Tag: Dan Campbell

Marcus Davenport: What the Lions are getting in their free agent DE

Marcus Davenport: Breaking down the scouting report on the new Detroit Lions DE signed in free agency

It’s been no secret that the Lions needed to find improvements at certain positions on defense. Just off the top, cornerback and defensive end have been the most commonly discussed positions for improvement on defense. During the first day of free agency, the Lions jumped right in to find those improvements.

Prior to striking a deal to trade for cornerback Carlton Davis, the Lions signed defensive end Marcus Davenport. The deal is a one-year deal with a base salary of $6.5 million dollars, but it’s an incentive-based deal that can become a max deal worth $10 million dollars.

For Lions fans, you can live with a low-risk move that could pay off big time. Especially if Davenport is able to play and potentially start in 9 games or more. Health will be the key concern with Davenport. Injuries have plagued his career.

Last season, he suffered a high ankle sprain. This placed him on injured reserve and he was only limited to 4 games played. Despite only playing in four games, he was able to record 7 tackles and 2 sacks for the Vikings.

Before signing a one year deal with the Vikings in free agency last year, Davenport was a first round pick to the New Orleans Saints in the 2018 NFL Draft. Through five seasons with the Saints, he played in 62 games and recorded 21.5 sacks. However, injuries limited his growth and ability to stay in New Orleans or land a long-term deal anywhere else.

As Davenport entered his fifth and final season with the Saints, it was announced that he needed five off-season surgeries. Two were on his shoulder, and three were on his left hand. Aaron Glenn and Dan Campbell are familiar with Davenport, as well. After all, they were in New Orleans when the Saints selected him in the first round.

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If he can stay on the field, this would be a move that I could see pay off in a big way for the Lions defensive line. With Davenport being 6-foot-5 and 264 pounds, he fits the mold of players they’re searching for at defensive end. He should be able to provide versatility within the Lions defensive line and ultimately, he’s another chess piece for Aaron Glenn to use on defense.

Carlton Davis: What the Lions are getting in their new CB

Breaking down the scouting report on new Lions CB Carlton Davis with Russell Brown

While the fanbase of the Detroit Lions grew impatient for some type of signing on the first day of the legal tampering period in the NFL, they made a significant splash. However, this splash wasn’t a free agent signing. Instead, this was a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that sent cornerback Carlton Davis to the Lions.

So what are the Lions getting with cornerback Carlton Davis?

For starters, they’re getting a pair of 6th round picks in the 2024 and 2025 NFL Drafts. Brad Holmes did it again 🙂

As for Davis, he’s a long and athletic corner that’s physical. He’ll matchup well with bigger receivers. In addition to that, he’s solid in man coverage. Last season, he allowed a 60% completion percentage, zero touchdowns and a 75.1 passer rating when targeted, per PFF. This earned him a 68.8 PFF grade in man coverage. Last season, nobody played more man coverage snaps than Cam Sutton did for the Lions. On paper, this could bode well for Davis, Sutton and the Lions defense as a whole.

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Additionally, Davis had 9 pass breakups and two interceptions last season. While I’ll need to get into the tape to confirm, he only missed 4 tackles last season as well. Getting a good tackler on the perimeter is important for most teams in the NFL, especially the Lions.

With the Lions being a heavy Cover-1 man defense and a Cover-3 zone defense, it’s important to get another cornerback that can do both. Davis is technically sound in both man and zone coverage. His physicality should be felt when pressing receivers and when playing through the hands of the receiver.

This season, Davis will be playing on the final year of his 3-year contract extension from the 2022 season. He will carry a $14.5 million dollar cap hit. If all goes right with production and health (missed 16 games in three seasons), the Lions could look into giving the 27-year old cornerback a contract extension.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Lions end up selecting a cornerback in the 2024 NFL Draft. I’d have to think this move eliminates selecting one early in the draft but they should still consider one with one of their four picks on day three of the draft. For now, this should be a trade that gets Lions fans excited.

Lions may be out of pursuit for Marshon Lattimore

The Detroit Lions may be out on Marshon Lattimore. They’ve agreed to trade for another No. 1 corner from one of the Saints’ division rivals:

On the first day of the legal tampering window, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers agreed to a trade with the Detroit Lions sending cornerback Carlton Davis and a couple of late-round draft picks to Detroit in exchange for a third-round pick. The addition of Davis as Detroit’s new number-one cornerback might take them out of the running for New Orleans Saints corner Marshon Lattimore, who has been the subject of trade chatter this offseason.

It was noted prior to free agency that Detroit would be aggressively pursuing the cornerback market this offseason. With the ties that Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell and his fellow defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn have with the Saints, it seemed as though Detroit would be a very likely landing spot for Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore if the team does decide to move on from him.

With the Lions acquiring Davis, this just about concludes the possibility of Lattimore being shipped out to Detroit. However, what makes one wonder is the fact that the Lions didn’t have a second-round pick for flexibility to help facilitate a trade for Lattimore. Giving up a first rounder may have been too rich knowing that they wouldn’t have been picking until the late in the third round this year, but who knows.

The benefit for Saints fans is that one of the top corners in their division is out of the door and they will no longer have to worry about competing against him. And if this development helps keep Lattimore in New Orleans, well: that would be a welcome bonus.

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Marcus Davenport to reunite with his old coaches on the Lions

Marcus Davenport is planning to reunite with some of his old coaches on the Lions. It’s a Saints reunion in Detroit:

A former New Orleans Saints draft pick is headed to the Detroit Lions as Marcus Davenport agreed to a one-year deal to reunite with some of his old coaches, per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network.

Davenport started his career in New Orleans as a first-round draft pick in 2018. He spent five seasons and accumulated 21.5 sacks. He was never able to stay healthy for a full season in New Orleans and production was lacking so the two sides decided to part ways after 2022. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings for 2023, but appeared in just four games due to injury finished with two sacks.

Now, he heads to Detroit on another prove-it deal. He’ll be back with Aaron Glenn and Dan Campbell in a new environment as he tries to get his career back on track.

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Lions re-sign Graham Glasgow ahead of free agency

Lions re-sign Graham Glasgow ahead of free agency

Graham Glasgow is re-signing with the Detroit Lions on a three-year deal. The report from ESPN stated that the contract is for $20 million. Glasgow was set to hit the open market at noon on March 11 but the Lions and Brad Holmes didn’t let that happen.

Glasgow is coming off another strong season with the Lions after returning to them last season. He was originally drafted by the team in 2016 but left in free agency once before in 2019 when he signed with the Broncos.

The former Michigan Wolverine bet on himself when he signed with Detroit last year on a one-year, $1.25 million dollar deal. He will now head into the 2024 season with an average salary of $6.33 million.

Dan Campbell mentioned after the NFC Championship loss that this team wouldn’t be back because the odds are stacked against them, this signing is the first step to getting back to that stage. Lots of dominos left to fall for the Lions and Brad Holmes but this is a good start to free agency for the team.

PFF says Lions need to make a splash in free agency

PFF says Lions need to make a splash in free agency, but will Detroit?

NFL free agency is under three weeks away and front office’s and scouting departments are putting offers and reports together for their team. The Lions especially have shown they can be active in free agency but they have never “made a splash.”

PFF says that trend needs to change in 2024.

Speaking on the PFF NFL Stock Exchange podcast, hosts Trevor Sikemma and Brad Spielberger discussed areas of focus for the Lions. They said the guard class in free agency is deep enough that they can find someone to replace Jonah Jackon if he is asking too much money. Names such as Robert Hunt and Kevon Dotson were discussed as possible replacements.

Another position they highlighted was the defensive line group and they threw out an interesting name to add to the edge position. Khalil Mack could be either traded or a cap causality from the Chargers. Spielberger threw his name out as a nice pairing with Aidan Hutchison along the defensive front.

Mack has a veteran mindset and has shown he has the skills and motor to still make plays in the NFL.

They can’t spend too crazy as they hinted on the show they have to extend Jared Goff, Penei Sewell, and Amon-Ra St. Brown soon. Despite that, they still think they can and should make a splash in free agency when the new league starts in 19 days.

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Lions named Super Bowl LIX favorite by ESPN analysts

The Detroit Lions named Super Bowl favorite for 2024 season by many ESPN analysts

When Ferris Bueller took his day off, he made it a point to mention that life comes at you pretty fast. For the Detroit Lions, the last three years with Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell have seemed like a blur. As they enter Year 4, people are beginning to favor them for a Super Bowl appearance.

ESPN polled 11 of their analysts, and nearly half of them favor the Lions to make it to the Super Bowl.

Analysts Mike Clay, Dan Graziano, Jordan Reid, Mike Tannenbaum and Lindsey Thiry all picked the Lions to win the NFC next season. Only Tannenbaum selected the Lions to win the whole thing, as he had them defeating the Los Angeles Chargers for the Lombardi Trophy.

An interesting note, however, is that the Green Bay Packers were selected by three analysts, the Los Angeles Rams by two and the San Francisco 49ers by just one.

While it may seem like a bold take, this is the new normal for Lions fans. Fans and media alike had better stop and look around once in a while, or they could miss it.

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Lions ranked among top three teams for 2024

The Lions rank among top teams for 2024

The Detroit Lions came as close as ever this season to making their first Super Bowl. Coach Dan Campbell said in the aftermath of the NFC title game loss to the 49ers that it is very unlikely this team makes it this far again based on how this league goes about things. After some critical personnel decided to stay in Detroit, and with their salary cap situation looking more positive than ever, perhaps Campbell was a tad critical.

In the wake of the Chiefs’ second straight Super Bowl win, the “NFL on Fox Podcast” discussed this week who the top teams are heading into the new season. They mentioned the Chiefs and 49ers at the top, which makes sense, but they threw in the Lions as their third-best team.

Campbell has shown he can be one of the best coaches in the league and can build a more-than-capable staff. Both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn could have left for head coaching jobs elsewhere but instead decided to stay in the Motor City to build something special.

Quarterback Jared Goff is returning for his fourth year with the team. The offense looks to be ready to keep growing, led by running back Jahmyr Gibbs and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The defense, led by edge rusher Aidan Hutchison, is taking the necessary steps to get better.

With the right offseason moves by GM Brad Holmes, this team could easily jump past the 49ers in terms of expectations for next season.

NFC North mock draft roundup from NFL.com’s latest 3-rounder

Breaking down the draft hauls around the NFC North in the latest 3-round mock from NFL.com’s Chad Reuter

The NFL season is over, mock draft season is in full effect now.

PFF and Pro Football Network have been pushing them all out all season long, now it is time for NFL media to step up to the plate. The latest piece they have for draft fans to digest is a three-round mock draft written by Chad Reuter.

In the mock, the NFC North makes 15 picks led by the Packers six. They made a trade back with the Chiefs in round one to acquire more picks while the Vikings traded up and have just two picks. As for the Lions, they make four picks all of which would be home runs.

Dan Campbell didn’t win Coach of the Year and fans aren’t happy about it

Detroit’s Dan Campbell didn’t win Coach of the Year and fans had a lot to say about it

Dan Campbell was one of the finalists for the NFL Coach of the Year at the annual NFL Honors. The Lions head coach was a great candidate, leading Detroit to a division title and a 12-5 record.

Alas, Campbell did not win the award. Kevin Stefanski of the Browns was the winner, followed by Houston’s Demeco Ryans and then Campbell in third.

The lowly finish for Campbell did not sit well with a lot of fans.