Rollin in this 64 (years) w/ kneecaps & draft picks on deck: The 2021 Detroit Lions Official Thread

djthegreat88

djthegreat88

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Reppin
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Draft injury prone player. Can’t be surprised when he stays injured. He’s a good blocker and receiver but has no burst/speed anymore

Add him to the list of early draft picks

Kerryon
Abdullah
Leshore
Best
Kevin Smith
Calhoun
Kevin Jones

How come we don’t ever talk about a Barry Sander curse around here?
 
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Just end the season.
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Can't lie, this article in The Athletic has me excited about Campbell and the coaching staff. :ehh:

Observations about Dan Campbell and his top Lions assistants, who never stop teaching

By Nick Baumgardner and Chris Burke 4h ago
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The Lions want to be competitive in 2021 and believe they can surprise some folks, but much of this year will be an extended evaluation period. How much does this team have on hand as it tries to rebuild as quickly as possible? What are the biggest gaps that need to be filled?

The players will remain under the microscope for the next five months. But the coaches will be right there with them. Especially for curious observers outside the Detroit fan base, the Lions’ coaching staff — led by a fiery Dan Campbell and chock-full of former players — might be more of a hook than the roster itself. There are a lot of people, from all corners, watching to see if this interesting experiment can work.

Early returns from training camp are promising, at least from an attitude perspective. Just about every Lions player who has spoken on the subject has talked about a happier, less-stressful environment. That shift might not translate to more wins, but it does feel like a start.

So, on Tuesday, three days out from Campbell’s first Detroit preseason game, we turned our attention to the head coach and his staff — specifically, assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn. Here’s what we noticed:

Dan Campbell
It’s 8:35 a.m. and Campbell already has T.J. Hockenson doubled over in laughter. Campbell’s arms are expressive, he’s bouncing around. No doubt entertaining, and loosening up, his star tight end with a tale from his seemingly endless bag of amusing anecdotes.

Players are stretching, birds are chirping, fans in the bleachers barely look alert. But Campbell’s already at midday form. He’s been on the practice field for 10 minutes and he’s already engaged in multiple one-on-one conversations with players. Campbell’s T-shirt is already starting to soak through with sweat. He has added a knee sleeve to his practice attire this week, as the endless amount of energy — and pacing — that Campbell oozes during a three-hour practice has clearly bothered an old playing injury.

At 8:45, stretching lines have yet to form. But Campbell has already spoken to Hockenson, Jared Goff, Jeff Okudah, Amani Oruwariye, Jermar Jefferson and Levi Onwuzurike. Campbell told reporters Tuesday morning that the Lions have reached the dog-day portion of camp, when Campbell and his staff will truly be able to find out who’s ready to grind and who isn’t. Campbell hasn’t had any in-practice blow-ups. He’s not really a yeller.

But don’t let that fool you into thinking he’s not paying attention. The sweat, knee sleeve and tread on his shoes tell a story.

Because Campbell sees everything.

Most of the players we just mentioned are still in the prove-it stage. Okudah and Oruwariye have plenty to show and will be tested later this week in the preseason opener. Same for Goff. Onwuzurike has missed a handful of practices with injuries; the Lions need him on the field. Detroit loves what Jefferson has shown early, but he’s nursing an ankle today.

Campbell never stops moving Tuesday. Once individual drills start at 9 a.m., he huffs it from the far east end of the field to the far west to help with defensive line drills. After five minutes, he speed-walks to an opposite corner to check in with the offensive line. Eventually, he stands up as a rush-end so Penei Sewell can have someone to work against in walkthroughs. Campbell veers from there to another opposite corner to check in on Tracy Walker, Will Harris and the rest of the safeties.

He checks in on the positions at a critical development stage (defensive tackle, right tackle, safety, for example) before the start of 11-on-11 work. Players don’t come to him with questions he can answer, Campbell brings those discussions to each individual and engages the entire roster — top to bottom — on an endless loop. He spends additional time working with Alize Mack (who has had some blocking issues in camp) on pass protection drills. When Kalif Raymond hustles for a ball near the sideline during a walkthrough period, it’s Campbell who runs out to give him a fist bump before Raymond can return to the huddle.

The first thing you notice about Campbell is his energy. But if you follow him closely, you’ll see there’s a plan behind all of the sound bites and stories. Campbell doesn’t waste time on the practice field. He’s not engaging in many conversations with players who don’t really have much to prove. Instead, he’s focusing on the areas of the roster where development is at a critical stage. When players are getting water, Campbell’s almost always conferencing with Lynn, Glenn and Staley. He wrapped up practice with what appeared to be an in-depth discussion with GM Brad Holmes before addressing the entire roster — Sheila Ford Hamp included — one final time.

Until tomorrow.

Duce Staley
Staley is so much more than a running backs coach in this organization and it shows up constantly.

He’s rarely more than 15 feet away from Lynn during offensive install periods, and that’s true Tuesday. Lynn is in charge of everything offensively for the Lions, but Staley is — clearly with Lynn’s blessing — 1B in that situation. He’s hands-on with receivers, tight ends and linemen during offensive install periods. Lynn has encouraged Goff to be vocal about anything that doesn’t sit well during practice. The same goes for Staley, who is empowered to speak up when he feels the need.

It was notable that Staley more or less ran one of the sidelines during last Saturday’s scrimmage. If the Lions have a senior staff, Staley’s part of it. He’ll be a critical voice in game-planning meetings with Lynn. Campbell trusts him for roster evaluations that extend beyond running back. Staley isn’t afraid to dip in and work with other positions.

The Lions have talked a big game about collaboration. Watching Campbell interact with Lynn, Glenn and Staley, it’s obvious how much he trusts them and vice versa.

Aaron Glenn
The first thing you need to know is that Glenn wears knee sleeves on each leg, because he’s a 49-year-old coordinator with 15 years’ worth of NFL wear and tear but won’t let any of that slow him down during practices. If Campbell is setting the pace for coach movement, Glenn is running a tight second.

During positional drills, Glenn starts off watching the linebackers. Then, he’s over to the DBs, who are working on their tackling form — crouching beneath a rolling canopy, then exploding out from it and hitting a blocking sled. Glenn claps for them as they finish their reps. Finally, he bounces over to the defensive linemen and stands, hands on knees, maybe a body length away from them as they practice a power move.

Nonstop. Constant motion. But it’s very active teaching from Glenn, too, and the longtime veterans and undrafted rookies alike get the same intensity.

A few minutes into Tuesday’s practice, during a walkthrough portion, the Lions’ offense barely has the snap off before Glenn is strolling between the hash marks to find Trey Flowers. He needs to go over something with the outside linebacker (possibly Flowers’ depth on a drop). Later on, as the receivers and DBs go one-on-one, Glenn runs over to A.J. Parker after he allows a catch, then walks him all the way up the sideline back to his starting point, discussing that rep the whole way.

There isn’t a wasted snap. After every single one, Glenn has a teaching point for … someone on … something. Even after a walkthrough of Hail Mary defense, Glenn pulls Walker, C.J. Moore and Okudah aside, briefly, to talk about how they are handing off assignments. Glenn then swaps sides of the field with DBs coach Aubrey Pleasant for the next rep, and he finds something in how Mike Ford is settling into coverage that isn’t exactly on point.

This is something Campbell mentioned as far back as May: That he doesn’t need to micromanage out there because his staff gets after it.

“When you go to clean it up and all of a sudden here comes A-Lynn and he’s all over it, or there’s (Glenn) and he’s all over it or here comes Duce and he’s all over it,” Campbell said, “it’s like, ‘Whoa, all right.’ That’s how you know you’ve got the right guys, because (they address) even little details.”

These things could be happening behind the scenes — the scheme and play calls and all that will matter, of course — but almost everything Glenn appears to be emphasizing is on the individual level. In other words, as several defenders have mentioned in camp, he’s trying to simplify the mental process. He wants his players to understand what they’re seeing develop in front of them and to know where they’ll have help. That’s it.

It’s a lot less “here is your exact assignment” and a lot more of a read-and-react approach. As a successful former player, Glenn has seen what the Lions are going to see. He knows how to get from point A to point B in figuring it out.

And those wheels are still churning. For the two-minute drills to close practice Tuesday, Glenn vacates his normal spot just off to the side of the offense and instead paces up the far sideline — he wants a better vantage point on how the routes are developing (and how his DBs are reacting to them) in obvious passing spots.

The defense finished 2-for-2 in those scenarios.

Anthony Lynn
It’s not a universal rule, but on a lot of coaching staffs, the offensive coordinator tends to be a more cerebral figure while the defensive coordinator is a ball of fire. It was the case, to an extent, with Darrell Bevell and Cory Undlin last season. And it is definitely the setup this season.

Case in point: The Lions are using their 11-on-11 and seven-on-seven sessions to get a feel for how play calls will happen during games — coaches’ calls coming through a wireless headset in the QB or a linebacker’s helmet. Lynn stays true to that plan throughout the day, standing well back of the action and radioing in what he wants to Goff, Tim Boyle or David Blough. Contrast that with Glenn, who has a walkie-talkie and — perhaps just for the heck of it — calls plays into it, but who also strides with a purpose into the defensive huddle after every rep for face-to-face feedback.

Lynn gives Staley and the positional coaches room to handle the minutiae. That’s probably how things will run during actual games, too, because Lynn plans to be up in the coaches’ booth; Glenn will be on the sideline.

The degree to which Lynn lets practices happen is noticeable. It is not unusual for Goff to find Staley or QBs coach Mark Brunell for feedback immediately after a rep; it’s rarely Lynn. And when Lynn watches positional drills, he lets those specific coaches go about their business. O-line coach Hank Fraley leads OL-DL one-on-ones Tuesday, while Lynn just stands a few yards back and watches.

There is, without question, a trust factor at play here. And that’s not to say that Glenn doesn’t think his positional coaches or veteran players can handle things, just that Lynn seems quite comfortable giving Fraley or Brunell or Goff or center Frank Ragnow enough rope to offer an opinion first. Lynn’s relationship with Staley, especially, has the feel of two guys who have been coaching together for years. Staley is a lot closer to Glenn’s coaching style — aggressive, exuberant. Thus far, Lynn hasn’t gotten in the way of it at all.

It could be an effective method for Goff. Yes, it’s important that Lynn and Goff be on the same page come Week 1. Right now, however, it might be even more beneficial for Detroit’s new QB to feel things out with Ragnow, Hockenson, his receivers, etc.

No need for Lynn to crowd that development, if it’s coming naturally.
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I can't lie, Campbell's winning me over. We'll see if he's a decent coach or not soon enough but he seems genuine (as does Holmes). The Lions have hired a lot of unlikable coaches over the years so this guy is refreshing.
 
djthegreat88

djthegreat88

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Think they can win 6 games at most. Offense will just be trash because of lack of wr talent. Think defense will be good
 
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