2022 Detroit Lions

Freethinker

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If Caste Football was giving an award for Most Improved (from a demographics point of view), then the Lions might be the front runners for it. It also appears that the roster improvement is leading to better outcomes, as they were competitive in each game, going 1-1 into a pivotal division game against Minnesota. Let's see how the roster and starters breakdown.

Total White Athletes on Roster (Starters in bold)
18 Whites total, with 8 starters. Grade: C-

QB - Jared Goff, Nate Sudfeld
WR - Tom Kennedy
TE - Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra
T - Taylor Decker, Matt Nelson
G - Evan Brown, Logan Stenberg, Dan Skipper
C - Frank Ragnow
DL - Aidan Hutchinson, John Cominsky
LB - Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez

K - Michael Badgley
P - Jack Fox
LS - Scott Daly

IR - Tommy Kraemer (OL)
PS - Tim Boyle (QB), Garrett Griffin (TE), Ross Pierschbacher (OL), Sam Ficken (K), Brandon Zylstra (WR), Brady Breeze (S)

Wow, what a shocker! 9 White starters for a squad that has perennially been one of the darkest and least competitive. The offense is lead by former #1 overall pick Jared Goff. Goff has been really struggling the last couple of years and is in a make or break season if he wants to remain a starter. Playing like he did in week 2 more often than not, would give the Lions good reason to invest in him as their long term starter. Another bad year and they'll be drafting one of those nifty black quarterbacks in next years draft. If Jared wants to revive his career, he better utilize TE TJ Hockenson alot more than he's been doing. TJ is a great 2 way TE that really should be more involved in the passing attack. 723 yards should not be his high water mark after this season is complete. The offensive line is 4/5th White and appears to be pretty good. They've protected Goff adequately well and allowed the runners to average 185 yards per game so far. Taylor Decker is the standout player.

On defense, its really been a huge improvement, especially considering the narrow parameters set up by the Caste NFL. Anzalone returns as the only White starter hold over from last year. An above average player, injuries have derailed his early years but he's stayed healthy of late and hopes to build on a pretty good year. Since the Lions operate out of the Nickle in their base defense, the other starting LB is also White. WTM Malcolm Rodriguez, who starred at Oklahoma State for years, yet fell to the 6th round in what was a steal for the Lions. Don't be fooled by the surname, this blue eyed beast should be a great linebacker for many years to come. Speaking of future stars, the #2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson is off to a good start with a 3 sack game in week 2! The local legend, who is from Michigan and starred at Michigan University could be the next great White pass rusher (Bosa brothers, Watt brothers, Jared Allen, et all). If he keeps it up, he'll easily be the biggest star and fan favorite in the city of Detroit. Rounding out the defense is rotational lineman John Cominsky. After being caste aside by the Falcons, who used him to warm the bench, it looks like he's finally getting meaningful snaps and has performed well so far as a Lion.

Dan Campbell (and probably the GM) should be given credit for Whitening up the roster. However they are not without criticism. WR Tom Kennedy was a preseason star yet again (did the same last year too) and yet again finds himself on the practice squad. Clearly Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond and Quintez Cephus are just too talented to displace? In the words of "our" mush-brained president, "c'mon man!"

Edit to add 10/20/22: Tom Kennedy has been up for a few weeks! Also, some offensive lineman shuffling. Now both Zylstra brothers are on the PS. Good for Brandon but bad for Shane who was demoted from the active roster.

Edit to add 11/3/22: Hockenson traded and Wright assuming the starting spot. I'm also taking the liberty of putting Shane Zylstra on the active roster as everything I read assumes he'll get the TE3 call for this Sunday. Brady Breeze was resigned to the PS after being cut with a preseason injury. Yay for another White safety.
 
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icsept

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Nice write up. A Tom Kennedy call up would be the icing on the cake. Jared Goff takes a lot of heat for being a number 1 overall pick and his lack of star power and charisma. However, he can really throw the ball, and can be a solid QB on the level of Jimmy G, Kirk Cousins, or Derek Carr. I will definitely be watching the Lions this season for the first time since Barry Sanders.
 

Don Wassall

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Yes, a nice write-up on one of the few teams with a positive trend from our perspective. Hutchinson needed all of two games before showing how dominating he can be. And nice that Anzalone kept his starting job as most observers had Rodriguez replacing him.

Have to disagree a bit on Goff. He played pretty well last season, especially toward the end of it, given what he had to work with as far as receivers. He had a 67% completion rate and a 19 to 8 TD to pick ratio, which is good. He was efficient enough that there was never any talk about replacing him this year, though he indeed was up and down while with the Rams and can look inexplicably bad at times. Hopefully the consistency will be there from now on.
 

white lightning

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Aidan Hutchinson should become a household name. He is that talented. Like an old Viking Warrior.

I also would love to see them give Kennedy a chance. Goff needs more help around him as the Lions have been a gutter
bottom tier team for what seems like decades.
 

Flint

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The verdict is in from fans and sports writers alike the Lions defensive woes can be attributed to 1) Alex Anzalone, the worst linebacker in the league, only playing because he is Coach Campbell’s “pet”, and 2) Aiden Hutchinson a first round “bust”.

I am used the local DWF’s anti-white animus towards Anzalone but it seems to be amped up a bit as Anzalone is easy to spot with his blonde hair, so every defensive breakdown (and there are a lot) when the camera pans to the defense it’s easy to pick him out. Hutch gets a little break as he played at Michigan, but he’s not doing a lot, and a lot was expected of a number 2 pick.

Really the issue is the secondary and the scheme but the average idiot only sees players and these two are obvious ones to spot in a sea of anonymous black players. All of whom suck. Only Rodriguez has escaped blame but that’s mostly since he is an honorary non white and popular from Hard Knocks this summer (and he is playing well).
 

Freethinker

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Bump for the trade deadline roster update. Lions still just as good to cheer for. Hope they can start winning soon....
 

Phall

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Bump for the trade deadline roster update. Lions still just as good to cheer for. Hope they can start winning soon....

Thanks for updating. The Hockenson trade was absolutely demoralizing. It's a pleasant footnote that trading such a reliable and competent white starter doesn't make this team less white. Minnesota didn't exactly give up a king's ransom for one of Detroit's few players who could start for other teams.

Two years ago, the Lions seemed to be offering Jared Goff a redemption arc, but after further review, they are just giving his career a soft landing. Maybe they can sign Laquon Treadwell to boost morale.
 

Don Wassall

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John Cominsky has gotten starter's snaps the past two games, giving the Lions White bookends at DE as Cominsky is now paired with Aidan Hutchinson. So Detroit is now up to a league best 4 White starters on defense, though Malcolm Rodriguez's snaps have declined of late. That's probably because of the injury he's coming back from so hopefully they'll start going back up again. Not bad for a team that eschewed even White backups on defense for a number of years.
 

Bucky

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Campbell actually has The Lions playing good. Kudos to him. They are fun to watch on Defense. Unfortunate they traded away Hock, but Kennedy has made some appearances this season!
 

Flint

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Campbell actually has The Lions playing good. Kudos to him. They are fun to watch on Defense. Unfortunate they traded away Hock, but Kennedy has made some appearances this season!
And they have a couple of White TE’s that play (and a black one). So not a loss by the numbers.
 

Bucky

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And they have a couple of White TE’s that play (and a black one). So not a loss by the numbers.
Best looking Lions squad in a long time. More to cheer for than my Packers.
 

Flint

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Dang! Lions cut Tom Kennedy to make room for scrub RB. They weren’t calling his number much recently so it’s not a surprise. He made some big plays for them this year but it didn’t do him much good. He’ll probably go to the practice squad and get jerked up and down a few more times over the next couple of years.
 

Snow Plow

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Hutch!
 

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Warhawk_46

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Dang! Lions cut Tom Kennedy to make room for scrub RB. They weren’t calling his number much recently so it’s not a surprise. He made some big plays for them this year but it didn’t do him much good. He’ll probably go to the practice squad and get jerked up and down a few more times over the next couple of years.
Only in the racist NFL could a guy who led the preseason and made huge plays in the regular season be cut. I 100% guarantee if Kennedy were black he would have had the roster spot locked up.
 
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