00:00It's a lunatic and Jansen along with Heather.
00:04If people missed my full presentation, you can rewind on the Odyssey app.
00:10Greg will podcast it. You'll have yours at 835.
00:14I'm not going to bite my tongue after all the stuff you're putting me through today.
00:18Hey, trust me. There'll be things that you can nitpick on mine.
00:22Oh, I will.
00:23Offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year, and MVP probably not going to be one of them,
00:26but we'll see.
00:27I'll have a red pen out. We'll do this.
00:29Pacheco, he's going to miss some time. He's going to start season on the IR.
00:32It could be extended time.
00:34So what's the level of concern here?
00:38I don't necessarily know what the Lions were expecting from him.
00:43I think this is not out of the realm of possibilities because he's been battling injuries, especially last year, but
00:50last couple of years.
00:51The wear and tear on him, it just hasn't gone well.
00:56And they didn't sign him to some unbelievable contracts.
01:00One year, prove it, you know, make sure that you can still be an NFL running back for a million
01:05and a half bucks, a little more than that.
01:08So, okay, he's unavailable.
01:10And how much did you expect him to be used?
01:15Seven, eight carries a game?
01:17Because of what they have indicated that they're going to do with Jameer Gibbs.
01:22So now you split those seven or eight carries up between Jacob Saylors, Jabari Small, hell, throw Sione Vaki into
01:29the mix.
01:30And I think you're going to get about the same as you would get out of Isaiah Pacheco.
01:36Now, they don't have the track record that Pacheco has, but they're young.
01:41And it's very similar to what you see San Francisco doing, Christian McCaffrey, further down the road and much more
01:49wear and tear.
01:50But they've got, what is it, Kalon Black and Jordan James.
01:54Again, a second year and a first year guy.
01:56Now, those guys were drafted.
01:57Yeah, so they used a third round pick on their backup.
02:00Right.
02:00And Black out of Indiana.
02:01He was a thousand yard player in college, bit of a track record.
02:04And they used real capital to backfill McCaffrey.
02:07Just so we understand, our current depth situation now with the Pacheco injury,
02:12Saylors has, I believe, two career carries.
02:15Yes.
02:15Vaki has seven career carries.
02:17And Small has zero career carries.
02:20And none of them were, you know, significant draft capital.
02:24They're not expecting any of these guys to rip off 60-yard touchdown runs and go for touchdowns.
02:28They're not expecting them to take 20 to 25 carries a game.
02:32They put all their eggs in one basket.
02:34It didn't matter who they were going to take outside of David Montgomery.
02:38They sent him, and they ended up getting what's going to be their starting center to start the season.
02:43So I'm not going to sit there and smash the trade.
02:45But they were anticipating that Jameer Gibbs, they're going to live and die with Jameer Gibbs.
02:53And if he gets dinged up, hey, let's check the waiver wire.
02:57Let's see what other guys are available.
02:59But as of now, their plan really hasn't changed.
03:03It was going to be Isaiah Pacheco for a handful of carries.
03:07And now it's going to be, you know, a couple of other guys for a handful of carries.
03:11If your point is nothing really changed, I agree.
03:15This was going to be Gibbs as the workhorse, the bell cow.
03:18I think Campbell used bell cow, workhorse, whatever you want to say.
03:20He was going to be the feature back.
03:22And he was going to take a lot of touches.
03:27I'm starting to count how many touches this could end up being, though, because he's a
03:30guy you want to give the ball to 20, 25 times a game, right?
03:33Is it going to be any more or less because Isaiah Pacheco isn't there?
03:38No, no, no.
03:39But let me finish the point.
03:41If it's 20 to 25 touches and you want to play 20 games, we're talking 400 to 500 touches.
03:48He's got to be effective late in the season to win you a Super Bowl.
03:52That was the appeal of not a David Montgomery, but somebody to spell him along the way.
03:57And Pacheco offered them more than they've got now.
04:01More of a proven commodity.
04:03But it doesn't mean that that Jacob Saylors and Jabari Small can't pick up a first down
04:07or they may they may just be taxed with, hey, go in there and pass block.
04:12Go in there and make sure that Jared Goff doesn't get hit.
04:16Go in there and we're going to hand the ball off.
04:19And, you know, Jameer Gibbs needs a breather.
04:22Just don't lose yardage.
04:24Don't put the ball on the ground.
04:25David Montgomery was a luxury.
04:27We all admit that it sucks that he's gone, but they just couldn't pay him that right
04:31when they were going to extend Gibbs.
04:33You know, I didn't mind a Pacheco signing.
04:35He's probably going to get hurt.
04:37He already has.
04:37And, you know, I wish they had one other veteran for sure, because I'll tell you what they've
04:41opened themselves up to now.
04:42We don't know what Gibbs is without having Montgomery as his counterpart.
04:48That's I think he'll be fine.
04:50But in today's NFL, you've got to have somebody else that you can go to that you can trust.
04:56I like that what this opens up right now, if they ride these guys and they don't go get
04:59a veteran guys, they get hit in a real NFL game.
05:02Fumbling like that's the one like Pacheco was responsible with the football.
05:07You know, you spell Gibbs and he killed this guy.
05:10Somebody comes in sailor and in fumbles.
05:13Yeah, you don't know.
05:14It's an unknown.
05:15That's what scares me.
05:15I would love for them to go get Kareem Hunt.
05:17I think he was brought into camp to work out a few weeks ago.
05:21It's reasonable for that reason.
05:24I've been in deep fantasy leagues, and so I know that Hunt has been OK over the last
05:31few years.
05:31He can be productive.
05:33He's a pro and he's a veteran player.
05:36Tough yards.
05:36Yeah.
05:37You know, he's won a Super Bowl.
05:39You know, I know his past is way in the past now, and I don't think people have a problem
05:42with that.
05:45He's pretty decent in the red zone still.
05:48OK, here's where I'm at with the Pacheco injury.
05:51It doesn't change the game plan for the Lions.
05:53They're still going to lean heavily on Gibbs.
05:55I get where John's coming from.
05:57My only gripe in this, I don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill.
06:00We're talking about the backup running back.
06:02Is it an unnecessary risk they're taking going into the season, given their depth at
06:07the position?
06:08Because I would argue it is an unnecessary risk to have Gibbs and nothing.
06:15Is it more of an unnecessary risk not having somebody on the roster that is a return guy?
06:23I mean, sure, I could point out a few things that I don't like about the current roster.
06:26But I'm saying, like, you've got to take some gambles in some certain situations, and they
06:31are gambling that Jameer Gibbs is going to be awesome.
06:35We all think he's going to be in running the football, catching the football, doing everything
06:40that he's always done just with more touches, but that they're taking the risk that we don't
06:48want to pay that second running back any amount of value, and we want to use that other
06:55places.
06:55So let's go see what happens.
06:58The structure of the workhorse back, it still exists in the NFL today.
07:01I know not the way it did 20 years ago, but the Eagles are going to feature Saquon Barkley.
07:07The Ravens, who the hell cares who the backup running back is?
07:10It's going to be Derrick Henry's show.
07:11Christian McCaffrey was RB1 in fantasy last season.
07:15You know, Tom was talking fantasy.
07:16He is the volume guy in their backfield.
07:19There are examples in the league.
07:20B. John's going to be another one of these guys.
07:23Jonathan Taylor, name who their backup running back is in Indy, right?
07:26It's not unheard of to do it this way, and Gibbs is in the prime, and it may pay off.
07:31It's just a risk you're taking with how important the run game is to this team.
07:36You're already going away from the Montgomery backup plan, and now the backup plan is more
07:43uncertain.
07:44I am very risk-averse.
07:46I don't like taking a lot of risks.
07:48This is one I'm willing to accept.
07:52Text says, go grab Kareem Hunt.
07:54He would have been a good pickup.
07:56The money that went to Dorch and Pacheco could have just went to Demo.
08:00No, these are like million-dollar players.
08:02Better get Kareem Hunt back to Allen Park.
08:05Oh, my goodness.
08:06Jim Costa just Costa-locked our entire roster.
08:08We're screwed, Tom and Flatrock.
08:10Settle down.
08:11Let's get to David.
08:13You're on 97.1.
08:15Hey, fellas.
08:16In the NFL, is it the learning curve for running back the smallest learning curve in the position?
08:21Plug and play?
08:22Sure.
08:23It's more instinctual than it is, you know, assignment.
08:28The only thing I'm concerned about, and I don't know enough about the new offensive coordinator
08:32to know his scheme and anything about pass protection and stuff like that, that's where
08:36I would be more concerned as far as not getting the carries.
08:39Like, you asked the question, you know, it was nice to have Montgomery in the past.
08:42Are you telling me that Jameer Gibbs wouldn't have had what he had last year if he didn't
08:47have David Montgomery?
08:49I don't buy that.
08:50But I'm more concerned on the pass protection type deal.
08:53Yeah, I think we all want Gibbs to get featured.
08:57We know how dangerous and dynamic he is.
08:59I felt like towards the end of last year, we were saying more Gibbs, more Gibbs, more Gibbs.
09:03Sometimes it's just about, you got to survive the season, right?
09:05And we've also learned that lesson about how brutal this game can be.
09:08I want him to be, no, he's fresh in January or February, but I really want to avoid having
09:14this guy break down and wear down for the biggest moments of the season, right?
09:18And to his point, like the running back is more in an instinctual position where you can
09:23make that transition from high school to college a lot easier than a lot of other positions.
09:26Same thing from college to the NFL.
09:29So, and I have no idea what Jacob Saylor's and Jabari Small will be in terms of their
09:34instincts, but we didn't see them really behind the first offensive line throughout the course
09:39of training camp.
09:40But when you're talking about pass protection, which is where I do believe that they're going
09:45to use those guys more than they will Gibbs, that is very assignment and execution based.
09:51Like you've got to know where the blitzer, where is my guy?
09:54And don't get it confused with who the offensive line is picking up.
09:57And there are some things that are changed at the line of scrimmage.
10:01You know, Hey, you touch them, you buy them.
10:03And all of a sudden it's, you know, at the center touches a blitzing linebacker, but that
10:08was the running back's guy.
10:09Now you've got to adjust.
10:11Yep.
10:11Do you guys have any criticism here for the timing of how this played out?
10:14This comes out yesterday afternoon and you did your whole cut 53 man roster guys became
10:22available around the league.
10:24Like what changed in 48 hours, roughly?
10:28Cause an old friend was available.
10:31Who's the old friend Craig Reynolds, but he resigned to the commander's practice squad.
10:36And that's what I'm saying in this window.
10:37He's on their practice squad.
10:38So you could still pick them off of that.
10:40Yeah.
10:40Right.
10:41But what I was just saying is even when he was there, they didn't put them on the
10:44practice squad.
10:45Like why weren't you jumping?
10:47I'll give you another example.
10:48Cause it's, it's, it's kind of alluded to in this text Packers radios talking about the
10:51same stuff with Jacobs suspended.
10:54They want to add a back to their room.
10:56Well, they did trade for a running back around the roster cut.
10:59Did you see this?
11:00I don't know if it slipped under the radar for people.
11:02Caleb Johnson, the running back out of Iowa that had fallen out of favor in Pittsburgh.
11:06They believe they used a third round pick on him.
11:08They dealt him to green Bay.
11:10That would have been a guy that you could have pursued here in Detroit.
11:12Right.
11:14Yeah.
11:15Well, we value our third round picks too much.
11:16No, no.
11:17I'm saying we got to save those for project receivers.
11:19No, I'm saying he was a third round pick of the Steelers.
11:22They didn't give up a third round pick to get them.
11:24Uh-huh.
11:24Yeah.
11:25Valued offensive linemen that have never played in the States.
11:30Surprised you guys don't want Donovan Edwards signed Mike Enrico.
11:34All right.
11:35That's a good one.
11:36Wasn't he going to revolutionize the position?
11:38He's still around, isn't he?
11:40Is he in the league?
11:42I thought he was released.
11:43He was on the Jets practice squad.
11:45Poor thing.
11:45I think most of last year.
11:47I don't know.
11:48I mean, all the laughs in here and stuff.
11:50The Lions, one of the biggest advantages in division is the running back position.
11:55Now, not depth-wise, but man, the Bears have questions.
11:59Monungay is banged up.
12:00I don't know about Swift.
12:01I mean, he's getting a little long in the tooth.
12:03How the Vikings are running with Aaron Jones, isn't he hurt?
12:08I think he was at least banged up in preseason.
12:10He's all right.
12:10Jordan Mason.
12:11That's their number one.
12:12Yeah, but I mean, he's so-so.
12:16And now the Packers situation?
12:20Again, I am very much risk-averse, but this is a risk I'm willing to take.
12:26I just know how important it is to who they are as a football team.
12:29Sure.
12:30No question.
12:30No doubt about it.
12:32But if that offensive line is as good as it's supposed to be, then you should be able to plug
12:36and play RB2 and get some tough yards in relief.
12:39Correct.
12:39Okay.
12:40No, I mean, the depth is a big thing.
12:41I mean, you look at plays.
12:42Like, I brought up Craig Reynolds.
12:44He had a couple pretty memorable plays with the Lions when Gibbs and Montgomery were on the team.
12:49Oh, sure.
12:49We always point to the Tampa game.
12:50The Tampa block.
12:51He scored the go-ahead touchdown when the Tampa playoff game was 10-10 on 4th and 1.
13:00Cowboys Wire is writing about them pursuing Donovan Edwards.
13:04Probably as a practice squad guy.
13:06So he is still among us professionally.
13:09Be with Rashawn Gary.
13:11Well, there you go.
13:13John is going to give us his NFL season picks.
13:16Who wins all these divisions?
13:16Who wins the Super Bowl?
13:18And we'll hand out some hardware along the way.
13:20It's 97-1.
13:21And we'll hand out some hardware along the way.
