Detroit Lions STUCK With This CRITICAL FLAW?

Lions fans are not happy with the current back-up QB situation but will it change?

Welcome to Detroit. Doesn’t matter if you have one ass cheek and three toes. I will beat your ass. You can drown them. And that’s what we got to be. That’s who we have to be cuz that’s our domain. That is our domain because we’ll tread water as long as it takes to [ __ ] bury you. Takes the snap, turns, gives to Montgomery right side zone. Touchdown Detroit Lions. We are driven by Detroit. Hello Detroit Lions friends, fans, and family members. Welcome on back to yet another episode of MCM Motor City Mania. I’m your host, David T. Pike, and as always, we’re diving on in. So folks, for this episode here today, this is going to be one of those episodes that’s going to be very tricky to try and navigate because it’s one of those episodes where it’s like one part of me is on one side of the fence and another part of me is on another side of the fence. Now, what exactly am I referring to? What I’m referring to has to do with the Detroit Lions backup quarterback position. And the reason why I find myself in this very oddball, you kind of know um predicament is because after what I saw in the Hall of Fame game, it is beyond clear and obvious that the Lions backup quarterback position is a problem. It’s a weakness. And in my opinion, it is a weakness or a flaw that is really something that could, you know, cause problems for the Lions. Now, when we’re talking about all this, there’s a couple of things we have to keep in mind. There’s a couple of things we have to keep straight. Number one, what we saw in the Hall of Fame game, that was backups that were playing. It was not starters. So, you can’t really actually evaluate where those backup quarterbacks are as far as talent is concerned, as far as how good they are really when they’re dealing with primarily backups that they’re playing with. Because let’s call it for what it is here. If in case or in the likelihood that you know, one of those two guys was to get called into a game, they would not be playing with the backups. They would be playing with the starters. Now, on the opposite side of that coin, that also means that they wouldn’t be playing against backups either. They would be playing against starters. So, the question you have to start really asking yourself is, is what are we seeing out on the field an actual true barometer? Is it a true indicator of what these guys could realistically actually do? That’s number one. Number two, the other thing we have to keep in mind is that when we’re talking about these two guys, Kyle Allen and Hen Hooker, we also have to keep in mind where they are in relation to their careers. We have to keep in mind where they’re where they are in relation to understanding the offense. There’s a couple of things we have to understand before we start passing, you know, too extreme of judgment. The first thing that we have to understand with Kyle Allen is he’s coming into a new system. He’s learning that new system. So everything for him is brand spanking new. He’s, you know, building new chemistry with these wide receivers. He’s understanding how his role is within the offense, what his expectations are as far as, you know, how to read defenses, how to understand how the offense works in terms of timing, in terms of building chemistry. That takes time. Now, you would expect that it’s going to take less time because he is a veteran quarterback and he’s been around for quite a bit. He’s played on multiple teams. So you would expect the acclamation period to be a little bit less a little bit quicker. But with Hen and Hooker, all of those kind of thought processes, all those kind of reasons, they virtually almost go entirely out the door. again. Um, when I was on Lions Talk Live this morning when I was talking with Coach Dan, I pretty much made it a point to say, listen, Hen Hooker, this is pretty much the exact same system that was ran last year because co Johnny Mo said that they were not going to change a whole lot. They were going to keep things mostly the same. They might change a couple formations, you know, concepts, a little bit of this, that, or the other thing, but they weren’t doing a complete overhaul. Plus on top of that, yes, while there are new receivers in camp that, you know, obviously he’s having to work with, the primary guys are still there that have been there for the last couple of years. Patrick is still there. You still have Tom Kennedy. You still have, you know, Aman Ross St. Brown. You still have JO. You still have, you know, the other tight ends like Brock Wright, Shane Zilstra. So, you have all these guys out there that you’ve already been working with for the last couple of years. So all the reasons or all the potential, you know, excuses that you could give for Kyle Allen, you really can’t give that for Henden Hooker. And that’s why I think the whole situation with Henden Hooker right now is a much more big, it’s a bigger red flag because of the fact that, you know, he shouldn’t be having the problems that he’s having. And that’s not even including the fact of the accuracy. That’s not even including the accuracy, the the ball placement issue. Those are things that as a quarterback, those should just come naturally because if you cannot throw a ball accurately or with good precision, ball placement, whatever, whatever term you’d like to use, you’re not going to last long in the NFL. And that’s why, you know, Anthony Richardson’s having the problems he’s having because everybody knew that the guy was an athletic freak. Guy could throw the ball for freaking a mile, but he couldn’t hit water if he was falling out of a boat most of the time. And that’s why we’re in this predicament of why the Lions backup quarterback position right now is viewed as a critical flaw. It’s views it’s viewed by a lot of fans as a critical weakness. And to be entirely honest, I understand why Lions fans feel that way. I understand why it’s like, man, if if something happens to golf, we’re in trouble. Now, let me just say this for what it is. I don’t anticipate, knock on wood, that anything is going to happen to golf. I know some people are going to say, “Well, very few quarterbacks last the entirety of the year without getting hurt, blah blah blah blah blah.” I’m going to tell you this right now. It’s a lot more than what you actually think it is. But let’s put it into perspective here. Jared Goff has played the last two straight years. Hasn’t, you know, hasn’t missed a game. Actually, 2024 20 actually has played the last three years straight without missing a game. Has not missed one game. So, it’s like, listen, Jared G is one of the most durable. is one one of the most consistent quarterbacks in terms of being out there and being able to play. And I know other people are going to say, well, with a new offensive line that might have a chance to, you know, not happen this year. Again, I’m not worried about the offensive line like a lot of people are. I have a lot of confidence in the fact that, you know, I think Mahogany is going to do well at left guard. I have a lot of confidence and trust in the fact that Graham Glascow is going to slide right on in center. He’s going to take over that role. He’s going to be a solidifying and centering force for that offensive line. And I think Tate Rattlage is going to absolutely dominate when it comes to the right guard position. I know there’s going to be a little bit of a transition period. I know there’s going to be a little bit of an acclamation period, but I don’t see that offensive line really being that big of an issue or a weakness for the Lions because again, you have Hank Freillley as a coach. He’s going to make sure that those guys are coached up properly. He’s going to make sure that they understand their assignments. I’m not worried about the offensive line. I’m not worried about Jared Goff. But there’s another reason why the backup quarterback role is a crucial one. And there’s a reason why I have, you know, some of the same concerns that some Lions fans have in regards to it. And, you know, its place moving into the season. Again, with Kyle Allen, I expect that as time goes by, he’s going to be able to grasp the offense better. He’s going to get timing down better. I expect that that’s going to get better overall as an, you know, just as time goes by. And whether or not Kyle Allen wins the number two quarterback job or not, I don’t know. I don’t know if Hinn and Hooker will somehow find a way to do it or not because again, we’re talking like, you know, 3, four weeks into the future. A lot of damn things can happen and change within those 3 to four weeks. So, there’s no way I can effectively be able to tell you one way or the other who I think’s going to win the job. But here’s what I can tell you. One thing I have noticed ever since the Hall of Fame game went down is there are now a ton a ton of fans that are clamoring that Brad Holmes goes out and signs another veteran quarterback that he goes out he gets somebody else to bring in to not only push that room to be better but to also bring more competition to help you know Kyle Allen to help Penn Hen and Hooker and potentially have a better backup quarterback going into the season behind golf if something should happen to him. Well, here’s what I can tell you. There’s no way that’s going to happen. I I I’m just going to tell you this right now. I I feel it in my bones. I just do not think further that I just don’t think it’s going to happen. And again, I know that’s something that people are not going to want to hear, but I’m not going to lie to you. I’m not going to try and sprinkle sugar on a turd and, you know, try and sugarcoat stuff. But that’s what I feel because you have to understand something here. Brad Holmes has had opportunities throughout the entirety of this off season to add pieces to other positions that people think could could stand to get an improvement. And the one I’m primarily talking about is the edge rushing room. We know that the Lions have had dialogue with Matt Judon, but nothing has really come of that. We know that the Lions have had, you know, dialogue with bringing back Cedarius Smith, but nothing’s come of that either. Both of these are guys that the Lions have talked to. They’ve talked to the representatives and they have at least upfront expressed there’s interest, but nothing has come of it. And it’s like, okay, if the Lions are interested, but nothing has happened, that tells me there has to be something else that’s coming up where the Lions feel like, okay, we are not ready to make a move yet. And for me, there are two primary reasons why I think the Lions are doing that. The first reason is probably money. how they, you know, either because they feel like they don’t want to spend the money just yet, they feel like the player’s wanting too much money, whatever the case might be. Usually, when it comes to contracts and usually when it comes to bringing in people that are off the street or somebody you’re trying to bring back and there’s no movement, usually what it comes down to is a lack of willingness to pay the money that that person wants. And I know everyone’s going to say, you know, well, that makes no sense with the Lions having the current salary cap position that they have. I understand that, but also you have to factor in that the Lions are also trying to play long ball here and they got to factor in that, hey, you know what? We got all these other guys that we have to sign that are coming up. Aiden Hutchinson, J Mo, Jamir Gibbs, Brian Branch, Sam Leaporta, all these guys are getting ready to get new contracts here within the next year or two. And it’s like, okay, you have to have money for that. But outside of money being a potential reason as to why I think the Lions have not made a move yet to sign an edge rusher or and why I think the Lions are not going to sign a quarterback is because I believe the Lions are wanting to see what they currently already have. They want to actually put people through the testing system. They want to see, okay, what can you do? And if it’s what we think we can do and what we can work with, then there’s no reason to go out and sign somebody else. Because let’s call it for what it is. The Lions have already stated with Graham Glasgow that they knew what they already had with him in center and they like what they have with him at center. That’s why they wanted to test Tate Ratlage at center to see if, hey, maybe maybe he might be a better option. Maybe we could work another rotation in. Maybe we could have a different combination with that offensive line. But now the reports are showing that the Lions are very comfortable with Glasgow at center. They’re going to keep him there and they’re probably going to move Tate Rattlage to right guard. They just wanted to get him a little bit of reps, a little bit of acclamation, and see how he responded to being in that position. Well, if you apply the same concept with what’s been going on with the edge rushing room and then you also apply it with what I believe is the case as far as quarterback is concerned. I don’t believe the Lions are going to make a move in either of those two departments until potentially later on in camp, just before season starts. And here’s the reason why. Again, you have to take a look at what’s going on with the edge rushing component. There’s a lot of guys there that are young. They’re trying to figure out what they have in them. They want to see if hey, you know what? If these guys are going to work, you obviously just drafted Ahmed Hazane. You obviously brought back Uku. You obviously have Hos, you also have Muhammad. So, it’s like, okay, we want to see what those guys can do. We want to see if Uku and Muhammad can come back and give us the exact same thing they did last year, which they were pretty good for us last year. We want to see how Hosanine does as a rookie. So, we want to make sure he’s getting plenty of reps. And then obviously you already have Hutch that’s coming back from the injury. You want to make sure that he’s getting as many reps as possible so that way you know he’s ready to rock and roll for the regular season even though I think he’s totally fine right now. And then with Davenport it’s like hey you want to you want to make sure that he can stay healthy but at the same time you don’t want him having less reps by bringing somebody in. And that’s part of the numbers game that comes with training camp. It’s like listen you have all these guys in camp. They’re all competing for reps. are all trying to get as much, you know, time out on the field to really hone their craft and, you know, get better. Well, when you think about it from that perspective, the same thing is even doubly true for the quarterback position because you have to think about it, you have Hen Hooker and you have Kyle Allen. Kyle Allen, as I said, is a veteran quarterback. He’s been in this, he’s been in the NFL for a long time. He’s considered a very good backup by most people’s position because he’s a guy that, you know, you can bring in. He can hold down the four. He can do exactly what you need him to do. But in this case, like I said, he’s he’s learning a brand new position or sorry, a brand new offense. He’s having to learn how it runs, how it works, and coordinates with everything inside of it. He’s learning timing chemistry with wide receivers. So, if I’m thinking about it from the perspective of Coach Campbell and also from Brad Holmes, it would be unfair to him to say, “Hey, you know what? after one game where things didn’t look particularly all that great, we’re going to cut you and we’re going to go somewhere else. It’s like he hasn’t even had time really to fully learn the offense, to fully build chemistry, to fully actually show what he can do just yet. So for Kyle Allen, that to me is a reason as to why the Lions are not going to make a move because they haven’t given him enough time. They haven’t given him much of a chance yet to really show what he can do once he’s fully acclimated to the offense. Now, with Hen Hooker, his issue more so is the fact that the Lions are wanting to see something out of him. They’re wanting to see that progress. They’re wanting to see that promise that they thought they were going to get from him when they drafted him in the third round a couple of years ago. And again, it’s one of those things that we know with the Lions, they want players that they believe in. And obviously, they believe that Hen Hooker has something that is valuable to them. But at the same time, the Lions are not going to wait forever. So, it’s this very highwire balancing act with Henden Hooker cuz it’s like, hey, obviously you want to see the progress. You want to see the development and according to them, they’ve been seeing some of it. They’ve been seeing some things getting better and you know, they like some of the things that he’s doing, but at the same time, when you take a look at what’s happening out on the field, it’s just simply not fully translating. So with them, it’s kind of like this balancing act of, okay, how much more time do we realistically want to give him to try and develop? And at the same time, do we really want to pull the plug too early on this guy because of the fact that, you know, he might be having some struggles? Because, again, I know this much for a fact. When it comes to the quarterback position, it’s a very hard position to understand. It’s a very hard position to fully comprehend, grasp, and actually become a master of. And that’s why I think the Lions are continuing to hold on to Henden Hooker is because of the fact that one, they like his athletic talent. There’s nothing wrong with that. He’s very athletically gifted, but at the same time, he’s mature. He’s been, you know, wellreceived by the fan. Sorry, not by the fans. That’s now starting to kind of erode a little bit. But he’s been wellreceived by the organization. The players like him. He’s very mature. He’s very, you know, well seasoned as far as an individual is concerned. It’s just he hasn’t fully pieced everything together yet. So, it’s one of those things where you’re kind of like watching a timer go by and you’re wondering, okay, well, when are we going to officially say we’ve been at this long enough? And I think that’s where the Lions are right now is they’re wanting to make sure they give Hennon Hooker enough time to fully be given a chance to acclimate because again, it’s not like even though this is his third year, it’s not like it’s his third year actually doing this. This is only his second full training camp. So for them, they’re like, “Hey, we’ve got to give him the time to actually fully pick everything up here.” Because let’s call it for what it is. The Lions offense is a complex one. It’s a very deep one. It’s one that has a lot of moving components, shifts, protections, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It takes a while to fully grasp and fully comprehend. That’s why Goff is in the position that he is in because he does fully comprehend it. He does fully grasp it. And then you have to think about the other reason why I think the Lions are in the situation that they are and why us fans are kind of stuck with Kyle Allen and Hinn and Hooker. Because as I just said with Kyle Allen, even though the Lions brought him in earlier in the offseason, obviously he’s still working on, you know, trying to get himself up to speed with the offense, chemistry, rapport with receivers, the whole nine yards. Well, that’s especially going to be even more true if you bring in a guy that has not had any, you know, any sort of connection with this team before. Because I know some people have thought, well, why why don’t we bring in Carson Wentz? I think Carson Wentz is better than both of those guys right now because Carson Wentz does have physical ability. Maybe not as physically gifted as Hen Hooker, but there’s a reason why Carson Wentz was drafted in the first round. He does have that physical talent. He has been a starter for a number of teams in the league. So, it’s like, okay, I could see that as a potential option, but then you go back to the monetary constraints. If you’re not willing to sign somebody like a Zarius Smith or you haven’t made a move on Matt Judon just yet, and it’s because of money, what do you think you’re going to be able to get freaking Carson Wentz for? He’s not going to sign for anything pretty, you know, cheap. You might be able to get him for a one-year or two-year contract that’s probably going to be like, you know, 10 to 14 million. So, I don’t see that happening on that front either. Now, I know other people are going to say, “Well, if it’s that issue, then why not bring back Teddy Bridgewwater.” Well, that is a potential option that would take care of the whole acclimating period because, you know, he was with the offense last year. He was with the year before that. So, obviously, he knows how it’s ran for the most part. He has rapport and he has chemistry with the receivers. He is a savvy veteran. He has started for a number of teams. That is true as well. But again, it also goes back to do you really want to take reps away from Kyle Allen and from Hen Hooker if you’re trying to see if they can actually do the job. And then plus on top of that, we don’t know if Teddy Bridgewwater actually wants to come back and play yet or not. Pretty much the whole thing was is that up until the whole news came out that he got, you know, dismissed from his high schooling coaching job because apparently they thought that he was, you know, um I don’t even know what word I would use, but pretty much he was trying to buy favor or he was trying to do something that was considered unethical by donating money out of his own pocket to the football program and to the football, you know, system as far as what was there. I don’t know if he wants to come back and play. I don’t know if he’s still trying to coach. I don’t know what his actual, you know, desire is at this point. So, you really can’t make a base on, you really can’t make a judgment based on all that. You’d actually have to talk with him. And so far, we have not heard word one about the Lions actually reaching out to Teddy Bridgewwater. And again, I believe it’s all based for the reasons that I just talked about, you know, throughout the course of this episode. They want to see what they’re going to get with Kyle Allen. They want to see what they’re going to get with Hen Hooker. They want to put them through an actual competition. and they want to see, okay, can we actually run with these guys? And I guarantee you this, while the fans are having a reaction that is extreme, the Lions are not. They realized it was the first preseason game. You’re definitely going to have a lot of things you’re going to have to work out, bugs, and you know, all these little things that are going to have to get tweaked a little bit. And then plus on top of that, you’re playing with a bunch of guys that most of them have never played on an NFL football team before or they’ve never played an NFL level style of game yet. So, it’s like, okay, now you’ve started that process of, you know, figuring out who’s going to be able to play moving forward. That’s where you start figuring out, okay, this guy did decent. We’ll continue to give him reps. This guy didn’t do so decent. We’re going to give him less reps. This guy did really good. We’re going to want to see even more of him, so let’s give him even more reps. This is where the process starts actually, you know, winnowing widowing down, you know, who actually is going to get more time to play. So, it’s like, okay, here, that’s what I see the Lions are doing. They’re going to figure out who’s the best on their roster before they decide to start bringing in new bodies into camp. Because at this point, the only reason I see the Lions bringing new bodies into camp is if it’s a player that they just absolutely feel they can’t pass up on, or if somebody actually gets hurt and they feel like they have to bring in somebody, which at this point, I don’t feel like either of those options have happened yet. But that’s why I feel like the Lions fans, even though they might want to bring in somebody else, we’re kind of stuck with what we’re at. And I know Lions fans are not going to want to hear that because it’s not exactly the best news to hear. But based upon everything that I understand and know about the situation, that’s what I believe is going to be the case. So, it’s kind of one of those things where you’re just going to have to grit and bear it and, you know, hope and pray that over the next couple of weeks and games, we’re going to see a better performance than what we saw, you know, on Thursday night. But anyway, folks, you all will do with this information what you will. Hopefully, it was illuminating. Hopefully, it gave you guys a little bit of a better understanding. Maybe saw things in a different light. But having said that, I’m going to end this episode and say thank you all for watching in another episode of MCM Motor City Mania. If you like what you saw, by all means, I highly encourage all to watch next episode. Also encourage you all to do one of these three things, like, comment, and subscribe. Please subscribe if you did like the content. And also, if you subscribed in the past or you just subscribed as I, you know, was advising, please, please, please make sure you hit that bell notification icon so you guys never miss any more content that I push out. Hope everybody’s having a great day. Hope you all have something in your life that makes you happy, makes you smile. God bless, my friends. And until the next time we meet, I’ll see you all in the next episode. [Music]