Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Lions reporter Colton Pouncy talks Dan Campbell, NFC North expectations

Episode Date: August 26, 2024

The Athletic's Colton Pouncy talks about how the Lions are responding to expectations, how wide their window is and what that means in the NFC North Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collard here and joining me today on the show is Colton Pouncey. He covers the Detroit Lions for the athletic. First time on the show, Colton, how's training camp treating you, buddy? Yeah, it's been pretty good, man. It just winded down yesterday, I think, was the last open day they had a team scrimmage so yeah like i said i'm ready to get back in like the regular season flow things you know i'm ready for the season to start at this point it's been a long long uh training camp here but uh ready to get going again for sure

where i want to start with you colton is with dan campbell i am very interested because Campbell's MO is being the motivational head coach, the guy who brings all the energy. And I think that that really worked very well for him taking over a team that was at the very bottom and had been down with Matt Patricia for quite a while. But now Dan Campbell has to morph himself into something a little bit different which is a guy that is handling expectations for his team as they go into this year with Super Bowl expectations they're one of the Super Bowl favorites so tell me how Dan Campbell has changed or how he is handling a very different vibe now instead of hey guys let's take the guys, let's take the next step. Let's take the next step and pushing his players that way to now it's kind of Superbowl or bust for them.

Yeah. You know, I think Dan's always cognizant of like expectations and how that's affecting his players. And, you know, I think on the first day of training camp, he told a story about when he was a player with the New York giants and I think his rookie year or second year in the league, one of those, those years, um, you know, they made it to the Superbowl. They ended up losing, I believe to the Ravens that year. And he noticed some changes in the team, like the following season leading up, you know, they were cheering whenever they had a day off, you know, they weren't taking meetings seriously. I think they kind of thought, Hey, we made it to a Superbowl, like we're the same team, you know, we'll just get back there naturally without having to put

in the same work. And what happened that year, they went seven, nine, um, really, really tough year and didn't live up to expectations. So I think that's a story that he told his team, you know, coming into training camp this year saying like, look guys, I know we accomplished, you know, some good things last year. I know we made it to the NFC Championship game. We have a bright future. But if we don't put in the same work, we're not going to make it back. And we're not going to get, you know, to that next level, which is the Super Bowl. So he is like keenly aware of expectations.

And with a young roster, you kind of have to be as a head coach like that. So it seems like he's got them on the right track and has their mindset in the right way. So how do you feel like the players are taking it? I mean, this team does have some guys that have been deep into the playoffs before, but there's also a lot of players on this team who have always had the, a, the Detroit lines are at the bottom. The Detroit lines are rebuilding their tanking and everything else like that. So do you feel like it's been tense from a training camp perspective or that this team is handling the expectations well so far?

Yeah. I mean, you have guys that are veterans on this team. So I think they kind of understand like Jared Goff, he's been to a Superbowl before he's kind of a tone setter in that room. One of the guys, you did have some veterans on this team that had not been there before um make a run like they did last year like taylor decker but he's also really grounded in the sense that even last year when people were hyping them up in the off season he's like we haven't even made the playoffs yet with this group so even now this this off season after you know getting there um making the run that they did last year it's still like

we know that there's a chance we don't make it back if we're not ready and and taking care of business so i think you look around the players they kind of share the same mindset and i think Like we know that there's a chance we don't make it back if we're not ready and taking care of business. So I think you look around the players, they kind of share the same mindset. And I think that starts at the top down with Dan. So, again, he's got those guys in the right mindset. So from a roster perspective, Colton, how different is this Detroit Lions team? Because I view it as on the offensive side being mostly just running it back and then they're looking for a few players to step it up they did make some moves on the defensive side

of the ball so do you feel like this is largely the same team or do you feel like there are a lot of differences between last year based on what they did this offseason yeah it is pretty different i think you got to start with offense versus defense. Offense definitely carried this team. Really, the last couple of years, defense has been lagging behind. They haven't had the pieces needed to kind of run Aaron Glenn's defense the way he wants to play, which is a secondary that can get in your face, press you at the line of scrimmage, play bump and run coverage,

things like that. So I think that's the biggest noticeable difference in the defense this year. You look at the corners that they added. Carlton Davis is a perfect fit. They traded a third-round pick for him to acquire him from the Bucs. They drafted two corners in the first two rounds, and Terry Arnold and Ennis Raikstraw, and those two definitely fit the Aaron Glenn type of mold at cornerback.

So really, like, that depth that they've acquired is different than anything I've seen since I've been covering the team. These guys will get in your face. They're not afraid of anything. And if those guys are ready to go, especially the rookies, I think that secondary can kind of transform this defense because they were already good defending the run last year. They feel pretty good about their linebackers with Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, Derek Barnes. So it's really just that back end level that they were kind of concerned about and something that they really wanted to address this offseason. So they've been holding their own against this elite offense.

And it's just practice, but if they can keep that up in regular season, I think they'll be pretty good this year. Okay, I want to talk about Aiden Hutchinson specifically because somehow Detroit was gifted him with the number two overall pick when the Jaguars decided to take Trayvon Walker. A good break in Lions history, not something that they have too many of. But what have you seen from him? Because last year I felt like at the beginning of the season, he was kind of ramping up and there wasn't a whole lot of noise about him. And then by the time I'm watching him in the playoffs,

I'm thinking this guy is going to be good for about the next 10 years and terrorize the Minnesota Vikings. So what do you think has made him good? What do you think has allowed him to take that next step? Man, just just his consistency. Like when he first came in as a rookie, you know, it looked like he was still kind of trying to adjust to the NFL level, which is natural. I still thought he had a productive rookie year. And then you see the leap he took last year. I think he had 101 pressures by PFF, which was second in the league.

And then this offseason, he looks like he's ready to take his game to a whole new level. Like the sacks have kind of lagged behind the pressures. And I think Lions fans kind of haven't figured out that pressures are also valuable. You know, it doesn't have to be a sack on every play. But at the same time, I think he could easily break 13, 14 sacks the way he's looking. I watch him go against Panay Sewell in those one-on-one drills pretty much every other practice. And he's beating them with these spin moves. You know, his counter rushes are there that we haven't seen before.

So if you're beating an all-pro pretty consistently, I think that's a testament to kind of the elevation that his game is ready to take. OK, Colton, I'm sure my audience has been waiting for the point where I rant about Jared Goff being underappreciated by analysts. my argument always with quarterbacks is that we should not criticize them or take away from them when they have success because they have a good coach or because they have good wide receivers that's what it usually takes uh they didn't have to take away John Elway's ring for having Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan they didn't have to take away Joe Montana's ring for working with Bill Walsh and Jerry Rice usually if you're going to win a lot, you do have good coaching and you do have good players around you. And I think the execution part of it for Jared Goff has made him one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

And in Detroit, he's really shown that it wasn't just a McVay and Los Angeles Rams thing, but he's also been able to do it here but what what do you think has been the key to jared goff re-emerging as one of the best quarterbacks in the nfl and i still look at him that way because i look at more of the overall offensive production as a reflective of the quarterback as opposed to just hey do i think that he's got the skill set that I would start a team with? So I'm looking at it from a here right now under these circumstances, how good can he be? But what do you think is the key to Jared Goff playing as well as he has with this offense over the last two years? Yeah, I mean, a lot of it starts with Ben Johnson. I think you, you know know when you have an offensive

coordinator like that that's put him in a position to succeed the town around him I think it's totally fine to mention all that but at the same time if you're using that to kind of take a shot at Jared I don't I don't really understand that because if you really know this offense you'll understand that the timing the rhythm needed to play quarterback in the system is really what makes it all go the crossers to Amir on St. Brown over the middle to Sam Lap quarterback in the system is really what makes it all go. The crossers to Amiron St. Brown over the middle, to Sam Laporta, all that stuff is like timing-based and drop-back-based. And it's something that really his backup, Hennon Hooker, has struggled with transitioning to the NFL level. And you look at those two quarterbacks, I know Hennon's in the

second year, didn't play a lot last year, but when you look at where those two are in this offensive system, it's really night and day. And I think that's a – not to put Hennon down. I think that's more of a testament to Jared and how comfortable he is in the system making it all go. He's a point guard of Ben Johnson's system. They've tailored this whole thing around him. They've incorporated elements from what he did well in L.A.

to make him more comfortable. He's picking Ben Johnson's brain and giving him ideas on what he sees. So really they've built this thing together. And so if you want to give Ben Johnson praise, I think you also have to give Jared Goff the same amount of praise. The Ben Johnson part of this is really interesting because it looked like he was a dead lock to get a head coaching job. And if I recall,

Washington was flying out there when he told them, I guess they got the wifi on the plane and he must've told them via Instagram DM or something that they needed to turn the plane around and go back home because he was not going to be their head coach. But I think if we're talking about all the things that happened this off season to make Detroit as good or better than they were before keeping Ben Johnson, maybe at the top of that list. Yeah, for sure. Well, first of all, talking about the impact on the locker room,

those guys are all pumped to get them back, obviously. And I think it would have been a bit of a letdown losing a star office of coordinator right after you just turn the corner, you feel like you're a Superbowl contender and then you got to bring in a new guy or even elevate a guy that's been on staff that might not be the same um so I think the continuity of the staff right now I mean Ben Johnson's been here since before Dan Campbell got here um he's here under Matt Patricia um Aaron Glenn has been here for a year so I think the staff continuity is

really set up really well for those guys um and then in terms of his system, like it is, you know, a lot of stuff that Dan brought along. Like you look at the two back system with Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery, that's kind of stolen from new Orleans a little bit with Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram. That's kind of the style that Dan likes to play in terms of the run game. It's so diverse. It's one of the most diverse run schemes in the NFL. They can hit you any other way, any way they want to with that offensive line. It helps really Jared with the play action game stuff over the middle. So really it's a well-oiled machine and, and yeah, Ben's the one pulling the strings and calling the shots,

but it's a lot of Dan Campbell as well. So I think you kind of see both of those elements at play there. I am really interested in this team from the perspective of the general manager Brad Holmes because when we look around the NFC all the teams had different plans for their rebuilds we had the competitive rebuild here the Jordan Love build over in Green Bay and then the complete tanks in Detroit and in Chicago but Chicago did much more of a traditional tank where you go to the bottom and you look to get your franchise quarterback and they lucked into Caleb Williams

because they made a trade with the right team that ended up giving them the number one pick. But Detroit did something that you don't see that often. Normally when a team tears it all down, they usually do not have a veteran starting quarterback. That's a quality player already in place. So do you think that this was the plan all along with Jared Goff to tank with a good starting quarterback and rebuild everything around him? Because I think that's a unique way to go about it to have someone who's established at that position and not just be drafting at the top and putting it

all on that quarterback and I'm just curious about your perspective of this team build overall to get to the point that the Lions are at right now for sure and you, a couple years ago, actually, I think it was after the 2022 season, Brad Holmes spoke to us and told us it's easier to get worse at quarterback than it is to get better. And that was such a simple line, but it just resonated really well when you're talking about a guy like Jared. And so I think from their perspective, you know, he also said we never viewed him as a bridge. Okay, so he gets here in 2021. A lot of people thought he was a bridge. Okay. So he gets here in 2021. A lot of people thought he was a bridge. You can, whether you want to believe Brad, when he says that or not, that's up to you, but he claims that he never saw Jared as a bridge. You know, he was part of a draft room that drafted him with the Rams, an organization like that. And so I think when you bring in a guy like that,

and there's some questions about him, the best thing you can do is try to support him. And so they already had some pieces on the offensive line. That first draft, everyone wants the Lions to draft a quarterback draft Jared's successor what they do they draft Panay Sewell and they build around that player and so they've got the offensive line they've built in place right now I think it's one of the best in the NFL last year they had Jonah Jackson he was kind of injured a lot and was due to you know become a free agent this offseason instead of paying him the 17 $17 million that he ultimately got from the Rams, they go out and they sign a veteran, Kevin Zeitler, for $6 million.

And it's a really savvy move. He made a Pro Bowl last year, plays like 1,000 snaps every year. So they're trying to keep that offensive line humming. And I think they can pave the way for the backs. I think they can keep Jared Goff upright, and then your system doesn't really have any holes in it. So it's really been important to build around Jared, but at the same time, it's not, they're not trying to like do that because they don't think Jared can play. They're trying to enhance every skillset that he has and

which a lot of teams kind of don't do. They focus on the outside first, the lines kind of built within the trenches and then built that from the outside. Folks, US Cellular noticed that the way we use our phones has gotten ironic. We try to put our phones down for dinner, but the menu is on a QR code. That's ironic. We hit like on social media posts that we don't actually like. Ironic. Which is why US Cellular created Us Mode to help us reconnect with each other and use

our phones less ironically. A phone company wanting people to use their phones less? Ironic. Let's find us again with Us Mode from U.S. Cellular. Visit uscellular.com slash built for us to get started. So let me circle back to Dan Campbell real quick, because this came into my mind about the fourth downs that cost the Lions at the end of last year. Now, when I was out at Radio Row, listeners to the show will remember that I talked about every radio host that had me on promoting my book, which is in part about football analytics. Every host wanted me to defend Dan Campbell and going for it on the fourth down. And of course I would, because I think that a lot of things matched up there, but do you

think that his mentality will change at all now that there are these different expectations or are they going to continue to be one of the more aggressive teams in the league? Because I remember when Brandon Staley first came in and was going for it on fourth down all the time, and by the time he got fired, it felt like he had regressed to the point where he was one of the worst at making fourth down decisions. I always wonder about this with coaches and decision making, and when you're the team that no one believed in anyway it's a lot easier to make those aggressive moves which absolutely helped

Detroit get there but is he still going to be that guy now that there's more pressure on I mean so the thing with that a lot of it is that's just who he is as a coach and that's one of his core philosophies to have trust in an offense. When you have an offense like that, I think there were 17 of 20 on fourth and three or less in the regular season. And so they were hitting that pretty consistently. And I think when you have the offensive line in place and the skill positions that they have, they felt pretty good about their chances picking up those conversions. And I think the other side of that is they didn't really have a kicker they trusted to connect from that range. They had Michael Badgley, who's been in and out of the roster pretty much the last couple of years,

took over the kicking job probably by November of last year. And I don't think he attempted an outdoor kick until that San Francisco game. And so I think when you look at his range, he was four of 11 in his career from 46 to 49 yards on outdoor kicks. And they, they do look at those numbers and that's how they kind of game plan. So it's like, okay, we're 17 and 20 on fourth and three with our offense. This kicker is four of 11 on kicks from this distance. So to me, it was kind of a numbers game for them. And that's usually how he makes most of his decisions. Some of them are definitely like gut feeling, you know, the grit, like we're going to get this, but a lot of it is math-based, and I think that's what a lot of people don't talk about in a game like that. And really, if you look at those plays, they're a couple drops away from winning that game. If Josh Reynolds catches a couple of those conversions, they're moving on probably.

If Jameer Gibbs doesn't fumble like the way he did, they'd turn around and score. The momentum really just disappeared. There were eight different things that went wrong for them that if only seven went wrong, they might be in the Super Bowl that year. So I don't really think that's going to change Dan's mindset. I think he also understands this is a core identity of our team.

And by the way, they did add Jake Bates from the UFL who had a really good season last year, can kick from 60-plus. He's been a little hit or miss here in camp, but i think if you have a kicker with more range you might feel more comfortable going for those longer kicks instead of you know fourth and three as much as he did so maybe there's a balance there but i still think he's gonna go for it more often than not so what is it like covering campbell by the way? I mean, I've had two wildly different experiences here myself with Mike Zimmer and Kevin O'Connell, and I think covering each NFL coach, but sometimes, and I know that this was true of Bill Belichick and Patriots reporters would talk about it all the time that we would see a couple of clips from press conferences, but that wasn't always evidence of what was really happening,

uh, in their day-to-day type of work. So what is the day-to-day like covering Campbell? It's kind of a weird experience because like I, I didn't cover Matt Patricia, but I talked to everyone else who did. And it's, they say it's night and day from what it, what it used to be to where it is now. So I'm, I guess I'm kind of spoiled in that way, but Dan is the most honest coach I've ever been around. We can ask him an injury question. He'll give it to us straight up without trying to beat around the bush. Um, we can ask him roster questions he'll tell us exactly how he feels about a certain player and then we can always

kind of read between the lines if there is a little bit of a gray area there based on his comments so uh if you're going by like coach speak index like we can usually kind of predict how he's feeling about a certain player or something like that you know uh and then he's just like hilarious you know he's like yesterday he talked about Sione Bakke, their fourth round running back and like his rookie talent show and how he's a terrible performer, but a really good singer. So like we get lines like that from him all the time. Um, and the players, they just, they love playing for this guy. You know, he's kind of a master motivator. Um, I've heard his like pregame speeches or stuff of legend. Um, so they love playing for this guy and again going back to the fourth down stuff um i think it was alex anzalone i think he penned something for um the players tribune where he said i was more surprised we kicked the 20-yard field goal at the end of the first half in that game versus like going for it in those certain situations because that's just who we are that's our identity and the trust that dan has in us

really fires us up and gets us going to play our best football. So, yeah, that's just Dan who he is. Like he's very authentic. He is who he is. What you see is what you get. And I think it's gotten him this far in his coaching career. So when the Vikings had things change and expectations rise, I felt a pretty significant change in the head coach. Do you think that Dan Campbell is going to still be the same

guy now that he is facing these expectations i do and like even when they so my first year in the beat was 2022 they started off the season one and six here in detroit there are some people wondering if he was going to make it to the end of the season if he was going to keep his job if it kept going in that direction and i talked to a lot of people behind the scenes and they told me he did not lose the locker room there was no wavering from like him being the guy and that coaching search that they went through was really extensive and that's how they found both Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell they went through a solid list they were looking for a guy that's going to put players first put them in the position to succeed motivate them basically the opposite of Matt Patricia.

And that was so intentional in every way. And so when they were going through that rough patch, it was still about building that roster up, getting those young guys to play well and player development. And so that's why there was no wavering during that stretch.

I think that's also why they went 8-2 to end that season and why it set them up for success last year. He was the same guy even killed throughout that. Kept telling him there's a light at the end of the tunnel if we just keep at it. And they did. So I don't really see him changing even now that they've had some success. He looks like the same guy to me.

I think he kind of prefers to be that same guy for his players. And I think he's been that. Okay. I'm sorry for bouncing back and forth between Campbell, the roster, Campbell, the roster, but let's go back to the roster.

I'm really curious to see how long the Detroit lions can maintain this strong of a roster because this off season, they made a lot of news. It felt like they were giving out a new contract extension pretty much every other week. And again, just to tie this into the Vikings back when they were in their quote winning window, there was a lot that they were able to do with the salary cap to push space down the road. But eventually the winning window for the Vikings ended up being about 2015 to 2019 and that's when a lot of the expensive veterans ended up leaving and

they struggled to rebuild that team but how long do you think the lions can create a window for themselves because you do have a jared goff contract that's going to be a lot to work around and then penne seoul amin ross st brown that does restrict what brad homes can do eventually but not yet not right now so how long can that winning window be for the lions you know the way they stack some of these contract extensions tells me they kind of view this maybe a four four or five year window um with jared goff and he's still amin rossi brown those are the three big ones that got done this offseason. Taylor Decker they signed to a shorter-term deal,

but that's really your big three right there. They don't really have to worry about a lot of these rookie contracts until later on, like Sam Laporta and Jameer Gibbs, if you want to re-sign him. I know running back second contracts get a little dicey, but I do think the way that they feel about him as an offensive weapon instead of a running back, I think that kind of leads me to believe they'll try to resign him um so they do have a lot of young players that they don't have to pay and i think they're trying

to stagger those contracts so let's get jared let's get panay let's get amin raw like our top players taken care of now and then by the time their deals are kind of winding down we'll get this next crop and evaluate from there so uh i think they can keep this going for four or five years. I know the NFL, you never know if an injury can go, Jared can blow his knee and then you never know what happens there. So it's a little tough, but assuming health is there, I think they can compete for the next four or five years. And I think they'd probably reevaluate from there. And what's your viewpoint on the division and kind of how the timelines end up working out? Because I keep thinking about how all these teams had plans

and all the plans as of right now feel like they came to fruition. And I also think about chaos theory in the NFL and which one of these teams will not be who we expect them to be over the next three or four years. So where do you feel like things stand with the division? I think right now, I mean, the Packers are kind of built similarly to the Lions in terms of that young talent that's had to ascend at the same time. I love what Green Bay's done with the receivers, the tight ends, how they've kind of built that thing offensively and defensive defensively, it's been more of a slower build,

but I do like the piece they have on that side too. And watching that game against San Francisco told me that the Packers are ready. You know, they didn't win it, but they're right there. And I wouldn't be surprised if they win 11, 12, maybe 13 games this year. Jordan Love's kind of the real deal there. So I definitely think the Packers are probably the biggest competition right now. The Bears had a good offseason too. I mean, if Caleb's ready to play, which it looks like he is by the preseason, he's making some Mahomes-like throws. I think they can turn things around pretty

quickly. And then talking about the Vikings, I actually like what the Vikings are doing. I think they're building it slowly and they're going to have the cap space soon. I think JJ, I like JJ probably more than most people coming out of the draft just because I saw him a lot at Michigan. But I think he's a really good player, fits a pro-style offense. I think O'Connell's going to get the most out of him. I saw Nick Mullins throw like 400 yards against the Lions defense. So if O'Connell can coach that of him, I think JJ will be in good hands. So I think this division in a couple of years now will be one of the best in football, if not the best,

just based on the young talent coming up. So I know the theme of this conversation has very much been expectations for the Detroit Lions. If everybody has not picked up on this, but I want to know from Lions fans how they are responding to this, because it's such a strange curve that happens in the nfl like when your team is going up and is on the rise it's very exciting for fans but then once you've reached a high mark then sometimes it becomes a lot more miserable because they're every single week feels like living and dying with what's going to happen and also the playoffs and how it ends becomes the determining factor of whether it's a good season or not, even though it ended so badly for Detroit last year, I think every lions fan would say outside of two quarters of football,

it was the most exciting time that they had had in many, many, many, many, many years watching that football team. And now you go into a year where every loss is going to feel much more like a catastrophe and the pressure is going to be so much different, I think, on the team, but even from the fans just watching on a weekly basis. If they don't win, then it's so much different than it was before. And I think that that becomes more of a gut-wrenching experience for them as opposed to, we were on the rise.

This is fun. How do you, how do you think about that? Yeah. You know, I sent some of that last year, but I do feel like it's going to be on a way different level this year. There are expectations to win last year. It was just like, oh, we're just happy to be here. You know, we're winning games.

This is fun. Even the playoff run, like I know how much that that loss of 49ers hurt, but I think a lot of people could look back on that season and say, man, what a ride. We won our first playoff game

in 32 years. You know, first NFC North championship in 30 years. Our division first time ever winning the North. So I think a lot of people were happy with the year, but now it's like Super Bowl or bus. I think that's kind of the mindset here. So I'm curious to see how the regular season goes, because they do have a first place schedule this year. I could see them going like 12 and five,

same record as last year, but being a better team, I don't know if people would be happy with even maybe 11 and six. I don't know if that would be happy with even maybe 11 and 6 I don't know if that would be you know considered a worse year for them even if they're better and beating better teams but I am curious to see how fans react to this because if they don't make it to the Super Bowl I think they'll probably consider it a down year okay Colton since we're in the division together and I will see you when you come out to Minnesota I don't know if you'll see me because if there's no reason to travel to Detroit at the end of the season I won't and haven't over the last couple of years I think everybody is hoping that I'll have reason to go to Detroit and finally cover a game there at Ford Field but since we're in the same division any questions for me what

would you like to know what do you want to know about the minnesota vikings yeah i was curious about jj because i only saw the preseason game i haven't obviously been around for camp so i was curious about how he was looking before the the knee injury there yeah what made that good and bad was that there was a preseason game before he got injured or I guess, well, he got injured and everyone was able to see what we had seen in training camp, which allows you to sustain the thought of what JJ McCarthy is going to be, you know, for Vikings fans. I don't know if you've heard this before Colton, but they've kind of been through a lot and to be able to watch him throw the

football, watch him operate from the pocket, scramble and make some plays and see the physical talent that's there that I don't think was highlighted enough during the lead up to the draft. I think he does have a lot of tools that are on the very high end and everyone was able to get one Saturday where they watched that happening and could believe in what is coming in the future when he develops and can be paired with Justin Jefferson, Kevin O'Connell and so forth. But I think it was even beyond my expectations of what he was going to be in training camp. His development was so quick from when he got here in minicamp to what he was able to do in training camp his development was so quick from when he got here in mini camp to what he was able to do in training camp and i think it really spoke to all the things that were highlighted in the draft which was the work ethic the character the leadership the way that players

galvanized around him which we just cannot overstate those things. I mean, they're cliche and they get talked about forever, but it matters a lot. The way that he worked and picked up the offense as quickly as he did. I don't know if he was going to start right away. I still think that Sam Darnold was going to get his chance, but where he was by the time he got injured, you felt like he was not far away that they could put him in a game and he'd be ready to play. And that was farther along than I thought he had any chance to be by the end of this training camp. So I do think that by the time he comes back next year,

I mean, this is not a devastating injury. It's just a frustrating one. By the time he comes back next year, he should be ready to go. And then this team's window starts to open with him there and then with the cap space that they can spend around him so i i think it was as good of a situation as it could have been until uh the meniscus tear i do think just watching him from afar like he seems like he's wired the right way to be able to come back without any issues from an injury like that to attack rehab the right way and and not get too

down on yourself because injuries happen this league and he probably understands that um but going back to the draft like i really did understand some of the backlash facing jj i i get like an inexperienced quarterback that's not asked to throw a ton in a system like that that can either help you in the minds of evaluators or it can hurt you. To me, it was like I saw the glass half full. Like this guy has a ton of potential. Even the throws that he was making when he was asked to make those difficult throws, he's hitting sideline and he's hitting the seam route throws.

The game against Michigan State, he had some crazy throws. I remember watching that from a bar in Baltimore saying like, this is a dude right here. So, I mean, I love J.D.'s game um i think he's wired the right way high character dude that's going to attack the rehab and come back stronger so i'm excited to watch him play next year for sure okay one last thing before i let you go colton really enjoy the conversation and everybody should check out your coverage to keep track of the Detroit Lions. Colton, every year during training camp, we all have one story that we're working on that gets blown up. Or that you write it and you're happy with it and then you're immediately wrong. So I'll give you mine.

This year, well, two of them, obviously, J.J. McCarthy. I think every reporter was working on a J.J. McCarthy feature and then meniscus tear. But also Trey Knox is a tight end for the Vikings who I wrote a big story about his background with his dad and things like that. And then he was cut like three days later. So that was kind of tough for me. But how about you? I know it.

I, we have not talked about this at all. I just know that every year with every reporter, you're working on something in training camp that something goes wrong and it ends up not working out. So what was your training camp feature that didn't work for this year? Well, I'll tell you something that I was going to write, but couldn't write. Um, every training camp, I like to follow around one player and just do like a timestamp story of their entire day. You know, we only get that time window for so long. So I try to take advantage of it.

Last year, I followed around Jameson Williams. And he was a very polarizing player, especially last year. And I think that kind of helped, you know, readers kind of get a sense of who he is, what he's going through on a daily practice, how the coaches are working with him. So I tried to do that this year. And the player I chose was Terry and Arnold first round pick at Alabama, the cornerback. And I have about 30 minutes of notes. I got six or five. He's working with the DBs, you know, six, 10, he's doing one-on-ones and 30 minutes into my notes. He's going against Amaral St. Brown on a one-on-one rep, leaps in there, deflects it, great rep. That never happens against Amaral St. Brown. No one can defend him. And I was like, oh, that's awesome. And then I look up after taking notes, this man's on the ground calling

for a trainer. He ends up leaving practice, has not practiced since. So that was the story I was really excited about. And I know I'm going to have time to write about him in the future he's the first round pick but i was so set on that i waited until the right moment to pick a day to follow him around things have finally calmed down let me do the story and he gets hurt and have not seen him since i think he'll be ready for week one but that was brutal i just threw away my notes and lit it on fire oh man that is absolutely brutal well Well, you know, I've been in your shoes many times, but I don't know if I've ever had one go so wrong that fast. Usually it takes a little bit or you're mid working on an article and something changes, but not right

that day in that moment. So I feel for you there, man. Well, I'm really looking forward again to watching this division, how it plays out, seeing you when you come to Minnesota with Detroit and these two teams for whatever reason, they have incredible, ridiculous, absurd, wild games when they play against each other. And I am excited to see what comes comes next so great job on the show for the first time but definitely won't be the last time thanks so much for coming on colton and we will talk to you again very soon appreciate it man yeah that's a lot of fun thanks for having me i really appreciate it okay before i close out the show i'm going to take any opportunity to shamelessly promote underdog fantasy by taking a look at some of their pick-em numbers on the Detroit Lions. So let's go over three of them.

And would you go higher or lower? I'm in Ross St. Brown, Jameer Gibbs and Jared Goff. Let me give you the numbers. Then I'll tell you a little more about underdog the higher or lower number on Amin Ross St. Brown is 1,285.5 yards on 104.5 catches and that's just in games against the Vikings am I right uh just kidding but those are really big numbers for Amin Ross St. Brown and I feel like they are deserved because

he has established himself as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Still 104.5 catches on a team that I think that wants to distribute the ball a little bit more to Sam Laporta, a little bit more to Jameer Gibbs out of the backfield. I would probably go lower on that one with Jameer Gibbs, 900.5 rushing yards higher for me. Gibbs, they need to justify that draft pick. And last year he showed a lot of juice for them, but he was kind of splitting a lot with David Montgomery. I think it will be less than that this year,

and he will go higher than 900.5 yards. I mean, less splitting, more Jameer Gibbs. And with Jared Goff, 26.5 touchdowns and 4,150.5 yards i mean less splitting more jameer gibbs and with jared goff 26.5 touchdowns and 4 150.5 yards higher or lower on either one of those goff they're going to throw it all the time i'll go higher on both of those numbers for jared goff underdog fantasy reminder is the easiest place to play fantasy sports it's also the fastest growing fantasy app in the industry. The pick-ems that I was just talking about, you got to check them out. Very easy to play.

You just pick between two and eight stats of your favorite players, choose whether they will go higher or lower, and you can win 20 times your money by going 5-4-5. Sign up with the promo code PURPLE to claim your special pick and first-time deposit offer now up to $1,000 in bonus cash. Sign up again with purple as your promo code. Great way to support the show. So thanks everybody for listening to this episode of purple insider.