Offense: 

This may be the first week we've seen Luke Fortner register an above average grade in pass protection. 
Man, I hope that isn't a fluke.

I wonder if Lawrence's grade suffered from the INT that actually should have been a free first down for DPI? 
I'm assuming it did. 

Ezra Cleveland has middling numbers here, but they are already better than what Little/Bartch/Shatley could muster there. 

Scherff continues doing good work at RG.  4th game consecutively grading 66 or higher in pass pro. 
Two of them above 80. 

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What is up with Scherff always looking back at Lawrence presnap?

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

What is up with Scherff always looking back at Lawrence presnap?

He signals Fortner when Trevor is ready to get the snap.

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What is up with Scherff always looking back at Lawrence presnap?

He did this last year too. It has always been their pre-snap routine. 
He alerts the center when the snap cadence is about to start and also it safeguards against miscommunication if a late "audible" occurs.

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DEFENSE:

PFF is so weird sometimes - Travon Walker registers 6 pressures and a sack but grades miserably. LOL

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What is up with Scherff always looking back at Lawrence presnap?

He signals Fortner when Trevor is ready to get the snap.

What is up with Scherff always looking back at Lawrence presnap?

He did this last year too. It has always been their pre-snap routine. 
He alerts the center when the snap cadence is about to start and also it safeguards against miscommunication if a late "audible" occurs.

That's interesting. I didn't see that a lot last year and I am just now seeing it this year from this past game. I figured maybe that was apart of it as well because it was pretty loud in that stadium on Sunday.

I'll give the tinhorns fans credit. They might be salty on social media but they turned out and did their job on Sunday.

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"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

DEFENSE:

PFF is so weird sometimes - Travon Walker registers 6 pressures and a sack but grades miserably. LOL

This is why these scores need to be taken with a grain of salt.  We have no idea of the qualifications of the reviewer.  Additionally, they have no way of knowing what the player's assignment was on that play. That said other than the eye test it is all we have.  The team has it's own grading process as they do the same thing, they DO NOT use PFF for the reasons stated. It would be interesting to see the differences.

ps look at Josh Allen's grades too....

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A new broom always sweeps clean.

Fortner's improved pass protection is a good sign. As long as Lawrence gets sufficient time in the pocket, he will be very effective. Other things which stood out were the high grades by Fatukasi and Farrell. Fatukasi is a different player this season due to being healthy again.

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The interior played the best game all season last week. Made Stroud move out of the pocket around 50% more than his average for the season.

If we can apply that pressure every week this Defense is gonna eat alot down the stretch.

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He signals Fortner when Trevor is ready to get the snap.

He did this last year too. It has always been their pre-snap routine. 
He alerts the center when the snap cadence is about to start and also it safeguards against miscommunication if a late "audible" occurs.

That's interesting. I didn't see that a lot last year and I am just now seeing it this year from this past game. I figured maybe that was apart of it as well because it was pretty loud in that stadium on Sunday.

I'll give the tinhorns fans credit. They might be salty on social media but they turned out and did their job on Sunday.

For reference - here is Fortner's very first snap in week one of 2022

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DEFENSE:

PFF is so weird sometimes - Travon Walker registers 6 pressures and a sack but grades miserably. LOL

This is why these scores need to be taken with a grain of salt.  We have no idea of the qualifications of the reviewer.  Additionally, they have no way of knowing what the player's assignment was on that play. That said other than the eye test it is all we have.  The team has it's own grading process as they do the same thing, they DO NOT use PFF for the reasons stated. It would be interesting to see the differences.

ps look at Josh Allen's grades too....

https://twitter.com/DanDGriffis/status/1...77245?s=20

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https://twitter.com/DanDGriffis/status/1...77245?s=20

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This is why these scores need to be taken with a grain of salt.  We have no idea of the qualifications of the reviewer.  Additionally, they have no way of knowing what the player's assignment was on that play. That said other than the eye test it is all we have.  The team has it's own grading process as they do the same thing, they DO NOT use PFF for the reasons stated. It would be interesting to see the differences.

ps look at Josh Allen's grades too....

https://twitter.com/DanDGriffis/status/1...77245?s=20

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https://twitter.com/DanDGriffis/status/1...77245?s=20

I've been saying it for awhile now. People need to stop just sack watching when it comes to Walker and actually watch/focus on him play. He has been playing good football for the majority of the season. He's very disruptive even if it doesn't show up on the stat sheet. Opposing Offenses are very, very aware of his presence.

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Strange being rated so lowly seems criminal to me in this game. Dude took out two, three blockers on one play that sprung Farrell wide open in the flat that went for 20+ on 1st and 15.

---

"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

Strange being rated so lowly seems criminal to me in this game. Dude took out two, three blockers on one play that sprung Farrell wide open in the flat that went for 20+ on 1st and 15.

He whiffed on multiple blocking assignments in the game

He does it way too much to keep getting the snap count he's getting IMO, but I understand their commitment to bringing him along - he has very big upside when he acclimates

What's criminal is his ineffectiveness in the pass game thus far to be selected so high - I'm optimistic it will improve but I can't ignore it while we watch LaPorta thrive this year

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Strange being rated so lowly seems criminal to me in this game. Dude took out two, three blockers on one play that sprung Farrell wide open in the flat that went for 20+ on 1st and 15.

He whiffed on multiple blocking assignments in the game

He does it way too much to keep getting the snap count he's getting IMO, but I understand their commitment to bringing him along - he has very big upside when he acclimates

What's criminal is his ineffectiveness in the pass game thus far to be selected so high - I'm optimistic it will improve but I can't ignore it while we watch LaPorta thrive this year

I was high on LaPorta. Kept mocking him to us over and over again. Great football player. Really fits the mold perfectly up there for the Lions. I think he'll eventually get more opportunities. Maybe this is a Baalke trait. He's good about finding guys, they just take more than a year to acclimate instead of being ready to go out of the box.

---

"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

He signals Fortner when Trevor is ready to get the snap.

He did this last year too. It has always been their pre-snap routine. 
He alerts the center when the snap cadence is about to start and also it safeguards against miscommunication if a late "audible" occurs.

That's interesting. I didn't see that a lot last year and I am just now seeing it this year from this past game. I figured maybe that was apart of it as well because it was pretty loud in that stadium on Sunday.

I'll give the tinhorns fans credit. They might be salty on social media but they turned out and did their job on Sunday.

They aren't that bad. Go check out the Tacks or the Chefs boards sometime if you want to experience the dregs of Fandom.

---

"Remember Red, Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."  - Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption

He whiffed on multiple blocking assignments in the game

He does it way too much to keep getting the snap count he's getting IMO, but I understand their commitment to bringing him along - he has very big upside when he acclimates

What's criminal is his ineffectiveness in the pass game thus far to be selected so high - I'm optimistic it will improve but I can't ignore it while we watch LaPorta thrive this year

I was high on LaPorta. Kept mocking him to us over and over again. Great football player. Really fits the mold perfectly up there for the Lions. I think he'll eventually get more opportunities. Maybe this is a Baalke trait. He's good about finding guys, they just take more than a year to acclimate instead of being ready to go out of the box.

Watching Trevor, Travon, Lloyd, Cisco, Campbell all take big year 2 jumps I don’t think that should be ignored.

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Strange being rated so lowly seems criminal to me in this game. Dude took out two, three blockers on one play that sprung Farrell wide open in the flat that went for 20+ on 1st and 15.

He whiffed on multiple blocking assignments in the game

He does it way too much to keep getting the snap count he's getting IMO, but I understand their commitment to bringing him along - he has very big upside when he acclimates

What's criminal is his ineffectiveness in the pass game thus far to be selected so high - I'm optimistic it will improve but I can't ignore it while we watch LaPorta thrive this year

LaPorta was selected significantly higher than Strange though.  Packers doubled up at TE selecting Musgrave (also significantly higher than Strange) and Kraft (the next TE off the board after Strange) in the first half of the 3rd round.  I think Strange may have been the target all along given who was already off the board and assuming they didn't feel strongly about Torrance or any other OL piece, but still wanted depth at TE and another piece that could develop into an effective addition to the protection game.  Perhaps he also develops into an effective receiver as well, but I think he was primarily taken for his blocking skill and potential.  Just needs a little more time.  He's flashed and had some highlights with his blocking thus far though.

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That's interesting. I didn't see that a lot last year and I am just now seeing it this year from this past game. I figured maybe that was apart of it as well because it was pretty loud in that stadium on Sunday.

I'll give the tinhorns fans credit. They might be salty on social media but they turned out and did their job on Sunday.

They aren't that bad. Go check out the Tacks or the Chefs boards sometime if you want to experience the dregs of Fandom.

For sure. Could just be the twitter/X crowd that's bad. I am sure every fanbase, including ours, has it's good eggs and bad news bears only types. 

I was high on LaPorta. Kept mocking him to us over and over again. Great football player. Really fits the mold perfectly up there for the Lions. I think he'll eventually get more opportunities. Maybe this is a Baalke trait. He's good about finding guys, they just take more than a year to acclimate instead of being ready to go out of the box.

Watching Trevor, Travon, Lloyd, Cisco, Campbell all take big year 2 jumps I don’t think that should be ignored.

Yep. That's the stance to take. I think Strange has shown some flashes here and there. It's probably really hard trying to find yourself on an offense as well that's honestly loaded across the skill position groups. Distribution struggle is real sometimes. 

He whiffed on multiple blocking assignments in the game

He does it way too much to keep getting the snap count he's getting IMO, but I understand their commitment to bringing him along - he has very big upside when he acclimates

What's criminal is his ineffectiveness in the pass game thus far to be selected so high - I'm optimistic it will improve but I can't ignore it while we watch LaPorta thrive this year

LaPorta was selected significantly higher than Strange though.  Packers doubled up at TE selecting Musgrave (also significantly higher than Strange) and Kraft (the next TE off the board after Strange) in the first half of the 3rd round.  I think Strange may have been the target all along given who was already off the board and assuming they didn't feel strongly about Torrance or any other OL piece, but still wanted depth at TE and another piece that could develop into an effective addition to the protection game.  Perhaps he also develops into an effective receiver as well, but I think he was primarily taken for his blocking skill and potential.  Just needs a little more time.  He's flashed and had some highlights with his blocking thus far though.

Agreed. I still really enjoyed the Penn St. highlights I found on him on the night they drafted him. I was excited then and I am still excited for his future. I wasn't expecting a Dallas Goedert or Zack Ertz type of talent out of him though. I immediately thought, "Oh, okay, this is a big guy that likes to bruise people that can occasionally catch you sleeping in the passing game".

I thought of him being Pederson's H-Back type of TE player that he had in Philadelphia. Behind Ertz and Goedert. He had Trey Burton. He wasn't the move type TE or field stretcher the way the other two guys were but he would work the underneath game really well, do a lot of motion stuff close to the line of scrimmage and block in the running game. 

That's exactly who I saw when I looked at his highlights at Penn St. I was eyeing Oklahoma's Brayden Willis in this draft for this exact same role. San Francisco took him in RD7 though. He hasn't done anything out there that I am aware of. But, again, hard to find yourself on an offense, much like ours, that, it's clearly already stacked across the board skill position wise.

---

"What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie? I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky. The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing; Rush in and die, dogs - I was a man before I was a king."

They aren't that bad. Go check out the Tacks or the Chefs boards sometime if you want to experience the dregs of Fandom.

For sure. Could just be the twitter/X crowd that's bad. I am sure every fanbase, including ours, has it's good eggs and bad news bears only types. 

Watching Trevor, Travon, Lloyd, Cisco, Campbell all take big year 2 jumps I don’t think that should be ignored.

Yep. That's the stance to take. I think Strange has shown some flashes here and there. It's probably really hard trying to find yourself on an offense as well that's honestly loaded across the skill position groups. Distribution struggle is real sometimes. 

LaPorta was selected significantly higher than Strange though.  Packers doubled up at TE selecting Musgrave (also significantly higher than Strange) and Kraft (the next TE off the board after Strange) in the first half of the 3rd round.  I think Strange may have been the target all along given who was already off the board and assuming they didn't feel strongly about Torrance or any other OL piece, but still wanted depth at TE and another piece that could develop into an effective addition to the protection game.  Perhaps he also develops into an effective receiver as well, but I think he was primarily taken for his blocking skill and potential.  Just needs a little more time.  He's flashed and had some highlights with his blocking thus far though.

Agreed. I still really enjoyed the Penn St. highlights I found on him on the night they drafted him. I was excited then and I am still excited for his future. I wasn't expecting a Dallas Goedert or Zack Ertz type of talent out of him though. I immediately thought, "Oh, okay, this is a big guy that likes to bruise people that can occasionally catch you sleeping in the passing game".

I thought of him being Pederson's H-Back type of TE player that he had in Philadelphia. Behind Ertz and Goedert. He had Trey Burton. He wasn't the move type TE or field stretcher the way the other two guys were but he would work the underneath game really well, do a lot of motion stuff close to the line of scrimmage and block in the running game. 

That's exactly who I saw when I looked at his highlights at Penn St. I was eyeing Oklahoma's Brayden Willis in this draft for this exact same role. San Francisco took him in RD7 though. He hasn't done anything out there that I am aware of. But, again, hard to find yourself on an offense, much like ours, that, it's clearly already stacked across the board skill position wise.

Boy is it nice to be able say that after the years we have had !  Strange will be ok. He is a blue collar work hard guy.  They will develop him...

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A new broom always sweeps clean.