This is The Litterbox, a Detroit Lions podcast
with your hosts, Chet West and Bill Patterson.
Litterbox listeners, it's your co -host, Billy
P. from the D with my co -host, Chet West. And
as promised, we are introducing a second Litterbox
for your listening enjoyment. This one's going
to concern our beloved Honolulu Blue and Silver,
the Detroit Lions. And we're going to start this
off because this week the Lions were selected
to play in the Hall of Fame game, a glorified
scrimmage against your Los Angeles Chargers in
Canton, Ohio, for the Hall of Fame ceremonies
for the National Football League. The Lions had
a fantastic season last year. Despite losing
in the divisional round as the one seed to the
Washington Commanders and their upstart quarterback,
Jaden Daniels, the Lions posted a 15 -2 record
on the season, won an ultra -competitive division,
and the grit that they showed from every player,
despite injuries being so numerous that we didn't
even know who was out there against Jaden Daniels
in the playoff game. Still would say I was really
proud of this team and I'm very optimistic as
I know my co -host is going into the 2025 season.
Recently, ESPN took their football writers and
compiled a list of most talented rosters in the
NFL and the Detroit Lions finished third after
only the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles.
Yes, the schedule is going to be brutal this
year and we'll do that at a different pod. This
is more. A primer for what we're looking for
this week as Jim Harbaugh and his Los Angeles
Chargers play in a basically glorified scrimmage
at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton, Ohio. So with
that, we've got a few topics that we're going
to go through. I'm going to kind of lead us through
this. Chet's, of course, going to offer his sound
opinions. And we also had some topics from listeners
that they wanted us to address. via the Tigers
podcast, even though they were Lions questions.
So we'll also try to do that as well. And we
look forward to talking to you weekly. We'll
do a preview and a post show as the Lions embark
on training camp and the 2025 season. Chet, is
there anything you'd like to add? No, other than
the fact that we are thrilled to be doing this,
another litter box production here. And I'll
tell you what, I probably talk about the Lions
back channeling with the buddies and everything
more than I do the Tigers. And so this will be
a fascinating experiment and experience from
our end. And I can't wait to get rolling on this.
And the fact that we kind of kicked the season
off here with the Hall of Fame game. adds a little
more excitement. I'm not going to lie. I'm not
a huge NFL preseason fan, other than it means
football starting back up. It's fun to see what
we got, but the game is so different when you
get the full regular season that. outside of
doing a little scouting, that's kind of where
I stand. So if you want any real passion it takes
from me, check back in a month and a half, okay?
For right now, I'm going to have a little fun
watching who we got in the draft, watching a
few of these young guys play and kind of putting
together what I see out there on the field. But
Bill, why don't you get us kicked off with our
first topic? So our first topic, we're going
to start on the defensive side of the ball. And
one of the biggest issues last year, despite
the 15 -2 record, was just the sheer amount of
injuries the Lions experienced throughout the
season, most specifically the defensive line.
And there were just so many injuries from Aiden
Hutchinson going down with a broken leg in the
Cowboys game to Aleem McNeil being lost for the
season. And the Lions literally looked like a
mash unit out there at certain times. This year
has gotten off to a pretty rough start as well
with... One of the Lions draft picks, a second
round pick five years ago, Levi Onzerike is now
out for the year after tearing his ACL. So, Chet,
what are your thoughts on what can happen going
forward, knowing that Aleem McNeil, who I mentioned,
and Aiden Hutchinson might not be back? for certainly
not McNeil for week one. He's scheduled to be
mid to late season. Hutch, everybody says is
looking good, but what are your thoughts on what
this D -line needs to do and how much more can
the Lions sustain from an injury standpoint?
I am optimistic based on some of the youth we
got coming back and from what I'm hearing in
camp. But again, it's camp. It's one week. So
how much are we going to get out of this? Aiden
Hodginson's apparently looked great. exploding
off the line and doing Aiden Hutchinson things,
which is awesome. That's exactly what you want
to hear at this point. We're not going to get
much more than that, right? So if people said,
hey, he's taking it light, he's not doing as
much, he's not doing as much work, then I'd probably
temper my expectations for what he'll do when
the season starts up. I don't think there's anybody
on the team chomping at the bit more to get back
on the field than that guy, though. He had to
basically torture himself watching last season
and all the success the team had and then watching
them fold up in the playoffs. against the commanders
and knowing he could have played a big role in
succeeding and getting them through that. They
got a couple of young guys, but Marcus Davenport
is another guy, not a young guy who I want to
talk about. He apparently has come out saying
he feels great and he has invested in making
this a big season. I would like to see that.
They re -signed the guy. I was kind of shocked
that they re -signed him instead of Z, but they
brought him back. And if we can get, and there's
no question the guy has talent. He's a talented
edge guy when he's healthy. He's rarely healthy
these days. Big if. Big if. And I still think,
which I've heard from so many talking heads,
Zedaria Smith is dating a hip hop artist in the
Detroit area and is still residing or at least
spending most of his time in the Detroit area.
I still think - We still may be back. It's early.
We're in the early days of this right now. But
Matthew Judon, that's been mentioned lately as
a rumor, as edge help. He's a Michigan guy from
back in the day, went to Grand Valley State.
So he's a hometown kid who may come back around.
Maybe they're using Judon to get Z to sign something.
I don't know. Maybe we can pump it, but it'd
be great if we had them both. We won't. They
won't use that much of the resources on that
many edge guys. Although after last season, I'd
say you can never have too many. They've got
a young kid by the name of Ahmed Hassanin. Correct.
From everything I've seen from this guy, he looks
like he could be the real deal. And I think we're
going to see him in the Hall of Fame game. He's
one of the guys, one of, I've got a couple others
on my list that I'll be watching in the Hall
of Fame game just to see how they do. Again,
who knows who we'll be going up against. We don't
know what we're going to get, you know, as far
as a real look. But another guy I'm going to
look at. And I think there's a couple other guys
on the list like Nate Lynn, who has shown up
in this first week of offseason. So we'll see.
We'll see what happens our first week of preseason.
I'm I'm not think it's going to be Z getting
signed back on. So you're going to have some
sort of a rotation between Davenport Z and Hutchinson.
And then it's probably going to come down to
attrition from there as to who can stay on the
field and be healthy. And I'm hoping Aiden is
the one stalwart and the other two guys volley
back and forth. That's my hope for this whole.
D -line edge rush. As far as the interior goes,
I mean, you're looking at some young guys here.
Tyleek Williams. Is DJ Reeder going to be effective
this year? That's my key to the defensive line
success is not what you've talked about from
the edge to this point. And no surprise that
Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell knew exactly what
they were doing drafting Williams in the first
round because I think they knew, even though
they signed him for a pittance. that Onzurike
probably wouldn't be able to sustain his health
through a full season, which is a shame because
when Levi, when he was on the field, he was very
good, very disruptive. He could play the edge.
He could play inside. That being said, I think
Reeder is the key to success for the front four
on this defensive line. And the early reports
from camp are outstanding. Outside of Hutch looking
in the best shape he's ever been in, Reeder,
on multiple drills is beating guys 10 years his
junior to loose balls and blocking drills. And
so I'm cautiously optimistic on this. I don't
think there can be anywhere near the health issues
that were experienced last year. There's also
a new defensive coordinator, although he was
essentially the new coordinator in waiting. Aaron
Glenn, the past coordinator, for those that maybe
haven't been following this as closely as We
do. Is now the head coach of the New York Jets.
He was a former player there. I don't terribly
love it because that's typically where head coaches
go to lose their job in three seasons. And I
thought pretty highly of Aaron Glenn. So I hope
he's the exception, not the rule. That being
said, we've got Kelvin Shepard. Coming in, I
have heard that the calls are staying the same,
the cadence is staying the same, and the schemes
are staying the same. I think we're going to
see a little more blitz. Even though we saw a
lot of blitz, we blitzed out of necessity last
year. Yeah. I think now it's going to be used
a little more strategically, and I think it's
going to be a little more effective, providing
that everything stays healthy and as expected.
Yeah. So let's move to the linebackers, and we'll
talk a little bit about this. There is a hold.
And you heard me correct on that. Now to hold
out Alex Anzalone, who is, let's face it, I mean,
outside of Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes taking
over this franchise and redirecting it in the
direction that it's gone, Alex Anzalone and Jared
Goff would probably be your two poster boys or
players on the offensive and defensive side.
He's got flowing blonde locks. of Greek heritage.
He played at the University of Florida. He runs
all over the field. And I don't want to bore
our listeners with metrics, but our defense when
he was out last year was demonstratively worse.
It's already been said that it's Jack Campbell's
defense to run this year. Jack Campbell will
be the linebacker if there's only one linebacker
on the field. He will be that linebacker. He
is the one calling everything for Calvin Shepard.
And Jack Campbell did blitz quite heavily at
the University of Iowa. If my co -host can see
my t -shirt on. Love you, Hammes family. He's
wearing a University of Iowa t -shirt, folks.
And Jack Campbell does have that ability. He's
also, you know, a rock 'em, sock 'em, old school,
stay -at -home linebacker. I expect to see he
and Derek Barnes being the starters. Anzalone
decides to do something stupid, which I would
consider stupid, you know, doing this hold in
when the season starts. Anzalone is our baseball
listeners. No, I'm not a big fan of guys that
are on the wrong side of 30. And that means you're
30 or above. He is in the last year of his current
deal that he signed just three years ago. Yes,
he probably is underpaid comparatively. It's
not. He is not a priority for the Lions right
now with Jack Campbell entering year three. Derek
Barnes being someone they've been very high on
that can also rush the passer, which is not something
Ancelone can do with great success. He's more
a stay at home. I almost look at him as like
a fifth or sixth defensive back, like a safety.
A coverage linebacker. Yeah. That's his strong
point. Strong suit. You have a better, younger,
faster version in Brian Branch in the secondary
to do that. But I will say this. I want to ask
you a question, Bill, real quick on Anzalone
while we're picking on him here. Prior to, let's
see, the 2023 season. So let's take last year
and the previous year into consideration. Prior
to that. I don't think I've ever done a bigger
180 on a player. I mean, the 2021 -22 seasons,
I think their first two seasons for Campbell,
Anzalone kind of came with him, right? I was
dying on the inside watching Anzalone play linebacker.
Why is this guy on the field? I mean, he was
kind of just a liability at the position at the
time, and I did not see him. ever becoming who
he became for us in the last two seasons. I think
it was 2023 season. He came out with a vengeance
and showed that he could hit. And then he could
break plays up in the backfield. And he could
get out on the edge and track guys down. And
I was getting excited. I'm like, who is this
Anzalone guy all of a sudden? Because this isn't
the guy I've been watching. And then last season,
up till he broke his forearm, he had continued
that. And I started thinking to myself, wow.
We really caught some lightning in a bottle here
with this guy. He's either that or he's just
figured it out, but he did it late in his career.
I mean, he'd been around for a while prior to
those years. I mean, he was with the Saints prior
to as kind of a special teams guy. Which is where
Campbell and Glenn knew him from. Exactly. And
I'm with you 100%. I'm just saying he wants to
get paid now, but nobody really wants to pay
him because he's too far down the road. So it's
kind of like, look, man, it's like bad timing.
I hate to say it. Yeah, he probably deserves
a couple more dollars. But do you want to invest
in that from a business and making a business
decision? Do you want to invest? No. No, he is
not what I would consider a good business decision.
And I hope that cooler heads prevail. Yeah. If
they want to convert some of his money into signing
bonus, if it doesn't ruin the cap, which it shouldn't,
from what I understand about the salary cap,
I'm fine with that. Like, I just don't want him
extended because how many years are you going
to give him? I mean, I and look, Jack Campbell,
it's a part of the timing thing here, but he's
coming along. And all the reports from camp are
that he's been doing great and he looks ready
to go this season. He and Barnes have been the
two starting linebackers. We're still waiting
for... Campbell really rose up when Anzalone
went out last year for an extended period of
time. Campbell rose up and kind of grew into
that position, started to mature into that. There's
a lot more upside there. You're going to spend
your money on Campbell before you're going to
spend it on Anzalone here in the next couple
of years to retain him. So we'll see what happens.
And let's talk about the rest of the defense.
Yeah. Kirby Joseph got paid, but you still have
to extend Hutch. You're going to have to extend
Branch. You're going to want to probably extend
Terryon Arnold. Well, based on what everybody
says he's been doing this first week, again,
we're only a week in. Apparently, Terryon Arnold
looks like a new man out there, like a completely
different player. Last season, he was aggressive,
okay? But he lacked a lot of technique. He got
a ton of freaking flags. pass interference like
on every play he just mauled receivers this year
apparently he's quicker stronger better to the
ball better in defensive coverage i am i'm going
to be fascinated to see this evolution of this
cornerback i think he's going to be our best
defensive back this year. I share your optimism,
and I think the Lions might have made one of
the best free agent signings, if not the best
free agent signing of the offseason with DJ Reed
from the Jets. He was cheaper than the outgoing
veteran Carlton Davis, formerly of the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers Lions, and now going to the Patriots.
He was less expensive, and by all metrics, which
pro football focus, you're going to hear us mention
that a lot, PFF. is typically where Chet and
I are going to go. Had him graded a lot higher.
I mean, we're talking 10, 12 spots higher. I
think the Lions secondary is going to be vastly
improved this year. I think we might actually,
for once in a long, long while, say that our
defensive backfield is going to be a strength.
Which would enable... And what will that do for
our D -line and our rush and our, I mean... Guess
where your blitz is going to come from. Tell
you what. That right there, Chet. So I think
Kelton Shepard's going to have fun with this
defense. My only question, Mark, and this is
one for you outside of just general health, you
know, going forward on it. Do we ever see Enos
Raikstra suit up? He was always hurt at Missouri.
He was the second round pick after Terryon Arnold,
not this past draft, but the draft before. Is
he ever going to be someone that remains healthy
enough? Because my only frustration with Brad
Holmes drafting has been that he does take flyers
on players that were hurt in college. Example
would be Levi Onzerike. He took him a full round
before he took Aleem McNeil. McNeil, outside
of last year tearing his knee, has been a rock
-steady starter and reliable performer, where
Onsarike came in with a back injury, had to have
surgery, and it just never really got right.
When he was on the field, he was great, but just
wasn't on the field enough. And football is like
many sports, but if you can't be available, you're
really not all that important. With that, that
kind of covers my defense, unless you had anything
you wanted to add on. No, we touched on the corner.
I wanted to talk about the defensive backfield
because the reports at a camp are that it's a
strength this year with Reed and and in the coming
up of Arnold. And you're going to see like our
third our third guy is probably going to be a
Meek Robertson, I would assume. Yes. I don't
think it's going to be a rake straw. I think
rake straw is going to be down the list a little
ways. They picked up a couple other vets and
they drafted Russell. Tyson Russell, I believe,
was a draft pick later in the rounds there. I
think that, you know, we've covered the D. I
think the D is going to be a... strength going
forward i think kelvin shepherd's going to be
a great defensive coordinator i don't see any
reason to believe that he won't be i mean i had
my frustrations with glenn at times right i did
so up until probably last season i had my frustrations
with glenn so we'll see what happens let's flip
it over to the offense bill all right so i think
the key story here is twofold on frank ragnow
the all everything, but certainly all pro center
for the last, what, eight, nine seasons for the
Lions, retired his body. You know, he wants to
enjoy his life with his family and hopefully
he's invested well, made enough money through
his career to retire successfully and happily.
is a true Honolulu blue and silver warrior. I
wish him nothing but the best in this. So that's
a big hole to fill and one that we probably won't
know until training camp and the preseason concludes.
There's been two players that have been trying
to fill that hole. One is a veteran that a lot
of you will be familiar with, Graham Glasgow,
formerly of the University of Michigan. He was
drafted by the Lions, played center his first
year, and then moved to guard. He's much more
comfortable on the right side than he is on the
left side. When he is a guard, he then was a
free agent with the Broncos and then came back
to the Lions and again was really good, graded
well in PFF, provided he was playing next to
Panay Sewell on the right side. Last season,
the Lions signed an excellent free agent addition,
Kevin Zeitler, who did leave again in free agency
because he was 35, the Lions smartly. My old
axiom, don't sign players to long -term deals
on the wrong side of 30. They didn't. He ended
up going to the Tennessee Titans. And so the
Lions had another hole to fill on that. So the
debate on this is the Lions drafted a player
by the name of Tate Ratledge from the University
of Georgia in the second round this year. He's
an absolute mauler, an absolute beast, a four
-year starter for a Georgia team that I... won
the most games for any four -year span in the
history, which is illustrious of University of
Georgia football. The question is, do you keep
Ratledge at the left guard spot next to Taylor
Decker and keep Glasgow on the right side? Or
do you move Ratledge to center? Or do you have
Glasgow play center? And we won't know. A lot
of this because both men have played there this
past week. I don't expect to see either of them
for any prolonged period of time. As a matter
of fact, I don't know that Glasgow will even
play in the Hall of Fame game. Ratledge might,
but I still would be somewhat surprised at that
if it's more than, I don't know, a series. So,
you know, there's going to be some reshuffling
there. The constants that we know of. is that
the bookends, our tackle spots are occupied.
As I mentioned, Taylor Decker on the left, Panay
Sewell, who might be the best tackle in the game
on the right. So I think there's reason for optimism
on that. And then there's a fairly deep bench
of draft picks that Brad Holmes and company have
done to fortify the offensive line. I overall
feel good about it. Not as good as I would if
Frank Ragnar were still here and if Zeitler had
resigned for one year with us. What are your
thoughts on the offensive line and what would
you like to see, you know, week one when the
Lions travel to Lambeau Field to play the Packers?
Well, first and foremost, I'd love to see no
change in the effectiveness of our O -line because
it was our strength of our offense for the past
couple of years now. I mean, we do everything
we're able to do because that line is so good.
Now, I do worry. I do worry with Graham Glasgow
at center. We saw him play center a few times
last season, and the result was mixed at best.
At times, very frustrating. I think, I think
that job will be Tate Ratlidge's eventually.
I think we will see Glasgow start there. I think
we will see him get the first reps, if you will.
And then I think it's going to be Tate Ratlidge's
job eventually. I just don't see a situation
where Ratlidge doesn't win that job. He's too
skilled. And I'll be watching. This is something
we want to watch in the Hall of Fame game. The
Hall of Fame game, presumably, we will get to
see quite a bit of Ratlidge in that game. Presumably.
Or we should. I would think. And I'm excited
to see what he can do. He's somebody that people
have been pumping up pretty good, looked good
in practice. I finally ended his holdout and
got his money. For a second rounder, I think
he could end up being somewhat of a steal in
this draft. Outside of that, the O -line, you
know, I know what I'm getting from Sewell. I
know what I'm getting from the rest of the gang
there. I'll be curious to see who steps up, who
fills the gap. I don't know what the loss of
Ragnow is going to be right now. I don't know
how big it's going to be. He was injured quite
a bit last season. And like I said, I didn't
like what I saw with Glasgow filling in at center
for him. Yeah, I mean. Frank Ragnow played, not
last season, but the season before with a broken
throat. Yeah. Which I didn't even know. Yeah,
I didn't even know your throat could break. Yeah.
And Zeitler was great. Like, I would love to
have had Zeitler back this year because it would
have answered a lot of questions for us. But
he was too good and he was going to get paid
somewhere. And the Titans did the dumb thing.
They gave him an extra year on that. So let's
talk a little bit about other options. We've
got the most beloved player. possibly that doesn't
actually play a lot for the Lions, Dan Skipper,
now eligible. Dan Skipper. Re -signed. Re -signed
Dan Skipper. He's re -signed, so you've got that
as a tackle option. Feel confident, folks. Dan
will be back. No, no, no. I mean, that's only
when they bring him in as an extra blocker and
eligible, but he's awesome. Extra points. Two
-point conversions. A couple guys I do want to
bring up are Mahogany. who started last year.
He was from Boston College. He's a guard and
could man that left guard spot. I could see him
getting some, taking that next step this year.
Yeah. The only thing you said that I don't care
for is that Glasgow gets reps, let's just say
in the Green Bay game at center, and then Ratledge
moves in. I would just rip the Band -Aid off
and just have Ratledge there the whole season
is my preference. I just don't know if he's going
to pick it up quick enough. I mean, that's really
what it comes down to, right? He's got to pick
it up. I'm saying eventually he will. I think
we're going to see Glasgow there for the first
couple games of the season. And then Ratledge
eventually will fall in. A pick that I am very
dubious on is Giovanni Manu, who can play tackle
or guard. He's from the University of British
Columbia. In stereo, folks. And that was Brad
Holmes traded up to get him guy. Yes. And again,
I need to see something because a listener did.
text me a question and i will deal with it before
we get off but it's on the topic of brad holmes
trading up to get something that he really likes
i have never been uh and you're going to hear
this consistently as you listen to this podcast
i have two steadfast beliefs in all sports one
don't trade up trade down more picks are better
because it's it's it's an art it's not a science
and then two don't sign guys above the age of
30 he's an incredible athlete Okay, but he picked
football up in his teens, this guy. So Manu,
he's a project. What I don't understand is drafting
him as high as they kind of did as a project.
I think they, where did they take him? Was he
a fourth round? Yeah, yeah. Something like that.
But they gave up a lot of draft capital. Yeah,
and I don't know why. I guess, you know, offensive
linemen are just projects when you're drafting.
They're young guys. You rarely see a rookie offensive
lineman succeed at the highest level. That usually
takes them a couple seasons. Veterans are where
you want. You want to sign veteran offensive
linemen. And it's so we'll see. No, I mean. You
don't want to sign veteran offensive linemen.
You want veteran offensive linemen. You want
guys who understand. Homegrown, though, because
the one position you're going to overpay for.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's just how it
works because the young guys take three, four
years to become effective as offensive linemen.
Which is why. How long can you wait? Which is
why you build it like the Lions are building
it, taking two or three of them almost every
draft on both sides of the ball. And then getting
them this two or three years of kind of where,
I mean, Manu wasn't even on the perform, he was
on the unable to perform list or something last
year. They left him off of the actual roster.
So he was never going to be coming in. I don't
know when this guy's going to be ready to go.
I mean, it sounds like he's still learning how
to play offensive line. Like he's still, he's
a credible athlete. He just doesn't have the,
have it down yet he is a name and number to watch
he's 59 and he is a number to watch this week
in the hall of fame yeah thursday so all right
so let's i've got a couple more topics for us
one we can gloss over and then the other will
do a little bit of topic on okay apparently jameson
williams looks unreal in this training camp he's
been incredible he's gonna want to get paid as
well and this is one that lion fans no matter
how much you love the guy he switched his number
from number nine to number one i love that i
love receivers that are speed guys that can wear
number one and dominate games. Apparently, he
and the new offensive coordinator, John Johnny
Morton, formerly of the Denver Broncos, he was
the passing game coordinator under Sean Payton,
which is outstanding. He has great comfort with
Dan Campbell from Dan's time in New Orleans under
Sean Payton. So there's been a lot said about
this and the fact that Ben Johnson was this secret
weapon for the Lions, this and that. Ben Johnson
never had to deal with any adversity. was fired
as a New York Jets offensive coordinator. And
again, as I said earlier in this pod, the Jets
are where coaches go to get fired typically.
I think John Morton has been... shown some humility.
I think he has more tools than he's ever had
to work with, whether that was last year in Denver
with a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix or whatever
he had in New York, but it was lousy. I can guarantee
you that. The offense is completely loaded. I
mean, you're starting three receivers or four,
I should say, are nothing short of amazing. And
the fact that you've got Amon St. Brown, Amon
Rock, excuse me, Jamo, and then you've got Tim
Patrick as a big bodied guy that loves to block.
I love the mantra of the receiving room that,
you know, no rock if you don't block. And then
you've got Khalif Raymond, who was hurt last
year, but he's great on special teams, and he's
a great either third or fourth slot receiver,
a speed guy that has really good hands. And then
this is one of the listener questions. What about
Tesla, the Brad Holmes trade? Everybody's going
to pronounce this last guy's name wrong forever.
I thought it was Tesla. It's Tislaw. Oh, Tislaw.
Or Tislaw. But the Slaw is Slaw. Okay. So we
should just call him Slaw. That should be his
nickname is Slaw. I got that from Razorback Radio.
So that's straight from Arkansas. Nice. So he
did play at Arkansas is the reference there.
Well, two years. Yeah, two years. His final two
years. That being said, he's a local kid. I think
he was at Grand Valley State before that. Hillsdale.
Hillsdale. Sorry. He's a big guy, high school
quarterback, option quarterback, super fast,
big -bodied. I don't see him playing a ton this
year outside of special teams. The receiver room
is stacked. I think best -case scenario for him
in his ceiling is to take the Tim Patrick big
-bodied third receiver when Tim Patrick's time
as a Lion is up. If that happens this season,
great. I just think the receiver room, as I already
alluded to, is pretty jam -packed. If Jamo leaves
in free agency, at some point just because receivers
are really expensive. And when we talked about
the defense, there's a lot of guys that need
to be paid. Branch, Hutchinson, Campbell, Arnold.
I just don't know if Chamo is going to be part
of the equation, especially if Tesla is somebody
they believe in. So let me give you a little
on Isaac Tesla, if you don't mind. This guy is
from, well, he went to Hillsdale, as we said.
He's from Hudsonville, Michigan. He went to Unity
Christian in Hudsonville, Michigan. He was. He
won a state championship. Yep, he did. As we
stated with Manu, he was one of these trade -up
deals for Holmes. So they traded up to get him
in the third round this year with the 60th pick.
This is a kid that had one offer out of college
or out of high school, and it was to go to Hinsdale.
Which is pretty much a - Excuse me, Hillsdale,
not Hinsdale. Hillsdale. That's a pay -to -play,
walk -on type of thing. Yes, he went to Hillsdale
College. So he is Division II, okay? That was
his only option. Yeah. He then, after two years
there, goes to Arkansas and plays in the SEC.
He has some crazy stat. He, like, didn't drop
any balls. Something nuts like that. Uh, and
on top of that, he runs a four, four 40 and he's
six, four to 14 on the weight. So he's not a
small guy. I, I kind of assumed he was a small
guy. I'm like, how does a guy that big get through
high school, everything else and get, you know,
just get looked over like that with that type
of ability. I think because he played quarterback
and was probably the best athlete. Probably was
one of those deals. And so they used him where
they needed to to win the state championship
and probably didn't ever develop him as a late
bloomer. And he's probably worth a flyer. I just
wish Brad Holmes didn't feel the need to trade
picks to get up to trade these guys. Here we
go again with the trading up thing. So, hey,
you know what? Maybe he's the next. I don't know.
Great ride receiver for the Detroit Lions. Here's
hoping. So speaking of trade -ups, our last listener
question that they wanted addressed was Hendon
Hooker, question mark, which Hendon Hooker will
be either the backup quarterback or the third
string quarterback. He was a developmental project
coming out of the University of Tennessee. He
was hurt very, very severely his senior year
at Tennessee. Yeah, he had great tape. but he
had a major injury, so he missed an entire season.
And if Jared Goff gets hurt, this team's chances
of winning double -digit games is, I think, rather
limited despite how talented the roster is. And
I'm not sure that either Allen or Hooker would
be all that serviceable. I hope I'm wrong on
that. We have three rostered quarterbacks right
now. Yeah, and Goff, Hooker, and Kyle Allen.
I mean, the backstory on Hooker is that Brad
Holmes and his dad played together and are really
close. I almost viewed this as like a favor to
his pops. That being said, Brad Holmes did trade
picks to move up to draft Hooker. So I think
it's a little more than that. Needless to say,
the clock is ticking on Hendon Hooker. He wasn't
a first round pick. He was a third round pick.
And just NFL Players Association 101 for y 'all.
is that unless you're a first -round pick, you
get five seasons of team control before you extend.
Any other round, meaning non -first -round picks,
you only have four years of team control. So
we're entering that fourth year, and he has yet
to see meaningful snaps on the field. My biggest
talking point on this is that he had the ability
to come in last year in the playoff game when
Jared Goff was hurt, and Teddy Bridgewater, who
had been in You know, the Lions facility, the
Meyer, you know, Lions Performance Center, Detroit
Lions Training Center for a hot minute. I know
Bridgewater had been there before, but he finished
coaching high school football in Florida and
came back. And Bridgewater was the one that came
in to take a couple snaps, not Hooker. And that
tells me more about where Hooker's career progress
is than anything else. And so I. Well, you got
Hooker and you got Kyle Allen. So Kyle Allen
hasn't started a football game since 2022. I
mean, this is I got the wrong Allen. I thought
it was Braylon Allen. So there you go. So Kyle
Allen. Yeah, that tells you how much I think
of this Allen. I don't I don't think that I think
quarterback is going to be as scary for us this
year as it has been for the last couple of years.
If something happens to Jared Goff, what happens?
It's very scary. I guess in conclusion, I just
wanted to wrap up a couple other things. There
was another. Six round pick Miles Frazier from
Louisiana State University that was supposed
to be a tackle. He got seriously injured and
is going to be out for an extended period of
time. The other thing I want to talk about was
and we'll do this post Hall of Fame game is why
second round picks like our guy Tate Ratledge
took so long to sign. It's something that we.
I'll just do it now. The Cleveland Browns decided
to be smarter than everybody else in the league
and offer guaranteed money, which has never been
done to second round picks in the history of
the NFL. After they did it for a linebacker,
Carson Schlesinger or something like that from
UCLA, a guy that I don't see being a meaningful
player for the Browns. Same song, same dance.
The Houston Texans signed. Their second round
pick. And so there was a huge impasse between
most franchises in their second round picks.
Interesting to see how that stuff snowballs.
And so it was never really Ratledge and it was
never really the Lions. The contract that he
signed apparently was already discussed. The
Lions just had to offer him more guaranteed money
than probably they wanted to. That being said,
the Lions are really bullish on him and he's
bullish on being a Lion and he reeks grit and
all that Dan Campbell, you know. Oxymorons. So
that about wraps it up, Lions fans, for our first
edition of the Litterbox Detroit Lions. Look
forward to connecting with you all post Hall
of Fame game. I think we're going to see a bunch
of guys we're not going to see in the regular
season. I'm excited to see a couple guys for
a little bit and then I'm probably not going
to watch the last half of the game. Probably
try to fast forward through the advertisements.
All right. We'll talk to you all soon, Lions
fans.