Welcome to Week 7 of the Detroit Lions Mailbag. This is a big week for the Lions, they take on the NFC North leading Minnesota Vikings in a huge game, but there's also a lot of concern after losing Aidan Hutchinson, so get ready for questions about both of those things. Let's get into it.
I'm personally very high on Isaac Ukwu. I think this is a guy that has a very bright future in Detroit. Right now he needs to see more of the field before we can really say what his role is going to be this year. I would fully expect him to either get elevated again on Saturday or get signed to the 53-man roster soon.
I don't think he's the solution right now, but I do think he can be part of group solution. His pass rush juice is definitely there. In the near future I think he can be what Lions fans hoped James Houston would be.
I love the question and here's why, I'm totally one of those guys that believes in the power of hard work and the power of belief. I really do think that this team believes they can beat anyone and I also believe this team can outwork anyone.
With that said, they need some help. It doesn't have to be a superstar or anything like that, but a guy or two that can come in and help could go a super long way. Still, I'm really interested in what the can manufacture with what they have now. I'm guessing we're going to see that on Sunday against the Vikings.
Unfortunately nothing is going to lower the price for Maxx Crosby. The Raiders know what they have there and they're going to rightly charge a lot for him. That is if they move him. They're swearing up and down and left and right that he's not going anywhere. Sometimes teams do that to raise the price, but in this case I think they actually mean it.
When the Lions gave up on James Houston being a SAM linebacker, they immediately turned to Nowaske in that role and he's been playing it pretty well. The Lions gave him his career high in snaps on Sunday and he knocked it out of the park with two pressures, a sack and a hurry.
Much like Ukwu, I think Nowaske can be a part of a group solution this year and then maybe grow into a bigger role in the future. There's no doubt that the Lions love this guy and think a lot of him.
I think the Lions think they're deeper than we think they are and they feel like they can coach their way around this. I'm honestly not ready to say they're wrong about feeling that way. I think they want to find out if they can do it and they will likely do that on Sunday against the undefeated Vikings.
The other part of it is that the last thing you want to do is look desperate. That's when teams can pick on you and ask for way more than they'd normally get for a player.
Absolutely not. I think the Crosby thing would be cool and that it's possible to some degree, but it's so unlikely and it was unlikely even before the McNeill extension.
The big thing to focus on here is that the window just opened up. The Lions can win a Super Bowl this year, but they can do it next year and the year after and beyond too. The reason they can do that is because they built well and then locked down their good players. Keeping McNeill is super important.
Right now I think it's somewhere in the middle. I don't think they stand pat and I don't think they make a huge splash, but I do believe they make a trade or two to help shore up the defensive line with second or third tier guys that they think can do more.
It absolutely is. Dan Campbell and Lions knew exactly what they were doing in this one. They wanted to go into this game and dunk on the Cowboys in any way that they could. I just wish the officials would have let any of them count, but they clearly wanted to fight back.
Related: Blockbuster trade proposal has Lions landing two Pro Bowl edge rushers from same team, but parting with 2024 draft pick and more
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