Some speculation around the league is that Lions QB Matthew Stafford has played his final game for the Detroit Lions. The issue is, lots of speculation is from false reports, which can create and cause havoc within the franchise. In this article, we will look into the facts of the Matthew Stafford rumors, and decipher what is true and what is false.

It is well known that Matthew Stafford will forever be the greatest QB that has put on the Honolulu blue for the Detroit Lions. It seems though that this season might’ve been the last time he will be representing Motown. Over the past few weeks, reports have flown from well-trusted sources like Adam Schefter and other reputable reporters. Adam stated that there is a chance that Stafford cannot last in another rebuild and the possibility has grown that Stafford is interested in playing elsewhere. This was to be expected as Matthew has gone through the treacherous constant rebuilding phases within the Lions since being drafted first overall in 2009 out of the University of Georgia.

So is it true? Does Stafford really want out of Detroit? Well, the thing is we just don’t know. We DO know though that new Head Coach Dan Campbell thinks that, “Matthew Stafford is an absolute stud.” But, at the same time, Dan also stated the following. “Listen, I’m open to anything right now,” Campbell said. “There are a million avenues you can go with the QB talk, this is just too early right now to talk about that. Literally, this is my second day in Detroit, and yesterday, I was on the phone all day.”

It seems the short answer is that we just don’t know yet. It seems from the buzz around the league that it is very likely that Stafford will move on this offseason. But maybe this is for the better. This 2021 Draft class is very QB heavy, with guys like Ohio State’s Justin Fields, or North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, or even BYU’s Zach Wilson. This upcoming class is very talented, and if there’s a time to take a QB, this would be the year. This, of course, is all in the hands of the new front office. All we can do as fans are just sit in our seats and pray that there will be a change in Detroit that will be the start of something great.

The Detroit Lions have announced the hiring of Los Angeles Rams Director of College Scouting Brad Holmes to a 5-year deal. This hire comes just days after Holmes had a second interview with Detroit.

Holmes has worked in the NFL since 2003, joining the Rams as a Public Relations intern. Not long after, Holmes joined the scouting side of the Rams and ended up running and controlling the teams’s draft strategy for 8 years.

Holmes has had high praise from many other well known executives around the league. One main example is former running backs coach Wilbert Montgomery. Montgomery during an interview described Holmes as “The next Ozzie Newsome.” Newsome was a Hall of Fame caliber player and the first African-American General Manager in the NFL. He has led the Ravens to two Super Bowl wins, while managing to cement his name in the NFL Hall of Fame. He will forever be known as the man who broke the color barrier for NFL Executives.

Brad Holmes has also received lots of praise from other people around the league throughout his career, but has he been able to back all of this praise up?

Yes. Yes he has. Brad Holmes is known in the Rams franchise for influencing the team to select Pittsburgh DT Aaron Donald. To give some perspective on that draft, the Lions selected TE Eric Ebron, and proceeded to watch the future All-Pro Donald fall all the way to the Rams at #13. Holmes is also a major reason why the Rams selected California QB Jared Goff with the first pick over North Dakota State University QB Carson Wentz. This, just like many other of his choices, has proven to be a massive success for the Rams.

The Lions have had little to no success in the NFL Draft, only being able to select players like Matthew Stafford, D’Andre Swift, and Taylor Decker in the past decade or so. By bringing in Brad Holmes, we will be able to further upgrade and increase our ability to scout at an elite level. Hopefully the experience that Holmes has gained over the years from scouting will be able to help us reach the top of the league when the draft rolls around.

Written by Jasper Warner

1. Interim HC Darrell Bevell

This may not be a popular option for most Lions fans, but there is a chance Darrell could stay as the HC for the future.

Darrell Bevell has already proven that he wants to win, and is far more liked by the players and the fans. Within his first two games, he managed to beat the Chicago Bears, which Matt Patricia failed to do every time during his tenure with the Lions. Bevell gained lots of experience with the Lions while he was the offensive coordinator and also has a very good connection with Matthew Stafford, which Patricia failed to have. Bevell has also proven he understands what the fans and players want, and is open to changes.

2. Cheifs OC Eric Bieniemy

If the Lions want to go for a more player-friendly coach, Bieniemy is the guy. He originates from the highly trained, well respected Andy Reid coaching chain, and had a key role in helping MVP and Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes reach his highest potential. Because of this, Bieniemy could be a massive help to develop guys like D’Andre Swift and help Matthew Stafford improve more, that is if he is still on the team by next season. Bieniemy would absolutely help both sides of the ball gain more explosiveness and balance if he was to wear the Honolulu blue.

3. 49ers DC Robert Saleh

Michigan native Robert Saleh is probably the top target for the Lions this offseason for the new coach. After showing his talents with the super bowl squad of the 2019 49ers and the beat-up 2020 49ers defense, Saleh shows he can make something out of nothing with his top tier play-calling and intense work ethic. By bringing in Saleh, he would be able to clean up the absolute wreck of a mess Patricia made during his time with the Lions, while also showing current DC Cory Undlin the ropes of being one of the best DC’s in the league. This would help bring the young and raw defense to its highest potential.

4. Rams OC Kevin O’Connell

Former QB for the Detroit Lions, Kevin O’Connell is a young coach who has learned tons in his first year behind Rams HC Sean McVay. As a result, he has gained the potential to be the next Head Coach for the Lions. Of course, O’Connell isn’t the highest option of the list, but it would be nice to have someone who was a former player, knows the playbook somewhat well, and understand the minds of the players. This could really help the morale and chemistry of the team as a whole.

As we near the off-season, who knows what the Detroit Lions will do. All we can do is sit back and pray that they make the right choice for the future.

The Detroit Lions had themselves an interesting game Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, with the Colts coming out on top, 41-21. The Lions have now dropped to 3-4 and sit 3rd in the NFC North, with the 2-5 Vikings looking to take over the 3rd place spot in the coming weeks after a solid win against the Packers. The Lions had a very different performance against the Colts, struggling in many spots. It seemed that the Lions were just getting back on track after the tight win against the Falcons. But let’s take a look at what exactly happened and see what the Lions did well, and also what they need to improve on.

1. Offensive Line

During the game against the Colts, Lions QB Matthew Stafford was sacked 5 times by the Colts’ defense. With this, the Colts also racked up 9 TFL throughout the game, which is the most for the Colts since week 12 in 2017. Yes, the Colts defensive line is one of the best in the league, but that doesn’t take away the fact that every play it felt like Matthew Stafford was being pressured.

The Lions offensive line was supposed to be stronger today with the return of OL Taylor Decker, but that wasn’t the case. In the past few weeks, the offensive line has been shifting around, with almost every lineman in the depth chart taking snaps at the guard and tackle positions. It seemed the Lions had hit big with the big men during the Falcons game, allowing only 2 sacks and managing to let D’Andre Swift and AP run all over the Falcons front seven. Sunday’s game, of course, was a very different story. The Lions need to figure out what guys work on the offensive line and stick with them, if we keep switching men around, prepare to expect more of the same in the coming weeks.

2. Run Game

Of course, if you want to have a good run game, you need a good offensive line. Still, there is no excuse for the horrible running game against the Colts. The Lions only ran for a TOTAL of 29 rushing yards. Jamal Agnew led the Lions in rushing, with 1 carry for 11 yards. Adrian Peterson started the game for the Lions and was in for most of the snaps, which made no sense. D’Andre Swift has proven that he should be in the starting position, but it seems that HC Matt Patricia feels otherwise.

The Colts defensive line had an absolute cakewalk to the RBs, which of course resulted in the poor run game. Matt Patricia still needs to take some of the blame for not starting D’Andre Swift, as stats are showing AP is getting worse each game via YPC (Yards Per Carry.)

3. Home Field Advantage? I think not.

So far this season, the Lions have struggled at home, going 0-3. The last time the Lions won a game in Ford Field was October 27th, 2019 against the NY Giants. It’s hard to pinpoint the reason why the Lions are struggling at home, but they need to figure it out. Sadly, there is a global pandemic going on (if you somehow didn’t notice that) which means there is no capacity allowed within the stadium (maybe for the better.) Not having fans in Ford Field could be a possible reason for the poor performance at home, but it needs to be figured out.

4. INJURIES!

It can’t be a normal Lions game without some injuries on the Lions side. Star WR Kenny Golladay left the game sometime around the 3rd quarter with a hip injury and was immediately declared that he would be out for the rest of the game. As of right now, no reports have come out about Golladay’s injury. There is a chance that he suffered a Hip contusion, which is a compression injury and can create a separation of the muscle fibers attached to the bone.

If this is the case for Kenny Golladay, he will be out for 1-2 weeks and be able to return quickly, as long as there is no extra inflammation in the muscle. Don’t panic though, this is one of the most common injuries in WRs.

RB/WR Jamal Agnew also left during the 3rd quarter due to an ankle injury. Just like Kenny Golladay, there has been no comment on what has happened or how severe the injury is, but he too was also ruled out for the rest of the game. Hopefully, in the following days, we can get an update and timeline for both Golladay and Agnew.

5. Marvin Hall – Have a day!

Of course, after all this negativity I feel we should send off on a positive note, WR Marvin Hall. Hall had an amazing day Sunday despite the team’s performance. Hall had his first career 100-yard game, racking up 4 catches for 113 yards.

We have to take this as a very positive thing, as now we have learned that the Lions have some depth in the WR position. Hall proved why he should get more playing time within the starting team, so let’s hope that Matt Patricia will take note and give Hall more reps in the upcoming game against the 2-5 Vikings.

Amani Oruwariye started playing for Gaither High School in Tampa, FL. During his time with Gaither, Amani was a star and managed to win his team MVP, while also receiving an invite to the Hillsborough County All-Star game. Amani became a top 100 player in the state of Florida, becoming a three-star recruit and committed to Vanderbilt University at the beginning of his senior year. Soon after committing, he followed Head Coach James Franklin and changed his commitment to Penn State.

During his time with Penn State, Amani managed to snag eight interceptions, with seven of them in his junior and senior year. Additionally, Oruwariye had twenty pass deflections and racked up over 100 tackles over four years.

Why is he the “Lions Gem”?

Amani Oruwariye is going to be a stud for the Detroit Lions and has shown flashes of being a diamond in the rough.

When the Lions drafted Amani in the 2019 NFL Draft, they knew that he was not going to walk right into the league and perform at a top-level, giving fans low expectations for Amani. During his rookie campaign, Amani was underwhelming, playing to his expectations. He played a slim five games, but managed to grab two interceptions.

While Amani was a ball hawk during these five games, but he had not done much else. Each game he played though, Lions fans noticed the potential in Amani. During the offseason, the Lions matched Amani up with third overall pick Jeff Okudah. The Lions were starting to make big moves, starting to create a young CB core that would develop and grow over time.

As the 2020 season has gone along, Amani has absolutely shocked most fans with his unbelievable performances. Amani has a 46.4% completion rate, which is some of the lowest in the league so far. Adding onto this, Amani has started all 6 games so far, managing to give QB’s a 66.4 QBR when he is targeted, compared to last season’s 107.0 QBR. Furthermore, last year in total, Amani had 19 tackles. This year, he has 13 combined tackles. Amani is on pace to obliterate his career-high from the season prior.

Overall, from what we’ve seen so far from Amani, Lion’s fans are in good hands with a very young and promising secondary. Amani Oruwariye still has large potential, as it is only his second season with the Lions, and the sky is the limit for him as each new game comes his way.