A new idea I had in order to help me go through the NFL team’s rosters and examine all the personnel and coaching changes, etc., one-by-one. I’m going to look at two teams head-to-head in seven key categories (my bias on what is ‘key’). The team that gets my vote in each category gets a ‘win’…the first team to 4 wins moves on to the next round. Just a quick, hopefully fun, way to take the temperature of each team heading into the 2023 preseason.
The seven categories…it’s actually six because one category is so important that it’s worth double:
1-2) The quarterbacks comparison…the winner of this gets 2 wins, or if too close to call it could be a 1-1 split.
3) O-Line -- Judging which team has the better O-Line…the most critical aspect of a team after the QB.
4) Cornerbacks -- After O-Line, I think the most critical position is shutdown corners (or not having any).
5) Head Coach/Organization -- A battle of which coaches will get in the way less, to some degree but also an edge given to teams that will attract free agents or be a desired destination in trades…and what teams are filling the stadium for home games, etc. Everything rolled into one judgment call.
6) Offensive Weapons -- Which team has the better, scarier RB-WR-TE group.
7) Kicker -- If it comes down to #7, of course the kicker should make the determination...as the kicker often determines the winner of a 59+ minute war prior with a last second make/miss.
As we lead into each category and tap a winner -- I’m also listing the major add/loss for each team in the offseason so far, just to eyeball it as a list.
Is this a brilliant way to judge teams over another? Who knows! But it struck me as something fun to do while studying each team this preseason, after the majority of offseason moves have been made.
DET major adds: LB J. Campbell, TE LaPorta, RB Gibbs, DB B. Branch, CB Sutton, RB Montgomery, SAF Gardner-Johnson, CB Moseley
DET major losses: RB Swift, RB J. Williams, CB Hughes, WR Chark
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GB major adds: TE Musgrave, WR J. Reed, OLB Van Ness, QB Clifford
GB major losses: WR Lazard, DT J. Reed, DT Lowry, TE Tonyan, QB A. Rodgers
QB (2x): It’s 2023, and for the first time in…what…20+ years?...the Detroit Lions have a clearly better QB than the Green Bay Packers do. I proudly award this edge to Jared Goff!
Lions take the quick (2-0) lead.
O-Line: The Lions have one of the best O-Lines in the league, and the Packers do not. Strong win for the Lions here.
Detroit leads (3-0).
CBs: Hey, the Pack gets on the board…Green Bay’s top five corners may all be better than any one of the Lions’ corners. Easy win for GB.
Lions still hold the lead (3-1).
HC/Organization: I knew this day would come; it’s been a comin’ for a while -- no one with any options is gonna wanna play for Green Bay. The Packers organization is gonna collapse and go dark for several years+ ahead. One of the least desirable NFL places to call home due to weather and proximity to anything. Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay’s formerly winning ways was a draw for some players. Not anymore.
Dan Campbell is a piece of work, but he appeals to a certain type of player, and he is getting the most out of his guys, by and large. Detroit isn’t a desired place to go play either but at least they play in a dome. And Campbell runs rings around Matt LaFleur as a coach and the Lions GM is better than whatever structure Green Bay purports to have. Lions win.
Lions win the series (4-1).
Weapons: I’ll take Green Bay’s backfield. A push or lean Detroit at WR. I see the merits of either rookie TE, although I like Musgrave better. So, I’ll take Green Bay’s weapons over Detroit’s.
Lions now lead (4-2).
Kicker: The Lions have three kickers right now that all are decent in various ways…Green Bay has a rookie that’s promising but has no experience for us to gauge. I’d rather choose from the Lions three than go with GB’s rookie, at this stage.
Detroit ends up with a (5-2) overall win and moves on to face Minnesota for the NFC North title.
