Detroit Lions Training Camp Expectations w/ SI Writer John Maakaron

Detroit Lions Training Camp Expectations w/ SI Writer John Maakaron

no doc was speaking facts there as always but doc you already talked about it a little bit earlier that you’ve seen some Lions golfin some proam and whatnot if Doc’s building a scramble group he’s picking Three Lions to golf with him who’s Doc taking on the course oh that’s great oh man well wouldn’t be Aiden Hutchinson because he’s learning and it was crazy he’s got the size and you look at it and you say man he should be able to destroy the golf ball but nope he’s still learning and uh his appearance in the pram was a little rough um I look at it with the Lions and uh we had an opportunity uh at all Lions today we dropped at Alex anselone I had asked the writer to ask that same question to Alex anselone and he said look you got to have first J because he’s probably gonna be a guy that maybe will hit it 30 yards left but will tell jokes and just make it fun so first and foremost Jam uh Jameson Williams got to be in the scramble second you probably got to have a good golfer and I I presume Jared G can get around the natural athlete maybe uh Kristen Harper can be our caddy or be a support can uh find our our wayward a dog doc you’re a dog yeah J Mo Jared Golf and probably I’m on ra St Brown because he probably is naturally athletic probably just give him one pointer and he’ll start playing golf great so you got to have one like James Williams who probably isn’t that good and then uh I think Aman R st Brown and Jared golf would make it very fun as well it’d be fun to golf with the Detroit Lions I think a lot of talking would go down yeah I’m with the Lions doc I’m G stick with the lines here for this question me and Jeff talked about it last week a little bit who when you look at this schedule you can look at the teams match up when you look at Personnel matchups I brought up it was Sam laap pora uh Xavier mckin and then terion Arnold and Marvin Harrison like the one-on-one matchups I cannot wait to see when you look at this schedule who are you most excited to watch go head tohe head this year personnel-wise yeah no doubt um I think that when you look at it Green Bay has revamped their defense um I think in the division is going to be sick um when I look at it too I just you know there’s some Revenge games on the schedule that a lot of people are talking about I want to see the Lions match up I want to see J Mo match up against some of the top Defenders I want to see um now I think Dallas’s defense is going to take a step back with their defensive coordinator heading off to take a head coaching job with Washington but I want to see J Mo uh Matt up against Dallas because their their secondary had a bunch of interceptions and they’re always opportunistic um I look at it and I say with Jared Goff I want to see how he faces off against some of the pressuring defenses again the the matchup that I have circled is is gonna be Houston does he survive Houston when they’re going to bring the pressure um with I think denil Hunter on that roster or um Y denil and Will Anderson yes yes the the the revamp defensive line and a defensive-minded coach that worked with Robert Salo with San Francisco how does that match up as well so I can’t wait to see it when you see the schedule lots of opportunities for the Lions offense to match up against some solid defenses and two you know this offseason it’s been weird because just because the Bears got the number one pick they started flexing like they were like they did something they got Caleb Williams but he’s still on proven but they got a nice secondary so I want to see the Lions offense match up against the but they talked a lot of this off season their fan base is like tripping out because the lions are on top and they’re just talking a mad mad amount of to Lions fans online it’s really unique when you look at and also too when you look at it now I had an opportunity on the last day before our our little break I asked the lion safeties coach hey the the wide receivers in the NFC North it looks pretty stacked with Jefferson and you got uh a lot of great receivers with the Packers and you realize wow the the offensive Weaponry that’s available in the NFC North is pretty stout so I’m excited to see the the Carl I want to see Carlton Davis and terryon Arnold match up against the receivers in the NFC North because it’s time for them to prove that the secondary is going to be something that is going to be a strength and Alex anone said it that they feel so much more comfortable kind of seeing what Davis and Arnold can do that it makes the defense so much better better because the linebackers can get after it when they know that hey these these Corners can guard a little bit better in manto man so we we talk about some of that at all lions if you go check it out uh today in fact we talked about uh I believe today or yesterday how playing more manto man will help the linebackers and how the how Alex selone feels about the defense so I I just can’t wait to see the Lions cornerbacks against the receivers from the NFC North because the Bears do I I I do see some Talent off offensively but I think their biggest weakness is they got a rookie quarterback and an offensive line that hasn’t been known to be all that great um I’ll I’ll ask you this too because um I I think this kind of ties into what you were talking about um with the with Carl and Davis I watched uh Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Bucky Brooks they have a podcast and one thing they discussed is ranking the NFC North secondaries and uh Bucky Brooks had it Bears one Packers two lions three Viking four so they had the lion he had the Lions third and then Daniel Jeremiah had the Bears one Lions 2 Packers three Vikings four so they had the Packers and and lions switched where would you put the lions in terms of their division um ranking their secondary this upcoming season yeah it’s real interesting because Carlton Davis really has been a number two and now is kind of probably going to be tasked with taking on the number one rle but he’s he’s done some things he’s locked down some top receivers including including some in the NFC North and that’s where Dan Campbell came to see a player that they wanted to trade for he saw what um what Carlton Davis was able to do against the Lions and the other opponents in the NFC North so I would rank it probably Chicago one um the Bears two and the Lions three and but I think that that’s at this point but with the development of Terry and Arnold and Andis rraw down the road I think they can get up there and perform and catch up pretty quickly and still young and that’s the tough part is that you know when you start to research you can start to believe okay tyan Arnold could have more impact than what we potentially believe at this point but he’s still going to face a steep learning curve he’s going to face quarterbacks that are going to look to exploit you know certain matchups that are going to be difficult and the cornerback spot is naturally challenging but I think the Lions have the opportunity once they gel with amek Robertson and Andis rraw when rraw catches up to speed and gets a lot more experience I think that you got a stout physical Defender that can play man-to-man so the lions are starting off starting off probably third in division but I think by the end of the year I think if they stay healthy and develop and work with theay Townsen and Coach O’Neal with the safeties I think they can catch up pretty quickly it’s all going to depend in my opinion on the development of Tyrion Arnold but when you look at what he brings to the table you watch film and you see his anticipation his footwork you see a player that maybe will go through rookie learning pains the first quarter of the season but by the time the bye hits and Beyond you could be looking at a player that’s going to contribute sooner rather than later and one NFL writer that we wrote about said that hey could potentially be on the all rookie team and is a candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year so we’ll see about Teran Arnold but I think the uhu the line secondary will have some things to prove to the fan base that wants to see hey you revamped the defense let’s see what the secondary can can do because right now it’s all it’s it’s all on paper and everything on paper looks great but when you go out there on the field you got to go prove it in the NFC North there’s no joke no joke about it you guys see it when you look at the offensive rosters yeah and Doc too I want to just kind of we’re about three or four weeks out now training camp um almost I would say maybe it’s like the halfway point between training camp and OTAs maybe I’m a little off there kabo a couple weeks um but I I just want to get from you here I mentioned this to you today actually when we when we met um at the rocket mortgage classic just kind of any uh bullet points or kind of thoughts on um you know players to kind of keep an eye out for over the next couple weeks whether it’s injuries or um maybe even some trades or something to be made here uh for Brad Holmes heading into training camp is there anything that Lions fans need to kind of keep an eye on any players or anything like that yeah yeah no doubt they still have I believe an open roster spot you look at it right now they may make one additional move could it be at safety could they bring in a veteran um a lot of people look at Justin Simmons they love that name a lot of people look at uh veterans that have played the safety position because of clearly Kirby Joseph situation but I think they’re pretty they got a lot of depth that safety uh they have a player in Brandon Joseph I think you should all pay attention to I thought he had a great spring and I think that the player from Notre Dame go watch some film on Brandon Joseph I think he does a great job and has an opportunity he caught the attention of the coaching staff and he recognized that uh you know a lot of the players that you want to pay attention to when Camp rolls around are going to be the ones that were injured I think that it’s going to be key with Kevin zitler who didn’t participate a lot those that didn’t participate we have more questions about DJ reader um I thought you know Ali mcneel had the quote of the spring when he said he sees destruction playing alongside DJ reader and if he can stay healthy oh my goodness that makes the defensive line all that much better and could be ferocious so Marcus Davenport a player that you know you start to see offseason workouts and those videos and you start to see what they’re about and and obviously raw and uh the offense always gets in there and shows videos tyon is not shy and likes to show workouts but Marcus Davenport is I think uh a guy that hey if you hit on him if he can stay healthy then you now can answer some questions Sports Illustrated Albert Breer who’s great and he’s a great resource for me to be able to pick the brain of and read his work and he’s got all the the the coaches on The Rolodex and you’ll periodically see him message the Lions and they uh that he he’s had a natural Report with Dan Campbell the entire run of Campbell’s time here in Detroit and he said look pay attention to some pass rushers maybe in gway maybe some individuals that potentially you want to sh up and that’s the biggest question mark the biggest question mark heading into training camp is going to be who is going to be opposite of Aiden Hutchinson we’ve talked about it and I think that they have enough on the roster but they still could go out there and look for another pass rusher out there who’s a free agent but at the same time I think the roster is pretty good at this point heading into training camp but the players you want to pay attention to are those that were injured and you hope that hey the likes of the Davenport reader and Kevin zitler who didn’t participate a lot in Spring you hope when we get our first look out there at training camp that they can be uh individuals that you say okay let’s go let’s get after it when the season starts and Doc we kind of talked about it a little bit over the months uh Taylor Decker obviously his extension keeps getting brought up what do you think that extension would look like if we were to extend Taylor Decker yeah it’s interesting right because you have a couple offensive linemen that are developing most people kind of presume that Manu could potentially be the left tackle of the future still maybe an outside shot that they do move pan back to his college position he could really play Both Sides pretty equally and would be dominant it’s an important position Jared G’s Blind Side I think ter I think Taylor Decker does retire a Detroit Lion I think that when you look at this season it’s going to be very vital that Taylor Decker continue to stay healthy he had offseason surgery I think he’s a warrior he represents everything that the lines are about and I think that he plays this year and maybe next year maybe you get that second year um to kind of bring the cap number down but I think you need you need him at a lower cost maybe around the 145 million range if he accepts a little bit less money to stay but if he’s in that situation where he wants one last payday maybe another team will take a chance and offer him more money but I think think he wants to retire in Detroit he said the talks have kind of started in terms of the framework I think probably you’re looking at maybe at the floor two years 30 million and um I think it it probably happens um you know maybe it happens before training camp but maybe not when you look at it the organization might want to see how he performs this year but he had a decent year um he steadily is a guy that’s getting older and you understand that you do have to start to look to the future but that position has been guarded pretty well J golf was held pretty clean last year so you want to you want to get as much out of Taylor Decker as possible and it’ll be good to see how I mean look at it man the guy plays on an injured ankle injured foot he’s a grit he’s a gritty Warrior I think that you know he handled I think he’s respectful but at the same token he he doesn’t like hearing his name in in trade rumors he never liked that and he came out there and started to discuss it openly I think he’s underappreciated but at the same token if he wants to be in the neighborhood of where he’s at now and might be a cost cutting situation where you you go in a different direction if Manu in the next 12 months can develop maybe you get that confidence to move on but I think that Taylor deer retires or Detroit Lion I think that uh he plays this year and next year and calls it a day and kind of going along with Decker his main job is to protect Jared G when Jared G just getting extended this year where do you think has has Jared said anything at OTAs or do you think there’s anything that Jared is specifically keying in on to improve this year and just going forward within his game yeah it’s always asked about too it’s it’s really interesting and he was like well I can’t you know really break it down because it’s all nerdy but you always look at it and he’s always working on his game I think if you look at some of the videos I share at Detroit podcast I think you see it footwork you always want to make sure that you’re properly with your mechanics fundamentally are aligned and making sure things are going okay um I think that for Jared Goff I think that um the what the coaching staff said which was great is and also too which is really great guys too is that um we’ve kind of slowly spread out what the assistant coaches said but they revealed a lot of interesting stuff in regards to Jared gof and stuff like that and I think Tanner angrand and um the quarterback’s coach Mark Brunell kind of referenced it the decision when to pull the trigger on throwing it deep versus checking it down the coaching staff is always going to want to make sure that Jared G hey take the if you see the lane and you see it open pull the trigger make it happen and they want more explosive plays and when you look at it they still were tops of the league in explosive plays over 10 yards but I think they when when you go back and review the film I’ve started to do that over the last couple weeks because you know outside of talking to you guys or are going out to cover golf I like to watch film I like to see what you can learn from last season when you start to watch film there’s a couple plays that some receivers were open and he just didn’t pull the trigger if he just held the ball another nanc I think that’s what the lions are looking at is hey we now have a better defense pull the trigger a little bit hey take a chance with J Mo uh throw the football try to execute a little bit more in terms of deep explosive plays deep touchdowns so I think that’s going to be something to watch How often he throws the ball over 30 yards when you have Jameson Williams now with a little bit more time under his belt and for Jared G I think that you start with a great Foundation of keeping the football clean not fumbling not turning the ball over but at the same token I would not be surprised if he takes a couple more chances when you feel like you have a good defense that is truly Ben don’t break gives up field goals and not a lot of touchdowns if the defense can shine then I think Jerry will be a lot more comfortable pulling the trigger and look you got 50 million you got a lot of money guaranteed maybe the the maybe this year you start to see the true Jered Goff of old where he’s just flinging the football all down the field and it would be great to see but I think Jared G can even get better in regards to uh explosive deep passing and his connection I think the number one thing you want to improve upon is hey Target J find J get in Rhythm as soon as possible and make it so that J can be a star and he’s right there so hopefully that connection can be just as good as it is with Amon R st Brown I can’t wait to see it if it is oh man if J becomes the stud look out the lines will be unstoppable yeah I watched Mina kimes talk about this in her podcast and it was super interesting because the Lions had you know they were up there in explosive plays but there was a number it was like 60% of their explosive plays came from the ground it was like I think it was around that number it was it was from the Run game compared to other teams like the Chiefs or the Chargers where you know like 70% of their explosive plays are coming through the air so it’s just you know to your point there J MO is is kind of a big X Factor with that but I’ll ask you this John to kind of go on training camp uh and I thought this was an interesting question which we’ll probably get into one of these days but what’s one player that you think has the most gain in training camp and one player that you had you think has the most to lose in training camp one of each most to gain most to lose yeah no doubt you look at the roster and I’m curious about some of the players on the roster that uh maybe are at the that are competing for jobs so I think on offense you kind of are pretty set in regards to things I think players that you look at um that has a lot to to gain is Emanuel Mosley I think that if he comes in and is healthy we haven’t seen much of him I think that he can earn some playing time and be a significant part of that defense towards the end of the year but you look at a guy like that and he’s got a lot to prove because I think that he’s had a couple injuries that have been really severe hasn’t had a lot of time to work in this defense and if he can be another added piece I think he’s got a lot to prove in this situation you look at who has the most to lose I think that you know I think a lot of the the the jobs are pretty set I think that the player that I think that is really high on himself but still draws the ire of the coaching staff is James Houston I think he has a lot to lose if he kind of you know veers off and look athletes have egos it’s natural it’s something that when you burst onto the scene and you get that many sacks in your rookie year you’re going to naturally think that you belong well it’s come year two and you get hurt and your momentum is clearly derailed but the Lions want James Houston to be an every down defensive lineman outside linebacker and unfortunately he’s got the biggest trick in the game which is being able to sack the quarterback but at that same token when you’re able to do that you maybe aren’t as honing in on all the responsibilities and the Lions defensive scheme is complicated in regards to recognizing certain blitzes at certain times the respon responsibility of where you need to be on certain routes the ability to recognize certain routes and who’s coming out of the back field where you need to be at certain times and I think that James Houston still has a way to go to develop but he’s going to need to get in that spot you guys saw some of the videos he was on the outside I think that he’s gonna have that opportunity but I I think that he wants to play more but I’m not certain yet that the coaching staff trusts him enough they say that but the proof is still in the pudding that a guy like that has a lot of potential but he needs to do more in regards to the little things and I think that those are things where you got a guy with talent but at the same time needs to do more is he willing to do that work when he probably knows if something happens and they move on from him the entire league will come calling and there will be one team that just says hey go sack the quarterback don’t worry about all that other stuff the lions are more into hey developing a complete defensive lineman a complete outside linebacker do a lot of things so a guy like that I think has a lot to lose if he doesn’t deliver and Aaron Glenn is not going to mess around if he ain’t happy he’s going to let everybody know about it so we’ll see how James Houston comes back and also too I think a player that you know is fighting for a job is Levi on zarque I think that he clearly knows that there’s a lot of defensive linemen that could take his job he has to prove that hey I can uh when the pads come on hit and get to the quarterback to keep his job because you got Pasco there you got others that are going to be battling you got bats fighting for a job so Levi onque I think is a player that I think is going to be on a lot of lists that you see that is a is a vet that could be cut and you know it’s it’s just unfortunate that hey it’s a NFL not for long if you don’t do the job somebody else will come do it so I’m curious to see how he does because he he he kind of started to if you say his his stock it started to rise in Camp with being healthy from back surgery so we’ll see if he can sustain that success when Camp rolls around yeah I want to I want to ask you this too real quick I I did see today on your on your guys’s website there SI spoke with um some someone there I don’t know if it was you specifically or someone there spoke with uh alexand Zone and did kind of an an exclusive interview with him um and I thought it was interesting one of the questions asked was about him um and and Kelvin Shepard saying hey I think he could become become an all proo linebacker this year cl’s been pretty big on anzo and I know us as well as a whole as a show um has been pretty big with Jack Campbell as well taking step forward this year can you kind of talk a little bit about the the expectations for Jack Not Just Jack Campbell but also anzalone because he was a pro bowler alternate basically just an alternate last year um but it felt like he was on his way before he kind of had that game or two where he was injured potentially to being just a pro bowler in general without the alternate tag on it do you think he takes that step this year and then even with that kind of following that question does Jack Campbell take the step with him and then you just have an elite linebacking Court here in Detroit for the future yeah no doubt it’s been great when you work with all lions you start to develop relationships and the reporter Justin Melo he’s great and he’s what he does is he’s part of the draft Network and also has the the ability to freelance and put work on different sites and I just came in contact with him just reading his work he does a lot of college draft interview so he has some development where actually if you read those interviews uh the the brands that the athletes work with will reach out to him and he’s developed that Network that hey you know anzalone I think is uh now pitching Campbell soup with a lot of protein so they reach out to Justin and they say Hey you know well we want to um promote some items hey we’ll give you some time with some of these athletes and he’s great and he’s great working with him because he’s somebody that understands hey I have some questions that I’d like to ask and some of the questions I want are out there and he’s he does a great work so I’ve been developing relationships with with him because he’s got the contact so I’m like yeah no problem put your work uh if you got a Detroit based article don’t go nowhere else come to me and uh it’s been great to be able to with the work and the support of all lions to be able to kind of feature other people on the site and Justin asked fun questions and uh Alex anone Kelvin Shepard said to him and publicly that he believes that Alex anone can be an all pro his game is developed uh he’s good in coverage I think that he’s a solid tackler and you look at in terms of speed speed maybe not the most Swift linebacker out there in the world but I think he does enough to be able to be a leader and made some plays he came on he emerged he had a solid 2023 season shut up a lot of critics and I think he can be an all pro I think that the gist of kind of what you read on our site the last couple days is with an improved secondary the linebackers can play a lot better A lot more free not worrying so much about mistakes and not being so much caught up in you know in Dan Campbell it too you don’t have to be so rigid you can kind of play a little bit more free to the football get after it and understand what you need to do and I think the development of Derek Barnes Alex anselone and Jack Campbell this year should be something that’s talked about and will be monitored by us and by everybody who goes out to training camp the linebackers I think can do a lot of things in regards to run stopping uh you know causing you know pressure to the quarterback making sure that you know intermediate routes are cut off with no more additional yards after the catch so analon I think definitely can be an all pro but he did he reveal an interesting nugget you know when he was asked about you know might be your last year with Aaron Glenn he might have hinted to that it might be his last year too in Detroit you never know if they count on Jack Campbell to do things to take his spot he may he maybe just say okay I’m good if the Lions win it he might be somebody that hangs it up after a Super Bowl win after a great career where he did get paid and can say okay Jack take the job and and handle business and the Lions can get a little bit younger but at the same token Aon Glenn might depart as well so he kind of brought up both scenarios that hey nobody knows what the future will hold but the linebackers are interesting intriguing if Derek Barnes can also be that outside rusher that can get to the quarterback if he emerges and learns from the mistakes he made last year and delivers the big nasty hit on Dak Prescott and jars the football loose then uh if he makes more of those plays you did see that interception that he made he was around the football and I thought I thought the funniest part of that story was Derrick’s all into it he’s got the golf gear he’s got the clubs but not not be good so he said that uh he played Alex selone played golf with Derek Barnes in an outing just recently so it’s kind of fun when you know when when you know that person that just gets all dressed up and gets all the gear the hats the fitted clubs the nice shiny golf clubs and then goes out there and hits it five yards that sounds like someone we know sounds like someone we know that might be Derek Barnes at this time but he say he’s getting a little bit better so it’s a fun interview go check it out it’s worthwhile at all lions and uh you can just check it out by Detroit typing in Detroit sport uh Sports Detroit Lions SI and you can find our content there and or if you go to at Detroit podcast on Twitter all the links are out there you can catch our content it’s fun Alex selone I think is one of those quiet locker room leaders that can be very much so a player that can with improved play himself can also lend some great credibility and some great production for this defense a

Jeff Iafrate, Booner, Lukas Klotz, and Michael Gentry are joined by the publisher of “All Lions” and host of the Detroit Sports Podcast John Maakaron to discuss this Lions offseason and what to expect from Training Camp when it begins.

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