This is The Litterbox, a Detroit Lions podcast
with your hosts, Chet West and Bill Patterson.
Detroit Lions Litterbox listeners, welcome to
the newest edition of the Detroit Lions Litterbox.
Billy P and Chet here and We've got a final 53
-man roster, so we have some news to share with
you on that. We're going to go through it by
position group, but there is one notable name.
Chet, can you share with us who isn't on the
53 -man roster right now? Well, you know, the
guy we were all looking for, Zadaria... Z...
Wow, that is a mouthful. Holy cow. Zadaria Smith.
I'm sure that's what Cashtal says as well. Oh,
boy. Yes, Zadaria Smith. the mouthful, as he
will be known from here on out, is not on our
53 bill. I think we all expected it. Maybe he
still gets there. I mean, what are your thoughts?
Is this something that they're waiting on and
kind of seeing how game one goes? I've read and
heard the same things you have that at this point,
he might only be a third down option. And he
because there were such such a gap between the
contract that he would have had going into the
season and what the Lions actually Probably think
in their heads they can get him for it. He probably
doesn't want to do training camp and all that
the wrong side of 30 and I'd say let's hold out
hope but everything from the Lions camp says
that they believe that Marcus Davenport is gonna
be a Feasible answer and that Josh Pascal when
he comes back healthy will also be part of that
if you have anything to add But I would say at
this point I have thought if we get to this Thursday
and he is not signed meaning in You know before
Thursday night football. I'd say the likelihood
is not good Well, even if he is he's not gonna
play in week one. So I have thoughts about This
defensive line and we're gonna go through this
the the aftermath here of the 53 man selection
and what we're going into game one with as it
stands and When we get to the D -line talk, I'll
give you some thoughts and some things I've been
reading up on. Because I think they have more
confidence in that unit than you and I may. Where
do you want to start, Bill? I think at the weakest
position or the position that I have the most
questions about, and I know that you do as well,
and that's going to be the offensive line. So
I'm going to do this by starters, and then I'll
talk about the backups in each position as well.
So we're going to start at left tackle, the stall
work. From Ohio State, Taylor Decker, he's there.
He's been a little banged up, but he's supposed
to be good to go. Playing next to him at left
guard is going to be Christian Mahogany, Brad
Holmes draft choice, a guy that they've been
really high on. He filled in admirably last season.
Manning the center position and probably our
biggest question is Graham Glasgow, the Wiley
veteran from the University of Michigan. And
then the strength of the offensive line, though
he's right guard a rookie, a second round pick
from Georgia, Tate Ratledge. Next to him is the
stalwart on the offensive line the best player
I would say on this 53 -man roster and probably
one of the top five or ten players in the league
is Panay Sul Let's go through the backups on
that at left tackle. We've got Giovanni Manu
and at left guard We've got Myles Frazier, although
he was a six -round pick from Louisiana State
He's out right now, but he is listed is that
left guard backup for center Kingsley Kuan Yguang
Yguacun Iguacun, thank you. And at right guard,
we've got Coyote Awasika. And then at right tackle,
which let's pray this doesn't happen because
I already stated the importance, Jamarco Jones.
So I'm really only going to go too deep on that.
There's some other names like Colby Sorsdale
is on injured reserve. Justin Herron's on injured
reserve. Like I said, Miles Frazier's out. Couple
guys floating around that you may hear a name
later, but I don't think they're going to play
a huge role. They're going to dress nine heading
to Lambeau is what we're seeing and hearing.
What thoughts do you have on the offensive line?
Well, I mean, I think the obvious question marks
here and it's crazy because Tate Ratledge is
a rookie, but what he's shown so far as he plays
well above a rookie is the mahogany Glasgow combo
there on the left and center. I think I trust
mahogany from what I have seen Graham Glasgow
in the past. in his game, he's gotten some pretty
low ratings at center from Pro Football Focus.
And unless there's some real big improvement
in his game, that position scares me the most
this season. Our offense has struggled in the
past when he has filled that role. That's about
it. I mean, I'm not going to pour on maybe it'll
work out great, but we don't really have outside
of Iguacun. We don't really have a true center
on the roster. The I think there's two things
at play here. One, players look really, really
good playing next to Panay Sewell. That's how
good he is. I'll give an example. Jonah Jackson
was a Pro Bowler playing next to Panay Sewell
in 2023. The Rams signed him to a massive contract
and benched him five weeks into the season. He
is now going to be a starting guard for the Chicago
Bears, and again, is not playing next to Penne
Sewell, so I don't expect good things coming
from that. I mean, the offensive line is it is
a place. It's very much like a lineup in baseball
where who are you hitting around? Who hits in
front of you? Who hits behind you? Definitely
helps your overall performance. So you're right.
How many of these guys are feeding off of Penne
Sewell? Taylor Decker. So we'll see. We'll see.
And the secret to the sauce on the O line is
that Hank Freely is the offensive line coach
and he's now helping more with the offense. He's
like a co -offensive coordinator. And so much
has been written and talked about what was lost.
We need to keep in mind that MCDC, Dan Campbell
and Hank Freely are still there. And if you ask
me, yeah, are we going to miss Benedict Johnson?
Of course we are. Benedict. All things being
equal, Hank Fraley would have been a bigger loss
in my opinion, because word around NFL circles
is he is the best offensive line or one of the
two or three best offensive line coaches in the
game. I think that's probably true. Who do you
want to go to next? What other unit are we looking
at? You want to do tight ends. Let's do tight
ends. Sam Laporte at the top and then Brock Wright
is your blocker or second tight end. After that,
it's Shane Zylstra. And I have to say that after
Sam Laporta, I don't terribly love this group.
So if he went down for any prolonged period of
time, the tight end's not going to be the weapon
that it could be. So let's hope that doesn't
happen. But, you know, injuries are so commonplace,
especially in the NFL. Brack writes okay, but
like we were, we've said this before, he's just,
it's such a step down from Laporta. I'd love
to see him draft somebody. Gosh, I really don't
want to take another tight end in the first round.
It's just been one of those lions things to do
in the past, but I'd like to see him get somebody
that can maybe pull a little more weight as that
other tight end, run a pattern and catch a ball
on occasion. Is that the ghost of Eric Ebron
haunting you? It's the ghost of Eric Ebron, Brandon
Pettigrew. Pettigrew, okay. Yeah, but Pettigrew
wasn't as painful because Aaron Donald wasn't
the next pick. True. That's, it's true. Like,
what did we miss out on? I'm sure there's somebody
in that list we can find. Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure.
Yeah, so tight end, a weaker position for us
for sure. But our starter is going to be a good
one. I think he's going to have a bounce back
season. He was injured at the start of last season.
I think that threw things into chaos a little
for him. And early reports or reports from camp
are that Johnny Morton, the OC loves using the
tight end and to expect a bounce back Pro Bowl
type year provided he's healthy. Yeah, when we
get done talking about the offense for the 53
man, we should touch on Johnny Moorings. There's
been some new news out there, but go on, let's
get to the next unit here. Well, you talked about
drafting or tight end. What about, I don't know
that, I know he's been part of the team for a
number of years, but could you see Shane Zylstra
being cut if a better option became available?
That's just something I want to put out there
that I could see in acquisition or a trade happening
more so than a regular. Yeah, he's been a regular
practice squad player until now, and it's just
worth in there. So it's possible something had
happened. Let's go to the receiver room. Your
starters are going to be Amund St. Brown, Jamison
Williams, and Khalif Raymond. Backing them up
is going to be Isaac, Isaac, excuse me, Coleslaw
Tesla and. The rookie, Dominic Lovett, made the
team. And so we're going to go with five receivers
heading into the season. I'm going to jump beyond
this one. Go. I think Tesla will be the third
receiver. I think Khalif Raymond will be four.
So in those big four receiver sets, you're going
to see Khalif out there. I think in the three
receiver sets, you're going to see Tesla. That's
just my prediction for this. I think they have
that much confidence in him. Week one at Lambeau.
Wow. All right. We'll see. I think you're going
to see a lot more in than you think. Running
back room, which is, I would say the strongest
position on this offense. Oh yeah. The two headed
monster of Sonic and Knuckles, Jameer Gibbs and
David Montgomery. Backing them up is going to
be Craig Reynolds. We have to do it from the
movie Friday. Come on, Craig. And Sione Vahki
is going to be the fourth. Running back the key
thing about Reynolds and Vahki is they both contribute
a lot on special teams giving them value because
Gibbs and Montgomery don't contribute nor should
they be expected to and some of the statistics
around how Accomplished both backs have been
and what rare air it is for Gibbs and Montgomery
are just outstanding and The Lions will go as
far as these two go this year Yeah, and I think
Gibbs is getting ready to have a heck of a season
Yeah, I don't think I'll have 20 touchdowns again.
I think he's a top three fantasy running back.
I think he's going to be a top three running
back in the league. I think maybe Bijan Robinson
and Saquon best him, but I don't know. I think
Johnny Morton is going to deploy him in every
fashion possible. I agree with that. I just think
it's a tall order to expect any player to score
20 touchdowns again. Quarterback room. Jared
Goff and then backing him up as Kyle Allen. This
is old news, yesterday's news, but Hendon Hooker
is now on the Carolina Panthers practice squad.
He was given every opportunity and it just seemed
like the game moved too fast for him. And Brad
Holmes has done so much well in the draft and
building this roster that he deserves a pass
for taking his former college teammates kid and,
you know, trying to rehab him and believe in
him. And it just didn't happen. It'll be interesting
to see what they do for that third QB spot. I
don't know what they're gonna do there. Well,
it is interesting too, because you know the Lions
were the ones that instituted or petitioned the
NFL to have that third receiver, or excuse me,
third quarterback, emergency quarterback, like
added. That was the Detroit Lions rule. So they
don't have to do anything because of the rule,
you know. Should it go down, you're gonna see
Gibbs or Montgomery Hello, Walter Payton, 1985.
Come in and be the Russian quarterback. Wildcat
with Gibbs all day long. That'll be interesting.
Love it. You wanted to talk about Johnny Morton
before we get into the defense. Before we jump
to the defense, Johnny Morton has all of a sudden
become this hot commodity over the last couple
of days in the press. Apparently, Benedict Johnson,
as you call him, tried to get him for the Bears'
staff before the Lions did. And he said no. And
he's going over to... coach with MCDC apparently.
I, I found that interesting. I kind of thought
Johnny Morton was like, well, it's the best of
what's available right now because Ben left so
late in the process. But, um, you know, we played
into the playoffs in the postseason, but maybe
Johnny Morton was the guy. Maybe he was the get.
I don't know. He is a Sean Payton guy. Yeah.
And keep in mind that's where Dan Campbell cut
his teeth. Yep. So he comes highly recommended
from Peyton. I can see it on the family tree.
I get it. Yeah. And Johnny Morton's failure was
the New York Jets, which when was the last time
the Jets had a quarterback? I guess. Joe Namath?
Yeah. Yeah. So let's move to the defense if we
can. Yeah. Let's get there. What do you want
to start with? What's your spot that you, you
want to open the defense with? Well, this is
not the deepest position group per se, but it's
the one we're hearing the most noise. And that
is let's just start it. the defensive ends and
edges. Sure. Aiden Hutchinson, by all accounts,
is back better than ever, healthy, ready to wreak
havoc, and I think we can all safely expect with
health him to have a monster season. And you
talked about Jameer Gibbs being one of the top
two or three players at his position. The exact
same thing with Aiden Hutchinson. Where we start
getting a little bit of more questions, let's
just say, is it the right defensive end with
Marcus Davenport? Yeah. Again, an ex -New Orleans
Saints that both, you know, Aaron Glenn, you
know, when he was the DC, but now Kelvin Shepherd
and Dan Campbell have, you know, good familiarity
with. They believe in him. Apparently he's had
a great camp and is healthy. We'll see. Backing
them up is where it gets a little bit scary.
We have a gentleman by the name of Tyler Lacey
on the right. And then Josh Pascal is out right
now, but they hope they be in the Lions. that
he moves in from that third position to actually
be the third edge rusher. So you're going to
dress five for week one at Lambeau and it's top
heavy provided that provided that Davenport actually
is the player that the Lions signed in free agency
and have invested in and believe in. That is
what we're going with your thoughts. I'm fine
with where we're at at the very moment. Aiden
Hutchinson on one end, Davenport on the other
end. I have been reading a little, and the next
group we're going to talk about is that interior.
Yeah. So let me give my thoughts after we get
to the interior. OK. You've got the rookie Tyleek
Williams from Ohio State at your left defensive
tackle. But really, this doesn't mean a whole
lot in terms of who they're playing next to.
These guys are going to move around quite a bit.
And then the free agent signing of a couple years
ago, DJ Reader. Apparently his health has been
good and he's had in a monster camp. So I do
think that again, we're a little thin here, but
I think those starters are excellent. I think
Tylek Williams is just going to be the guy. I
think he's going to be great. I agree. I think
he's going to earn that first round status. Everything
that's coming out of camp right now is we're
not terribly worried about our pass rush because
Tylek Williams is going to fill some void there.
And the good news is, is that if DJ Reader can
just hold, you know, he's really a run stopper
and he can occupy two, two, you know, three blockers
until Lima McNeil gets back. This could be the
strongest position group outside of running back
on the team. All right. Backing them up, Makai
Wingo, who was a draft pick out of Louisiana
State really hasn't shown a whole lot, but the
lines are sticking with them. Another free agent
signing via the Arizona Cardinals, Roy Lopez.
He's just a depth piece. And then one of the
guys that I think that you and I both kind of
have some affinity for, just because he seems
like a lunch pail, MCDC kind of guy. POC. O 'Connor.
Nothing real sexy there, and let's hope he doesn't
play too many snaps, but he's a depth piece.
But we'll applaud him when he comes in. He's
kind of like the Jake Rogers of the Detroit Lions,
if you will. Absolutely. Son's mustache, or at
least I don't think he's got a mustache. I don't
think he has. is good at facial hair as Jake
Rogers, but few do. Moving over, well, did you,
you had a comment on this, right? No, I gave
it. Tyleek Williams, I think he's the difference
maker here. I think he's going to be the rookie
of the year for the Lions this year. I think
he beats out Tate Ratledge even, but let's see.
Or even Tesla. We got three guys to watch now
that I think about it, but I think Tyleek's up
there with them as far as difference makers on
this team in year one. You're not giving much
support to Dominic Lovett. I'm not. Not yet.
I'm wrong, Dom. The linebacker room is really
deep, almost an embarrassment of riches for a
position that often there's only two on the field.
So it'll be interesting to see how the Lions
do this. Your starters are going to be Alex Ancelone.
What I heard is that they came to some type of
contract agreement and it just kind of worked
out. I don't think the Lions budged a ton and
apparently he budged a little bit. So Jack Campbell's
going to be your I guess middle linebacker of
Alex Anzaloni is playing weak side or you will.
And then your strong side. And here's an X factor
for the season is Derek Barnes. I believe the
Lions are going to use him as an edge when fresh
off his new contract. Yeah, that's and he's healthy.
I think he's going to be doing a lot of blitzing
from the outside. Yes, I do. And then backing
them up. Everybody's favorite mop of hair from
preseason. Grant Stewart, Zach Cunningham and
then Ezekiel Turner, who's injured, and then
a name that I have to bring up for you, Trevor
Nowowski, just another Pat O 'Connor lunch pail
type of guy. And then Malcolm Rodriguez is hurt,
but probably going to play a role here. I could
see, you know, we talked about maybe trading
for a tight end. There's an embarrassment of
riches in this room. Could they maybe leverage
one of them? Yeah, could, you know, and if Barnes
plays as well as they're hoping he does. Ancelone
might be an option that they could part with.
Interestingly enough, I think it was two to three
years ago, we would have probably said this was
the weakest unit on the team. Not many of these
names have really changed. Ancelone was on the
team two years ago. Campbell was on the team
two years ago. Barnes was on the team two years
ago, if I remember correctly. Stewart, new guy.
What? No, he wasn't on the team. No, he wasn't.
No, Stewart's like the journeyman, right? new
guys at Cunningham, I think has been on the team
now for a year. I don't, I guess I look at this
unit and providing everybody stays healthy, even
if they don't, I'd be interested to see what
Stewart could do or Cunningham could do in live
game action with the ones out there. But yeah,
I think there is strength now. This is another
one of those units we look at and we go, wow,
we went from nothing to having depth, which is
just such a bizarre thing inside of a year or
two, something that happens in the NFL to one
degree or another. So, yeah, that's my take.
I think it'll be a strong unit this year. All
right. And then the secondary has nowhere to
go but up. And left cornerback, you've got Tarion
Arnold. And moving over to the safeties, you've
got possibly the best safety room in all of the
NFL. And Brian Branch playing strong. Kirby Joseph
playing the free safety. Your right corner is
going to be the free agent acquisition from the
New York Jets. DJ Reed. By all accounts, we're
hearing he is an upgrade over Carlton Davis III.
And then your Nickelback is Amique Robertson,
who I'm really high on. I really think Amique
Robertson is a difference maker when he's on
the field. And again, if fortune is good for
health with these five position players, I think
the Lions could have turned the corner on what
has historically been a weakness. I think it's
going to be incredible. And it could be a real
strength. I think this will be the strength of
the defense, to be honest. They're going to be
very good this year. So backing these guys up,
you've got Khalil Dorsey at one of the corner
spots. You've got Rok Yasin backing up one of
the corner spots. And then for your nickelback,
you've got a gentleman by the name of Avante
Maddux. I think we'll see all three of those
guys in various packages, dime, you know, different
formations. And then the safeties where it gets
a little thin. Dan Jackson was drafted is a former
walk -on from the university of Georgia. He's
going to be out for the year, but he's a special
teams ace. He was a guy that they were really
counting on grooming behind Joseph and branch.
And so the lions have Daniel Thomas and then
a recent pickup from the Raiders, Thomas Harper.
Yeah. Backing up the safety. So again, really
top heavy, but not real strong depth behind.
Branch and Joseph, just something to look for.
One thing that you and I keep reading and hearing
is that Rak Yassin can move over to both safety
roles, and apparently Avante Maddox can as well.
So I think the way the depth charts reading to
us isn't necessarily how everybody will be deployed
and then injured for the year, out for the year,
but Ennis Rake Straw is still part of this franchise,
former second round pick. So your thoughts on
the secondary before we go to special teams and
wrap this up. I'm looking forward to these guys
this year and Terry and Arnold, I mean, they're
putting a lot on this guy's back in year two.
They're basically saying like the defense goes,
the Lions go where Terry and Arnold goes. So
I think they're planning on him being that lockdown
corner. Last year was a lot of physical play.
I remember he led the league in pass interference
at some point in time by quite a bit because
it seemed like he was getting flagged every series
down the field and he was very physical. Sometimes
you want to complain and debate whether it was
pass interference. He left no question whatsoever
most of the time. Brian Branch will be Brian
Branch. Kirby Joseph, another guy that really
popped up in the last year or two, that's another
stalwart in this defensive backfield. DJ Reed,
a newcomer, and Amique Robertson, also known
as Dirt. Remember when he did the Dirt rant?
You can't get lower than Dirt. The Dirt, or whatever
it was that he did in that game, it was great.
Thomas Harper, he filled out our 53 man just
a couple days ago. Kind of shocking that it was
him, and not the mouthful Zadarius, but he, yeah.
Thomas Harper is the guy you're getting to round
out that 53 man. So they took a strong unit and
Presumably made it even stronger So I'm looking
for big things from the defensive backfield this
season and Dan Campbell said numerous times since
camp opened That this is the strongest deepest
best 53 man roster He's had in his Lions tenure
shows Yeah, it does show a lot of guys that were
starters two years ago are sitting in the third
and fourth spot You know depth chart right now.
So that's a good thing. Not a bad thing Special
teams. You want to do it? Yeah. Jake Bates is
going to be your place kicker. Yep. Jack Fox
is your punter. Both are excellent. And the lines
have upgraded there. Jack Fox holds for Jake
Bates. And then punt returns is going to be Khalifa
Raymond's responsibility. Kick returns are going
to be Khalifa Raymond and Khalil Dorsey. And
then the long snappers Hogan Hatton. So really
an unchanged group. all the way around in one
that I think is solid and very serviceable. I
don't think there's a huge upside with it, but
I also don't think you're ceiling, but there's
also not a very low floor with it either. So
Jack Fox, I think is the strength of that. He
really does a good job pinning teams inside their
own 20, inside their own 10, sometimes even inside
their own five. And we talked about some of the
guys that are willing to pay special teams at
a high level, Craig Reynolds, Vahki. Cleve Raymond.
So it's exciting. And I feel really good about
the roster. If I can circle back to one, I had
the statistic pulled up, but Sonic and Knuckles,
Gibbs and Montgomery have each recorded at least
a thousand scrimmage yards and 10 scrimmage touchdowns
in each of the last two seasons. We know that.
What's interesting is they're the first running
back tandem in NFL history to have done it in
two such seasons at all. Not just consecutively.
It's never, never been done. And you and I fully
expect with health that this should happen again.
So go ahead. Just one more factoid to throw in
there to lap onto your factoid. Fourth oldest
roster in the NFL, which shocks me. Shocks me.
We are at average age of just over 26. Yeah,
we got old, Bill. When did we get old? We seemed
so young. Not long ago. I asked myself that daily.
I think that's not about the lions and that's
the news on the roster We're old and just getting
older We'll bring you a Green Bay preview before
that. But yeah, I would say let's not worry about
it I went through and actually analyzed where
the age was and a lot of its depth pieces So
average age, you know of our starters is a little
better. Okay. Well now golf's 30 Decker's, you
know, the wrong side of 30. Glasgow's the wrong
side of 30. So, I mean, those are three key contributors
right there. Uh, I, I love them, but I don't
think David Montgomery is probably going to be
a lion beyond maybe this season or next. The
names will change. The names will change. Vahki
was drafted to be his replacement. So no shocker
there, folks. And then Zach Cunningham's old.
So we talked about him like, okay, Alexander
Zaloni is old. Outside of that, a lot of the
defensive guys aren't that old. So it really
showed in like a... The core is still youth.
Yeah, a few key areas. DJ Reader, old. So it's
not, it's the free agent guys. It's not the Lions
draft picks for the most part. I wish I had a
youthful core, boy. Well, you look a little banged
up. It's a long couple days, long couple days,
long weekend. We'll get you guys a Packers preview
here later in the week. We got our first game.
We'll talk a little about their trade that they
made. And yeah, we'll talk to you guys later
in the week. But that's the roster review. Go
Lions. Go Lions.