I’ve been to so many Detroit Lions minicamps over the years that I no longer keep count because they only serve as a grim reminder that I’m no longer in my 20s. So let’s just say I’m in my late 20s. My very, very, very late 20s.
It’s a well-established scientific fact that covering the Lions ages sportswriters at an advanced rate. So even though I feel like I’m in my late 20s, my metabolic age is somewhere in the early 100s. It doesn’t help that I don’t get enough vitamin D sitting in the Dungeon of Doom.
But with all that age comes experience and wisdom. (Insert your own joke here). What I learned from this week’s three-day minicamp is that it’s going to be a long, rough training camp for the Lions in the second year of the rebuild under general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell.
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I don’t think it’s going to be 2022 Tigers faceplant bad, but it’s not going to be good.
Call me a wet blanket. Call me a sourpuss. Call me whatever. But I’m not going to lie for the sake of stoking false hope and interest.
I wish I could tell you that what I saw and heard at minicamp made me believe this rebuild is ahead of schedule, and that the Lions are just about ready to turn the corner.
They aren’t.
One of the storylines that’s was going around this spring, and during camp, was the “national” optimism some pundits have about the Lions. First, I haven’t seen any of those pundits in Allen Park all spring. Second, pundits need subjects for their punditry in the spring. So who better to punditize in the spring than a bad team that absolutely no one can prove is better or worse while they run through drills in shorts?
See, NFL? The Lions do serve a purpose!
None other than respected veteran NFL writer Peter King has called the Lions “one of the most interesting teams in football.” But lots of things are interesting. That mole on my back is interesting.
To be fair, ol’ Pete did base his interest on how hard the Lions played last year for Campbell and — I’m not kidding — going 11-6 against the spread. (Insert face-palm emoji here.) Remember that bit about spring punditry? The Lions might not show up again in King’s column till the trade deadline.
As for reporters like me who are forced … er, have the privilege of regularly covering the Lions, things aren’t quite so rosy. They aren’t bad. They just aren’t, you know, great.
A lot of my caution is based on the Lions implementing new systems on defense and offense. That requires adjustment, which requires time.
Moving to a 4-3 scheme shouldn’t be as hard for the defense. But a first-time offensive coordinator, who may or may not be calling plays, reaching back in time for the play-action concepts that made Jared Goff successful early in his career with the Rams could be a problem. There’s a chance the success of those concepts came more from the offensive-genius head coach who conceived them than the concepts themselves — oh, and an All-Pro running back in Todd Gurley and a young Cooper Kupp at wide receiver in 2017 and ’18.
It’s not actually a bad idea. Why not copy the top cats? The Lions just don’t have the personnel or the experience running this offense. That will take time.
Then there’s Goff. It’s a huge year for him. If he doesn’t have a good season, the Lions have to take a quarterback early in the 2023 draft. Campbell is a pretty straight shooter as NFL coaches go, and he rightly didn’t heap praise on his QB. He lauded him for working on his fundamentals, his accuracy and better footwork and said, “I have no red flags with him.”
That’s just not a ringing endorsement. Maybe I’m reading too much into that, but is that the kind of evaluation you’d like to hear from your boss?
No red flags? Awesome! When do I get my raise?
Campbell is smart not to hitch his wagon to Goff. He should be fair in his evaluation, but there’s no need to be falsely effusive. As I said, straight shooter.
If I ask you to name the one new player who gives you hope, it has to be receiver Jameson Williams. But Campbell was completely transparent on Thursday and said Williams won’t be ready for training camp as he recovers from a torn ACL.
If you think defensive end Aidan Hutchinson is more promising, pump the brakes. He looked good playing mostly with the second team, but he’s undersized and we’re going to have to wait to see how he looks against the first-team offense with pads on.
There are positives, of course. If the offensive line stays healthy, it could be a force. The same goes for D’Andre Swift and T.J. Hockenson.
I think receiver D.J. Chark is flying under the radar. The free-agent pickup looks like he’s on a different level from his teammates.
But there are just too many questions. How long before Williams plays? Will cornerback Jeff Okudah be effective when he gets healthy? Who’s the kicker? Will the linebackers be better, or at least not horrible? Will second-round defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike redeem himself after a terrible rookie year?
Like most coaches, Campbell has to put a positive spin on any misgivings he has. He’s skilled at doing that. He said during minicamp that, compared to last year, the team is at a higher intellectual level. But then he added a qualifier that really means nothing.
“Look, energy was good last year,” he said, “but I feel like these guys are really competing and flying around out there. Look, we’ve got some of our young guys a little more developed. We got a little bit more talent, and the more talent you have the better you make the other talent around you, and they just kind of push each other. Those two things I do feel and do see relative to last year.”
Campbell is asking all of us to look at his team and notice the difference. But youthful energy doesn’t mean much in the NFL when it comes to competing against more talented veteran opponents. So come to training camp and take a look for yourself, because even the tired eyes of someone in his very, very, very late 20s can read between the lines and see the Lions have far way to go.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.