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Speaker 1: Hey, everyone. Jeff Risen here with your daily DLP. It is Sunday, March 29. Happy eighteenth birthday to my niece, Liliya. Love you, girl. Probably not listening. She's not much of a sports fan. But y'all are sports fans, and that's why you're here. So let's talk some Detroit Lions, NFL draft. Wanted to follow-up, lead it off today with, something that Chris and I talked about a lot on the live show yesterday. And it was something that, stayed on my mind after we were done recording. And that's the whole Taylor Decker situation and how it ended in Detroit. And it was bugging me that it was tough to reconcile Decker's position that the Lions didn't contact him, and his seemingly duplicitous statement that, you know, he was perfectly willing to come back but absolutely would not take a pay cut. And then also, in the same breath, said that, you know, that that they hadn't really contacted him, about that or that he the whole pay cut thing. So I it was hard for me to process which side might be right. So I I was stressed about it. So I I contacted a former player, who recently retired, in the last couple of seasons who I've gotten to know pretty well, and I trust him on stuff like this. And I texted him, and then we want, having a about a ten minute chat on the phone. And his big point was Decker's agent was the the culpable party for him. He said when when he was approaching retirement at the end of his career, his agent did all of the talking with the team about, potentially taking a pay cut to stay or, you know, getting a buyout, that sort of thing. And and and the buyout in NFL terms would be adjusting your contract with the knowledge that you're not gonna be on the team. And that that's that's actually what happened with him. But his agent handled all of that, and his agent filed the retirement paperwork for him. That's not what happened here at all with Decker. Decker, to his own by his own account, contacted the Lions on his own and talked to Dan, and tried to talk to Brad, but didn't get a hold of Brad while Brad was at the combine. He might have other things going on at that point. And that's where I feel better about how the lines have handled it now because I think Decker's agent really dropped the ball. Or Decker, superseding his agent, or not asking his agents to do things, that's a problem. And that's that's a Decker issue, not necessarily a Lyons issue. Should Brad have, you know, reached out to Decker, like, in the immediacy of while that was all going on, maybe right after after Decker posts on his Instagram that he's back, which happened about twenty minutes before Brad took the stage in Indianapolis. Maybe. Yeah. Probably that night would have been a good time for a conversation there. Again, that's I I think Decker and or his agent, misread the entire situation, and that's unfortunate. And if Decker's agent didn't this was the other thing that that, the the player who who recently retired talked to me about. His agent has a responsibility to let Decker know that he's probably not gonna be get the same money, that that asking to stay on your current contract is unrealistic based on your health. And if Decker's agent didn't advise him of that, that's negligence on his part. And if Decker ignored it, that's negligence on his part or just, you know, denial on his part. And we don't know what happened in those conversations, if they happened at all. But that's that is something that I felt needed to get added to the conversation from a player standpoint. So, I I thank you for talking to me yesterday. Appreciate it. Took time off the golf course to talk to me. That was nice. Wish it was warm enough to golf here in Michigan, although, apparently, it's gonna get nice today. We'll see. So that that sort of adds a little layer to that. And, again, he he also brought up the fact that Decker probably is having a very difficult time reconciling that nobody wants to pay him to play anymore and that his career might be ending involuntarily, which nobody wants. Nobody wants that. That sucks. But the Taylor Decker that played last year isn't worth the contract that Taylor Decker was gonna get this year. That's that's a plain fact. And the Decker didn't know that or his agent didn't advise him of that. That's that moves the ball into their court in terms of, you know, blame.

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Speaker 1: Could the Lions have handled it better? Yeah. Absolutely. The communication should have been better. No doubt about it in the beginning. But now, like, Decker asked for his release. The Lions owe him nothing. They don't. He wanted out. Why why would they contact him unless they wanted to sign him again? I don't think that's gonna happen based on how Justin Rogers framed the the the course of the interview, that he did. So that's that. Something that came up, and this came up in an interview that I did earlier this week. I did a radio spot with, Ryan Walsh and former NFL kicker Shane Graham. They're based here in West Michigan, Jethro Radio. They do do fun work. And Shane Shane, first off, it's it's worth the listen if you can find it's on my Twitter page. I I reposted it. Shane talked about being on the Texans end of the Justin Foursett play on Thanksgiving in 2012 when the Jim Schwartz rule came about where you can't challenge a play that's unchallengeable that got penalty. He kicked the game when he field goal in that game, by the way. So he brought up that side of it, and I thought that was worthwhile. But one of the things that he now we were going over players that the lions added, and he was pleasantly surprised and and was wasn't aware that the lions assigned Tyler Conklin, a guy who he coached at Central Michigan, once once Shane was done. We brought up Greg Dorch, and I don't think that Lions fans had a great idea of the one for one replacement that Greg Dortch is for Kully Raymond. So I thought I'd bring it up, and I did a little, you know, again, bare bones research here. Looked up their salaries, looked up their stats from the last two seasons. So we'll just go over this right now. Khalifa Raymond signed with the Bears. And part of the reason for this, and I will bring it up here, is because Leaf did an interview, and it got picked up. This is from pro football talk, PFT, McFloreo site. And I'll read this for those of you who were, on the the audio only. By the way, thank you for liking and subscribing. Raymond Field offers from teams like the Seahawks and 40 niners in free agency last month, but he admitted he willed his choices down to a pair of NFC North teams. There was a chance to return to the Lions for a sixth season and an opportunity to rejoin a former coach in Chicago. Raymond opted for the chance to play for the Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who had been the offensive coordinator in Detroit. Yada yada yada. I wanted to play in Ben's offense, Raymond said, via Dan Pompey of the athletic.com. Pompey, by the way, is based in Chicago. Good good reporter too. I like Dan. Dan does good work. He's extraordinarily creative, and, honestly, you can be in any spot on the offense, and he will find a way to get you the ball. Just to be under him is a great privilege, End quote. Johnson said he likes Raymond as a veteran process presence in the receiving corps, top five young players, Romo Danze and Luther he wrote Lester Burton. It's Luther Burton. That's their error, not mine. He also thinks that the whiteout is, quote, capable of a bigger role in our offense than what he had, end quote, with the Lions last season. So the choice to move to a new city could coincide or could result if a higher profile along with a change in uniform. So let's go over what Leaf did last year in Detroit. Last two years in Detroit, he caught 41 of the 52 passes thrown his way, lining up both outside and in the slot. He was, yeah, outside just a little bit more than he was in the slot. Yeah. I got 504 yards, twenty six first downs, 7.1 yards, in yards after catch average. Let's go to Greg Dorch, who is a little bit shorter and is not as strong. Again, I will maintain and not and I mean this absolutely respectfully. Khalifa Rehman pound for pound was probably the strongest lion on the last couple years, and he is a good blocker even though he's a small dude. And Dortch doesn't have that level of blocking dog in him. Gotta get that out right away. But as a receiver, Greg Dortch in the last two years, 66 catches on 83 targets. So he caught 25 more passes on, 21 more 31 more targets. 508 yards, so it's very comparable there. Twenty six first downs, same number. Leaf had a better ratio because he caught fewer passes. 7.4 yards, Yac average after the catch, and he operates much more exclusively out of the slot. That's where the reps are gonna be. I mean, in the Lions offense are more as a slot than they are gonna be outside. Isaac D'Sla playing outside, it makes more sense. They've tried him as a big slot, but he's better outside at this point in his career. We'll see how that continues to progress. But you're looking at a more productive receiver who's more natural in the slot than Leaf is. Better after the catch, better at forcing missed tackles. Now let's look at the salaries. Khalifa Raymond signed for one year, 3,500,000 with 3,000,000 guaranteed in Chicago. Deutsch, one year 1,400,000 with 1.075 guaranteed in Detroit. So for a third of the guaranteed money and about 40% of the salary, Dortch is in Detroit. Oh, by the way, Greg Dortch is 28. Khalif Raymond's 32. That's a trade off that I'm gonna take as a Lions fan. They got younger, better after the catch, which is a key component of the the the Lions offense. It's something that, you know, both Ben Johnson and Drew Petzing, the new Lions offense creator, stress in their offense.

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Speaker 1: I I'm gonna take that tree. Like, I there are times to criticize Brad Holmes for his moves this fall season. This is not one of them, folks. They got younger, cheaper, and better in what the lions want to do offensively in Greg Dortch against Cleary Freeman. Now return specialists, they did take a hit there. If you wanna pay an extra $2,100,000 for Khalif to be the the pro ball punt returner that he was, all pro, two years ago, wasn't as wasn't as great last year, but still among the best in the league. Okay? I'm gonna see that they maybe have something in Dominic Lovett. Maybe they have something in Dortch who has been a productive punt returner and kick returner in his day. I'm gonna take that $2,100,000 savings there, and be happy with it. So just want to bring that up, because I do think that there is certainly room to criticize Brad Holmes and the Lions' approach to this off season, but, like, piling on him for not resigning Leaf and bringing in Dortch as a direct one for one replacement here, like, that's that seems very misguided to me. Younger, cheaper, more productive? Yeah. Those are good. I'm good with that. I don't understand why Lions fans are against that one specifically. And it came up again because, you know, Leaf did his his interview, that got disseminated, I guess, yesterday. Came up in the Slack. By the way, thank you all to those of you in the Patreon Slack. You've been very, very good conversations in the last couple of weeks. Really appreciate that as we head into the draft. There's going to be a lot of debate, and I like that it's debate and not pooflinging. It's people bringing up valid points. I like that. That's what that's what it's all about. One of the things that you don't get so much on social media, so that's that's one of the reasons why the Patreon Slack is worth it. Aside from the fact that you're also gonna get ad free episodes soon, Chris is working on that. That rolls into the prospect of the day. And this is one that's by request from the Slack and also from Twitter. I am still on Twitter at jeffrisden. You can find me there. Blue Sky at j riz, I believe, or Jeff Riz, r I z z. Apparently, I have the Riz, whatever the hell that means. I don't know. I'm not a teenage girl. I don't care about these things. But that's Drew Bowery, offensive tackle from Boston College. Four year player there, two year starter at left tackle. He did not start next to Christian Mahogany. Did was a teammate of his, but did not necessarily play next to him. Played very sparingly in his first couple of years, primarily on the right side. Let me bring this up here. Jude Bowery. Oops. That's the wrong slide. The fun with technology. Alright. Here we go. Jude Bowery, Boston College, six foot five, three hundred and fourteen pounds, measured at the combine, just under thirty four inch arms, which is acceptable. Big hands over ten and a quarter inches hands. That's that's that's important for for it. Again, left two year starter left tackle. Started opposite, Aussie Tripillo, who now plays for the bears. He's injured, though. He is their starting tackle, and he's hurt for at least the start of the season. Pros, very quick to set off the snap, and this jumps off the tape. As soon as you start watching him, like, three plays in, I wrote that note down, and I didn't have to erase it. Very quick off the snap. Has a has like a cat like jump set, which I really I appreciate. Nice lateral agility and balance to stay square. Good grip strength, shows from the big hands, and ability to quickly reset his hands. This is inconsistent, but it does show. Doesn't overextend or lunge much in the run game. It's one of the things that we've talked about with a lot of the tackles, including the you know, I brought it up with several of the guys that I profiled in the piece that published yesterday, an offensive tackle for every round. And just the some of the guys that I didn't profile there, Caden Proctor is a serial leaner and lunger in the run game. One of the reasons why I'm not super high on him relative to everybody else. He does lunge out over his keys. You don't see that with Bowery. Good leg drive and hip engagement. What I mean by that, he he can sink his weight in his hips and unleash his core power as he goes through in a run block. That's important. You don't really see that with a guy like Spencer Fano, who is gonna be gone probably before the Lions pick. I also think the Proctor's gonna be gone before the Lions pick. That's just my opinion at this point. A little over three and a half weeks out from the draft. Sees and adapts to second level rushes and twists and stunts quickly. Saw this in the Clemson game, which I thought he played very well in for Mowery. I also saw it in the pit game. Not so much in 2024 either. I went back and watched the Virginia Tech game for that year, which is probably the worst game of his career. Antoine Powell Ryland gave him fits, and that's the kind of guy that's gonna give power he fits are the, guys who can get off the snap very quickly and win with speed, but can also cross your face. Again, those are dangerous guys. Guys that we wish we had in Detroit. You don't seem to like that type of pass rusher until proven otherwise. We'll see. Time to Bruce Feldman's freaks list gave up two sacks in two years, both in 2024, and was a team captain, was elected a team captain. Lions loved them some team captains. I believe, and I this is in my notes somewhere, but I believe that over 80% of the players that the Lions have drafted in the last three drafts have been team captains. That stat is out there somewhere. We'll we'll try to find that. The cons. And there are some definite cons here with Bowery, and that's one of the reasons why he's gonna be a day three player. Fourth round. If the Lions wanted him, they'll probably have to use one of their fourth round picks on him just because the athleticism is there, the length is there, and he does have some some nice physical tools to work with. His short arms has punched a lot, and I it and Russ Brown has done a couple of, video tweets of him, and he indicated in there that he's a little passive. That kinda goes in hand with this. And you if you wanna call it that he's passive with his punch, that's fine. But I see him like, you want to fire out with your hand and firm. And he kinda short arms it where his elbow is gonna be bent a little more. I'm just gonna have the angle that I'm showing here. I'm I'm too long for the camera here. But, just looking, by the way, at Bowery. He's, the exact same height and, ninety pounds heavier than me, which is but he doesn't look at he looks better on you. Happens when you get old. Too quick to rise up and get too tall and narrow while he's engaged, and that comes on first engagement. And this does show on tape. Instead of staying sunk and balanced with his hands, he gets tall when he wants to anchor. Now he he's fairly effective at anchoring against the bull, but he again, guys that can get off of him can rip, can swim, He's vulnerable to those guys. Has some snatch trap ability, but doesn't use it consistently enough. Gets into space well, but inconsistent engaging once there. I almost wanna call this the Graham Glasgow because that's been the story of Graham Glasgow the last couple seasons as the Lions on the interior. So when he gets out in the space, great, but then, like, oh, oh, crap. I was supposed to block that dude. That shows on Bowery's tape at BC, unfortunately. There is more than a little of that. When he does engage, it's nice, but it's inconsistent when he engages it out there. And, again, some of that might be that he's he's trying to play too tall. When he runs, he runs upright. He's very upright in his gait. That's one of the reasons why he didn't test super well even though he is very athletic. I think he ran a five one, at their pro day, which the Lions were at, by the way. Tends to be late with his hands and punch. Talked about that maybe maybe that goes in hand with the the short arming the punch. The Senior Bowl. Senior Bowl practices were rough. All the guys that had any juice at all that could beat him to the outside did. He had a handful of nice reps against guys that tried to go through him, but he really struggled down there in the one on ones and also in the team drills. Now they actually moved him inside to guard there, and I thought he was a little bit better at guard, but the lions don't need a guard. They need a tackle. Missed three three separate games to three separate injuries in 2025. All of these I would consider as, like, minor, like, fluking. One of them was a concussion. One of them, his leg got rolled up on. He he, you know, missed a week. I don't know what the other one was. It wasn't documented. But it was nothing long term, nothing serious. These are these are football injuries, which I'm okay with. Like, not that's the the injuries caused from the course of the physicality of football, broken bones, things like that, I'm not gonna get that's that's not gonna freak me out. But thought I'd bring it up just because we are super sensitive about injuries with the lions. So Jude Bowery probably goes on the 100 to 150 overall range in this draft. I could maybe see him going a little bit higher. He's in that cluster though of you know, early day three linemen, maybe late day two linemen with the Caleb Tiernan's of the world, Markel Bell, Travis Burke. There's a few guys in that range. And I would put Bowery I think just the way that he moves and and his style of play, he might be better for a more zone predominant team in blocking more than the Lions Gap duo power type scheme that they appear to be keeping, under Drew Penzing. So, anyways, that's the daily for today. Thank you all for tuning in. Appreciate y'all. It's been a been a fun weekend. Be back at it Monday. I will be, talking with a, and I did this piece for Real GM a couple weeks ago, after between the Western Michigan and Michigan State Pro Days and Michigan Pro Day. I will be talking to one of the people that I featured in my talk there. I will be talking with him tomorrow, so that will, be the feature probably of Tuesdays. But tomorrow, we'll we'll get back in and, mock draft Monday. It's cliche, but it's fun. Jeff Friston signing out. Be good to one another.