8 days ago.

I'll will keep an eye out for him and hopefully has a great game next Sunday!!

I remember chatting a few times over the years about the direction of the Lions and how they could be about to turn the corner only for it to be another brick wall. An experience we are all used to here.

I think we spoke when Goff got traded for Stafford and the Lions seemed to be in tank mode but I like what Dan Campbell has done in a short time in Detroit even with Goff not being the answer at QB. Jamaal Williams has been great for you guys at RB and from the bits I've seen of the Lions, Amon-Ra St Brown looks a solid #1 WR for the future. I watched the win over the Packers and the D played great but that seemed a bit of a one off performance from how they've done this year.

How you feeling about the Lions so far? Feeling optimistic?

After seeing that the Lions activated DE Romeo Okwara off the PUP list on Saturday and placed his younger brother Julian Okwara on IR because of an elbow injury he suffered against the Bills, it's uncertain if James Houston is going to get an opportunity against the Jaguars. The Lions have 7 players currently on the 53 man roster that can play DE. Austin Bryant, a former Clemson teammate of Trevor Lawrence will likely be a Game Day Inactive player for this game.  If another edge player is Inactive as well, Houston might be the odd man out.  DT Michael Brockers, who is very likely in the final few weeks of his impressive NFL playing career, probably will be Inactive for this game.  Assuming Bryant and Brockers are Inactive, the question comes down to whether the Lions will go with 9 Defensive Lineman, instead of 8 for the game?  Josh Paschal, John Cominsky, and even Aidan Hutchinson will probably see action in some expected passing situations at DT, in addition to being on the edge in early and short yardage downs. 

Injuries setback the Lions substantially earlier in the season.  The Lions enter today's game against the Jags as healthy as the team has been since the regular season opener against the Eagles.  As was mentioned later on in this thread, WR Jamison Williams was activated from the NEI list on Saturday.  I thought that the Lions would wait another week to activate him.  My guess is Williams will probably be used in one or two packages in this game.  With a greater workload in the coming weeks, if he stays relatively healthy from this point forward.  Williams is who I'm envisioning as the Lions # 1 WR for the long term, with Amon-Ra St. Brown being the # 2 WR.  Regarding today's game, I think the Lions are going to try to use Williams as a speed decoy to a large extent, in order to try to open up opportunities for St. Brown and some others underneath. 

Two weeks after the win over the Packers, the Lions Defense had a strong performance against the Giants.  The Lions run Defense was tremendous against RB Saquon Barkley, with Barkley having only 21 rushing yards on 15 carries in the game.  If as expected Jags RB Travis Etienne is on the team's active roster today, I'm anticipating that Lions DC Aaron Glenn is going to keep an extra Defender in or near the box in a high % plays that aren't long yard situations (regarding the yards needed to get a 1st Down).  

Overall, I'm optimistic about the Lions future, though Dan Campbell's time management during games needs to improve.  The Lions have the LA Rams 1st Round Pick for the 2023 Draft, as the final piece of the Matthew Stafford trade compensation.  With the Rams placing Stafford on IR, joining WR Cooper Kupp, and DT Aaron Donald missing his first NFL game because of an injury (high ankle sprain) later day, I think the Rams 1st Round Pick will be somewhere in the top 10.  If the season ended today, it would be Pick # 3.  The Lions have four picks in the top 2 Rounds in 2023, including the Vikings 2nd Round pick as a result of the T.J. Hockenson trade.  Between this and a more favorable salary cap situation, there's definitely reasons to be optimistic.  Yet, there are a number of key decisions that have to be made, headed by the QB situation.  Jared Goff is the type of QB who a team can win with if there's plenty of good players on the roster.  But with Justin Fields already displaying differential abilities with the Bears, a QB with a noticeably higher upside than Goff probably is in the Lions best interests for the long term.

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