Jeremy Reisman beat writer from Pride of Detroit join Jason and Jacob. Listen as Jeremy talks about mandatory mini-camp coming up. Along with talk on how the Lions will replace Josh Reynolds. Which 2nd year player makes the biggest jump? Jeremy does a round of Honolulu Blitz!
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Jeremy Reisman beat writer from Pride of Detroit join Jason and Jacob. Listen as Jeremy talks about mandatory mini-camp coming up. Along with talk on how the Lions will replace Josh Reynolds. Which 2nd year player makes the biggest jump? Jeremy does a round of Honolulu Blitz!
Want to support us?
Item Shop
Visit us on Facebook
Visit us on X: @talkinggritpod
Jason - @Jason_TGPod
Jacob - @jmallitton
YouTube
Talking Grit Website
Talking Grit Subreddit
Email Us: talkinggritpodcast@yahoo.com
Jeremy Reisman Interview Episode
===
Introduction and Guest Introduction
---
[00:00:00] Welcome to a special episode of talking grit. I'm Jason Harwood. And with me is Jacob Litton. And today we have a special guest. It's beat writer for pride to Detroit. Jeremy Reisman.
[00:00:54] Jason Harwood: So we have a Jason
a Jeremy and a Jacob. We only have people that start with the letter [00:01:00] J on this podcast.
Apparently I'm thinking Jared Goff is next. What do you think?
[00:01:05] Jacob Litton: Jameer Gibbs,
[00:01:06] Jason Harwood: Is he available?
[00:01:08] Jeremy Reisman: do. a little historical, go, go Jason
Hansen.
[00:01:11] Jacob Litton: here we
[00:01:11] Jason Harwood: oh, any of those people is fine with me. I'm not gonna, argue with any of that. Jeremy, you're the one with the connections. So we'll just, we'll, we'll talk later on.
[00:01:22] Jeremy Reisman: Alright, sounds good. I
[00:01:25] Jason Harwood: burning question. Jacob and I have already talked about this ahead of time. We're gonna spring it on you right now.
Eminem's New Song Discussion
---
[00:01:30] Jason Harwood: Do you like the new Eminem song, Houdini?
[00:01:35] Jeremy Reisman: mean, I grew up like right in the middle of like Eminem breaking out and it certainly has a feel of like very early Eminem So
[00:01:44] Jacob Litton: Right,
[00:01:45] Jeremy Reisman: I don't and like the song abracadabra is also like classic rock that I kind of like and so it's just like it hits All the right spots, but I also recognize that It's mostly nostalgia that's hitting me.
I don't know if it's actually quality content, but it, like, it's hitting the nostalgia buttons, and that's [00:02:00] enough for me to just have fun with it.
[00:02:02] Jason Harwood: Yeah, I I love It and I knew it was coming out. Jacob texted me, like, or I think I texted you about the song coming out, and then Jacob said, Did you see the video? And I hadn't seen the video. Have you seen the video yet, Jeremy? Oh,
[00:02:16] Jacob Litton: right, right. It
makes it even better.
[00:02:17] Jeremy Reisman: It's a great video.
[00:02:19] Jason Harwood: Yeah. it is, That is a sweet idea and I love it. So I, told, uh, you know, obviously he's got a new album coming out.
I told him he's got to rap battle his younger self in one of these songs on this thing. That would be so sweet. All right.
Transition to Detroit Lions Talk
---
[00:02:34] Jason Harwood: So this is not an Eminem podcast. This is a Detroit Lions podcast. So let's get down to business here.
Mandatory Minicamp Insights
---
[00:02:40] Jason Harwood: So this week is mandatory minicamp. Jeremy's going to be there, the next few days that we're recording this Monday night, right before our train camp.
We're keeping Jeremy up late. I hope. Uh, hope we're not screwing up anything for him. But anyways, uh, how is the feeling Jeremy at Allen Park this time compared to last year,
[00:02:59] Jeremy Reisman: yeah, no, I, [00:03:00] I'm, I'm glad you asked this question, because it allowed me to kind of reflect on really all three previous years, because, really been significantly different each year. And it makes me think like maybe they've had a scheduled plan each year, because like that first year, it was all about competition and they were kind of having fun.
They were running all these drills that, that were fun. And you could see them, like there was to culture build. It was to, to get the, everyone on the same page, make sure that they realized what they were about. that kind of slipped away. And then like last year it was, it was excitement.
It was. Okay. We, we finished 2022 really strong. We were entering this year as favorites to win the division. excitement people, you know, you bring in a boisterous guy like CJ Garner Johnson, and suddenly you have a little bit of attitude too. And then it's early this year. Like we've only seen two team practices, so I don't want to make any bold, claims or wild assumptions, but for lack of better term, it's [00:04:00] kind of been boring and, and I almost mean that in a good way where it's just like, We're just going about our business now.
Like we don't need to add a character. We don't need to build a culture. Like now it's just. as usual. And, and that's kind of the sense that I've gotten so far. Like, obviously there's new guys and Terry Ann Arnold is a, an entertaining guy who, who I think adds a little bit of, um, you know, color to the team. But at the same time, to me, it's just like, generally it's like, okay, we've been here before we, we know we're super bowl contenders now, like we don't need to talk, we don't need to be dancing at practice, we don't need to be doing anything, like, let's just go about our business and take care of everything we need to in the
spring.
[00:04:42] Jacob Litton: We're not trying to find our
identity anymore. Now we know who we
are.
[00:04:46] Jeremy Reisman: Exactly. Yeah.
[00:04:48] Jason Harwood: Yeah. that's the way I feel too. Dan Campbell, to me, set that up Right. after the 49ers loss, like, we don't know if we're ever going to get back here again. He's already putting it in their heads. Like, if you think, you're going to take a day off, well, I'll [00:05:00] think again, because we got to try harder next year. that's the way I took all that. . I, agree with you about Tarion. I love, love his attitude. He's to me, he he's CJGJ without having to put other people down. Like he's just all about building himself up is how I feel like, I mean, obviously I don't know either of those players, but that's just the gist I get from them talking,
[00:05:20] Jeremy Reisman: I think that's definitely accurate. CJ JJ was entertaining, but like, you didn't know what was coming out of his like he was going to say some stuff and it was going to be twinge of crazy with, you know, a lot of energy and that can be good on the field and that can be good in a locker room sometime.
I'm not, I'm certainly not going to suggest CJ JJ was a bad influence on anybody, but it's definitely like a different type of intensity for him. From, from Tarion, you're right, in that it is more self focused. He's not talking trash about anybody. And, uh, and again, he, like CJGJ, I think he's just a guy that's all about the work.
[00:05:58] Jason Harwood: Did you, were you [00:06:00] nervous interviewing CJGJ when you had to, or like, just didn't know what he was going to say or if he's going to come at you or what?
[00:06:06] Jeremy Reisman: Uh, I don't know if nervous is the right word, but like, I kept my distance, I would say. Um, you know, I, I had a conversation with him one on one early on. We were, we were going to see if we could actually work together on something with Twitch because he has a Twitch page. We, we had a Twitch page. And, uh, It just, it never got off the ground.
And I could tell kind of after that very first conversation that it was never going to get off the ground because he had his idea of what he wanted to do. And he wasn't really even hearing anything I was saying. So it was just like.
[00:06:34] Jacob Litton: Yeah.
[00:06:34] Jeremy Reisman: you're that kind of person? That's fine. Uh, just, I'll just watch from a distance at this point and be entertained by you.
[00:06:43] Jason Harwood: Yeah, you knew if you clicked on a YouTube video with an interview for him, you were going on a ride. You didn't know what kind of ride, but you were going on a ride.
[00:06:49] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah, exactly.
[00:06:51] Jacob Litton: So next three days, Minicamp coming up, um, what are you going to be focused on Minicamp? What are you looking for?
[00:06:56] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah, I think, I think I'm gonna try to get answers to stuff [00:07:00] that, that we haven't gotten answers to yet. Obviously like the thing that I, The baseline for these spring practices is attendance, right? So we're at mandatory mini camp. Some of the guys we haven't seen in OTAs. Um, most of those we kind of assume are injury related, like obviously the offensive lineman, no Decker. Um, no Frank, uh, those are injury related. Probably not going to see those guys, but a guy like Alex Anzalone to me is someone who may have just been like, I'm a veteran. I don't need this. I, you know, I've got some family stuff going on. If we see him this week. be kind of interesting to see the domino effect of that, right? who's your starting middle linebacker? Is it Derek Barnes or is Jack Campbell? That's kind of something that that's going to be at the forefront of my mind.
Cornerback Room Revamp
---
[00:07:42] Jeremy Reisman: And then the other big thing for me too, is to see the two starting who, who I think the two starting cornerbacks are out there on the field together, because not to bring it back to Terry and Arnold again, but you know, last week we saw Terry and Arnold out there, but we didn't see Carlton Davis.
He was, he was absent. The first week it was [00:08:00] Carlton Davis and Terry and Arnold was a little bit limited. I want to see both those guys out there and see what the defense looks like with those two guys playing at a high level, presumably a high level, because that's probably where I think the week one lineup is headed.
There could be Emanuel Mosley, thrown in there, but we probably won't see Emanuel Mosley during minicamp. Um, and so like that to me is, is really exciting. I think everyone is most excited to see how improved that cornerback room actually is, because it feels like it's the missing piece.
If that's better, I truly think that the ceiling in this team is as high as it can go. And so if I can even just get a little bit of taste of those two out there playing together, that's going to be very satisfying for
[00:08:40] Jacob Litton: There's a lot of new faces, a lot of new corners, so it's going to be interesting to see how they work together.
[00:08:46] Jeremy Reisman: Exactly.
[00:08:47] Jason Harwood: How that room has been revamped is exciting. Just how, especially how the last few weeks of the season went last year. I mean, obviously exciting season, but you know, if you could change something, [00:09:00] that's probably what you're changing. Um,
[00:09:03] Jeremy Reisman: And really, I mean, really it stretches back to the end of the regular season, right? Like
[00:09:07] Jason Harwood: oh yeah.
[00:09:07] Jeremy Reisman: a hundred yard reset receiver a seemingly everyday
[00:09:12] Jason Harwood: 200.
[00:09:13] Jeremy Reisman: two and sometimes 200.
[00:09:14] Jacob Litton: Yeah. Right.
[00:09:15] Jeremy Reisman: Jefferson. Uh, yeah, I mean, and, and you look across this, the division, man, like there's a lot of really good young receivers. And you're going to need to be on top of your cornerback game. And clearly Brad Holmes noticed that, uh, not that it took a keen eye to see how much they were struggling there and how, how big of an importance it is in this division, but yeah, the awesome thing is that it's not just, you know, is that there is a debate of who the two starting cornerbacks
[00:09:41] Jason Harwood: Mm hmm.
[00:09:42] Jeremy Reisman: there's not enough talent
because there's too much
[00:09:44] Jacob Litton: Right. Exactly.
[00:09:45] Jason Harwood: Well, we were talking, you know, Fildor, you know, he was one of our starting corners, you know, he, depending on how the injuries shake out or whatever, he might be fourth or fifth on the list, which is great. But I also remember having this conversation, [00:10:00] last year that, um, Oh, the cornerback room is revamped, we're, we're set, and then, you know, things happened, and, you know, it just didn't end up working out the way we wanted it to work out, but, I mean, Brad Holmes invested a lot into this room, you figure, a first and third for Tarion, a third for Carlton Davis, a second for Ennis Rakestraw, he's put a lot of assets into that room.
Um, so I'm, hopefully we see the dividends this year. Um, having a DJ reader up the middle, putting some pressure and maybe freeing up a lean may help all that too, you know, uh, but, and then also them being able to play man. And that's what, uh, AG, I think really want, I mean, ends up wanting to play. So if he can.
Play man, I think the defense might just show out a little bit better. So do you have that feeling about that just from your interviews or?
[00:10:51] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah.
Linebacker Room and Defensive Strategy
---
[00:10:51] Jeremy Reisman: I mean, the feeling that I get is like, this is what they've wanted to be all along and either they haven't had, you know, the, the right players in place or it just, you know, [00:11:00] they were too young or whatever it is, but you really get the sense that Aaron Glenn has the corners he wants now, they obviously have a couple of good players along the defensive line, but obviously got a pretty deep linebacker room.
And so, yeah, it finally feels like, you know, I know a lot of people want to put Aaron Glenn on the hot seat and, and. It's at least somewhat understandable given, you know, there hasn't been a ton of improvement defensively through three years, but you know, he's out of excuses. Now, if you, if you want to use that kind of trope, um, yeah, they've got a lot of guys and you're right, like they definitely want to play a lot of man.
They want to be aggressive. They're going to blitz a ton like they did towards the end of last year. And listen, you know, as, as unfortunate as, as the whole cam Sutton stuff was. He was never really that press man corner anyways, and I'm not it's, it's a little bit of hindsight saying that was, was never going to be a good signing in the first place. Um, but I just think when you look at a guy like Carlton Davis, he's a much better fit. Anyways, he's a guy that I continue to think [00:12:00] that the Lions fans might even be underestimating because they're all excited about the rookies and understandably so. But just think all of these guys have a very strong him.
Profile and it's not like they're only going to play press man coverage, but they have guys that can do that and they're going to do it a lot. And to me, there's something exciting about the lines, knowing what they want to do defensively, having the players that they want to play those positions. And then also saying publicly, this is what we're going to do.
Stop us.
[00:12:28] Jacob Litton: Yeah.
[00:12:28] Jeremy Reisman: Like that to me is like, Oh, okay. Aaron Glenn, like you're throwing it down. Like, we're going to be a man team and we're going to blitz a lot saying like, just saying that publicly, it's just like, Oh, okay. You're not, you're not even going to try to hide who you guys are. And I kind of respect that.
Like, let's, let's go, let's throw it down. And, uh, it'd be cool. It'd be cool to have one of those defenses where, you know, like the Steelers, the Ravens, everyone knows what they do. Um, you know, even, even Minnesota last year just having like this super aggressive defense and like, we know it has vulnerabilities, but go ahead and [00:13:00] try to try to figure them out.
Try to try to beat us at our own game. And, um, the lines operating with that sort of confidence defensively is something that I don't think we've really seen through three years.
[00:13:12] Jason Harwood: I also am excited by how the back end of that season went when they did that scheme change. You know, I, they went to the man. It really exposed cam Sutton, but then you saw like iffy show out. Right. And then, um, I'm expecting. Brian branch has. He can blitz, uh, he's shown that before. And so you're going to have that.
And then depending on how the linebacker shakes out, Derek Barnes can do that too. When you talk about the Steelers, they always had, like, he never knew where that point was. Blitz was going to come from, right? Especially when they had Troy, like say Troy Palomaro, you just, you didn't know where he was going to play.
And as you caused so much confusion on that offensive line and there, and you could get some free runners. If you can get free runners, try to run away and let Aiden catch you. Cause I'm, I'm, I want Aiden to get [00:14:00] 15 this year. I want him to do it.
[00:14:01] Jacob Litton: When you have a complete defense, you're definitely able to have more flexibility. I think we put too much pressure on cam Sutton. It just didn't really work out. Kept getting exposed over and over again.
[00:14:12] Jeremy Reisman: I think, I think it's fair. I mean, you, you put that guy on an Island and that's not really his game. That's not what he does best. And so, yeah, I think. You know, he'd probably be better suited now, now that the lines are a little bit more well
[00:14:24] Jacob Litton: Right.
[00:14:24] Jeremy Reisman: again, like, I think, I think he's probably better off in, in a different system anyways.
And know, who knows where, where his football future is at anyways. But yeah, I just think I, I like Carlton Davis a lot, man. Uh, I liked it when, when the trade went down, the more I dove into this film, I really liked it. And now that I've seen him in a couple of practices, I'm, I'm, I'm kind of psyched about him
[00:14:45] Jacob Litton: Especially having the
young corners around there. It's important to have a
veteran guy.
[00:14:50] Jeremy Reisman: Absolutely.
[00:14:51] Jason Harwood: I like his attitude too. He just, I'm going to be your number one, you know, that's what you want from your corner and you can't have guys out there. I mean, I, you don't want it to be [00:15:00] demeaning or anything like that, but you got to have a guy that believes he can be out on that island and, it's exciting.
We haven't had that since Darius, Darius Slade left. He had that swagger. He was going to. Take away your number one and he knew it, especially after his first year, he was just, he was dynamite, you know, and, and then we had to lose him,
[00:15:18] Jacob Litton: we don't like talking about that. Jason
[00:15:21] Jason Harwood: none of us like to remember that part of, uh, that had to be so hard for you, Jeremy, during that. time period, just like,
[00:15:27] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah.
[00:15:29] Jacob Litton: watching it implode.
[00:15:32] Jason Harwood: Hey, but though, can you, Jeremy, you're not sitting up straight. Can you set up straight in that? Yeah, I just need you to sit up straight.
[00:15:38] Jeremy Reisman: All right. There we go. Yeah,
stretch out the back a little bit. Sorry
[00:15:41] Jason Harwood: That's All right. You know, respect the process, my friend.
[00:15:45] Jeremy Reisman: Little decorum
[00:15:46] Jason Harwood: all right. We're having fun here with Jeremy. So from pride of Detroit. Oh, so. Jeremy, the four rookies last year that, you know, taking the first and second round, Gibbs, Laporta, Campbell, and Branch, you know, we talk about the second year [00:16:00] jump, which is scary to think with a couple of these guys, a second year jump, where it could go. Who do you think is going to make the biggest jump or who, who are you expecting or what are you excited to see out of those four?
[00:16:10] Jeremy Reisman: yeah, I mean it's hard I think the hardest one to take a jump is probably Laporta considering the ridiculous output. He he he posted in his Rookie season and we were talking to to Dan last week. Although it might have no I think it was Dan Um, and he's like, yeah, I mean he could have a better year this year and his production might go down know, he could become a more well rounded player a better blocker or we could just become a different focused offense where you know Now we're throwing it to jamo more now.
We're throwing it to gibbs more um, it's it's it's gonna be hard to live up to I think those expectations and in a statistical sense, right? Like I think I think he can become a better player and can take a year to jump in a lot of places And he probably will given everything I know about him and this coaching staff considering They have what like four tight end [00:17:00] experts on the
[00:17:00] Jacob Litton: Yeah,
[00:17:01] Jeremy Reisman: like
[00:17:02] Speaker 2: Tight end you.
[00:17:03] Jeremy Reisman: he's gonna be taken care of, uh, but I think, like, the easier answer is probably a guy that you're hoping plays more, is a little bit more comfortable in his own skin, and so, like, I would think that'd be something, someone like Jack Campbell, and, um, he's, he's, if I'm being, like, completely honest, he was probably the, the pick I had the biggest questions about, and, and people that know me, you know, That's saying a lot because they took a running back in the first round
[00:17:26] Speaker 2: Yup.
[00:17:26] Jeremy Reisman: not the biggest fan of
that, but I could at least understand what they were trying to do with Gibbs. I bought into what Brad Holmes was saying. Like we viewed him more as a weapon as a guy who's going to be very involved in the receiving game. And he was, and I think he will be even more this year. But Jack Campbell is a guy where I'm like. Really good linebackers are hard to find in the NFL, like to find a guy who's big and fast, able to stop the run and also dropping a coverage.
It's like linebackers just can't cover at the NFL level. It's very rare. And so. We saw, we saw [00:18:00] like a mixed bag of that with, with Jack Campbell last year. Like he comes out, he makes that huge pass breakup
in week one against the chiefs, and then we didn't really see anything on that level the rest of the year.
Right. It's not saying, not saying he's not capable of doing it or he struggled or whatever. Like that opportunity just never arose. But like, yeah, that week one game, like, okay. Maybe,
[00:18:18] Jacob Litton: right.
[00:18:19] Jeremy Reisman: package. Um, so we'll see, uh, with him. I'm still optimistic in terms of like that dude is everything you want in terms of, of work ethic. I think the lines have a really good linebacker coach in Kelvin Shepherd. Um, we'll, we'll see. What the opportunity is like too because it's not like they're just going to throw Derek Barnes as all right You're just a special teamer now Uh, but to me like i'm i'm most intrigued about what he does in year two You know, he's already kind of saying a lot of the year two things you hear which is like, you know The game slowed down for me.
I'm starting to understand the entire defense. Not just myself He's saying like when he's out there watching tape of other players He's starting to notice their mistakes instead of just focusing focusing on his own mistakes and [00:19:00] so You The puzzle pieces are there and they're starting to get put together.
It's just a matter of like that actually manifesting itself on the field itself. And I'm the kind of guy where it's like, okay, just because all the pieces in place doesn't mean everything's going to get put together, but he's a guy that I think could have that year two jump in a way that, I mean, if, if he does. might go down as one of the best draft classes ever
[00:19:23] Jacob Litton: Yeah,
[00:19:23] Jeremy Reisman: Like you might have four pro bowl, all pro type of players. But again, I think Jack Campbell has quite a ways to go before we get there.
[00:19:31] Jason Harwood: Yeah, So you think Campbell, just cause he's got more room to grow than the
other three. I
[00:19:35] Jeremy Reisman: Essentially. yeah,
it's kind of a cheap way to answer the
[00:19:39] Jacob Litton: that's valid. That makes
sense.
[00:19:40] Jason Harwood: that's what I thought, Jeremy. That's what I thought.
[00:19:42] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah.
[00:19:44] Jason Harwood: Brian branch intrigues me because he did play really well, but he had like a period where I don't know if the injury was taken off where he was just not showing up.
He's got a chance to really show out to Campbell's got, Derek Barnes to contend with. And I, you know, [00:20:00] knowing what they know now about Derek Barnes, you wonder if they go back on that pick And say, Oh, you know, we could have maybe went a different direction.
I don't, you know, they're obviously never going to do that publicly, but you know the way Derek Barnes came out, that was kind of surprising for all of us. I think, you know, that he took a pretty big three or a third year jump.
[00:20:17] Jeremy Reisman: And the one thing we know for sure too, is like, if Derek Barnes is playing better, Derek Barnes is going to play, like, they're not going to be like, Oh, we drafted you in the first round. Jack Campbell, you gotta, you gotta be out there. Like,
[00:20:27] Jacob Litton: Right.
[00:20:27] Jeremy Reisman: this coaching staff will, we'll start Malcolm Rodriguez if they have
[00:20:30] Jacob Litton: Yeah. They've proven that this isn't the
old coaching staff. Right.
[00:20:36] Jason Harwood: I think that that's a good way to run, to run your team. Right. I mean, you, that's how you get, that's why Dan Campbell is so respected. He's going to run those guys that play, you know, you don't care what you make. You're gonna have to show out and you're gonna have to practice and you're gonna have to do what we, what we preach.
So yeah, I can, I can appreciate that. So, um, I know AG said, , about Campbell that he, you know, It looked like he put on a lot of muscle. He called him, he's [00:21:00] a man, you know, so I mean, that's good coming from AG because he doesn't speak hyperbole. I don't think very much, you know,
[00:21:07] Jeremy Reisman: it's tough to pull a compliment out of that guy. Even like who, I think it was like someone asked about James Houston and he's like, did you expect to see James Houston, you know, take a year three jumping in and he's like, all my players
[00:21:21] Jacob Litton: Right.
[00:21:21] Jeremy Reisman: jump. It's like, okay, okay, alright. That's, all you're gonna
get out of AG sometimes.
Like, if, if, if he says something nice about you, he, and sometimes even in the middle of saying something nice, he'll be like, I don't, I don't want to give him too much press. I don't want, I don't want you guys writing too much about him. He has, you know, he doesn't have a, you know, the gold jacket yet.
Let's, let's pull back. so yeah, he, you know, if he does say something nice about a player, like you can tell it's, it's genuine, really, that's true of almost everybody on the coaching staff, which again, is something that as, as a writer, as, as a guy who covers the team, like there is nothing better than that.
Just having a coach that, that will be straight up honest with you. And you can kind of tell when they're, you know, [00:22:00] not saying dishonest, but like when they don't want to say something about a player, don't have something necessarily good to say about a player. You can kind of read through the coach
[00:22:08] Jacob Litton: Yeah.
[00:22:09] Jason Harwood: Yeah. I felt that way when you mentioned James Hewson last year, when they were talking about, are you going to play, I really felt like they were saying, no, he's not going to play without saying, no, he's not going to play just, just from watching enough of those press conferences to know, you know, what keywords you're looking for, or just the attitude.
So, you know, I think you probably get that now that, you know, they've been with the same coaching set for three years now, you know, you can, and it seems like they've, you know, You know, Dan Campbell used to be very forthcoming and now he seems like he is, but he's also very guarded and he chooses his words a little bit better.
I feel.
[00:22:47] Jeremy Reisman: he's definitely pulled back a little bit, but, but he's still not dishonest. Like he'll just, like, I think that, I think the perfect example is how he came out in his very first press conference and OTAs, like he knows we're going to ask about [00:23:00] injuries, so he delivers the injury report on his terms, right? He says, you know, here's all these guys that aren't here that might be injured. They might not play in week one. They might go on the pup. They might start like, it's kind of his way of giving information, but like. Pulling back a little bit so that, you know, we don't have like, Oh, it's a grade three ankle sprain for this guy.
We're we're like, he was saying that sort of stuff in year one.
[00:23:23] Jason Harwood: Yeah. Well, also, I think in year one, maybe not as much as on the line too, , it's not that they expected to lose, but he knew with that roster that, you know, Super Bowl, where it's not in their aspiration. So, you know, let's do onside kicks. Let's do all this stuff because we're playing this now, you know, now it's, now it's real.
We're, you know, Super Bowl is not a dream. It's, you know, it could be a reality.
[00:23:45] Jeremy Reisman: And quick, quick, let's pour one out for the surprise onside kick, which is no longer a
[00:23:50] Jacob Litton: Yeah.
[00:23:50] Jeremy Reisman: it out. It's
Special Teams and New Kickoff Rule
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[00:23:51] Jason Harwood: Jeremy, you're, you're on record for not liking special teams, but you, you're liking this new kickoff rule is from what I understand,
[00:23:58] Jeremy Reisman: Well, honestly, I'm [00:24:00] just, I'm all about kind of chaos when it comes to sports. Like I, I love just like. things that happen. And so I'm, I'm all for changing a play. Like when's the last time the NFL changed a play this dramatically.
[00:24:12] Jacob Litton: Jason's pretty old, so he'll come up with something.
[00:24:14] Jason Harwood: well, I remember when they got face masks, it was crazy. I don't know how they, how they did it. Um, but, um, what was the play that Miami would run with Ronnie Brown? The, uh, Yeah.
the wildcat. So like, Yeah. sorry.
I couldn't think of the name. So like, I know that's not like, um, you know, maybe down the same lines, but to me it is, it was like, it took the league by storm for a while And no one knew how to defend it Now everyone knows how to defend it. So they don't run it anymore. But like, I felt like that was the last, what you're talking about. like, it takes a league by storm and you're just like, how are we going to do this?
[00:24:47] Jeremy Reisman: It might, like, it might be nothing, right? It's not like they were running touchdowns back every time at the XFL last year, right? But I do think there's going to be, like, an adjustment period where things [00:25:00] might be pretty chaotic in the first month of the season and we might see some big gains while coaches try to figure this out. You know, like even hearing, I'm sure you guys heard like the story out of Kansas city where they're like, yeah, we might not use a kicker because we want an
[00:25:15] Jacob Litton: Yeah.
[00:25:15] Jeremy Reisman: out
[00:25:16] Jacob Litton: It's gonna look
really weird.
[00:25:17] Jeremy Reisman: And so we're just going to have a safety kick it like that. But like, I love that. Like, let's get weird. Let's do some weird stuff out there where, know, the XFL was inventive, but they didn't have the coaches, the level of the NFL, and they're going to come up with some real crazy stuff.
A
[00:25:33] Jason Harwood: I like having Dave Phipp on our side because he's a very good special teams coach and I'm sure he's, I'm sure He's watching all the XFL, XFL video and had, you know, he's got ideas. So it's gonna be interesting. You guys are gonna, Jeremy, on your website, you're gonna have trouble with, uh, when they go down to roster breakdown because this is gonna shake things up.
I'm sure this is going to shake that up for those guys at the, I don't want to say end of the roster because that's kind of disrespectful, but you know, just [00:26:00] those fringe guys, I think it's going to change who you keep and who you don't keep, um,
[00:26:05] Jeremy Reisman: yeah
[00:26:06] Jason Harwood: like Maurice Alexander may not, you know, they might decide, you know, maybe they're going to have Vahki returning kicks or something like that.
They're going to have some more running backs back there, you know, and Murray but Maurice Alexander is a great a really great interesting example because he returned kicks in the XFL with this new rule
[00:26:25] Jeremy Reisman: So
[00:26:26] Jacob Litton: he's used to it. Yeah.
[00:26:27] Jeremy Reisman: experience
actually doing it.
[00:26:28] Speaker 2: Yeah,
[00:26:29] Jeremy Reisman: and so like, you
know, maybe maybe they lean into that Maurice alexander is like a really fascinating player to me because Whenever you see the lions doing those off season workouts, you know in california or whatever.
He's always there
[00:26:41] Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
[00:26:42] Jeremy Reisman: his teammates speak
really highly of him, the players, the coaches speak highly of him, and he has a little bit of edge in the return game, I think,
[00:26:51] Speaker 5: Yep.
[00:26:51] Jeremy Reisman: of this experience. And so
like, if there was a Dark Horse candidate for me to, the very early Dark Horse candidate to make the 53 man roster, I think [00:27:00] he could be one. he just, he has not flashed in the couple years that he's been here as a receiver, so. He's gonna have to show some growth there, and that's, like, because I don't, I don't know if the Lions are gonna keep a guy just because he's a potential good returner.
[00:27:17] Jason Harwood: Yeah, well, you'd have to be exceptional. I mean, Right. you know, so you gotta really show your advantage there, but, you know, you really, especially with how deep the roster is, you, you almost got to do multiple things now. It's hard. It's hard.
Wide Receiver Depth and Replacements
---
[00:27:31] Jacob Litton: That actually leads into the next topic that we were talking about is how are they going to replace Josh Reynolds?
[00:27:36] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah. It's a great question!
[00:27:38] Jacob Litton: didn't really add a whole lot of receiver help. We didn't draft anybody. What are you thinking?
[00:27:42] Jeremy Reisman: Ah, man, I, say Donovan Peoples Jones is just going to kind of slide in there and do a lot of things that he did. Um, Ben Johnson was asked this question and he's like, well, you know, maybe his targets go to, maybe we run the ball more. Maybe, maybe we're going to run the ball more. Maybe we, we [00:28:00] throw it to tight ends more.
Maybe throw it to this guy more like, but at the same time, like this, this team is going to go, you know, 11 personnel, three wide receivers a lot still, because that's just the way that the NFL is moving and they're going to want those guys out there. And Donovan Peoples Jones to me makes the most sense.
I mean, we're not that far removed from his 800 plus yard season, right? It was 2022. It was two years ago. Uh, and last year was all, you know, weird because, you know, he's dealing with a whole bunch of changes in Cleveland, a whole bunch of quarterback shenanigans in Cleveland, like there always is. And then he comes to, you know, Detroit mid season and to learn a new offense, has to learn chemistry with, with Jared Goff.
And now, now presumably he has all of that. The lions liked him enough to, to resign him. And so I think it's, it's his job to lose at this point. I think he does a lot of the same things that the Josh Reynolds can do. It's not, you know, it's not a perfect one to one comparison by any means, but I think there's enough [00:29:00] overlap where you could, you could trust him to do some of those things. Um, but, but Antoine green to me is like the, the wild card in this mix, because just a couple of weeks ago, uh, Brad Holmes went on the radio and was like, You guys didn't see it, but Antoine Green got a lot better behind the scenes. Um, and Brad Holmes is one of those guys where you're still not sure
[00:29:22] Speaker 3: Mm hmm. Yeah.
[00:29:24] Jeremy Reisman: he's a guy that, that I haven't, you know, I don't have a perfect radar on him. That was relatively unprompted when he said it. That speaks to me that he is someone that's the running and I've seen him get some first team reps early here in OTS. We didn't see him last week, um, for, for whatever reason, but think, I think that's going to be one of the more interesting camp battles.
And I would even probably throw someone like Khalif Raymond into the mix there too, because as much as we view Khalif as a, you know, A slot receiver, basically, and I'm on our backup. He's played every position while he's been here and the lines have had a lot of injuries and he's come in and been a [00:30:00] productive player. Is he going to get, you know, Josh Reynolds stats, 600 yards and handful touchdowns? No, but is he a guy that, that can play a rotational role that they can fill in some of that production? I think he probably is. And so I think, I think in general, it's going to be unit. It's not just going to be a one to one replacement, but I have to imagine of all of the people that might benefit most from Josh Reynolds leaving. My money's still on Donovan people's Jones.
[00:30:29] Jason Harwood: Yeah, well, we want the Michigan guy to do well, too, right. So. I, uh, you know, I'm where I'm most concerned about Josh Reynolds, uh, losing him is the red zone. I think that he was a big target for, he was like a safety net when everybody else was covered, or even he might have been the primary target, you know, five, four of his five touchdowns of Josh Reynolds, such as were in the red zone.
You know, he's also a big third down target, uh, for JG. That, that has me slightly concerned, [00:31:00] um, but, you know, I think it's going to be, as opposed to just one person, I think it's going to be, you know, this concerted effort to move the ball around. Um, I think Jameer is going to, the way they're talking about it, I think Jameer might, might be taking some of those, uh, touches, um, you know, from the slot, but we'll see, and move Amun Ra to the outside where, um, you know, Amun Ra just is an amazing player.
No one talks about Amun Ra anymore because he's just so good and you know, it's just a shame because we should, it's just a model of what this team is and will continue to be. Hard worker, put your nose to the grindstone to just do yourself, but yeah, it's, it'll be interesting how they move them on and around, um, and JMO too.
He looked significantly better in the second half of the year. Dan Campbell mentioned JMO was, you know, the most, I don't know how he worded it, but.
Player's Off-Season Progress
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[00:31:57] Jason Harwood: He's basically the one that showed out, the one that he's noticed the most, or [00:32:00] most improved, or since the beginning of our off season program until now.
Ball Tracking Skills
---
[00:32:04] Jason Harwood: Is his, uh, in practice that you've watched, has his ball tracking skills gotten, and, I mean, have you noticed that? Is it, I mean, I don't know if you've seen enough of it to even notice if it's gotten better, but to me, that's where he really needed to make some improvements,
[00:32:19] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah, I mean, I would say the answer to that is mostly yes. Again, we're, we're dealing with small sample sizes here, so I don't want to, you know, over, overstate something. Um, but you know,
to me, it almost felt intentional that, you know, after week one of OTAs, he gets, you know, The deep shot and he drops it.
And to me, that wasn't a tracking issue. Like he was right there and it just came off the end of his fingers, but like they come back and the first play. And I don't remember who's seven on sevens or 11 on 11th, but the first team drill that they do is another deep shot to JMO. And it's not a perfect one.
It's one where he kind of has to awkwardly look behind his shoulder and, and, and track it and he tracked it perfectly. And that's something [00:33:00] like.
You know how it looks kind of weird and awkward and maybe he looked over his wrong shoulder and Tampa and the deep shot.
[00:33:05] Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
[00:33:06] Jeremy Reisman: Um, he did end up
catching it obviously, but like that is kind of what you saw was, was the issues.
He had a lot of issues in, in Baltimore in that game. Um, not to bring up that game.
[00:33:16] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[00:33:17] Jeremy Reisman: let's put that way in the rear
view.
[00:33:19] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[00:33:20] Jeremy Reisman: Um,
but yeah,
like I think, I think early on that seems to be honestly, , One of his biggest, um, improvements. Um, the other one
[00:33:29] Speaker 5: Great.
[00:33:29] Jeremy Reisman: running. Um, which, I think you could argue are the two biggest things that he needed to improve
[00:33:34] Speaker 4: Mm hmm.
[00:33:35] Jeremy Reisman: Is everything
fixed and he's gonna be amazing? Well, we'll see.
Chemistry with Goff
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[00:33:38] Jeremy Reisman: I think the chemistry between him and Goff is noticeably better too.
[00:33:42] Jason Harwood: That's the most important thing. I think, you know, with JG. Yeah
[00:33:46] Jeremy Reisman: Yep. Um, and so just, he just looks like one of the dudes out there.
Like he, he looks like he belongs with the starters. And so, um, you know, he'll have to do it against starting capable guys and they'll have to consistently do it. Right. I think that's, that's [00:34:00] really the key for me is I need to see it consistently from him because player can show flashes. Any player can, can do the right thing on, on two or three days in a row or whatever, but if, Jamo is going to live up to his billing, if he's going to be a guy that, that, that. Pushes a thousand yards a season. Like he has to put it, put together practices like he has day in day out and then do it in games, do it in the preseason, then do it in the regular season and, um, yeah, I think, I think he's doing the right things now. Um, I'm optimistic, certainly more optimistic than I was at this point last year, um, but, but I'm not ready to crown anything because it's, it's June.
[00:34:37] Jacob Litton: he was hurt. Then he had the suspension and everything. So it's like, this is the first full off season that he's getting fully loaded, you know, valuable reps that he's getting right now.
[00:34:46] Jason Harwood: Yeah. he doesn't have all that hanging over his head to that the looming suspension like I had to mess with you mentally Just knowing I'm gonna be out here And then I'm not going to be out here and then they're going to reduce my suspension. I'm going to come back two weeks early. I mean, [00:35:00] that, that had to be a whirlwind for him, especially because he basically lost his whole rookie year, you know?
Mental Resilience
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[00:35:05] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah, the one thing I will say about him though is like he seems like a pretty mentally resilient person Because you know anytime you'd have a bad practice or he drop a couple passes in a game or something, he would, he would like address the media almost with a smile. Like, what are you guys getting all worked up about?
Like, that was a game. That was a drop. Like, just moved on to the next one. And some people view that as like dismissive and, you know, he doesn't care, which is not the vibes that I get at all. It's just like, he is a, Alright, let's move on to the next play. Like, that, that play doesn't define me. That game doesn't define me. I'm ready to go on. I'm ready to play ball. Like, he's just having a ball playing football. Like, that's, that's just what he loves to do. And so, when a bad thing happens and then he moves on. And, and, so, I'm, I'm, like, like you said, like, I'm, I'm not saying That the [00:36:00] suspension didn't affect him in essence.
Like it's taking football away from him that had to affect him. That's the thing that he loves to do. Um, but I, I have to imagine like once it was in the past, you know, that first game back where he's getting asked all the questions about the suspension and all that sort of stuff, like that stuff doesn't phase him at all. And I think that's, that's a reason to be optimistic. Another reason to be optimistic about him moving forward.
[00:36:23] Jason Harwood: Yeah. I think you're Right. He almost comes like a nonchalant attitude about it. Um, but Brad Holmes would not draft him if he was nonchalant about football. I just think you're right. He's just like, okay, I'm just going to go on to the next play.
I'm going to do the next thing. I know what I have to do. And, um, and I think the coaching staff is pretty clear They wanted to get him to line up in the right spot. I mean, Dan Campbell was clear last year. Like we first, we want to get him lined up, you know, to know where he's going.
He lost a lot of time and he just wasn't out there. And, and just from my feeling, it takes a, with Jared Goff, it just takes a little bit extra time to, for him, for the [00:37:00] chemistry to build for whatever reason. Um, you know, and that's why Josh Reynolds, when he came in here, he was, He's already had that chemistry built with him.
So, you know, I, hopefully it's built to the point where we're going to be comfortable. I mean, he started to cut JMO, I'm talking about started to come on the end of last year. Um, he started to have some flashes and then, you know, that San Francisco game was a really good game for him. Started out with that run and then, you know, he had a really nice touchdown catch at the end.
Um, that was a really nice catch. I mean, he was, It was contested. He came down awkwardly and, you know, I was like, Oh, please don't be hurt. Please don't be hurt. But, uh, you know, but yeah, I, you know, last year felt like last year we were having a different conversation about JMO. Um, just it's like a lot of people thinking he was immature and all that stuff.
And it feels like he's kind of flying a little bit under there. People aren't questioning as, as much, I don't feel like this year, so hopefully [00:38:00] you're not having to deal with all those questions like you are from me right now.
[00:38:04] Jeremy Reisman: Well, I think, I think he, until he actually, you know, does it on the field consistently again. Um, the questions will be there and listen, they'll, they'll be valid questions because we are in year three of a first round pick that they traded a lot of assets to
Off-Season Moves
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[00:38:18] Jason Harwood: But what a weapon he could be though, if he can, if they can harness that, We're still in the off season, but up to this point, Jeremy, the best off season move that, You know, or you can name a couple, but you know, what, what off season move, and it could be anything from like the draft from not resigning Jonah could be one of them.
Contract extensions could be something we did or something we didn't do. I'm not going to limit you there. So what do you point to is like, what you're happy about best with the off season?
[00:38:50] Jeremy Reisman: I could go, I could go the corny answer, which would be re signing, uh, Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes to contract
[00:38:57] Jason Harwood: That's not corny. That's not corny. [00:39:00] Yeah,
[00:39:02] Jeremy Reisman: But yeah, like I, I have a lot of, I have, I have a lot of faith in those two guys, uh, you know, um, doing what they're doing because why wouldn't you at this point? Um, and man, like just covering Dan Campbell, being near aura is, is just fun. He's, he's, he's everything that everyone has billed him to be. I mean, that's, that's the thing you hear from everyone that's around Dan Campbell, right? It's like his authenticity, right? Is the, is one of the first words that everyone says.
And, and, and it's true. Um, who he is in front of those who he is on the sidelines. It's all, it's all true. And it's all, it's all honestly, just a pleasure to be around. And at this point, Every now and then I'll let it slip into my mind. It's like, oh man when when Dan Campbell isn't this team's head coach It's gonna be
[00:39:47] Jacob Litton: Yeah,
[00:39:47] Jeremy Reisman: day. And then I'm like, I don't
[00:39:49] Jacob Litton: right,
Impact of DJ Reader
---
[00:39:49] Jeremy Reisman: about that Like let's just enjoy the moment right now But to put you know, if we want to talk more about like roster moves, I'm still probably most excited [00:40:00] about DJ reader He was a guy that been fascinated with for years. He's a guy that to me has been one of the more underrated players in this league for years. Um, when the Bengals got him instead of the lions, I was, I was mad a couple of years ago and listen, he became a fan favorite and since he very quickly, um, he's, great run defender. So he's going to fit in that way, but he's also going to bring some juice in the pass rush. He's going to draw some people away from Mali McNeil's going to draw some quarterbacks towards Aiden Hutchinson, right?
I
[00:40:32] Jacob Litton: exactly.
[00:40:33] Jeremy Reisman: going to push the pocket where if Aiden goes around the corner. quarterback's not going to be able to step up anymore. Um, and that's, that's a huge piece to, I think what was missing. You know, we talk about the corners all the time. We talk about the secondary. I think getting that internal pass rush from someone other than Ali McNeil is something that this team has been missing for a very long time.
And then, you know, we're, we're already starting to hear about like the benefits of having a guy like DJ reader, even in the locker room, where project Martin [00:41:00] is already starting to benefit from him. They drift just drafted McKay Wingo, right? Another guy that, that I think is going to benefit from having a guy like him.
And to me, that's what has made. The lions roster building so I don't want to say innovative But at least effective is that it's not just about building around a really young roster And and focusing on the draft and nailing the draft But it's also complementing those guys With veterans that know how to play that know how to guide these guys And one of one of the positions they hadn't really done that at is at cornerback so like now you're starting to see maybe now the cornerback position is going to be good. Michael Brockers wasn't a great success on the field But you probably have to give him at least a little bit credit for where Aleem McNeil is at And so now have the same thing for Broderick Martin You have the same thing for Makai Wingo and in the meantime I think you still have a very effective player in DJ Reader, hopefully after all of his injury rehab is there So to me like [00:42:00] I all the cornerback moves are they're exciting and and they were much needed but i'm kind of a big man at heart like i'm certainly not an actual big man but at heart like I know that's where the the game is won and lost and Getting a guy like dj reader to me could have a domino effect in in a very good way for this line's defense
[00:42:20] Jason Harwood: that's the one I was, it's going to transform everything. And Aleem McNeil better think, uh, I think he's going to get a lot of extra money because of DJ reader being right next to him. I mean, Aiden was already going to get his money. I don't think, you know, he might not get any more, but, uh, Aleem, Aleem might get, get some extra,
his contract. I don't know Yeah. I. Yeah,
[00:42:44] Jeremy Reisman: don't know how it works
[00:42:47] Jason Harwood: I liked, uh, readers just attitude and just like the stuff he was tweeting, uh, during the playoffs about Gibbs and stuff. Like, I think the lines were already on his radar before, you know, for the off season. So, [00:43:00] um, what do you think about his injury?
I mean, do you get any sense, like he's going to be ready early? I mean, I know it's early
[00:43:06] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah. All we really have to go on is, is his introductory press conference where, you know, he said he expects to be ready by the beginning of the season. Um, we'll see how, how true that is, but haven't really seen him since. It'll be interesting to see if maybe we even. he's not going to be out there. I don't expect him to be out there practicing during mandatory minicamp, but presumably be in the building. Maybe he'll be out there on the sidelines. Maybe, you know, one of the reporters can pull him aside at the end of practice just to to check in. But I think at this point, the assumption is that he'll be ready by the beginning of the season, but You know, they'll probably be a little bit of an acclimation period.
He's probably not going to be playing his best football in week one or week two or week three because he probably won't. mean, I assume he's not going to be super active during training camp either. It's just kind of how the Lions tend to treat serious injuries like that. Right. And it's particularly with a veteran that might not need as long of a ramp up period as some of these other players.
But, [00:44:00] um, yeah, that's kind of the sense I get now is expect him to be ready by week one, but maybe not at his, his absolute best.
[00:44:08] Jason Harwood: sorry, we need him, we need him best.
by December. And, uh. January and hopefully February. yeah, you know, that's one thing I really like about the Lions team is that, you know, part of it is depth. Now we don't need to push these guys. We have other people in place.
New Defensive Line Coach
---
[00:44:24] Jason Harwood: , I'm really excited about the new defensive line coach.
Cause everyone just seems to rave about him. You know, you talk about DJ reader being a mentor, but we just hired one of the best defensive line coaches and, you know, beyond just Aleem and DJ reader, you know, you're hoping he can help a guy like Josh Paschal just, you know, it just turned that corner, you know, maybe he gets that.
Barnes had a third year jump. You're hoping Pascal hits that, that jump because he exploded, you know, especially right. out the gate. Pascal had that awesome play in Kansas City where he stopped him on fourth down and It's like, transformed [00:45:00] that, really just, it was a, I don't want to say a game saving play, but it was very integral for us.
For the lions to win that game. So I'd love to see more from, uh, Pascal out there and a guy that no one's talking about is Davenport. I feel like no one's talking about him at all. I've heard Eric Schlatt on Detroit lions breakdown say, I keep forgetting that we have Marcus Davenport. And, uh, you know, you talk about having to push out the middle, that quarterback's got to go one way.
And if I'm looking to one side and seeing Aiden, I'm probably thinking I don't care who's over on the other side unless Max Crosby's over there. I'm, I'm gonna run. I'm gonna run the other way. So I don't know. I'm excited about um, what he can bring if he can just give Aleem just a little more juice or just give him a couple more tips because I think Aleem is just waiting to break out.
You know, he's had flashes here and there. He's solid. But he's had flashes here and there. I just want him to, you know, have a giants game a little [00:46:00] more often. So that would be, uh, that's my dream, but, and I'll live in it.
[00:46:04] Jeremy Reisman: about that giants game too. I know it's now almost two years in the rear view, but like, yeah, that I think, I think you're right. Like if he can show some of the consistency that he showed in that game. And I think if I remember correctly, like the giants offensive line was a little beat up that day, but still,
[00:46:17] Speaker 3: Uh huh.
[00:46:19] Jeremy Reisman: he, he can be like that level of like a Leonard Williams type dominant guy.
And, um, If the Lions get that guy, then he's going to get paid a whole ton of money. And the lines are going to have, you know, a lot of like suddenly all the building blocks that we see on, on offense, you know, these guys that, that are going to get lifetime contracts, starting to see a couple of those guys, maybe getting those kinds of contracts on defense.
And when you do like that's, that's your well rounded team right there.
[00:46:44] Jason Harwood: So we talked about some off season moves.
Contract Comparisons
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[00:46:46] Jason Harwood: There was a big off season move today. Uh, Justin Jefferson signed his big contract four years, 140 million deal. Um, you know, this is not a Vikings, uh, podcast, so we don't need to get into nitty gritties on that, [00:47:00] but does it make the Amon Ra deal look even better?
[00:47:04] Jeremy Reisman: yeah, I, I think a little bit. Yeah. Um, you know, what is that? 20, 20 million less over the same time periods of 5
[00:47:10] Jason Harwood: Yeah.
[00:47:11] Jeremy Reisman: I saw some people debating whether they thought Justin Jefferson was a 5 million a year, better wide receiver than I'm on Ron. I think it's a fair question to have. I, I personally think Justin Jefferson's probably the best receiver in football right now.
So, you know, if I was Minnesota, would I feel too bad about this contract? No. I mean you have one of the best wide receivers now locked up and he's he's also what 20? I think he's only like 23 as well Um, so he's like super young prime of his career. I I wouldn't think twice if I were a vikings fan But yeah from a lion's point of view, I think you you also probably feel pretty good.
I think It fits into the argument of, of why the lines maybe got that done ahead of time where, where some of these other deals are trickling in after, um, you know, I like, I wouldn't really want to be in the cowboy
[00:47:56] Jacob Litton: Yeah, right.
[00:47:57] Jeremy Reisman: lambs contract out there. Um, [00:48:00] and I don't know, like if this had happened in reverse order, would, would I'm on or I get more. He obviously wouldn't, I don't think he'd get more than Justin Jefferson did, but what do you, you've gotten more than, than he did get maybe, um, either way. think both teams, you locked up. A foundational piece for four years. There's, there's nothing wrong with doing that. I think a lot of people like look to Tyreek Hill and say, well, the chiefs got rid of him and they're fine.
Well, you also don't have Patrick Mahomes. You also don't have Travis Kelsey. Like we can't use that as the prime example when you have two outliers in the NFL like that on your roster. So I think in general, locking up your, your good players. For long term deals, even if it resets the market. I mean, when you look at Justin Jefferson's deal in terms of like percentage of the cap, it's not groundbreaking.
Like I think it's on par with what the, the lines gave Calvin Johnson back in the day. Um, and so. know, if you're a Vikings fan, I hope you're not, I don't think Vikings fans are worried [00:49:00] about it. And if you're Lions fan, I don't think you should worry about the Amun Ra deal. And honestly, this doesn't really change my opinion all that much on the Amun Ra deal, but I can see why some people might think, wow, good thing we got that done early.
And, and there's probably at least a little bit of truth to that.
[00:49:13] Jason Harwood: Justin Jefferson was going to get his, cause he's just, He's Justin Jefferson. He's like you said, the best wide receiver in the league. I think really where you're going to see now is the CD lamp, Jamar chase, T Higgins, Brandon, Iuke, where those are going to fall. Cause you know, I'm not, was what the highest paid player for two days.
Then AJ Brown came now he's a third and then you got. These other four guys that could conceivably sign a contract before the season. So he could be number six
[00:49:40] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah.
[00:49:40] Jason Harwood: and, you know, that's not even considering who's going to sign, you know, next year or whatever. So, yeah, I, I, I'm happy with the Amin Ra deal to say the least, you know, I think we got a pretty good deal on that.
You know, the big difference, I think, between that and the. JJ contract is, you know, you have 110 million guaranteed against [00:50:00] 77.
[00:50:00] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah.
[00:50:01] Jason Harwood: you could play around a little bit with that, but that might also mean we tear up his contract in three years and rewrite it. So,
[00:50:09] Jeremy Reisman: And, and let's like, so yeah, I mean the, the Justin Jefferson contract, if you, if you look at it, like, Because it's got so many guaranteed, he's going to live out the entire, like he's, not going to have to, or they could restructure, they could, you know, extend them again. But like point is he's going to get all of the money in this contract.
And the reason why they can do that is, well, they have a rookie quarterback, right? They're
[00:50:32] Jason Harwood: yep.
[00:50:32] Jeremy Reisman: of money there. And so when, you know, his cap hit almost hits 40 million in a couple of years, well, that's because JJ McCarthy is only going to be making five, 6 million a year. Um,
[00:50:44] Jason Harwood: Yeah. And plus you're hoping the cap goes up, like,
[00:50:46] Jeremy Reisman: Right.
[00:50:47] Jason Harwood: setting each year and
[00:50:48] Jeremy Reisman: that's
[00:50:49] Jason Harwood: Hundreds of millions of dollars for a Christmas Day games and all that revenue goes somewhere.
[00:50:53] Jeremy Reisman: Maybe in, you know, in an 18th game too, right?
[00:50:56] Jason Harwood: Oh, yeah. Well, you know that's coming. That's, they, they [00:51:00] want, when, as soon as they signed the 17th game, the 18th game was,
[00:51:03] Jacob Litton: too much money to
[00:51:04] Jason Harwood: that's such a weird, yeah, I don't like the unevenness of it to eight row game or I, my brain just can't hack that. I just don't like it.
[00:51:15] Jeremy Reisman: We need
[00:51:15] Jason Harwood: So
[00:51:16] Jeremy Reisman: teams again.
[00:51:17] Jacob Litton: yeah,
[00:51:17] Jeremy Reisman: of games.
Honolulu Blitz
---
[00:51:19] Jason Harwood: We have a thing that would Jacob and I do. Um, we started a couple of weeks ago. It's called the Honolulu Blitz.
[00:51:26] Jacob Litton: Before we get to the Honolulu Blitz, there was a question I wanted
To ask just outside of it, which is kind of along the lines, but it's something we talked about in the first episode.
Favorite Lions Memories
---
[00:51:34] Jacob Litton: Who was the quarterback for the Lions when you first remember becoming a fan?
[00:51:38] Jeremy Reisman: Ooh. was probably, it was probably Scott Mitchell. Um, yeah. I went to like all the home games when I was a kid. Um, but like, I feel like I really started getting into the lions the Scott Mitchell era, um, because they were fun then, like, I don't, I don't look back on the [00:52:00] Scott Mitchell era and be like, ah, well, if we would have had this guy, this quarterback, you know, they would have done this, like, no, they were kind of a high flying, solid offense at that point.
And, you know, we, we remember the wide receivers. Well, you know, with, with Herman Moore and Johnny Morton and obviously Barry's is there, but I feel like we need to give a Scott Mitchell a little bit of credit too. He, he, he pulled out at times.
[00:52:24] Jason Harwood: yeah, that 95, that offense was just unbelievable. Wasn't the first time they had two. Wide receivers get a hundred catches on the same team, I think was like the Herman Moore, Brett Perriman, and
[00:52:35] Jeremy Reisman: Right.
[00:52:36] Jason Harwood: a, that was a fun team, fun team to watch. And, uh, I came in right before that I was with, uh, Eric Kramer and Rodney P.
We talked about that. So I was right behind the Scott Mitchell thing. Dan Marino got hurt. Jacob, you probably don't know this, but it was the whole Scott Mitchell thing came about. Cause Dan Marino got hurt. Scott Mitchell balled out for like eight games and the Lions just.
Gave him the bank and, you know,
[00:52:59] Jeremy Reisman: [00:53:00] he's, the original Matt Flynn.
[00:53:01] Jacob Litton: right. So it's kind of rapid fire. Some of them, you know, you might have to think about a little bit longer, but here we go.
Rapid Fire Questions
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[00:53:12] Jacob Litton: Favorite all time lion.
[00:53:15] Jeremy Reisman: Barry Sanders. I was, I was just obsessed with him as a kid. As a small statured guy. He convinced me I could be a running back and Now, now look at me!
[00:53:27] Jacob Litton: All right. Jameer Gibbs over under 1200 yards rushing.
[00:53:32] Jeremy Reisman: Ooh. He was just under a thousand last year. I'd look this up today. Oh man, am I feeling, I'm feeling
[00:53:42] Jacob Litton: All
[00:53:42] Jeremy Reisman: Let's
[00:53:43] Jacob Litton: right. We hope for the overwrite. Okay.
[00:53:47] Jeremy Reisman: that'd be
[00:53:47] Jacob Litton: the new jerseys, what's your favorite jersey combination?
[00:53:52] Jeremy Reisman: I just love the, I love the classic homes. It's, it, cause they, they look like throwbacks now, and I was always a huge fan of the [00:54:00] throwbacks.
[00:54:01] Jason Harwood: You could like them because in the press box you could probably see the numbers a lot better.
[00:54:05] Jeremy Reisman: that helps too. And, I'm, I'm warming to the black jerseys, I don't like them, but I'm warming to them.
[00:54:11] Jacob Litton: Oh, you don't like
[00:54:11] Jason Harwood: Oh, the black jerseys with the blue pants, man. Oh, man. I like them.
[00:54:15] Jacob Litton: I love the blue face mask. That's my favorite part.
[00:54:18] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah.
[00:54:19] Jacob Litton: Uh, okay. This is Jason's question. Ra's Honolulu blue hair or natural hair? What's the better look?
[00:54:31] Jeremy Reisman: Um, I'll say, I'll say first that both are better than the platinum stuff that he was rocking in,
[00:54:37] Jacob Litton: Yeah.
[00:54:38] Jeremy Reisman: that, that, that needed to stay at USC. So I'm glad it has, uh, I, I, I say rock the blue hair
[00:54:45] Jacob Litton: Yeah, right. Go for it.
[00:54:48] Jeremy Reisman: yeah, you're, you were inspiring some, some people. know, there was that story about the hospitalized guy who
[00:54:55] Jacob Litton: Yes.
[00:54:55] Jeremy Reisman: and all that like, yeah, let's, let's make it an annual thing now.
[00:54:59] Jason Harwood: Yeah, [00:55:00] well, if we keep getting to home playoff games and winning, I'm all about it. Right?
[00:55:04] Jacob Litton: Jason won't be able to participate, but
[00:55:06] Jason Harwood: I'm see, this is it. You asked for it, Jeremy, and you got it. So he's, he's got this low hanging, uh, fruit of, you know, Oh, he's bald and he's old, but, you know, uh, you know, whatever.
[00:55:22] Jacob Litton: Jeremy
[00:55:22] Jason Harwood: Go ahead. No,
[00:55:24] Jacob Litton: Mitchell, cause my quarterback, when I first started was Joey Harrington, which was not a fun time.
[00:55:29] Jeremy Reisman: Nope.
[00:55:30] Jason Harwood: when we drafted him, I was like, Oh, I remember it said when my friend Paul was like, Oh man, we got it. We got it. You know? Oregon guy, we're going to do it. And boy, was that dashed rather quickly. And then he came back and killed us on Thanksgiving day, you know, with Miami.
[00:55:47] Jeremy Reisman: Yep.
[00:55:48] Jacob Litton: All right. Last question.
NFL Rule Changes
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[00:55:49] Jacob Litton: Um, what is an NFL rule that you would change if you could change one rule?
[00:55:55] Jeremy Reisman: Yeah, I, who follow me know that I, there's a couple that I've rallied [00:56:00] against for years. Uh, the, the one that the biggest stick in my craw is, uh, automatic first downs on defensive
[00:56:08] Jacob Litton: Yes.
[00:56:09] Jeremy Reisman: So,
[00:56:10] Jacob Litton: Right, right,
[00:56:10] Jeremy Reisman: a defensive, um, you know, legal contact on a third and
[00:56:15] Jacob Litton: right. Yes.
[00:56:17] Jeremy Reisman: there's a defensive holder calling, gives him the first down. I actually think back to, oh god, it was, it was an opening game against the 49ers. I can't remember what year it was, but
[00:56:28] Jason Harwood: Well, that was Dan Campbell's first game, I think. Right.
[00:56:30] Jeremy Reisman: is
[00:56:31] Jason Harwood: Oh, oh, before.
[00:56:32] Jeremy Reisman: it was Tracy Walker's rookie season. gets an interception. I think it's him. Gets an interception that would have won them a game. You know, it would have been like this crazy comeback win. I think it was, I think it was the Matt Patricia era. Um, and it gets called back due to a defensive hold and listen to defensive hold would have been called either way. And, but I think it also like it not only took away the interception, the game winning interception, but it gave them a first down and a third and [00:57:00] monster long.
And I'm just like, this rule needs to go. I hate it more than, than probably like, I also hate spot follows on pass interference, but I understand why. Why it's there. I, I, I just, personally, I don't think there should ever be anything like a 40 yard penalty unless you've literally killed a person on the field. Um, but, automatic first down to me is like, it's a very simple fix. It's, it should be there. If you're, if there's offensive penalties that can be a loss of down. Like, I think that's like the evening point. Like, either you make more loss of down penalties on offense, it's like, Or you get rid of the automatic first downs on defense because there's an imbalance there to me.
And I just, the game's too slanted towards the offense. I don't care if it's low. I don't like, I don't have this obsession of the games need. There needs to be more scoring in football. Like, no, I'm cool with like a 10 to seven game.
[00:57:54] Jacob Litton: Right. Good football.
[00:57:55] Jason Harwood: Baltimore Ravens. Few years ago when they were just, no one could score [00:58:00] on them. Yeah. Yeah. I. I'm with you on that. There's just, and that just like stops third down because you, you can't cheer until you make sure there's no flag on the field.
[00:58:11] Jeremy Reisman: Yes.
[00:58:12] Jason Harwood: it's like, uh, they're going to do an instant replay or they're going to throw a flag.
You know, what's going to happen with the hip drop tackle this year, that that's going to do the same thing. There's going to be some long, long play third and 25 and five yards from the line of scrimmage. They're going to. tackle someone and they're going to get an automatic first down.
I just wish they could review more plays. Cause you also have the roughing the passer penalty that they'll do. And it's so hard for a referee to see that. Cause a lot of times they're standing behind the tackler. I don't want to slow down the game anymore about, you know, just reviewing everything, but those are game changing plays, you know, those automatic first downs.
So, yeah, I'm with you on that. I agree with you. Jeremy.
Closing Remarks
---
[00:58:57] Jason Harwood: I can't thank you enough for, [00:59:00] um, you coming on with, uh, Jacob and I and putting up with us, um, sorry that Jacob was so mean, at least he was nice to you. You haven't signed off on a podcast in a while. Would you like to do your sign off for us here now?
Do you still remember it?
[00:59:14] Jeremy Reisman: that's it. Let me, let me see if I saved it somewhere. No, no, of course I remember it, but yeah,
[00:59:18] Jason Harwood: Yeah.
[00:59:18] Jeremy Reisman: uh, well, I want to thank you guys for, for having me first of all, because I haven't had this platform in a while and it's hopefully I didn't talk your ear off too
[00:59:27] Jacob Litton: Not at all.
[00:59:28] Jeremy Reisman: you know, I, I enjoy talking ball with Lions fans, so, you know, if there's anyone else out there doing podcasts, out to me.
I'm more than happy to join your podcast. I'm more than happy to talk some Lions football and, you know, it's an exciting time right now. Why wouldn't you want to talk Lions football? It's, uh, they're Super Bowl contenders. And the first time that I feel like I've said that and actually meant it. Which is, which is just a cool time, but, but yeah, thank you both and continue doing what you guys are doing. Cause I know you already got some [01:00:00] fans, which is honestly like incredible, right? Like you guys just got off the ground and for you guys to have some people that are like, you guys are doing something worthwhile. That must mean this product is good. And just talking with you guys, like I can tell you guys no ball, which is
[01:00:15] Jacob Litton: Appreciate that.
[01:00:16] Jeremy Reisman: We need more people like you guys out there.
[01:00:18] Jason Harwood: Well, thank you. When you messaged me back this morning, uh, uh, almost had a Brad Holmes, a moment where he woke up his whole family, because it was like 6 45 in the morning. I it's getting ready for work. I wanted to tell you the story. I told Jacob, I texted him and I said, Hey, call me if you're up.
So he calls me and he goes, Are you sure you're not being catfished? Cause he thought, you know, the whole Twitter old man thing. And I was like, No, I reached out to him and I Pretty sure I clicked on the right profile. I,
[01:00:47] Jacob Litton: old. he's naive. He doesn't he's new at Twitter. I
thought for sure. I was like, there's no way
[01:00:52] Jason Harwood: I know. And so I think part of Jacob didn't believe it until we saw your face on the screen down there that you're, that you're real.[01:01:00]
[01:01:00] Jacob Litton: I even said before he came on. It's like he's not gonna show up.
[01:01:04] Jeremy Reisman: Well, if there's anything that this has taught us, it's how we'll close out the podcast. It's chaos. Be kind.