Before anybody takes this the wrong way, I love Brad as much as the next man & I think he’s truly sped up our rebuild & has hit on some home run picks (almost exclusively on offense) But he really has gave AG the short end of the stick.
In AG’s entire tenure here so far Brad has only given him 1 serviceable CB in Branch. The rest of the CB’s AG is fielding out there this year & last year definitely shouldn’t be starting in the NFL. Between Sutton, Jacobs, Okudah & Harris they are clearly depth pieces at best & getting thrown to the fire by starting week in week out but what choice does AG have?
On the DL it’s no secret that Hutch isn’t what we all hoped & thought he would be at this point in his career, he’s still young with plenty of time to turn things around but as of now he’s nothing more then a good run defender and average at best pass rusher. Levi & Paschal both look like Whiffs & the other edge position has been neglected even with James Houston healthy. The Lions have 2 players on the DL that are capable of starting in the NFL, the rest are depth pieces again being forced into a starting role.
The LB position: i criticised the Anzalone contract but boy was I wrong. He’s become the heart & sole of the defense & is by far the best player on the defense. Great acquisition by Brad. Jack Campbell while it’s still incredibly early into his career definitely looks like he shouldn’t be starting in the NFL yet but the tale of this story continues again with him & Barnes both clearly not being good enough to start in the NFL yet but thrown to the fire. AG’s fault again too?
TL:DR the lions have 3 maybe 4 at most players on defense that are capable of starting. The rest don’t belong on the field but AG has coached up an average defense out of what he’s been given.
Do ya’ll somehow believe a new DC will magically teach the corners to stop getting burned by bums or teach the pass rushers to generate sacks & turnovers? AG is a perfectly fine DC, but what he isn’t is a miracle worker.
Rebuilds don’t really exist in the NFL… ehhh let me explain. We’ve technically been rebuilding for what. 60 years?
The amount of teams I see go from success to non playoff appearances the next year is pretty high. Sustained success after a “rebuild” isn’t always the case. Not all rebuilds have gradually or sustained success.
Some rebuilds can take less than a year. Teams go from worst to first all the time.
There’s no guarantee the lions will have sustained success. We all HOPE they do of course. But it IS possible this could be their only year. I know you’re thinking that’s crazy talk but like I said. Some teams fall off a cliff after 1 good year. It DOES happen.