Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Checking in on the Detroit Lions with Nolan Bianchi

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News joins the show for the first episode of our series NFC North Check In. What are the Lions' biggest needs this offseason. Who are Detroit targeting this spring? What's next for Dan Campbell and the Lions? The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome into another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fanduil. Matthew Collar here, as always. And joining me on the show from the Detroit News, Nolan Bianchi, back on the show here. And I wanted to just start doing some NFC North check-ins with other reporters and so forth. Because you know what, Nolan, what else are we doing right now? Other than, you know, some of us were spending all night grinding outside linebacker backup options for their team. I don't know what you're doing,

probably just vacationing or something. But how are you and how are Detroit Lions fans? Actually, after this season, you know, five years ago, they would have been like, that wasn't too bad. But now, you know, now sad. Yeah, much different nine and eight season

than the one they had in 2022, when they were kind of on the upward trajectory with Dan Campbell. And that kind of set the tone for like this wonderful off season where it was like, they didn't have actually. like playoff disappointment but they and so they also like got to like live on this high of like beating the packers in Lambo to close a season which is something that they never did pretty much for the first 20, 25 years of my life. So that was significant when they did that. But now, yes,

coming off of this season where it feels like they were trying to run it back after a 15 and two season and they go 9 and 8 and miss the playoffs, everybody's freaking out. And so so things aren't going too hot over here. Me personally, I'm doing all right. I wish it was a little warmer outside. I don't know. It's funny complaining to a Minnesotan about that. But I feel like we're kind of in the same boat.

But other than that, I, you know, not leaving my house in like four days. I'm doing great. No, we're fine. Zero. So. Yeah. That's all right. The feels like number.

Feels like number is actually six. It's usually, when is it ever higher? Oh, maybe because it's sunny out. It's never higher. I saw that the other day. I felt like negative two or said it was negative. negative two feels like four. And I was like,

that's a win in my book. People will complain about that feels like number. But let me tell you that the wind matters a lot. And I don't have to tell any Minnesotan this. And when it says zero, but feels like minus 15, that changes what you do. That changes how you get ready to go somewhere

or how much clothing I put on the dog to be able to take him out. So it does matter. The weather has been miserable. Nobody's fan base is happy except for Seattle. and New England, but I do feel like we would rank pretty high for Viking and Lion angst from the fans, because in both sides of it, it feels like you missed out on something. Like the Lions feel like they missed out the last couple years with their chance for the Vikings. They missed out on the Super Bowl quarterback who's starting and missed out on, you know,

having a similar run in 2024 to what Seattle has been able to do. So what is the biggest source of frustration for Lions fans right now? Well, I think it's honestly the general manager, which is funny because that was, he was kind of the, I wouldn't say he was the untouchable of the group, but, you know, he kind of came in and just started hitting on all of his draft picks immediately. You know, the first pick he makes is Pena Sewell. And then he also finds Ali McNeil in that draft. He finds I'm on Ross St. Brown in that track.

He finds all these guys who ended up being contributors. And really, that doesn't stop through 2023. when he goes out and he selects four pro bowlers and two of those guys or three really all of them had potential to be all pros at some point in their career with their first four picks of that 2023 draft gibbs campbell branch in the porta but over these last two years you know these these draft picks ain't been hitting like they were i think also like there's a lot of different factors playing into it of like the roster is better so it's harder for these young guys to make an impact the 2024 draft has been like remarkably injured and so i think that a lot of of frustration not only with the draft, but then because they prioritize the draft so much, they haven't necessarily been willing to go out and maybe make those win now moves that you see some other teams do. And that is frustrating to fans. And fans, I think, point to that. And they said, well, that's, that's, that's the reason why we're not in the playoffs this season. And there's a lot of other things. I think John Morton, people were really frustrated with the offensive coordinator

who had his play calling duty strip because of the horrific performance against the Minnesota Vikings. things. And it's just like a, it's just a variety of factors. They're upset. And on the other hand, I do think there's a sentiment that's like, hey, we were one Frank ragged out out from making the playoffs last year. So like, just figure that out and everything will be good again. But obviously, that's, that's easier said than done when you're replacing an all pro center. So I think there's like a little bit of frustration about a loss season, no doubt. And And I think it was kind of the things that plagued them were like things that we were uncertain about from the onset. Like I remember our first meeting with John Morton and I was like, that is not Ben Johnson, which, you know, can be a good thing.

But in this case, I don't think it was. So a lot of different things where you can kind of like point back and be like, yep, we, the fans knew it at the time that that was bad or that not, you know, adding anybody at the trade deadline would be bad or whatever. But at the end of the day, like this team's biggest problem was offensive line. And I think that that is just the thing that they need to focus on. They get that figured out. Again, easier said than done. They need to replace the center. They might have to replace left tackle Taylor Decker who's considering retirement.

So it's a little bit messy, but also the objective is clear to get back to where they want to be. Well, I think that you're really also skipping over the lead that, oh, skipping that Dan Skipper. Dyer, which, you know, what's your red zone weapon going to be there when that happens? But, you know, to your point, though, I think it's. kind of worse when everyone identifies in a previous offseason. This, this, this, this and this seem like they could be serious problems. And then every single one of those things is problems. And you go, did you guys just think that you had the answers there?

Or what was it that made you believe that your offensive line was going to be fine with these inexperienced players? And the one I keep going back to that's really odd to me was Kevin Zyte And I know that teams have injury information that we don't have. And so there may have been, because I think he missed the week 18 game and there was some injury issues there and maybe in the playoffs. But yeah, it really good. And that's not a guy that you can just sort of roll the ball out and someone else has that level of experience, that size combination and power of Kevin Zitler. And I know that teams always love getting younger and handing the, you know, the jobs over to their.

draft picks and saying, look, we drafted this guy in the, is it was mahogany like a fifth or something like that? We drafted this guy in the fourth or fifth or sixth. And he became a starter. Look how genius we are. But that, that's not a guy you can really let walk out the building when you are in win now mode. So I think that the combination also seemed to be like perfectly fit for Jared Gough not being the same Jared Gough.

When he was in L.A., the year that they traded him, they had one of the worst pass blocking units in the NFL. And then the very next year, Matthew Stafford had one of the best passing units in the NFL or pass blocking units in the NFL. We've always known this about Jared Goff that, and he had a good year. He certainly did. When you look up the numbers, you're like, oh, this guy missed the playoffs. But it's just not the same in terms of consistency when they're not able to protect him. So what's the, what's the plan? Like, how are they going to rebuild this? Well, I think they, they do have to get somewhat aggressive in free agency to to probably fill the center position because that's the thing right now.

And if I could just go back to last season real quick, because I, you're, you're 100% correct. This is something we saw coming. But I think coming out of the draft, you said, okay, they got Frank Ragnow. And then they got Christian Mahogany who played two, he started two games as a rookie in 2024. And he was really good. Like he was strong.

And so I prematurely was like, okay, well, that's a guy. You know, like, let's see what happens there. but after the draft you're kind of going okay you got christian mahogany who's played and was good you've got um tate ralage who you just drafted second rounder you've got graham glasgow and you also drafted miles fraser in the fifth round out of lSU who was a guy who i don't there was a lot of tip like i wasn't grinding the miles fraser tape as much as a lot of people coming into the draft but i think there were a lot of people who thought that he could be a day two pick and so i was like okay, so you got Sewell, Ragnow, Decker, and then you're going to let these four guys battle it out for whatever, these last two guard spots.

And in a worst case scenario, they're playing next to Penae, Sewell, Frank, Ragnow, and Taylor Decker. So, like, they'll probably be okay. But this year, it's just, it's a little bit more complicated because you do have to go out and solve that center position. But you also have Taylor Decker considering retirement. And he said he's probably going to need a few months to decide what he's going to do. And obviously this is something that the lions are aware of, but it kind of feels like they're in the same boat last year where it's like, you probably can't lure in a veteran tackle worth his salt, like for a guy who's really kind of up in the air at this stage about what he's going to do. So you kind of are pigeonhole or, you know, shoehorned into attacking it in the draft, which is not something that they like to do is be kind of forced into these like drafting for need.

And so I think that's probably the plan as you go out and you get like a. really strong center, which again, easier said than done. You know, just, and then you, you kind of let the, the guard spots figure it out from there. You got like three guys that you can let compete for that. Tate Rallage, I thought, came on pretty strong at the end of last season. So maybe it's just the one guard spot that you're really worried about. But that would be my plan is to find a veteran, like, interior option in free agency.

And then try to try to get one of these tackles in the draft of number 17. But again, you know, it's hard to, hard to just like plan like that. It is. I'm trying to pull up on my phone. So I don't have to use my computer on over the cap.com because it's, it's such a huge website that my computer will go if I pull it up. And that's not working either. But the free agent centers, I'm sure you've checked because the Vikings need a center as well, more likely than not with Ryan Kelly's situation. it's there's not a lot of guys out there that you would look at and say well that's a that's a proven

guy you know cade may's from the carolina panthers is a free agent he's had a year where he was decent and that's pretty much it i mean there's just not a lot of options tyler linderbaum is probably going to stay with the baltimore ravens and even if he doesn't the bidding war is going to be wild where i think we're pressing probably 20 million dollars a year for us a center which you know for him does make a lot of sense. sense, but there's going to be 12 teams who are calling Tyler Linderbaum trying to get him in there, which means, you know, do the Vikings get him to the lions, get him teams that have spent a lot of money?

Do they have that much money left to make a move like that? So you kind of feel like how does that actually end up working out? It really shows you what a giant hole in that entire operation that Frank Ragnall punched by retiring and then coming back and having a horrible, awful. hamstring injury that you could never, ever play with. That's another thing too. But, you know, when it comes to Decker in the left tackle position, I've always thought when a guy's talking about considering retirement, he should probably just call it a day because

it's really hard to keep getting yourself up for that. Harrison Smith might be an outlier. So that's difficult for Decker. So do you look left tackle in the draft? Do you look center in the draft? I mean, I've been looking at the centers of the draft. And really, there's two of them that are. projected as day one starters, Jake Slaughter and Connor Lou, and one of them tore his ACL.

That would be Connor Lou. So really, it's like Jake Slaughter and nobody else. This is, I think Center is the most underappreciated position. Maybe in the history of the National Football League, the guy touches the ball, every single play, he makes the changes, he's the leader of the group. And if you have a good one, you feel like a God. And if you have an awful one, you feel like you can't do anything up there. Hey, everybody just wanted to break in real quick and let you know that the Detroit Lions on Fandul are plus 1,600 to win next year's Super Bowl.

So that's our Fanduil question of the day for this episode is, are you still buying the Detroit Lions as a legitimate Super Bowl contender? And what would they do this off season to make you think that they are a scary team in the NFC once again after missing the playoffs? Again, plus 1,600 on Fandul. Let me know. down in the comment section. I think they win both of those Vikings games if they have Frank Ragnow.

I agree. Because that that was like I you're you're so correct. And it was like it wasn't just like, oh, the run block like it was like these guys lost out. Yep. All five of them because Frank's not there. And and I completely agree on the point of like when they drafted Tate Rallage, it was like in that they, we went to rookie mini camp and they were like having them take

snaps at center. And it was like, okay, that's interesting. Like maybe they're just trying. like see what it can do. And then we got to training, and then Frank Ragdott retires that we get to training camp, Tate Rattle is still at center. We're like, okay, like this is a plan.

And then after three days, I'm pretty sure. I don't, it's hard to know for sure who officially pulled the plug, but I would guess that Jare Goff was like, yeah, no, this is, this is not going to work. This guy has never played center in college. What makes you think that he can just, and that's something that like a lot of people have referenced, well, can we just move this guy to center?

and I'm like, you're, could you just move that guy to the quarterback of the offensive line? Like, there's so many, like, can you just move a quarterback to middle linebacker? Like, those are the types of like, like the mental side of the game just isn't even like remotely similar at all. No, that's right. Yeah. I mean, could you make a defensive tackle an outside linebacker? Like, technically if it was bad in, but these things have, these things have parts to them, layers to them. and the Vikings were lucky to have Blake Brandel who had been around long enough to really

understand the offense. But even then, the drop off from Ryan Kelly to him, when I was watching Ryan Kelly, and we only got about 300 snaps, but watching Ryan Kelly tape is probably how you felt about Frank Rag now. You're just like cinema. Like watch, watch this guy operate like up close, dealing with stunts, twists, blitzes, you know, being the leader of the group and getting everybody organized. Watch how he communicates.

watch the subtle stuff. And Frank Regnow is as good as there have been in the last decade of doing that. And that's why, you know, him and the combination of not having Ben Johnson, why I think Brian Flores' defense just teed off on Detroit, like everybody else, whereas before they kind of had cheat codes to be able to deal with it. Let's talk about that part because I've been called a Benedict Arnold by Vikings fans for suggesting, daring to suggest, that the Detroit Lions made a good offensive coordinator hire.

And I was just laughing hysterically at the entire Lions fan base, losing its collective mind that they hired someone from the Arizona Cardinals, as if the Cardinals have got it all figured out and make all the right decisions all the time of letting go Drew Petzing. But in this case, I happen to have covered Drew Petzing enough. I've chatted with him. I've done some stories with him in the past when he was with the Vikings. And I also know his reputation is very, very strong.

But he was with a team that was trying to lose on purpose. So you kind of have to look at when they weren't trying to lose on purpose, which was in 2024. And they had a respectable offense there. And the other thing is, too, that Petting kind of comes from that. You know, Kubiak was here with him. Kevin Stefanski was here with him. That's along the lines of the Ben Johnson.

building everything off of the run game. I personally think that Drew Petsing as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions makes a lot of sense. And I also think it makes cultural sense more so than Mike McDaniel, who I don't know what that guy's deal is. Like he's going to go to the beat of his own drum where I think that Petsing and his relationship with Jared Gough will ultimately be very good. But what did you make of the response to it?

And then what do you make of that hire? how that could alter things into the future. Well, I think the, if I can, you know, excuse the initial response from the fan base, I think because I think a lot of people were coming into this offseason being like, okay, like whatever they do. Like, again, you know, some people think it was the offensive line. Some people think it was the pass rush. Some people think it was the offensive coordinator that was the number one thing

holding this team back. And I think what concerns fans is that Dan Campbell has made three offensive coordinator hires. John Morton, Anthony Lynn, and Ben Johnson. The first two that I just mentioned were abject disaster. Like both those guys that play calling duty stripped before the season was halfway done. Ben Johnson worked out wonderfully. But I think he's kind of past the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these hires a little bit.

And I think this was kind of the expectation of this hire was, okay, he's going to go out and get the biggest fish imaginable. How can you not? The talent on the lion's offense is so attractive. The culture that Dan Campbell is built. saw what happened with Ben Johnson, how he was able to spread his way. Like, it just seems like a good place to be an offensive coordinator. And then they hired somebody that nobody had ever heard of. And I don't fault them for not knowing the name of the offensive coordinator of the Arizona

Cardinals. And I think all of those things just like kind of came into this reaction. I'm just like, what the hell, man? Like, what is going on? And I even, like, I did not have them on my 10 coordinators to watch. You know, I was even like, okay, like, what? what's this guy's deal? You know, and I had to dig into it a little bit before I came to, came to a, you know, response, I guess you could say. But I think fans had mostly calmed down about it.

And especially as you talk about the stuff that you're talking about, when you like dive deep into the numbers and you go, oh, the only season that Kyler Murray played more than half the games, this offense was a top 10 offense in every single metric, like all of them. And I think that's super encouraging on top of the stuff that he did with the run game in years where Kyler Murray wasn't healthy and where that offensive line probably wasn't as great. Just the offense as a whole was just not functioning well. He still managed to get a pretty good ground game out of them. I think they were on like RB7 last season.

And so I do think that there's a little bit of optimism there. And then now they hired Mike Kafka, which also really has people really excited because, you know, I think the big thing last year, like I mentioned, was I think after they went 15 and 2, they lost Ben Johnson. and it's interesting because I went to Ben Joss's introductory press conference and there was like a little like side table chat where he was talking about Detroit and he goes I really truly like you guys are going to think I'm just blown smoke I don't think it matters who's calling the place in Detroit anymore like that that system is so self-sustaining like they like Dan knows offense like

they've got to figure it out and then I think Campbell kind of felt that same sentiment and really push that theory to the limit by how. hiring a guy who had really never called plays outside of one season with an awful, awful Jets team had been in the league for forever. And, you know, I think people kind of wanted to see Campbell do the opposite of that hire. Get a guy who he's never worked with before. Get a guy who wasn't around here. Get a guy who might not come from the same offensive tree like John Morton did coming from

Sean Payton like Dan Campbell did. And so when you consider the background of Dan Campbell and, you know, the Sean Payton aspect of things, the, the, the Kubiak and Stafansky background with Petzing, and then you got the, the reed tree with Mike Kafka. And I think this is going to be a collaborative approach, because that's what it's been in recent years. And I'm sure that to some degree, a lot of, you know, teams function like that. But I really do believe that that is how they function here is like, okay, like, you really do have the run. Like, the play calling seems to be a little bit collaborative in that sense. And so I think that's going to go a long way into not only are you bringing a guy with

play calling experience. So that's a check versus what they had before. But they're also bringing a guy who was not with Dan Cainle before. It can bring different ideas to the table. And I think that's what you kind of need as you're trying to get over that hump. And you were so, so good. But guess what? Your defense got hurt in the year that you were so, so good. You blew it. And now you need to evolve. And that's just not going to work the next year. And I think they kind of realized that last season and we're like, okay, we have to like give every season our utmost attention from a staffing standpoint and constantly be figuring out new ideas. And so I think that that the hires that they've made, not just Drew Petting, but also bringing in Mike Kafka, who, you know, you can feel whatever kind

of way you want about his tenure in New York. But I think he just, he comes from a different tree. He brings different ideas. And the three of them together, I think is going to be a really good mix for pushing this offense kind of into 2026. Well, this is the problem with trying to evaluate coaches on whatever happened last in their last spot. Number one, they're available maybe for, you know, like a reason that they were probably with a bad team. But that doesn't mean that every single person who works in an organization and a coaching staff is awful just because their team wasn't good. I mean, if Jacoby Brissette is your starting quarterback for 90% of the season, and even when you look at Jacoby Brissette's season, it was okay. And they had their defense completely fall apart

under Jonathan Gannon. But even Jonathan Gannon ends up going to the Green Bay Packers, which I think says a lot about Arizona more than it does about Drew Petsing and Jonathan Gannon, who when you talk to other people around the NFL, they're like, oh, yeah, no, that's, that guy's a really good coach. Or with the Vikings, you know, personally that I remember, you know, saying, like making some crack on Twitter as, you know, we do sometimes about Jonathan Gannon in one of those weird videos. and somebody with the Vikings reached out to me is like, I know that video's weird, but this guy's actually a really great coach.

You know, like, okay, sorry, my bad. But also, you know, it tells you what other people in the building think of that guy's acumen. And with petting, he's somebody that has had no things handed to him the entire way. And this is kind of, I think, an indicator of somebody being a good coach where it's like came in at the very bottom and, you know, whatever held up the scout team cards. on the sideline at first and then works their way up,

works their way up. At one point, you talk about like handling valuable merchandise. He's coaching Adam Thielen and Stefan Dix for the Vikings. That was his job as the wide receivers coach before, you know, getting some other positions and then going to Arizona. So this is somebody who has worked his way up and I think will be a good coach for them.

But it ultimately comes down to can you block it up? And can you get, I think a little bit, what I saw the big difference was a little bit more. And creative is such a word that frustrates me with football because anytime, like a lot of times the simple stuff works really well. But if it's simple all the time, then it can be sort of identified and dealt with what I think that that tree does well, the Stefanski, you know, Kubiak is they dress up that stuff. Like, yes, it's simple, but, you know, going back to all of it's connected to Kyle Shanahan, where it might be just a little bit of a different look, a little bit of a different look, a little bit of a different motion, a little bit,

like not trying too hard to prove to everybody that you're a genius. Because everyone loves if something looks really crazy. Like, wow, how creative. But a lot of times the best things aren't even noticed by the general viewer. It's just, oh, this was a look that you showed last week. And here's an extra little motion to that that looks like something else. And then it's a run this way instead of that way. Like, I think that that's the stuff that that group believes in that Jemir Gibbs

maybe didn't have as much last year. because it felt like he was just trying to do it on pure talent last year. Yeah. And that's something that I thought was Ben Johnson's, like, greatest skill. Was his ability to sequence plays and know which plays he wanted in that critical moment. I think back to that Vikings game in 2022 when he sent Sewell in motion and that, and that's obviously an example of like the crazier end of things. But also during that season and during that stretch run towards the end, there was a play

against the New York Jets where, you know, Brock, it's just like when in doubt, like have Brock Wright just leak out, you know, going across the, whatever. And, and that was like a perfect example of like, they, they did that twice earlier in the game. They gave the Jets the look. The Jets said, okay, we know it's coming here. And then Brock Wright runs for a 60-yard touchdown, which is something that he should never do with his physical ability. And I think they sorely missed that, that timely play calling last year, like you mentioned. I mean, like, one of the funnier moments of the season was after they lost the Vikings the first time.

And it was like they just kept getting hammered with that crossdog blitz. And Dan Campbell was like truly at his wits end talking about it on the radio the next day. And they're like, they're like, coach, you know, what happened? And he's like, every freaking team in the league runs cross dog. Okay. So we didn't get it blocked up. We didn't adjust. And we will be changing that from now on.

And then next thing you know, he's the one calling place. So I don't really remember what the entry point was of this question or whatever. Run creativity. It was run creativity. Yeah. And I do think that that like having a little bit better like play sequencing and a better idea of what you want to get to later in the game in these critical moments, these high leverage situation. Because that was another place where they kind of fell apart last year was high leverage spots. And that was a place where they were really, really good. You kind of came like accustomed to, okay, here we go, fourth and two. They're going to get it.

They're going to, how are they going to do it this time? And obviously a lot of that has to do with the offensive line and stuff like that. But I do think that the play calling was just a step behind. And even when when Campbell took over, I thought like he did better. But I thought that there were still some moments where they were maybe lacking in that regard. And I think just like having a whole like, you know, you're replacing a couple guys kind of at the top, I think is going to go a long way towards figuring out those problems and being able to, to diagnose, okay, what did we do last year that wasn't working and how do we get out of that

kind of stuff? So I do want to ask you about, you know, defense at some point. But with Jared Goff specifically, I mean, you and I have talked about this a lot over the years. And I've ranted and whatever about I don't, I just don't like how quarterbacks are analyzed. I think we're better than this than how it's done a lot. And where it really probably. sent me over the top was last year with, you know, Sam Darnold and how that analysis worked. And certain guys just sort of get put into buckets of like, well, you know, this guy's fine, but he just can't do it. Just like throw him in the garbage. And like, he's not, you know, Mahomes or Jackson or whatever and just put him away. He'll never win. He sucks. And I don't really

understand that. Or if someone doesn't have like one particular physical skill or whatever, if there is a shortcoming to their game, it's, they're useless. And that, that has always been crazy to me because so many quarterbacks who have different shortcomings, Brock Purdy literally size and arm strength is in the Super Bowl. And now Sam Darnold, the alleged go seer who said that when he was 21 years old facing Bill Belichick's defense, right? Yeah. I mean, well, he was, but he was also a kid playing for the worst team in football.

That's true. And he was playing against the Patriots. it's like also shouldn't have been miced up or whatever at that time or that shouldn't have been published. But the point just being that people tend to like hang on to these things. And until the guy actually is raising Lombardi, it's like, no, he's not good enough. He's not good enough. And I feel like, you know, golf has always kind of gotten that. Oh, he got traded from the Rams. He must be garbage kind of thing. And then he proved everybody wrong. But Josh Reynolds drops a ball on a fourth down. And then he doesn't get to be the guy that went to the Super Bowl.

you understand where I'm going with that frustration. But with Jared Goff, it does feel like we've gotten to nearly the end of the line with something here, where if it's not next year, then when is it going to be? Because it's probably not going to get better than it's been. And it's probably not going to get better than it's going to be in 2026 for Jared Goff. So like, how does his future with Detroit look to you? I would say like he's still pretty comfortable here. Like I think that fans from the outside perspective might think otherwise.

But again, like you mentioned, like he was the least of their problems offensively this past year. And I know that there were a couple of games, the Vikings game on Christmas, national television, everybody watching. He doubled his interception total on the entire season in that one game, I'm pretty sure. I think he had like four or five interceptions coming into the game. you left with three or four extra. And so I don't really think that he's in any danger of, like, being on the way out. But that being said, I think that this is a forward-thinking organization to some degree,

and it wouldn't surprise me if one of these years out of nowhere the pick comes up, oh, are they going tackle? Or they're going edge. Oh, my gosh, they drafted a quarterback. I would not put it past them because I do think that they try to think like that. On the other hand, though, I do think that. think like because of what happened to him in Los Angeles, I think golf is maybe a little bit sensitive to those types of things. So I think that there's like a precarious situation that

exists where like if you're going to try to do that and like start preparing for the future or even just 2027, like the immediate future, like I just, I feel like you have to be very careful with how you do that because of what he went through and kind of the the animosity that he felt and that's chip on his shoulder. And, and I think that like I said, I think it's a little bit of a precarious situation. And I'm fascinated because this is something like a conversation I've had with people who like watch football or don't watch football and nobody agrees with me except for maybe you. But I, it's like I watch Josh Allen, right? Like I think anybody, if you could watch five plays of Josh Allen and five plays of Jericho. I think anybody with eyes

could be like Josh Allen is the more dynamic and therefore better quarterback because the second that blitz comes he can get away from it you know and and this is something i my uh be partner rich he's like he's an eraser he can neutralize any bad situation but what is the true value of that relative to other ways that you can get yourself out of danger what if you saw that blitz coming before you snap the ball and and i understand that like people recognize that that's valuable but I don't think to me it's the same thing. If you don't see the blitz and then it comes and you run and you pick up the first down, you gain 11 yards, or versus if you go, yep, that guy's coming, you know, slide that way,

whatever. And then you hit the pass for 11 yards. How is that any different? Like it just looks cooler with the way that Josh Allen does it. And for the most part, outside of those Vikings games, which is really funny because your listeners are going to be like, what are you talking about, man? I watch it with my own eyes. Outside of those Vikings games, he was magnified.

significant last year, especially given the circumstances. And so that's something that I think I will forever be in conflict with, like, internally is just like, yeah, like Jaregolf might not be able to run for that first down on second and seven. But if he can hit Doss and not, a wide open Doss and Knox to win that game, you know, like what is the value of that? Because I don't think that Jare Gough is missing that throw to Dawson Knox, you know? And so I, this is something I'm just constantly at, at,

internally struggling with is like what is the value of that versus the value of what Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes does. Another top five scoring offense for the Detroit Lions with Jared Goff. I think that that is three of them for him there and he had two of them with Los Angeles. So that's five in his career. And the Minnesota Vikings, if I'm not mistaken, have not had one since 2009. So a top five, I do not believe they've had a top. top five scoring offense, not a single one since Brett Favre was here. And that just tells you

like how hard it is to do. And also if you don't think Jared Gough is good, that's a pretty tough argument to make when his offenses perform at that type of level. And he puts up numbers like 4,500 yards, 35 or 34 touchdowns. And I mean, this audience has seen enough Jared Gough ripping apart the Vikings to know that those two games were not reflective of how good Jared Goff generally is. I guess what I think about though with him is there is something to that and it used to

frustrate me with watching Kirk Cousins where it was you need someone to make a play where everything breaks down and there's nothing the quarterback or there's nothing, only the quarterback can make something special out of this and golf can't

do that. And then that is the difference between him and Josh Allen, him and Patrick Mahomes, him and Lamar Jackson, and even probably throw Joe Burrough in there as well, because Burroughs a lot like Jared Goff as a brilliant pocket quarterback with great accuracy, incredible decision making and all that. But he can kind of whirl around and make a play that Jared Goff just generally can't,

which I think does get you at times. He's also been to the NFC championship. He's also been to the Super Bowl. You know, it's just like, well. And to that point, the point about Burrow, like Burrow takes a lot of sex. And so Jared Goff might not get as many. Plosive plays or positive plays out of those high pressure situations, but he's, he takes a lot less negative plays than most other quarterbacks, which I think also matters too. And so again, that's just like, okay, if Jerr, or Burrow needs to take three sacks to hit a 20-yard pass, you know, in those situations, like what is what is the value of just turfing it all four times then? You know, they're in the aggregate. I don't, I don't know. I don't have the answer to that. And I'm sure some people do, which is why they have the feelings that they do. Well, it's just.

very funny sometimes to me how these things work out because if I say this, people lose their mind. So we'll just say, we'll just whisper it to you between friends here. This is something that you and I might talk about at the combine. I would say this to you and you'd be like, don't say this to anyone else. But Jared Goff, Jared Goff plays just like Tom Brady did. He stands tall in the pocket. He makes great decisions. He has no ego about where he throws the football.

He'll throw it to the third tight end. He'll swing it to the running back. It does not matter to him. He doesn't take a ton of sacks. The difference is, well, Tom Brady had all those clutch moments. So that's one. And also the difference is Tom Brady had Bill Belichick on the other side. And well, he is not a Hall of Famer at the moment.

I think that having top five defenses year in and year out and so forth, you know, may have been a little different than Jared Gough. Now I'm not saying golf is Tom Brady. But to me, they play it. They win in a similar way that you're talking about, which is quick decision making. I do think golf may have a little more of a pension to do something crazy with the football

when he gets freaked out as opposed to Brady. So again, I'm not saying that they're the same, but that idea of making good decisions, getting rid of the football, not taking negative plays, and winning that way, has clearly worked throughout NFL history. It's just that if you don't get over the hump and win the ring,

people will continue to say that you're just not good enough, even though Josh Allen has not won the ring either, and is much less accurate on a consistent basis than Jared Goff. So it is a fascinating discussion. I wouldn't take golf over Josh Allen, but I definitely appreciate what you're saying. Yeah. The question for me, though, is with Jared Goff is,

will it ever be as good as it was two years ago for him in terms of supporting cast? Because I think we would all agree that to win like that, you have to have the right supporting cast. Is it ever going to be a, again good enough for him to get them. And I don't just mean supporting cast as in center. I mean as in all of it. I mean secondary as in, I don't know, the kicker's pretty good.

But like everything like coming together, coaching staff, Ben Johnson, is it ever going to be as good again as it was when they lost to Washington after winning 15 games? I think it's an extremely fair question because obviously to your point, like Jared golf salary plays into them being able to continue to do that. And, you know, $40 million, that's like a lot of good players. Like when the cap jobs 40 million, that's a lot of good players that you, that you can no longer sign because he's your quarterback. So I do, I get that. What I would say is that he has not really had a good defense his entire time here. And I think that that has

been like the number one thing that's prevented them from winning a Super Bowl. Like for all the offensive line struggles that they had last year and they were not playing complimentary football well, on the offensive side of the ball specifically, they were like terrible defensively. Like they, and missing, you know, your stud safeties,

both of them is going to hurt. But the guys who stepped in, Thomas Harper, Avanti Maddox, they played fine. And so, like the corners were getting killed. The pass rush could not get home in these important games,

but they would rack them up against these crappy teams. And then it'd be like, oh, look, we're like six in the league in sacks. And, you know, that was like became a big point of contention of just like, they're not getting home.

in the games that matter. Like they're not getting home against Aaron Rogers. They're not getting home. Um, and, you know, they weren't getting home against James Winston. Like, and, um, and so I, I think it's a very valid question to ask. What I would say is that we haven't really seen the ramifications of how much money they are committing to the future just yet. They have not had to make, uh, to my like memory. They have not had to make like one, we can't afford this player, but we really, really wish we could decision outside of Kevin Zaitler. And they might have to make a few more. I think that starts this offseason where you probably got to let Alex Anzolone walk

because you paid Derek Barnes, $8.5 million a year. You're going to have to pay Jack Campbell $20 million a year. And so I think that that is probably going to, he's probably going to be like one of the first true casualties of this roster getting bigger and better and more expensive. And that's obviously concerning for the future of can the supporting cast around Jaredoff get it done. But I still think they're a year or two away from like actually facing those ramifications fully. And, and, you know, again, you saw it on the offensive line. They let Kevin Zitler walk over probably what I'm guessing is a couple million dollars. It turned out to be a horrible decision.

But at the same time, I don't really know if having Kevin Zitler, right guard is like going to save you anyways because who you're still playing Graham Glasgow at center and you're still probably forced to play Tristan Cologne, a couple games at center. And it's just, I mean, they played a UDFA with the season on the line against the Viking. Like, Graham Glasgow was able to play. And he was not on the injury report, like completely off it. And then after the game, Campbell was like, yeah, you know, he was, he was banged up. He was good enough to help us in a reserve role, but not good enough to start.

And it was like, well, that's a lie. And because he's not on the injury report. And so, like, that was the problem. And so I don't really know how much that would have saved them, but I do hear you that these tough decisions are coming. And they just haven't had to make them yet. They've been very fortunate to have drafted a lot of this young talent, very, very minimal talent added outside of the building,

which has helped kind of sustain this for three, four years to this point. But I do wonder about that. And I kind of think that the pressure this season is on the defense to get it done because they have not, even once, outside of like a 10-game stretch to start the 2024 season when they were very, very strong, have not been a good defense the entire time. The defense cost them the 20-23 NFC championship game. You could say it was Josh Reynolds. Obviously, it plays into it, all of those things. But they gave up like 30 second half points, you know, and their corners got bombed.

And like the eternal lasting memory of that game will be that ball bouncing off of Kindle, Bill Dorr's face. doesn't matter was DPI anyways. They were getting down there, but it was just like, that was such a quick to set. I remember thinking at halftime of the NFC championship game, I cannot believe this team's about to go

to the Super Bowl starting Kindle Vildor at quarterback. And it's exactly what did amend. And they've had injuries on the defensive side of the ball. I don't want, I think that's a perfectly, the sheer volume of injuries they had in 2024, I think it's a perfectly reasonable excuse for not doing anything against Washington.

Because that's what happened. That defense ran out of gas. And they were, up Creek without a paddle, whatever the saying is in that Washington game. They just got picked apart. And, you know, Jared Gough, did he throw an interceptor? Yes, of course. But I think he realized, like, we got to score 50 today to have a chance to win.

And so will the defense uphold that end of the bargain? They still have the chance to. They still have all those guys there. They still have Aidan Hutchinson. You know, they're kind of, they're doing, they can have a refresh of their edge group, but all of those edge guys are like guys who aren't really worth anything outside of Alquadim Mohammed who had a career year last year, neither doubled his career best sack total at the age of 30 years old.

So you're getting rid of guys like Marcus Davenport and Levi-O-Nor-Rica, who didn't play a snap for you last year, and Josh Pascoe who didn't play a snap for you last year. And so I do have concerns about how long they'll be able to maintain this because the ramifications are undoubtedly coming. But I don't think it's there yet. And I think that this might be, to your point, this might be the last charge. for the Super Bowl with this group before you have to start making tough decisions about like, okay, we got to let this guy go and this guy go.

He's been a good player for us, but we got to move on. Okay, I'm debating between asking you about like who's going to be a defensive tackle or something and a bigger picture question. I'm going to opt for the bigger picture question for the last question. Are Lions fans having fun anymore? It's hard to say. I don't, does any fan of a team with expectations have fun? Like I realized that during the 2024 season when they they were like 11 and 1 they were like 10 and 1 and they were playing the Tennessee Titans and I think it was like the first try they had like Mason Rudolph starting or something like that it was somebody but it might have been like Mac Jones or whatever he was with the Jaguars but they like on the opening drive like they hit a pass for 20 yards and then scored a touchdown and they ended up winning that game 52 to 14.

But when the problem is, the problem is, when you root for a bad football team, you go into every Sunday going, this team stinks, they're probably going to hurt me, but you know what, I have, I don't really care. I just love my team and I want to see him win and I'm ready to hope for the best. When you root for a good football team, you go into every game thinking, oh God, are they going to show the one thing that makes me think that they can't win a Super Bowl? And if it is, it doesn't matter how you win, you know, but you gave up explosive past plays to Mason Rudolph. So where this team's not going anywhere.

And I think that they had like after that 2024 season, I think that they were like still having fun. And but I think that they that was the first time that the trajectory kind of like was nonlinear because, you know, 2021, they win three games. 22, they win nine games. 23, they win 12 games, go to the NIST championship. 24 games, they win 15 games, get the number one seed. And then they lose. And it was just kind of like this reeling of like a realization of like, oh, it's,

you mean it doesn't just like happen in a straight lot? Like we were, we won more games and then we got further. Then we won more games. We got further. And then that ceased to exist. And I think just the reality of like, oh, wait, we're not guaranteed a Super Bowl with this current group. I think has a lot of people panicked, especially after a year, like last year, where you can point to a few different decisions and be like, man,

if this had gone differently, the whole season goes differently. So I would venture to say no, but the beautiful part about the game of football is that that'll probably change in like a month, you know, they'll be, they'll be fired up in a month's time. It might not even be that long, probably like a week after the Super Bowl, it'll be like, you know, that week after the Super Bowl, we are like, nobody will ever beat that Super Bowl champion again. they're probably going to win four in a row. And then a week after that, they're like, not all these other teams,

they just got to copy of this team. And then they'll be all right. You know, and so I think once they get to that stage of the off season, they'll be a little better, like every team, you know? Let's see how some flows in the NFL, baby. I think you're exactly right, though,

that as a season goes along, when a team shows its flaws, and everyone sort of realizes or thinks that they're realizing because you never really know what's going to happen in the playoffs, that it might not be good enough. to win the Super Bowl. Then a lot of people are just, I'm out. It's not good enough.

I'm just, and that happens very quickly into a season after spending, you know, an entire training camp getting excited in the first couple of weeks. But I've always felt like the only time that fan bases in football are really truly happy is when Vegas has projected their team to win seven games. And they are looking like they're going to win 10, 11, 12. And it's like, we're showing the world where. better than we thought. We're exceeding expectations. We're beating our timeline. And here we go. We're a team on the rise. But if we don't win the Super Bowl, I'm not going to be the most

destroyed person of all time. Whereas if you go into a season and Vegas says you're a Super Bowl favorite and you get knocked out in the first round or you show those flaws throughout a season, it is such a disappointment. And every week becomes so much more tense of they lost. They had this bad half. Like that was sort of 20, even 20, 24 was weird this way because I think fans didn't really want them to be as good as they were because they didn't want to hang on to Darnold. And that's like very complex. But the seasons where it's been the most fun with the fan base were like the first five weeks of 2024 where everyone thought, well, they're going to lose to the Texans. They're going to lose the 49ers. They're going to lose the Packers.

There's no way they beat those guys with Darnold. And then they go five and oh. And I think they trailed for like 30 seconds in those games. And it was just like, are we the best team that's ever existed through then? And then of course, you know, reality sets in that everyone gets paid. And then it, you know, it got more complicated from there. So yeah, um, anyway, well, it will be, uh, interesting to see how the lines deal with the off season.

Go ahead, go ahead. Real quick. What I was going to say is, you know those, you know those like that graphic where it's like, it's like, oh yeah, I can't wait to watch my team. and then it like shows the duration of the game and it's like, I want to die. And then at the end, it's like,

yay, we won. Do you ever notice that the only fans who tweet that out are fans of teams who've won a Super Bowl or like teams with fans of teams with Super Bowl expectations? Because that's, I think that kind of proves the point is like, yeah. When you're in that mode,

it's like the hope of what will be is replaced by the fear of what won't be. Yeah, there are certainly some fan bases with victim complexes that maybe don't deserve to have those. But, uh, you know, that's a different story. Nolan Bianchi, I will see you soon at the combine, my friend. Maybe we'll even, you know, get together for another one of these.

Only we'll talk hardcore who's playing outside linebacker and so forth in that one. But thanks for the check-in, my friend. And we'll definitely see you again soon. Of course, thanks for having me. I always appreciate it. Football.