Building a Detroit Lions Super Bowl Team

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AJ Reilly: What does a Detroit Lions Super Bowl team look like? What do they have to do to win a Super Bowl? 

Eric Vincent: I think a Detroit Lions Super Bowl team is going to look very reminiscent of the San Francisco Harbaugh team that made it. I feel like the Lions are molding that they’re doing a good job addressing the trenches.

I think they’re gonna do that more in the draft. I feel like they may make a splash in some signings for maybe a D tackle. I could see a Daron Payne being in their conversation, the free agency. I could see that. I feel like the offense is gonna be the key because again, while I think they’re building to be a top-five, top-10 defense with the resources and the young talent that they have.

When The Lions Win The Super Bowl What Will Their Team Look Like?

The offense is the key because while I love the pieces around the most important parts, I love the offensive line. I think they’ll add a guard to help solidify for the next five to 10 years. I feel like there’s one piece that has to be addressed if they’re gonna get to that place. I love Jared Goff. I think he’s doing a good job of buying his time, but I feel like he’s in an Alex Smith-type window. 

He has talent. I think he’s more talented than Alex Smith, but I don’t think his window is, as long as people on Twitter are making it sound like he’s a good player. He may have a couple of years left, but I think the Lions get to that Super Bowl plateau with a mobile quarterback that they invest in in the draft.

I don’t think they’re gonna take some big gamble. I don’t think Cia’s going for a Lamar, I don’t see them kinds of splashes happening. But seeing the way that this team is building it the way that this regime is going, I could see them investigate a player like Hendon Hooker or somebody else that they could invest later in the draft and develop you.

AJ Reilly: Is Hooker Mobile though? 

Eric Vincent: Well, I guess not. Cause he’s injured, right? That he’s dealing with, right? Yeah. So yeah, no, I guess as of now, maybe not, but 

AJ Reilly: No, but given that he doesn’t need to be the starter in 2023, it could work out fine 

Eric Vincent: and he’ll be more mobile than Jared Goff, so that’s fine.

AJ Reilly: I got a name for you. And it’s not gonna cost you more than a six-round pick. Okay. Clayton Tune from Houston. 

Eric Vincent: Clayton Tune. Okay. Okay. What do you like about him? 

AJ Reilly: It’s a theory at this point. Okay. I watch his game against SMU. The Duke can move. He overcompensates for his athleticism a little bit. I think he over exaggerates it a little bit too much.

Okay. But he can get the ball down the field, he can make the throws. He might not be able to push it down there consistently enough, but I think to spend a six-round pick on him right now, I would do that. Not to take over for Goff. I mean, Goff is, Goff is the quarterback next year. Mm-hmm. Goff is foreseeably the quarterback in 2024 as well.

Eric Vincent: We agree on that.

AJ Reilly: The question becomes what happens after 2024. Right. Could it be a Clayton Tune that you got in the six round? I maybe, I don’t know. I, again, it’s just a theory. I’m not saying that’s who they have to draft, but. This guy can move. I need you to go and look up some highlights on him and, and tell me what you think about him.

Eric Vincent: I’m high on draft mode. I can do that. 

In Search of a Mobile Quarterback

AJ Reilly: Yeah. And so I like the idea of a mobile quarterback. The problem with a mobile quarterback is what you’re seeing with Jalen Hurtz right now is mobile quarterbacks get hit more often. And, that makes me nervous. I agree with you. I think we need more athleticism. Raw podcast.

I may have even watched your video on Clayton Tune, but feel free to drop it the link here so that people can watch it, as well. Cuz I watched a lot of film on Clayton Tune, uh, last week and I was, I was impressed. Yeah, all quarterbacks do get hurt. This brings me to my point. A Detroit Lions Super Bowl team has a solid backup quarterback.

Eric Vincent: Mm-hmm. 

AJ Reilly: Now that does not mean that we are wasting high draft capital to draft a quarterback. Right. But I agree with you in the sense that those hardball teams in San Francisco could be like the blueprint, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Because you had a very solid defense. Yes. And you had a play make playmaker on offense with Kaepernick and the weapons around him.

Eric Vincent: Frank Gore, Crabtree. Yeah. 

AJ Reilly: Yeah. So, my ideal Detroit Lions Super Bowl team is a team that has Adian Hutchinson in a Houston mm-hmm, but then also has somebody like we saw this weekend with Hassan Reddick that is just completely destroying backfields. Mm-hmm. Is it Chris Jones, I think from Kansas City as well. 

Eric Vincent: Chris balled out, 

AJ Reilly: balled out, 

Eric Vincent: balled out the other day.

AJ Reilly: What the thing that I noticed when I was watching those games specifically, um, the Eagles defense and then the Bengals and the 49ers game last night. Mm-hmm. Detroit could not compete with them, I don’t think at this point. 

Eric Vincent: Nah, definitely not, 

AJ Reilly: because those defenses were too good. Yep. And so when it comes to this year specifically, and you know, I’m gonna throw this up as well because at Detroit Sports Nation, we put together a complete draft guide for all the fans. 

The Backup Quarterback Dilemma

We’ll find a way to get this link out. It’ll be in the description later, but I mean, this draft guide has everything that you need to know about the draft. And you’re gonna read in there what it says is our biggest needs. Mm-hmm. are defense. Yep. But also a backup quarterback.

Yes. And you could also argue a running back. Yes. So when I look at a, you know, five picks in the top 81, right? Mm-hmm. Three to four of those picks need to be on the best defensive player available. Yeah. And I don’t care if it’s, yes, we have, you know, we have an edge rusher in Hutchinson. Okay? But Hutchinson doesn’t play every night.

Right. What is happening is getting the best player available. I’ve done a few mock drafts. Jalen Carter’s fallen. Will Anderson’s fallen if they’re there? 

Eric Vincent: Yeah, I see those. Yeah. 

AJ Reilly: If they’re not there, then I don’t think you take a corner at six. And I don’t know how much I like Bryan Bresee and I don’t know how much I like Myles Murphy, which I know Murphy’s kind of your guy, so I don’t wanna go.

Eric Vincent: That’s one of my top guys. Yeah. I love those guys. 

AJ Reilly: If you like ’em, take ’em. If you don’t like ’em, then you gotta find a way to trade out a six. 

Eric Vincent: I agree with that. Yeah. 

AJ Reilly: And then you get your corner at 18, and then you get, you know, Jack Campbell in the second round, maybe a Kelee Ringo falls down to the second round as well.

Sauce Gardner Is Generational

Maybe the quarter or cornerbacks are a dime a dozen as far as solid players go. Sauce Gardner is generational. We’re not, yeah, he’s, we’re not drafting another Sauce Gardner. So like, let’s think about this for a second. Okay. Yeah. A Detroit Lions team that wins the Super Bowl wins the Super Bowl potentially with a quarterback like Goff because of who their defense is.

Yes. And so that defense has got to be, has got to be solid. Now they’re solid toward the end of the year. Mm-hmm. , but. As solid as they were. I don’t think they would’ve made any type of noise in the playoffs. 

Eric Vincent: Probably not. 

AJ Reilly: I think they would’ve gotten exposed a little bit. 

Eric Vincent: Yeah, you saw San Francisco, they made every other play they were getting penalties left and right showing a lot of young players, young rookie mistakes and I felt like that’s what we probably would’ve seen with the Lions if, I mean, even they got in the playoffs. But yeah, Super Bowl for sure. They weren’t, they’re not ready for that yet. I feel like you said you don’t want to take a corner that high.

I’m with you. I’ve seen a lot of conversational lot about cornerback being a position where the Lions do maybe make a splash trading for somebody like a Marshon Lattimore, taking advantage of the saints who are trying to get out the that they’re in. Right. I feel like that’s a position that they could expose maybe with that 18th pick or maybe they get a bargain with a later pick after that.

Yeah. Cause they do have extra resources. So I feel like that’s a position that they could make one of those splash plays to have that, uh, like how the Rams got Jalen Ramsey or uh, Splash with Von Miller. I feel like the Lions need one or two of those players to really like, solidify for the core of that defense.

AJ Reilly: But also the draft, you know, to Raw Podcast here to their comment about we have eight picks, can’t draft all defense, but they all will not play. That’s true. That’s cool. Yeah. But I’d say four of those eight probably need to be defense at minimum. And I would argue five to six of those picks need to be defense.

Right. For a couple of reasons. Um, one, the more defensive picks you gather, the higher your odds are that you find a few pieces that you need. Mm-hmm. as opposed to putting all of your eggs into a Will Anderson bucket or a Christian Gonzalez bucket. Right? Right. I mean, who knew James Houston in the sixth round at pick two 19 last year was gonna have eight sacks and seven games.

Trust Brad Holmes And His Strategy

Exactly. Right. And so in that, in that vein, I’m gonna trust Brad Holmes and his strategy and his evaluation a hundred percent with eight picks. And I would like to see him use six of those eight picks on, you know, maybe five, five of those picks, then draft a tight end of running back in a quarterback.

Mm-hmm. . Now what order you do that in is completely up to your evaluation and the best player on the board. And I think that’s part of their strategy, right? Part of the strategy is who’s the best talent available. We saw that last year when they traded up to get Jamo best talent on the board, traded up to get ’em.

I’m not opposed to that strategy, as long as you are also filling holes on the back end as well. Right. So, like for me, if, if Bijan Robinson somehow falls to the second round, you go get him and he’s there for your pick in the second round, you take him. I don’t take him in the first round. No, but I do think that you need to deepen your running back room because Swift has one year left.

Yep. This is his final year. So there are definitely, holes that need to be filled specifically more on defense than on offense. Jacob, you said hi, and then you asked what will the Lions’ record be next season, do we think next season? I can’t answer that right now.

Eric Vincent: It’s too much. It’s too much to cover yet it’s,

AJ Reilly: I would love to give you an answer and I would love to say 12 and five, but I don’t know what their free agency looks like and I don’t know what their draft looks like.

Eric Vincent: 17 and oh man. 

AJ Reilly: But here’s what… but here’s what I will guarantee you. I will guarantee you beyond the shadow of a doubt, they win the NFC North next year. Yes. I don’t care. I don’t care what happens in free agency. I don’t care what happens in the draft. You are looking at your NFC North Champs next year in the Detroit Lions.

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