Latest / The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views / OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Detroit Lions

Transcript

OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Detroit Lions · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Hello there, I hope you are doing well. I wanted to let you
0:03
know that this podcast episode was recorded on Tuesday May twenty first, twenty twenty
0:08
four. By the time you hear this, some things may have changed here
0:10
there, but we hope you enjoy the show. Hey there, folks,
0:30
welcome to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
0:34
running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, eleven years strong. No
0:39
one's been doing it longer than us in the world of Philly sports. We
0:43
are so very honored to be in your ears right now as we head into
0:47
this Opposition Territory podcast this week, where we have an NFL team that we're
0:52
going to be focusing on. Absolutely love talking to our guest whenever he is
0:56
able to come on to talk about the Detroit Lions. Look, this Detroit
1:00
Lions team has had a very interesting offseason in various ways, and they're looking
1:03
to catapult themselves in twenty twenty four the upcoming season within the NFL ranks after
1:11
an amazing twenty twenty three season. This is a team that's looking to get
1:17
to the super Bowl. So let's get to our guest. Let's get to
1:19
a great discussion. Let's do it now. It is great to have back
1:23
on the podcast from the Lions Wire, and you can find him and all
1:27
of his content on the Twitter slash x when he posts it at Jeff Risden,
1:33
we have the one and only Jeff Risden. Jeff, Buddy, it
1:36
is great to see you here, and thanks so much for jumping on our
1:38
Opposition Territory podcast this week. Oh man, it's always a pleasure to come
1:42
on with you, Jeff, So thanks for having me back. You gheit
1:45
it. You got it, buddy, you got it. Look, I
1:47
wanted to get into our previous podcast that we had done. Unfortunately my co
1:52
host had a personal matter that came up. But really wanted to dive into
1:56
Jared Goff and this contract that was signed, as many of us know,
2:00
or if you don't know, signed a four year, two hundred and twelve
2:04
million dollar contract with the Detroit Lions, one hundred and seventy million dollars guaranteed
2:08
annual salary of about fifty three million. He is the NFL's second highest paid
2:14
quarterback at this particular point in time. And what I say is good for
2:17
him. I mean, that's what I like to say about pro athletes when
2:21
they do get their payday. Jeff Obb, I'm wondering what are your thoughts
2:24
on this Jared Goff contract and whether whether or not Jared Goff can really live
2:29
up to the worth of this contract and what it also means for the Lions
2:34
in terms of in terms of the cap for years to come. What are
2:37
your thoughts here. Yeah, so, I don't think anybody would argue that
2:42
Jared Goff is the second best quarterback in the NFL ever always being paid that,
2:46
but you know, that's that's market dynamics, the fact that he was
2:50
due for a time, he was going to be a free agent at the
2:51
end of the season. He has proven himself very valuable to the Lions enough
2:55
that they would be willing to pay him that he is a great fit for
3:00
what they're trying to do, and they kind of built the offense with offensive
3:02
coordinator Ben Johnson around what Jared Goff does very well. Golf did have some
3:07
input in it, and they look the Lions just won two playoff games for
3:13
the first time their franchise history in the same season. He's a big catalyst
3:19
for that and the fact that he's you know, getting embraced. There are
3:23
spontaneous chants of jar Red Goff going off in like malls and grocery stores and
3:30
hockey games. And I was at a little league game last week where some
3:34
parents started out because they saw me. They know him a Lion sky But
3:38
like that's sort of like the new like default greeting amongst Lions fans is a
3:42
little Jared Goff chance. So look, is it high? Yes? Does
3:46
it hurt their cap in some ways? Yeah, it does. It's over
3:49
twenty percent of their cap for a couple of seasons there. But the Lion's
3:53
done a really good job of drafting young players that can you know, on
4:00
their rookie contracts, will that will run through that. You know, guys
4:03
like Aiden Hutchinson they actually just pay pen a seol and I'm on rost Saint
4:08
Brown. But you know a lot of the guys who are the core of
4:11
the team are still on inexpensive deals. Uh. And they have managed the
4:15
cap such that it doesn't really impact them that much. They didn't they didn't
4:18
lose out on anybody this saw season because they couldn't afford to pay them.
4:21
And that's still going to be the case going forward. It's just a little
4:24
bit tighter. You know, they gotta they got to make sure that they
4:27
hit on those draft picks now, and thus far, gim Brad Holmes has
4:30
done a really good job of finding guys that fit around it. So it's
4:33
it's if you look at it from paying him that much money, but in
4:44
the grand context of what he's done for Detroit and how he leads this team,
4:50
is it on the high side Yet? It is, But it's also
4:53
he's been worth every penny so far, and I don't see any reason why
4:56
that would that would stop. I think it's interesting that there was a die
5:00
Jeff at least the fields. The vibes that I got when Jared Goff was
5:04
traded from the La Rams to the Detroit Lions, there was this vibe and
5:09
feeling of Okay, he's going to be the placeholder before the next quarterback is
5:14
drafted, And all of a sudden, we have Jared Goff, one of
5:16
the best quarterbacks in the NFL on our screens every almost every week. It's
5:23
really incredible how he has either taken the bull by the horns or the development
5:29
that was still within him the coaching staff was able to get out of him.
5:32
What he had in terms of his talent. How do you see that,
5:35
you know, in terms of just what was expected and where he is
5:40
at right now in terms of his tenure in the NFL. Yeah, you
5:44
know a lot of us thought that he was sort of the throw in in
5:46
the Matthew Stafford deal. But that was clearly not the Lions plan, right,
5:50
Jim brad Holmes head coach Dan Cambell. They wanted Jared Goff and the
5:55
fact that they were able to turn him into what he's become, a legit
6:00
Pro Bowl quarterback who can win you playoff games. They saw that. Not
6:03
many people outside that small circle saw that. We got a good glimpse of
6:10
it when they refused to take a quarterback and that first couple of years,
6:13
the first quarterback they drafted was was Henon Hooker. Last year as a backup,
6:17
they believed, and they're thus far, their belief has been rewarded and
6:23
it's gone very well. They use those extra picks that everybody assumed was going
6:26
to be, oh, we're going to take a quarterback here or a quarterback
6:29
there with some of these picks. No, that's that's turned into really impressive
6:33
players. Guys like Sam Laporta and Aydon Hutchinson and like they they had a
6:40
plan. And give the Lions management a ton of credit because not many people
6:44
believe in Jared Goff and why frankly, the way he played at the end
6:48
of his Rams tenure, there was no reason to believe in him. They
6:51
saw something there and they deserve to be rewarded for that. And good on
6:56
Golf for for proving the doubters wrong and kind of showed it their face and
7:00
making most of what was an awkward situation for him. I got to tell
7:03
you, I give the Lions management all the credit in the world for seeing
7:08
that, embracing that, and really getting this organization out of the abyss that
7:13
they have been in for quite some time and now they're they're formidable within the
7:16
NFL. But I do wonder, reflecting on Jared Gov's contract, even going
7:20
back to when Jalen Hurts as we follow the Philadelphia Eagles here on this podcast
7:24
platform, when he got his contract, I just wonder if quarterback contracts are
7:28
getting absolutely ridiculous and absurd at this point, because you talked about the fact
7:31
that Jared gov is like accounting for over twenty percent of the Lions cap and
7:38
it's I don't know, I'm wondering if it's kind of getting out of control.
7:41
Of course, the market dictates where these contracts go in the future,
7:44
but I don't know what are your thoughts on that, Jeff, I kind
7:46
of think they're getting a little crazy. They are, but the cap keeps
7:49
going up, and teams have figured out, Okay, we're not going to
7:53
spend all of our camp this year, so we're going to roll it over
7:55
so we can keep, you know, borrowing from it. The same sort
7:58
of showed the way not to do that. You're gonna see the Dallas Cowboys
8:01
paid Dak Prescott more than Jared Goff is getting. You're gonna see the Packers
8:05
paying Jordan Love more than Jared Goff is getting. In the coming years,
8:09
Rock Perty's gonna get a lot of money. Are any of those guys better
8:11
than Jared Goff? Yeah? Probably not right, but the salary is just
8:16
going to keep going up. And it's just it's a weird way of looking
8:20
at things, and the way that the way that the Lions structured Gof's contract,
8:24
he's actually only getting paid, like his capet this year is twenty seven
8:28
million. It was going to be thirty two. It's the poison pillar years
8:31
later in years three and four of the contract. But by that point they'll
8:35
renegotiate, the capital have gone up, and the cycle continues. Yeah,
8:39
just sort of where we're att in the NFL these days. Absolutely, well,
8:43
Jared Goff is going to absolutely need some fantastic protection this coming season as
8:48
we're looking toward this twenty twenty four season in terms of, you know,
8:52
being in the pocket. And I got to tell you, this Lion's offensive
8:56
line pretty freaking impressive, and you wrote it. He's an article over at
9:00
the Lions Wire about the offensive line and whether it was one of the top
9:05
offensive lines in the NFL. Jeff, I mean, look, they lost
9:07
Jonah Jackson in free agency, but they also added Kevin Zeitler. So I'm
9:11
wondering your thoughts on whether or not this offensive line is really going to dictate
9:16
how the Lions upcoming season really does progress. What are your thoughts? Yeah,
9:22
Well, just to reflect on golf for a second, he needs that
9:24
offensive line, yeah, to be comfortable. He's not a guy who handles
9:28
pressure extremely well, and that's something that's been proven even in Detroit with a
9:33
very good offensive line. I would argue that the Lions and the Eagles have
9:35
the two best offensive lines of football, and I would say that this year
9:39
the Lions are probably on the On the plus side of that, I would
9:43
agree. I think Kevin Zeitler was a fantastic free agent. Addition, he's
9:46
plugging player right away, solid veteran. I covered him when he was with
9:50
the Browns, when I covered the Browns. The guy's just he never has
9:54
a bad play. He doesn't have like great plays, but he never has
9:58
a bad play. And I think that's something that is actually going to help
10:01
this line. Because Jonah Jonah Jackson was a very good player. He deserved
10:03
this Pro Bowl birth after the twenty two season. Kind of a high variance
10:07
player from play to play though, So there the the issue that you get
10:13
is depth. Uh. The offensive tackles, Taylor Decker and Pinney Sewell are
10:16
the best one two punch in the league. They're great and and Sewell might
10:22
be the best right tackle in the league. Although Blane Johnson would certainly have
10:24
a conversation they would, yes, yes, but you know that you know
10:31
that that my lot of Johnson combination is right there with with that there's other
10:35
good ones too, but ye, the way that the Lions have, you
10:39
know, Frank rag Now in the middle, Eagles obviously don't have Kelsey anymore,
10:43
so that that that hurts there. The the depth is the issue.
10:48
If if Sewell or Decker get hurt, the depth isn't there at tackle Dan
10:54
Skippers right now or fourth round pick Jevani Manu who played Canadian college football last
11:01
year. For two years before that was a basketball player. That's their depth.
11:05
So as long as the line stays healthy, they're gonna be really good.
11:09
Ben Johnson's offense, the offensive cordator, requires a good offensive line.
11:13
That's one of the things. If you see him move on from the Lions
11:16
in time, and I'm not sure if he will, but like the Commanders
11:20
have tried to get him two years in a row, the Panthers have been
11:22
hot after the Texans tried to get him. He's gonna be a hot name.
11:26
Just pay attention, keep keep it in the back of your mind.
11:28
His offense does not work without a really good offensive line, and he's got
11:33
one in Detroit. So that's that we're feeling pretty good about it. Again
11:37
depth. I love the draft pick of Christian Mahogany late that he was one
11:43
of my favorite guys in the in the draft that But yeah, man,
11:48
if Ragno goes down again or if Sewell goes down, that that's gonna hurt.
11:52
But starting starting five, top six offensive line, we're feeling pretty good
11:58
about it in Detroit right now. Absolute that's what you need in order to
12:01
have a high power offense within this NFL. But sticking with the offense as
12:07
we're moving forward here, Jeff, you know there are certainly some weapons when
12:09
it comes to the wide receiver position. You've got Sam Laporta, one of
12:13
the best tight ends in the league now. Jamir Gibbs is a great,
12:16
very versatile running back. What does this offense need to prove during this upcoming
12:22
season with where they are at and how they can move that momentum from last
12:28
season to this season. What do they need to prove this coming year?
12:31
And they just have to prove that it wasn't a fluke because the talent is
12:35
there, the scheme is there, golf a quarterback is firmly in control with
12:41
the handles. That's just a case. Can Jamiir Gibbs and Sam Laporta improve
12:46
upon their impressive rookie seasons, and I think they can. It's gonna be
12:48
tough for Laporta because he was he was just remarkable, so dominant. But
12:52
yeah, yeah, do it again. Okay, they can do that again.
12:56
As long as the core group stays healthy, this is going to be
13:01
a very potent offense. And they're diverse. They can run, they can
13:03
throw, they can throw the wide receivers, they can throw the tight ends
13:07
golf, can throw the deep ball. Jamison Williams on the outside stretches the
13:11
field like. It's a very well conceived offense that's executed very well. The
13:15
question is teams do have film on it now? Defenses will make some adjustments.
13:20
I'm very confident that Ben Johnson will be able to make counter adjustments.
13:24
That's one of the things that he's shown over the past couple of seasons.
13:28
That this should be a great offense. It's hard to envision them not being
13:31
a top five offense in this league in terms of both yards and points if
13:35
everybody stays healthy. So figures cross, figures cross for you. That really
13:39
we could be looking at a Philadelphia Eagles Lions NFC championship game. Boy,
13:46
that would be fantastic. That would be a great, great game and matchup.
13:50
We'll take that. Sounds good to me. Well, let's move on
13:52
to the defense here, Jeff. Okay, because like I'm looking at this
13:56
Lions secondary and it's a unit of course that has been a bit revamped during
14:01
the course of the off season, and I wonder with this, you know,
14:05
secondary restructuring. Is there a concern with the secondary after having lost CJ.
14:09
Garner Johnson as he's coming back to Philadelphia and you know, there may
14:13
be some new starters and even some rookies put into starting roles here. What
14:18
are your thoughts about the secondary and is it one of the I would say,
14:22
like quote weaker type of units on this team. What are your thoughts?
14:26
Yeah, it's definitely the biggest question mark because there's there's so many new
14:28
pieces. Carlton Davis is coming in as one of the starters on the outside
14:31
at cornerback first round, Pictarry and Arnold will be the other outside starter.
14:37
Uh, they needed to get better there and on paper they have. But
14:41
we do have to see how they fit in with Aaron Glen's defense, you
14:45
know, the the aggressive pressing scheme. It should be a good fit.
14:48
Uh, just remember that The guys who started in the NFC Championship game were
14:52
Kendall Vildor and Cam Sutton. Cam Sutton is has some issues that in him,
15:00
he wasn't very good Kindo Wildor is right now fighting to be the number
15:03
six, number seven cornerback on this team. So they have definitely improved a
15:07
lot on the outside. Brian Branch in the slot. I don't think anybody's
15:11
gonna complain about that. Safeties, this is it. This is interesting.
15:16
Yeah, yeah, because Kirby Joseph is a very good coverage safety, he's
15:22
not very good against the run, and he's coming off of an offseason hip
15:26
surgery, so he's going to be out until at least training camp and probably
15:28
bleeding into the preseason. Yeah. From my understanding, his tackling has been
15:33
a little rough every now and again. Yeah, and when he does.
15:37
If you ask Minnesota Vikings fans, they will tell you his tackling is dirty.
15:41
Yes, I disagree, but it's suspect. And then the other safety,
15:46
starting safety is if Yatsu Malifan, who has missed a third of the
15:50
game since he's entered the league with injuries. Really didn't play very well at
15:54
all until down the stretch when they when Eric Glenn's like, hey, go
15:58
blitz, and he wound up being a very effective attack dog. If he's
16:03
going forward, he's really good. If he's going backwards, he's a liability.
16:07
So and they don't really have a lot of depth there either, so
16:11
they there are questions still with the secondary, how it all comes together and
16:14
can the young safeties you know, grow together and continue what they did at
16:18
the end of the season, because at the end of the year they both
16:21
did play very well and Brian Branch is sort of a chess piece that they
16:23
can move around. But there's some questions there for sure. Yeah. Absolutely,
16:29
Well, you mentioned Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator for this Lions team,
16:33
and it really he was a big reason why the Lions run to the
16:38
playoffs last week. Last season was a you know, quote success. I
16:42
mean, they didn't get to the Super Bowl, but I mean he was
16:45
one of the main reasons why we saw the success of the Detroit Lions last
16:49
season. He's done a tremendous job with his personnel over the past few years,
16:53
and I'm wondering, Jeff, what kind of expectation should there be for
16:57
Aaron Glenn and what what this defense needs to accomplish this coming season. Yeah,
17:04
they need They need to be more consistent. They need to he's been
17:10
He's been under some heat in Detroit for I think the undue expectations based on
17:15
the personnel that he's had. This has not been a very talented defense.
17:19
They have the best talent this year that they've had under Aaron Glenn, and
17:23
there is some some demands on him to make it so they're not giving up
17:27
thirty points in a game that they are going to have a positive takeaway ratio.
17:33
They're going to get some third down stops. Getting off the field on
17:37
third downs would be great, but an issue for this this defense. Yes,
17:41
again, I think more of it is personnel related than stimulated. Although
17:44
Glenn does get passive at times, and I think I think he saw late
17:48
in the season that being aggressive, blitzing Molif, using Alexandeloni and a and
17:52
a spy robber type of role work very well. They get away from that
17:57
at times, they and and this defense gets passive, and Glenn does have
18:02
bouts where he does get passive. They're not very good. Yeah, they
18:06
are exploitable, So I think that that keeping the hammer down and attacking,
18:11
making offenses uncomfortable. I think that's something that the Lions fans want to see
18:15
more of, and I'm one of them. I would love to see this
18:18
team, you know, be more unpredictable, be more consistently aggressive, and
18:25
that that would be great because Glenn has shown when his when his defenses are
18:27
dialed in, they can be pretty good. They are better. They are
18:33
better than their their statistical output has indicated thus far, but they need to
18:37
get even better at that. Again, folks, we're talking to Jeff Risdon
18:41
from the Lions Wire. Just search the Lions Wire check out everything that they
18:45
have going on over there to keep up with all the news regarding the Detroit
18:51
Lions at Jeff Risden on Twitter slash x. He is a great, great
18:55
follow and to close us out here, Jeff, you know, I do
18:57
wonder if the NFC North is now going to be one of the most interesting
19:02
divisions in the NFL. I think it's up there with the AFC North too,
19:04
because I find the AFC North to be very fascinating too as we're heading
19:07
into this twenty twenty four season. Yeah, so I'm wondering, how do
19:11
you look at this NFC North given the surprise strength of the Packers last season
19:17
and the changes that we're going to be seeing coming to the Bears and the
19:19
Vikings as well. What are your thoughts. Yeah, it's definitely an interesting
19:23
division, and I'm with you. I think the norths are the strengths of
19:26
each conference. I think the Minnesota Vikings are probably going to be the best
19:30
last place team in football, although the whoever winds up being last in the
19:34
AFC North, and your guess is as good as mine on that could be
19:37
Cincinnati, it could be any of those teams. Yeah, the Vikings,
19:41
I think with the quarterback uncertainty with JJ McCarthy coming in, you don't know
19:45
what he's going to do. They also they have some moving pieces on defense,
19:51
so I think they are a pretty easy spot to pick as the last
19:55
place team in the NFC North. They will obviously disagree, their fans will,
20:00
but I do think that the Chicago Bears have taken a step up.
20:03
You know that that that is becoming a good football team. They're dangerous.
20:08
I have my reservations about Caleb Williams as a quarterback. I'm not sure that
20:11
it's gonna work right away, But the rest of that team has gotten a
20:15
lot better. Romo Dunzee is a fantastic pick for them, So they're gonna
20:18
be solid, They're gonna be dangerous. Green Bay Packers, that's a really
20:22
good football team, and I think the great I think the Detroit Lions are
20:26
a really good football team as well. And the jockeying for those two to
20:30
win this division and get the home field advantage and and you know, carry
20:34
on into the postseason. It's gonna be a battle of all season. I
20:38
do wonder if they you know now that there's tape on Jordan Love and we
20:44
see what happens with him, We'll see I'm not gonna go serves the Packers.
20:48
That's a good team. Lions are really good team. So it's gonna
20:52
be gonna be a fun season. I do think that the Lions have better
20:56
higher end talent than what the Packers do. But you certainly can't sleep on
21:02
on them or Chicago for that. If Caleb Williams is legit that that's gonna
21:04
be a good team right away too. They have some really good pieces on
21:07
that team. So it's gonna be a competitive year all year. You know,
21:11
you don't, there's no no easy you know, even Minnesota where they're
21:17
that's not gonna be an easy place to win, and they're not gonna be
21:18
au So it's uh, it's definitely gonna be a case where the Lions or
21:23
the Packers will earn it, and I think they both make the playoffs,
21:26
and I think that the Bears have an outside shot of being a second wildcard
21:30
team out the NFC North. Gonna be interesting for sure, again, folks.
21:33
Jeff Risden from the Lions Wire at Jeff Risden on Twitter slash x Buddy,
21:38
it was great talking with you. Thank you so much for taking the
21:41
time to jump on our Opposition Territory podcast this week, and I'd love to
21:45
talk to you down the road, my friend. Absolutely, it's gonna be
21:48
a fun season in the NFC with so much, so much fun, so
21:52
I appreciate having me in and let's go Lions. That's gonna do it for
21:56
us here on Opposition Territory this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
22:02
and family members who are Philly sports fans or sports fans in general. We
22:07
thank you our listeners for being part of this online community with us and within
22:11
this space. Make sure to check out our website, Philadelphia sportstable dot com
22:15
for all of our podcasts, and follow us on our social sites. You
22:19
can follow the show on Twitter at Philadelphia PST, on threads at Philadelphia Sports
22:25
Table, and over on Instagram as well at Philadelphia Sports Table. Take care,
22:30
we will catch you next time.