00:00John, what was the biggest reason the Lions failed to make the playoffs last season?
00:05Well, the offensive line.
00:06Yeah, and we spent a lot of time talking about this offensive line
00:08and how they got to get that right to get back to winning the division,
00:12making playoff runs.
00:13But I actually think the key to winning a Super Bowl
00:16is on the other side of the ball.
00:18People fixate on the defense.
00:20The secondary has too many questions.
00:23The unit that's got to get them from playoffs to championship,
00:27from division winner to Super Bowl winner,
00:30is their defensive line.
00:31Pro Football Focus has them as a top 10 defensive line for the upcoming season.
00:38Do you agree with that?
00:40And do you agree with me that that is the key to taking them from
00:43a regular season team that scores a bunch of points
00:46to a team that can build off of it and win a Super Bowl?
00:49So if we are going with the premise that this is an offense
00:53that can dictate what they do against good teams,
00:58they can run the ball, they can possess the ball,
01:00and when they've got to get explosive plays,
01:02they've got the ability to get downfield,
01:04they can protect the quarterback.
01:06Offensively, things are taken care of as much as you can in the NFL.
01:09Sure.
01:11Then defensively, you have to be able to be stout and stop the run,
01:15and you have to apply pressure to opponents' quarterbacks.
01:18Do I think that this defensive front has the ability,
01:20and I would actually expand it to the front seven.
01:23And it's hard to just say D-line without talking about
01:27how the linebackers interact with them.
01:28Run fits.
01:29But I do think that this could be a much improved
01:34to the point where they could be a top 10 line.
01:38Right now, I don't know that I would put them in that category
01:42because of the unknowns.
01:44Alain McNeil, is he back to what he was?
01:46Tyleek Williams, does he take a step forward?
01:48Levi Onzariki, does he contribute at all?
01:49What's the depth up there?
01:51And it's also taking Aiden Hutchinson as a constant.
01:56He's going to continue to be the guy that applies pressure.
02:00He led the league in pressures last year at, what, 14 1⁄2 sacks.
02:04But if you're talking about a guy that leads the league in pressures,
02:07how does he get home more?
02:09Well, it's the threat of a rush from the other side
02:12or even pushing the pocket in the middle.
02:14So what we don't know is how does DJ Wanham fit into that mix?
02:21What are the contributions he's going to have?
02:23Derek Moore, what are the contributions going to be from him?
02:28Hassanin.
02:29Because last year, they gave up too much time to pass.
02:33Yes.
02:34I mean, we can get into pressures and sacks,
02:36and they did favorably in those categories.
02:38But again, if the quarterback can hold the ball for a long time,
02:41eventually you're going to find...
02:42Somebody's going to get a pressure, but the ball gets gone.
02:45And this team has questions at both safeties.
02:48This team has questions at the corner spot.
02:50If you're going to win meaningful games with this secondary,
02:54you're going to have to heat up the quarterback
02:56and force him to throw a half second to a full second earlier
02:59because that's how you're going to get incomplete passes, punts.
03:04Put your offense back on the field.
03:06Let them grind you out with the run game.
03:09If you build a lead, you can pin your ears back,
03:11but you've got to get home.
03:12This front has to be...
03:14It would unlock them as a Super Bowl team
03:16if their D-line plays like one of the 10 best in football.
03:19And it's contingent on Aleem McNeil being the player he was pre-ACL,
03:23Tyleek Williams taking a leap in year number two.
03:25They invested a first-round pick in him.
03:27He's got to look like it.
03:28Aiden Hutchinson is what he is.
03:30He's one of the two or three best edges in football.
03:32What do they get from the group?
03:33If it's top 10, yeah, it unlocks them as a Super Bowl team.
03:38Because if it doesn't, if this is just a middle-of-the-road D-line
03:42with this secondary, it's going to be shootouts.
03:44It'll win them in the regular season, and they will be done in the postseason.
03:47I agree.
03:48You've got to find...
03:49I mean, the key is you've got to have a quarterback.
03:51You've got to be able to protect said quarterback,
03:52and you have to attack the other quarterback.
03:56That's going to win you a lot of games.
03:58But when it comes to winning in the postseason,
04:02there's been a resurgence in the rushing attack.
04:05We talked about it all with Jameer Gibbs and with all the different guys
04:10that have signed big contracts at the running back position.
04:13The rushing game is going to be a part of whoever it is that wins a championship.
04:18So you've got to be able to shut that down.
04:21How about this for a correlation?
04:22I'm going to give you the teams they have, PFF, top 10 defensive lines.
04:26And most of these teams are in the Super Bowl conversation.
04:30Their number one D-line, no surprise, the LA Rams.
04:33Their number two defensive line, the Houston Texans.
04:38Their number three, Pittsburgh Steelers.
04:40Their issues are on offense.
04:42The Eagles are fourth, and the Seahawks are fifth.
04:44What do all those teams...
04:45I mean, they're all going to be in the mix led by their defense.
04:50Number six is the Denver Broncos.
04:52Get after passers like no one else.
04:54Number seven, it's going to have to get back to Baltimore football,
04:56but the Ravens are there, and they really missed Metabuke last season
05:00on their defensive line, and they've invested on their defensive line,
05:03adding Trey Hendrickson.
05:05I mean, I'm listing the teams in the top 10 D-lines,
05:08and those are teams that have, Pittsburgh's the outlier, Super Bowl expectations.
05:12The Lions, if they can get a top 10 unit up front,
05:15will be able to cover up some of their secondary issues
05:17and chase down a championship.
05:19The one that I think they have listed too low,
05:21and no one ever wants to say anything good about this team,
05:25let alone me, but Dallas.
05:26They've got Dallas at 13, and you've got Kenny Clark,
05:29Quinnen Williams, Rashawn Gary.
05:31They just added Vaughn Miller.
05:33I think that's going to be a pretty good defensive front.
05:36Now, what does that mean?
05:38Combo season?
05:41With the Dallas Cowboys?
05:42Who the hell knows?
05:44It's wild.
05:45You and I, I think, are dancing around this thing with Dallas,
05:47where we don't want to be the guys that say Dallas is going to have a big year
05:50because nobody likes the Cowboys,
05:51and this happens every year where people build them up,
05:54but I really like the offseason they had,
05:56and I think they're poised to make a run.
05:58Yeah, Dallas kind of like it.
06:00It's like Miggy at the end of his career.
06:01Wow, hey, he showed up in the best shape of his life.
06:03Some of it is the way the national media covers the Cowboys.
06:06Yeah, there's a lot of irritation there,
06:08but I do think that the defensive line for the Lions,
06:10I mentioned it a little bit yesterday,
06:11I think they have a chance.
06:14They've got the talent to take that step forward
06:19and be what we're seeing other people talk about,
06:22a top 10 defensive line.
06:24And you pair that with Jack Campbell,
06:28Derek Barnes, if he gets back to the way he was two years ago,
06:31like the player that he was pre-injury,
06:34now you're starting to talk about a really good,
06:38stout, attacking front seven.
06:41Tech's coming in.
06:42The D-line has a serious ceiling for once.
06:45Feels awesome.
06:47McNeil is great, but more than anything,
06:48Ty Leak could be really nice.
06:50Then you have the wild card in Moore opposite Hutch.
06:53A guy like Devin White, who could be an edge blitzer,
06:56could help this D-line as well.
06:57And for a guy to have a serious role,
06:59could be Skylar Gil Howard.
07:01Keep an eye, he could be a pass-rushing problem.
07:04Give them some depth.
07:05They do need a little bit of depth in the interior.
07:07Right.
07:07Well, I mentioned that, the depth.
07:09Is Levi Onzerike going to be that depth?
07:12Can we rely on him to be any type of depth?
07:15Thank you for laughing.
07:16I agree.
07:19Shrug emoji.
07:20Come on.
07:22Tom, what do you make?
07:23Lions have a top 10 defensive line?
07:24You buy in it?
07:25I think potentially, but I would never.
07:26They should not be ahead of Dallas based on.
07:28Right.
07:29At least, look, we got this text that just came in.
07:32There's no, that list is a joke.
07:34There's no way you can justify that there's tape out there
07:37that puts the Lions in the top 10.
07:38I would kind of agree with that.
07:39They have the potential.
07:41I think it's too high until we see it.
07:43Elaine McNeil, he's my guy this year.
07:47He's got to return to form and maybe be a little better
07:49than he was a few years ago.
07:50And I think it changes everything.
07:52Yep.
07:52And we don't know what DJ Wanham is going to be as a Lion.
07:58Will he be as productive in rushing the passer as Al-Qadim Muhammad?
08:02Derek Moore, have no idea if he can make that jump in his rookie season
08:07from Michigan to the NFL.
08:08We've seen it with McNeil, though.
08:10I think people forget how much of a force he could be at times.
08:13The Lions' biggest problem last year offensively was when Glasgow
08:17would just get blown up.
08:19That's the type of plays that McNeil made a couple years ago.
08:22And when you blow up a play like that, it's a drive killer.
08:27Coming up next, e-bikes.
08:30One city's looking to ban them.
08:32Have you had scary encounters with them?
08:34How should we handle the e-bikes?
08:35It's 97-1.
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