The Detroit Lions talking to some big name Defensive Linemen
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And what's going on, everybody? Matt Derry with you on a Thursday edition of Locked On Lions right here in the Locked On Podcast Network. It is indeed your team every day. Today is Thursday, February 27th. And a Friday, February 28th. We're going to be in March before you know it. Thanks for making us your first listen and checking us out wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you as well to all of you that watch or listen, not watch or listen, you watch

And subscribe on our Locked on Lions YouTube channel. A shout out to our everydayers that are out there that check out the podcast. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Saw a couple of our everydayers today. Michael Spath, Sarah Frazier.

Michelle Choice, some of the great everydayers. We appreciate all of you for stopping and checking out the show daily. Podcast today will be Combine related. We got to get into some of the players and some of the names that the Lions are interviewing and talking to at the Combine as well. There is a soon-to-be, it looks like, sort of soon-to-be free agent, I guess you want to call it, but a veteran defensive lineman, an interior defensive lineman,

That is going to be traded soon. Should the Lions make a phone call about Devon Gottschall?

of the Patriots. We'll get into that coming up momentarily as well. Yesterday, we kind of lost it a little bit on Ben Johnson. Fans' reaction has not been surprising. It just goes to show the loyalty that Lions fans have. We'll have a call of the day as well. If you want to be our call of the day, you know how to do it. Dial us up at our SpeakPipe voicemail system at speakpipe.com slash dairy podcast page.

I'm hoping to get somebody on tomorrow to talk from the combine Indianapolis. Maybe I'll, maybe I'll call up a Jordan Schultz or Ian Rappaport, and maybe they can fight on the show. Is that the stupidest story of the day?

like people like isn't this funny like these guys got into it they had to be restrained from each other at the starbucks at the jw marriott in indianapolis by the way if you've ever been to the jw marriott in indy that starbucks is not a good starbucks it's tiny but apparently uh nfl reporter jordan schultz uh the son of uh former starbucks ceo howard schultz and good old rap sheet

Uh, had a little pissing match yesterday at the Starbucks and that became a big, big story. Um, nothing like a nerd fight, nothing like a nerd reporter fight at, uh, at the combine, but we are, we are dying for just about any kind of, uh,

content, I guess. And people love that stuff and they eat it up. All right. John Macaroon and the folks, Christian and the folks at all SI or at all Lions, SI, si.com Lions have put together a list of all the players that have admitted publicly or agents have said that they've gone through formal interviews with the Lions at the combine. Part of the combine is not just to watch players run around in their underwear, but it is to

to have interviews with prospects and teams, et cetera. And so they have been putting together a list on their website. I want to give them full credit for it. I am swiping it to talk about it on the show. So Marshall Edge, Mike Green, had a formal interview with the Lions. We have talked about Mike Green on and on on this podcast as somebody that could be a very good choice for Detroit.

If he drops to number 28 or if Brad Holmes wants to trade up and get him, this is an edge rusher that had 17 sacks last year for Marshall. There have been some reports.

Of some sexual assault allegations against Green going back one, one of them going back to high school and one of them when he was at the University of Virginia before he got to college. Green, to his credit, got up on the podium yesterday and said, I didn't do anything wrong. I've never been charged. I never even talked to anybody about this. These are things that have come out about me, but they're not true. And he addressed it.

As we know with the Lions and their ownership and Sheila Ford Hamp, they normally stay away from players that have any kind of baggage like this. But again, Green says he did nothing wrong. He has had a formal interview with the Lions, so they're interested. Nick Skorton is a great story. Texas A&M edge rusher who is as down to earth of a kid and is just a Dan Campbell type of guy.

Lions have talked to him. Jack Sawyer, Ohio State edge, had a formal chat with the Lions. Josiah Stewart from Michigan, an informal chat with the Lions. LSU edge, Savion Jones, Ole Miss outside linebacker Chris Paul Jr., Auburn edge rusher Jalen McLeod, Minnesota linebacker Cody Lindenberg, Penn State linebacker Kobe King. These are all formal. Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins, informal.

Oklahoma State defensive end linebacker Colin Oliver. Here's a name to watch. Alabama linebacker Jihad Campbell, formal interview with the Lions. This guy can do everything.

Some people are saying Jihad Campbell should like be drafted by the Bucks and immediately put where Levante David's been playing for all those years on the inside. Others saying you can move him to that strong side Sam linebacker spot and he can be the new Derek Barnes. Rush the passer, play the pass, play the run. Jihad Campbell is intriguing. He has had a formal talk with Detroit. A Notre Dame edge rusher, Howard Cross.

An informal for Clemson linebacker, Barrett Carter, Michigan defensive tackle, Kenneth Grant, who I want to address in our call of the day, formal interview with the lions, some safeties, Virginia safety, Jonas Sanker, Texas's Andrew Makuba, Nebraska tight end, Thomas for Doan, Georgia tech tight end, Jackson Hawes, both had formals, CJ, CJ dip Ray of Alabama. Also, yeah,

Kansas cornerback Kobe Bryant, but that's spelled C-O-B-E-E Bryant.

Also a couple of corners, O'Donnell Fortune from South Carolina, Iowa State corner Darian Porter, and a guy that's going to be a first-round pick, Florida State corner Azariah Thomas, who's a beast. He also has had a formal discussion with the Lions. Now again, quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, none of these guys have gotten to the combine just yet and interviewed. This has been edge rushers, corners, linebackers, defensive players that Detroit has been talking to.

And this list was put together by John Macaroon, Christian and the crew at SI.com slash Lions. Good job, guys. Thank you for giving us some names. You know, look, there's a lot of intriguing names on that list. Mike Green is an intriguing name.

All right. That's a guy that, that I would love to see the lions go get, because I think he's an edge rusher that has a ton of talent, a lot of upside. All right. You know, Josiah Stewart's a good player. Probably not a first round pick Jack Sawyer, Nick Skorton. There's some good, good, good fits there for Detroit. I'm not sure why they haven't talked to Shamar Stewart. Maybe that just hasn't been confirmed yet, but that's another guy to keep an eye on if you are Detroit. And again, Brad Holmes said it two days ago,

They're going to draft the best available player. They're not going to draft out of need. They are not a needs-based team in the draft, according to Brad. But, you know, when the edge rushers are the first ones there, and that's what kind of the list kind of compiled in terms of names, keep an eye on all of those guys. There's going to be a fit or two in there for Detroit. And I've said it on this show, and I'll say it again.

Lions need pass rushers. Outside of Aiden Hutchinson, there was not enough edge movement and rush and quarterback pressures last season. Really, the second and third best pressure guys on the team were Aleem McNeil on the interior and Levi Onzerike, who might not be back next year.

who of course is a free agent. McNeil's health after tearing his ACL, will he be back to even start the season? That is a big question mark, but there's a lot of good players on that list. And you love that Detroit is doing their due diligence and talking to many of these guys. And as we've seen,

From past video that the Lions put together, especially when they kind of put the video together of when they were drafting Aiden Hutchinson and talking to him at the Combine, Detroit does an awesome job of kind of feeling these prospects out, putting them in positions in an interview setting where they find out if they're going to fit what the culture of Dan Campbell-led teams is. And I'm excited to see what the Lions defense is going to look like.

Without Aaron Glenn, I think Aaron Glenn will do a whale of a job with the Jets, but I like Kelvin Shepard a lot. And I think players will rally around him and they'll stay aggressive and they'll play a lot of man. And I think Detroit will have a good, a really good season.

Not ready to just say, oh, well, they lost their coordinators and it's going to turn into the 2023 Eagles and they're going to completely nosedive without their guys. Remember, the Eagles lost Jonathan Gannon and Shane Steich and both had coaching jobs after the 22 season. And 2023 was not good to Philly at all. They retooled, got new guys in, Vic Fangio and others, Kellen Moore,

And of course, Philly went on to win the Super Bowl. I don't think that's going to be the case with the Lions. I still question the John Morton hire. We'll see where that goes. But all in all, Lions doing their due diligence right now at the combine. That is for sure. All right, coming up next, let's get into a possible pickup for Brad Holmes and company.

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Well, Thursday edition of Locked on Lions, everybody. Thanks for making us your first listen. Check us out wherever you get your podcasts. Don't forget. How about this Detroit Pistons team? They are absolutely on fire. Last night, they wiped the floor with the Celtics down at the LCA. Six Goris Drive. Oh, baby.

But you want to check out Koo, who hosts our Locked on Pistons show. He does a great job. Please do that. Got to be proud of the fellas, man. They are playing great basketball. And if you're hopping back on the bandwagon, do it. Kate Cunningham is playing at an all-NBA level. Malik Beasley should be the sixth man of the year. And I'll say it, J.B. Bickerstaff should win coach of the year. Do you realize the Pistons have like 33 or 34 wins this year? They didn't have that combined the last two years. Combined.

The last two years. Come on now. Got to give these guys some love. The LCA was rocking last night. All right. So the other day, the New England Patriots, it was reported, have given the agent of Devon Gottschall, the 30-year-old defensive tackle, permission to seek a trade as he is going to be on the last year or the second year of a two-year extension that he signed before last season.

Devon Gottschall is a guy that is very, very big. He's almost like an old school nose tackle. And for a lot of years, the Patriots were using him just right over the center as a nose tackle. He's kind of has the DJ reader type build after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round. He has spent the last four seasons with the New England Patriots.

6'3", 330. Is he an upgrade over DJ Reader? Is this a guy that the Lions should go after? My answer is a flat no. N-O-no. I get it. He's got like $16 million guaranteed. He's only making about a base salary of $6.5 million for next year, and he is not that expensive. But here's the thing with Devon Gottschall. Number one, he has had one, count them, one season

where he really, really excelled. And that was in 2018 with the Patriots, where PFF graded him out at a 72.7. Otherwise, his grades have been in the 50s and 60s his entire career. Last season, he graded out at a 51.6. Season before that, 50.2. And the season before that, 53.1. I get it. Bill Belichick liked him. He was a Bill guy. He's been with New England for the last four years. He's a plugger.

But grading out that low is not an upgrade from DJ Reader at all. And here's the other thing about Devon Gottschalk. This is a guy that last year was bitching before the season about his contract. He ended up getting a two-year extension. But over the last couple of years, he has not been happy with his deal. There were even some scenes a couple of years ago where

or last year during training camp where it was Godshaw and his agent and Gerard Mayo on the field at practice discussing his contract. That is not something that I think really, what's the word I'm looking for? Connects with or jibes with what goes on here in Detroit. So while this is a solid contract,

nose tackle, three, four defense, plugger, run stopper. Do I want the Detroit Lions going after a guy that's very average? Let's be honest. He's graded out average to below average. I know he's kind of cheap. He's not making a lot of money. He's a veteran and the Lions need defensive tackles, but this is not somebody that I think fits what they're doing. Here's the other thing to remember too. Who's the Patriots new defensive coordinator?

That would be Terrell Williams, the Lions' former defensive line coach. Terrell Williams wants nothing to do with this player. He coached him in Miami, too. If Terrell Williams liked Devon Gottschall, he wouldn't have not have told the Patriots to trade him. And Terrell Williams left Detroit on good terms. The Lions love Terrell Williams and what his belief is in defensive linemen. So I am saying no.

And oh no to Devon gotcha as a guy that could be a lion's possibility. Now, Jonathan Allen from the commanders, you could sway me on him. It's another 30 year old was a pro bowler a couple of years ago. It sounds like the commanders are trying to get out from underneath his contract and are shopping him as well.

I would make a phone call and see about him. The problem with Jonathan Allen has been injuries. He just has not been able to stay healthy when healthy, a good football player, but I'd rather have him than gotcha. So kind of an interesting thing.

Time now in the NFL, there's a bunch of players, Debo Samuel, Jonah Jackson. We mentioned yesterday, gotcha. Allen Stafford. All these guys are seeking trades right now as these NFL teams are trying to get their rosters and their cap situations in order before a week from Monday when free agency starts. But I don't think the Lions would have interest in this Patriots nose tackle and they don't play a three, four, they play a four, three.

And DJ reader, even though he didn't have a great year this year for the lions graded out higher than gotcha and had a better season. All right. So in case you missed yesterday's show, uh, I'm not going to say I went on a rant or I lost it, but I did get a little loud discussing the Ben Johnson situation. Again, just to recap from yesterday, we played two audio clips of Ben Johnson, one from the combine the other day where he kind of took a little bit of a dig at Jared Goff.

for not being able to move in the pocket. He was talking about Caleb Williams, and then he said, I've never coached anybody that can move like that, or I haven't had that luxury of having a guy that can create on his own. Kind of just taking a little bit of a dig at Jared Goff. And then yesterday on Pro Football Talks show with Mike Flory and Chris Sims, he was making a joke about Penny Sewell throwing the ball on the run and was like, hey, you know who can't do that? Jared Goff. And I kind of was like, Ben Johnson needs to stop.

He needs to stop taking shots at golf. He needs to stop taking little digs at the Lions. All right, Kirby Joseph even posted some stuff responding to Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson is playing the heel role and trying to create a rivalry between the Bears and his former employer, the Lions. And all Detroit has done has been very, very loyal to Ben, nice to Ben, complimentary of Ben.

Uh, Dan Campbell was talking about how Ben Johnson staff is going to be really good and all of these things. And so yesterday I decided I needed to stick up for you lion fans. And I read a lot of the YouTube comments yesterday. I got a couple of LinkedIn messages. I got a couple of DMS. I got a couple of tweets, all of these things. And lions fans are pretty dug in now that they're going to boo Ben Johnson when he comes to Ford field this year.

And if they show Ben Johnson on the big screen or they do any kind of tribute to Ben Johnson, I think the fans are going to boo. I think fans are picking up on this, that Ben has been kind of, you know, kind of, kind of had one foot out of town in November. It sounded like he wanted this bear's job and was negotiating this bear's job. The minute Matt Eberflus was fired after Thanksgiving. And obviously the Lions failed this year and did not reach their goal of winning playoff games.

And then Johnson's been taking little subtle digs at Jared Goff. And I think Lions fans have had enough of this. Nobody dislikes Ben Johnson. Nobody's saying Ben Johnson wasn't the best offensive coordinator, maybe in Lions history. We're all saying it. All right. He was great. Ben Johnson was great at his job. And I'm concerned John Morton, the new OC, will not be as good as Ben Johnson. But Ben hopefully now is done with the media tour and done with a little subtle digs at Detroit.

And you, the fans responded in a big way and all were in agreement with me on what I was saying yesterday. And normally you all disagree with me or you yell at me for stuff I was saying, but I'm sick of it. I'm tired of it. I don't, I don't think we need to hear any more of Ben Johnson talking. It's the bears he's coaching. I'm sorry, but next year when we do our off season shows and we're doing our predictions, I will pick the bears to finish last again.

They're not good enough. Now I want to see what free agency looks like, but remember a couple of years ago, is it last year or the year before the bear signed all those free agent receivers and they got DJ more. And we went, Ooh, look at the bears receivers. Look at their weapons. Cold commit DJ more. Oh, Roma dunes. Hey, Ooh, you know, Oh my God, I got Keenan Allen. They still finished in last place. Green Bay's got a damn good team and they're young.

the vikings had a really good year last year they bring all their coaches back and they might upgrade a quarterback if they get stafford or if jj mccarthy is really good so sorry chicago you're still i'm still going to pick them to finish last until i see otherwise the lions won 15 games last year and they're bringing pretty much everybody back we got to make sure carlton davis gets re-upped i want to see kevin zeitler still in the lions uniform but you catch my drift

Call of the Day time. If you want to be our call of the day, you go to speakpipe.com slash dairy podcast page. We'll do that coming up next.

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chase for business make more with yours real business owners compensated for the participation cards issued by jp morgan chase bank and a member of the ic subject to credit approval terms apply all right we always appreciate our calls of the day we've gotten a lot of them lately and i've had to pick out the best ones we'll do maybe do another one tomorrow as uh as well but call the day is when you leave a voicemail for me try to keep it under a minute try to keep it clean we can't air swear words on this podcast

But today, Mike A. is checking in. He is an everydayer, which we appreciate. Here is our call of the day, and then we will react to what Mike has to say right here on a Thursday, Locked on Lions. Hey, Matt. It's Mike here, an everydayer from Toronto, Canada. My question for you is, in the past, Brad Holmes hasn't been afraid to move up in the draft or grab a player that he likes. He moved up 20 spots to grab JMO, and last year he moved up five spots to grab Tarion.

My question for you is, are there any players in this year's draft that you can see Brad Holmes moving up for and grabbing? Thank you very much. Appreciate the podcast. Go Lions. All right. Thank you, Mike, from Toronto. Love our Canadian friends. Canada is our friend, everybody. They're still an ally, last I checked. We love our Canadian listeners and Canadian brothers and sisters. Mike brings up an interesting question.

Brad Holmes is sitting at 28, and you know he's got that itchy trigger finger. He wants to make a move, wants to move up. Did that last year, moving up five spots to get Terry on. This time around, as I look at mock drafts and I look at players, there are two guys that I could see Brad Holmes moving up to draft. Number one is Kenneth Grant, the defensive lineman and defensive tackle from Michigan.

It was throughout the entire year, really. Everybody was talking about Michigan could have three guys on their defense that are top 15 picks. Mason Graham, Will Johnson, and Kenneth Grant. Grant, and let's just use the CBS Sports' latest mock draft. Kenneth Grant is mocked to go 20th to Denver. 6'3", 339 pounds, game wrecker on the interior, very, very good run defender, also can get to the quarterback a little bit.

And he's just a good kid. And Kenneth Grant is a guy that the Lions, we just mentioned before, formally interviewed at the Combine. And if he slips 2020, number 20, number 21, 22, I could see a scenario where the Lions move up to try and grab him. I don't see any other reason why that would be a guy that I think they would be thrilled if he dropped in the draft.

Jihad Campbell is another one that I could see the Lions moving up to get kind of the all everything linebacker from Alabama. It would be another Alabama player that the Lions moved up to draft first JMO, then Terry on Arnold.

The other one to watch, we talked about this last week. I'm trying to remember who we talked about this with. Might've been Nick Baumgardner. Is Donovan Jackson, the offensive lineman for Ohio State. The reason why I use Jackson as an example, and somebody that the Lions could move up to get, is because we know Brad Holmes values O-linemen. Brad Holmes has drafted a lot of offensive linemen. And last year he drafted two of them in Gio Manu and...

Um, our man from Boston college. Why am I just Christian mahogany? Jeez. Donovan Jackson could be a guy that could be a tackle in this league or a guard in this league, six, four, 320 pounds moved from guard to tackle this year due to injuries at Ohio state. And he's also sitting right now in that 23, 24 range where maybe the lions would move up to get them at 23 so that the Vikings don't pick them at 24.

Donovan Jackson from OSU is a really, really good football player and a guy, again, team player that last year had to move from guard to tackle at Ohio State due to injuries and didn't miss a beat. So I consider a name a bunch of guys that I think the Lions would be interested in. But those three really could be players that Brad Holmes moves up and gets. And again,

This is why Brad Holmes has done such a good job. And this is why the Lions have won games is Holmes has identified a lot of linemen and he's gone out and got them. It's been an exorbitant amount of linemen that the Lions have drafted that have turned out to be fantastic football players. Panay Sewell. I mentioned Mahogany. Looked really good last year. Aiden Hutchinson. Aline McNeil. Levi Onzerike is going to get paid. Jury's still out on a guy like Broderick Martin.

But Lions have gone out and drafted really, really solid linemen. And that's where you win in this league. It really is. If Brad Holmes looks up and says, I'm not going to move up, I'm not going to make a trade, and we're at 28, he may end up taking an offensive lineman. And again, we'll know about Kevin Zeitler before the draft with free agency, but it may be that spot where he just says, I can draft an offensive lineman, plug him in wherever it is, guard, tackle,

Although Taylor Decker had a pretty good year this year and not great, but decent. And Panay Sewell, of course, is great. But I could draft a tackle, put him at guard, whatever, and they're there for four or five years and we're not paying them a lot of money. So definitely we'll keep our eyes and ears peeled on that. Back again tomorrow with more Locked On Lions, a Friday edition. Thanks to our everydayers that watch and listen to the podcast daily. Again, Locked On Red Wings, Locked On Pistons, Locked On Tigers. We are there for you.

after each and every game as well. Jake Reitma at Locked On Sports Detroit has the postcast as well. He was on last night after the Pistons' big win over the Boston Celtics. Have a great rest of your Thursday, everybody. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. The road is calling. Embrace the thrill of the drive with the all-new, fully electric Audi Q6 e-tron. Featuring effortless power and advanced Audi tech. The next chapter of Audi starts now.

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