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Speaker 1: Hey, everyone. Jeff Risen here with your daily DLP. It is April 1. I'm not an April fools guy. Never been that kind of way. I'm not I'm not into the that sort of just nonsense and practical jokiness. Not who I am? Let's just get ready to do it because we got a lot to talk about today for it being a random Wednesday, a little over three weeks out from the draft. And my goodness, a lot happened in the last day. Yeah. Let's start with you know what? Let let's start with the the topic that everybody wants to talk about, and I talked about this on the radio yesterday on the huge show across Michigan. Did a brief spot yesterday with huge. Thanks, Bill, for having me in. The Lions have asked for retired center well, no longer he's not actually retired technically yet. For Frank Ragnow to repay some of his signing bonus. Frank's no longer with the team. He, obviously we we know the story here. Decided late in the process last off season that he wasn't gonna play, which put the lines in a real bind. He did try to come back, was not physically capable of coming back when he did try to do that, over the I guess it was this Thanksgiving time when that happened. And, on the you know, now now he is, that that that bridge has been napalmed thanks to the lions doing what the lions have unfortunately done and got a habit of doing and asking for money back. Now I am of definite mixed opinion on this because I do understand the lions point of view on this. Ragnell signed his contract just as Calvin Johnson had, just as Barry Sanders had. They're the two most prominent ones, obviously. They're not the only ones, though. But they left before the terms of their contract were done, significantly before the the terms of their contract were up. And it was not insignificant amount of money that they were paid. We don't know yet how much money right now has been asked to repay, but I understand from a business sense why they do it. And I understand on a more, like, broad level, one of the reasons that you would do this is to keep the precedent set that, hey. If you if, you know, if you're gonna do this, you know, we are gonna we're gonna ask for money back, just so you know, ahead of time. And I'll have something more on that in a second. But it could also be something of a deterrent, for a player who maybe wants to skip out of town, that sort of thing. And, by the way, that's not that's not the case here at all with right now, but I understand the the basic business principle there. I do. He had a contract. He didn't honor it. It definitely put the team in a negative position. Having said that, this is not a good look for the Lions. It's just not. Even if they're in the right, it looks petty. It looks cheap. It looks, I don't know, out of touch. It's not it's not sending the message that they think it's sending. If they're trying to make it as a deterrent, well, it it's clearly not working because it hasn't worked before, and it's still not. It's, been very negatively received by guys like Alex Anseloni, who admittedly has some bones to pick with the franchise of late. He's no longer here. But the one that that struck me was when Quandre Diggs spoke up because Quandre has never hidden that he loves Detroit. He loved his time in Detroit. His lion's tenure ended, a a very, involuntarily and, unfortunately, Matt Patricia didn't like him and sent him away. And he, became a much better player once he wasn't here, being coached by Patricia. I don't think that's coincidental. But he's always been a straight shooter too, and he talked about how it was not a good look. And I I do respect that. And I also respect that guys around the NFL and more important or just as importantly, their agents are gonna see this and be like, man, Detroit's doing these guys dirty, man. And whether that's true or not, that's going to be the perception. And it could be the difference between a free agent of some prominence choosing to sign with Detroit or sign with team x, whoever it might be. And I don't like that. I don't like that the Lions apparently didn't learn that the negative feedback from the fans isn't worth the, we'll call it just pick a number, $5,000,000 that it saves them, that it gets them back. Because it it makes them look, mercenary. And now now it is mercenary league. I'll bring up what TJ Lang said because I think this is good. For those of you who are, on the audio only version that I brought up the the the post on x from Ari Maroff, my sports update. Everybody reported on this, but TJ responded to this one. He said, the Lions made Frank right now return part of his signing bonus after retiring early, continuing a franchise policy that date back dates back to Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson per president Rod Wood via Dave Burkett. Dave Burkett, by the way, broke this news, and it was Rod Wood who did indeed ask for the money back or let it be known that the Lions were asking for the money back, which probably isn't the best guy to have do that either. That's for a separate show. I could talk for a very long time about that. Maybe Chris and I will get into that at some point. But TJ Lang, who played for the Lions at the end of his career, Detroit guy.

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Speaker 1: Like, part of the Lions broadcast team. He knows what's up. And his response was, it is what it is. Everyone knows it. Bottom line is if you wanna protect your money, make them release you. You lose all leverage when you retire. And he's exactly right about that. And Anzalone in his in his ex responses, beyond his initial one, sort of stated the same thing. Because if they release you, they can't ask for the money back. So I will bring up a subsequent tweet, from my friend Art. I I know him, in real life. We've we've had good times together, and he's a smart guy, and I respect his opinion. And he and he asked a very good question, and he asked this honestly. And he said, when you say everybody knows it, TJ, do you mean across the league or you're just saying specifically with us? Talking about, you know, the idea of making them make release you as of retiring. And TJ responded specifically with Detroit. I'm sure other teams do it with lesser players. Detroit gets the attention because it's high profile guys. I don't wanna speak for Frank, but I have to imagine he knew this was going to be a part of the the retiring while still having years on his contract. Yeah. And he still did. It's not the best way to endear yourselves to the and and, by the way, the fan reaction has been well, it's been very mixed from from my experience in looking at social media and and the responses that are out there to to some of the various, you know, posts. There are a lot of people who say that, you know, that, you you know, he didn't live up to the terms of his contract. He he, you know, he kinda screwed us over. Let let's take his money back, and they don't have an issue with that. But there are also others who follow the vein of a lot of people who talk about how it's a bad look for the team to continually what's the right words? Sully a relationship that doesn't need it, as as somebody's as a as a respected franchise pillar is leaving. They leave on bad terms, because the lions get a little cheap and petty. And, again, I I do I like, both sides there have a point, and I struggle with where to weigh that. But I would say in this case, specifically, And I do think that they do need to be taken as individual cases. Like, Calvin's Calvin was very different, because of his, well, first off, his contract was just ridiculously huge. The Lions dramatically overshot the wide receiver market when they gave him his contract. That wasn't the case with Frank, who was indeed the highest paid center when he signed his contract, but not out of tune, and he wasn't when he left. It's tough, man. I don't know. Tell me what you think about that in the comments because I again, I can I can see it either way? All things being equal, I would prefer that the lions just sorta let this one slide, or or maybe don't talk about it. That's not something that you necessarily need to bring up. And even if Burkett asks it and, by the way, he he's good for asking it if he did. Good for you, Dave. It's a good question. It's a smart question. Rod Wood don't answer it, dude. Come on. It it it makes me happier that he is exiting stage left, and that's you know, I have somewhat defended Rod's I never really defended Rod, but I defended his position. He's not involved in football decisions. Well, this is a post football decision. He is apparently involved in it, and that it's it's just not a good look. It's just not. And with all the other, you know, festering negativity that's going on and around this team, whether it's merited or not, and largely it's not, in my opinion anyways, it's just not something that they needed to do now. You know? So that's where I'm at with it. Let's get to something happier, please. Oh, I have signed somebody today or over the last twenty four hours. Chuck Clark, safety, veteran safety. I like Chuck Clark. I liked him when he was at Virginia Tech. He is a self made player, worked his way up from being a sixth round pick out of the Hokies program back in 2017 in Baltimore. And he started all and played very little on defense very early on. Was a special teams guy that they thought, you know, if we can teach him to cover just a little, like, we got something here. Because he is a big safety, great tackler, and he wound up starting for several years in Baltimore and was a good one. Played alongside great players there. And he was kind of the box safety, but he wasn't just a box safety. He he did have some ability to range over the top. He's got very good straight line speed. Great tackler. Good pass rusher from the slot. And up until he left Baltimore, he was solid in coverage. I wouldn't say that he it was, like, a strength of his, but he wasn't a weakness in it. I hurt his knee in 2023, didn't play that year. Resurfaced with the jets, had an okay season in 2024. 2025, he went to Pittsburgh and was not quite as okay. He is, I believe, 32 years old. So I'm we don't know the terms of the deal yet. I'm gonna assume that it's a one year deal, similar to what Christian Isseyan got. I like Clark in in part because I know that he's bringing the attitude of, like, I'm here for one year. I'm trying to win, but I'm also gonna be a guy who's gonna help people. That's that's that's his reputation around the league. This is a great signing to help Dan Jackson eventually take over for him. And that might be the the best thing that we come out of Chuck Clark signing. Again, you you probably don't want him in man coverage at all anymore. He is, much more of an underneath safety. If you're playing, you know, split safety, he's the guy that comes forward. He can start in the box. He can start over the slot over a flexed out tight end. Especially if they're playing zone, he can still do some things, but he's he's past his prime. Doesn't mean that he's not without some value.

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Speaker 1: I like this one. I'm gonna wait and see what the terms of the deal are before I really like it or get a little, you know, squirrelly about it. But, this is a good sign. They need look. They need depth at safety badly. I love the Izzian signing. He is a replacement and an upgrade over Avante met direct one for one over Avante Maddox last year. And I say that as somebody with a lot of respect for Avante Maddox. I think Christian Issey is a great signing. He can start. If Chuck Clark comes in and is now battling with Dan Jackson to be your number three safety, and and again, this this is assuming the worst case scenario at safety, which is the Brian branch misses the entire year and Kirby Joseph is toast. And there's a fair to decent chance that neither of that is true. Look. I'm I'm not expecting branch back before Halloween, Thanksgiving, probably at the earliest, and I don't expect him to be the same Brian Branch right away off of the Achilles. I don't. You probably shouldn't either. But if he can at least come back, he gives you something. Kirby, who knows? But it's nice to have insurance. And Isian provides good insurance there, and Chuck Clark can provide good insurance for, as the third safety with with, you know, Harper? Thomas har Tom Thomas Harper? Thomas Harper, he's a really good say, can play. I think he played very well last year, thrust into duties that were well above his pay grade. I thought he did a pretty good job. I'm very anxious to see what more he can do now that he has he has, you know, a little bit more responsibility on his plate. But I they have done a fair job here of mitigating against disaster at safety. The draft's still coming up. See what they could do. It would be nice to get a free safety type, you know, ball hawk over the top type guy, whether it's, you know, Bud Clark, Genesis Smith. There's a few of them in this class to like. Vijay Payne. You know, there there are some, you know, day two late day two, day three options who can fit in there. And then, like, you're not over leveraged if the best case scenario, which is that Kirby's knee winds up being fine because he gets some, you know, radical treatment from some, you know, questionable medical procedure in a former Soviet Republic or something. Who knows? Like, these things happen. Or it just responds and he he winds up getting better or they they wind up finding a way to manage the pain and and the way that he plays through it, much in the way that they did with Frank Ragnau and his toe, his inoperable, badly damaged toe, that they found ways to get Frank to play very effectively even though he was very hurting. I'm hopeful. I'm not confident in it, but I am hopeful that they can find that with Kirby. And then then the biggest problem is you've got too much depth of safety. Oh, gee. Darn. Wow. What a problem to have. Shiver me timbers. The day we have superfluous depth on defense with all the injuries that we've had over the past couple of years, that's a problem I wanna have, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. So Chuck Clark, I like this one. Good signing. Again, they're I don't think they're gonna expect too much out of him. I don't think that they're gonna expect him to start, but but he does have special scenes on his resume. Good good citizen, in in the locker room. He's not gonna ruffle feathers as he does have the grit fit. This is a good one. Like this. Let's get into the prospect of the day. And this was someone, it's by request and it's, sent by someone, who didn't want to be identified, but I will, I will leave that out. But I thank you for the suggestion because it is somebody that I have recently studied. See if you can pick them up by the picture. 321. It's Demetrius Crownover. Right tackle, Texas a and m. Big, big man. 67319. Good end. Looks every bit of it. Played at bigger than that, which is part of what we're gonna talk about here. Started to say tight end, believe it or not. He was recruited to Texas a and m as a tight end, was a very decorated basketball player in Texas as well as a tight end. Reshared his first year, then came in and moved to to tackle. It didn't play a lot his first year, and then played some his second year. And then the last two years, he's been the starting right tackle. And he certainly fits the grit profile. Oh, impressive core power and initial punch. That's one of the things that stands out of him. He's got over thirty five inch arms. They are powerful. Look. I mean, just let me let me pull that picture back up. Like, look at this dude. Like, he's big. Love that stand. Look at those giant hands, over 10 inches. Big big big man. Knows how to be big too. He's not a big man that that tries to be small. He's big and he knows it and he embraces it. I like that. For having long arms, he can fire them out and reset them and fire them secondarily fire quickly. That is an underappreciated skill. I I I'm a big fan of that particular facet. One of the things that I liked about him, going into the senior bowl, he I had not studied a lot of him. I I look. I watch a lot of Texas A and M football just because they tend to have a lot prospects, and then, you know, it's one of those things where you you need to stay up on them. And I wasn't as big as fan. And then at the senior bowl, he was really good in every practice. Handled guys who can win with speed, he handled guys who bowl, handled guys who tried to cross his face, showed footwork, showed hand placement, showed some snatch technique, like, he was good. Rose to the occasion, playing on an island there, which he didn't get a ton of that at Texas A and M, but he's he he and he continued to improve throughout his career as well, especially in pass protection. He does have some issues. We'll start with the cons down here. Keeping his pad level low is still not a reflexive trait. What do I mean by that? I mean, he's gotta consciously think about staying crouched down, knees bent, back flat, hips sunk. Otherwise, he does tend to to just rise up. And it's that does get better. That is something that you can you know, the more reps he gets, the more comfortable he gets. But by the way, this is a Jovanni Manu issue as well as a tall guy, a tall, long armed human. And it's not naturally inherent for him to do that either, so maybe they can learn it together. But Crown River did did improve at that throughout his career, but it's still, like you still see times where he's a little too high. Inconsistent anchors that that goes in hand with that. He will, guy guys will get into his pads if his hands aren't perfect, and his hands are inconsistent on his punch. If you watched, them play Miami, Ruben Bane got into his pads pretty easily. Now Ruben Bane, pretty damn good football player. He did that to a lot of people, but Cronover wasn't any better than anybody else at him. One of the big concerns, 11 penalties, and I did not get the breakdown of what those were. I will just tell you from watching some of the games, I know he was guilty of at least six holds because I saw, and he does hold. Every lineman holds, just about every play. That's fair. When you're his size and when you're playing, most of his issues come when he is latched on and the person tries to get away, and he holds on too long. And because he's so long and because his arms get out so far, it's more obvious than when a shorter armed guy who is more is less out in space does it, but it's something they can definitely clean up. He will turn 25 in September. That's older than you would typically have for a prospect. That is that means he's probably athletically peaked already or is right at it. And, some of the fact that he did very well in this last couple of years is because he was it's the inverse of Akeem Mesador, who I have, critiqued for being a man going against boys. Crownover has had the same thing. A lot of guys that he were going up against were 18, 19, 20 year olds who haven't completely physically matured yet, and he has. And that gives him an advantage, especially at his size. So that is something to bear in mind. I do like the way that he seals the the run game holes open. He gets his he squares his shoulders, he gets his hips in line, sinks his weight, fires out. He can forklift dudes, really good run blocker. And again, if the lines are moving Penay Sewell to left tackle, which it sounds like is the plan, we talked about that yesterday's daily, then you need somebody because, look, one of the reasons why the run offense has been so good is because it's easier to run to the right than to the left when you got Pena Sewell over there. You're generally running at the, you know, if you have tight ends over there. Like, the the Lions' offense has a lot of inclination to go to the right. You need somebody who can run block over there. Cronover, his run blocking is ahead of his pass blocking. It's not to say that he's a bad pass blocker, but, I like that, and he does engage second level run game targets pretty well. Engage might be overselling it. He he, blasts them. He will get at least a two hand shove on them, and they will feel it because he's a big strong dude. He is currently number 101 on the, DLP consensus big board, which, if you're not familiar with it, please go there. It's the Detroit Lions podcast consensus big board. Chris has it. So it automatically scrapes, like like, 55 or something odd different big boards as they update, and it continually updates by the day. So it was 101 as of this recording. It might be different by the time we're done. He is my number 92 player, so that I'm fairly in line with that. That is a late third. The Lions still came with their first pick in the fourth round or the other pick in the fourth round. I'm good with that. Now it is it is weird, though, because that is sort of the area where you get developmental players. And even though he, you know, he chased positions and he's only played tackle for four years, he's old enough that it's hard to label him a a developmental player. So that's Demetrius Crownover, guy that Lions fans should probably know. Might wanna know that name. Lions have definitely spent time investigating him. Gotten that from the good folks down in Aggieland.

Speaker 4: We'll

Speaker 1: we'll we'll see what happens with him. But he is someone that that, I I like him, don't love him. As far as, like, that day two, early day three tackle range, you can do a lot worse than Demetrius Cronover. We're gonna call this one a day. Thank you for watching. Thank you for liking and subscribing. We appreciate you all. Hopefully, we have some more positive things to talk about as we get, deeper into the week here. Don't be fooled on April Fool's Day. Watch out, especially if you're on Facebook for the love of God. I saw a thing last night. Tom Uso leaving Michigan State to go to North Carolina. Like, it's not even April fools day yet, and people are, like, lapping it up and treating it like it's truth. Like, be careful. Verify everything before you repost it, please. I beg you. Got a couple of interviews coming up for the rest of the week, including a fun one tomorrow that, you will let enjoy, especially since it's very draft related. Have a, national guest dude. Some of you have seen before. I've had him on the radio with me as well. A great dude. So with that, we're gonna call it a day. Jeff Risen signing out. Be good to one another out there. Thank you.