Chip Kelly gets it.

[lionstop1]

To start, I can appreciate when upper management allows the coaches to have control over what type of team is being put on the field. After all, they're the one's that have to coach and lead these players every day. Then, I like the coaches that build "their way" and refuse to have it any other way.

Chip Kelly has done this, especially as of late, but the thing I like most about it all is that he's a risk taker. Taking risks is one thing I think all coaches, GM's, scouts, etc should participate in. It's one of those things that has a huge payoff once you get it right. I think most of the successful coaches have taken those risks to get over the top.

So why do I mention this?

Well....I think the Lions have a group of guys (Caldwell, Austin, Mayhew) that share this characteristic and heading into next season, they should continue.

As head coach, Caldwell stepped in and hired two coordinators with no experience and although things weren't perfect, I still think the payoff will be huge moving forward. Caldwell didn't rely on experience, he made his staff his own and I respect that.

Last year, Austin was most likely the one behind the Ihedigbo signing and much of what was behind the defense. I thought it was risky with his style of defensive play for the Lions but he made it work. This year, I'm sure his words encouraged the Lions that Ngata should be a Lion.

Although criticized, I find most of Mayhew's risks over the years good ones to take with the exception of Young. He'll trade up, trade for players, make moves and now has shown that he won't hesitate to let others go and move on. The Ebron pick was a hell of a risk but I think it will pay off. This year, I expect the same.

Here's two things I think we will see:

The Lions will take a RB early in the draft given the opportunity. Gordon will be the first choice, with Gurley being the next option (risk).

The Lions will move forward and shape the defense around the guys they have now. I don't think we will see what most expect at the other DT spot. I see a situation where the rotation will be unique to where Caraun Ried, Walker, and others (maybe a rookie) will see time there.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

trading up to draft Jahvid Best wasn't a smart move knowing he had previous significant concussion issues.

talks regarding a move to a 3-4 base are still unanswered and may not be until training camp. Austin stated last May that he needed bigger guys inside and he didn't think they were built that way. of course this was last year.

More talk about a move to a 3-4 base in the following article but no real answers.

With Haloti Ngata on board, will Detroit Lions switch to 3-4 defense?

 

[lionstop1]

Well, I see what Mayhew tried to accomplish with Best. Like all risks, if it fails, you look dumb but if it works, you become a genius.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I get where you're coming from with taking risks and I agree that all teams do it to a degree.

Now, one advantage for drafting Gordon is the possibility he's viewed as that home-run hitter who can keep drives sustained which in turn means more minutes eaten off the clock by the Offense and less minutes on field for the "Defense".


Mayhew may very well have him graded as the highest player available at #23 when all is said and done,

I wouldn't be opposed at all to drafting Gordon. I was a little too harsh/critical of him before.

 

[RobBase]

Chip Kelly is a great example of someone who does not get it. I give him 2 years before he's back coaching a college team.

 

[gandydancer]

I think it will backfire and as Rob said, back in school shortly.

I do give him props for trying his way. Although his ego is huge and will result in hi looking stupid.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

What "risks" have panned out for Mayhew? He has 2 complete draft classes that are no longer on the team (2010, 2011). He has traded up for 2 players in Jahvid Best and Mikel LeShoure, who are no longer in the NFL. He spent two 2nd round picks on red flag undersized WR's and one should be in the looney bin and the other is a walking injury waiting to happen.

We spent 1st round picks on a pair of dominant DT's and because of piss poor money management -- they are both gone. We have spent 2 first round picks on the TE position, but we have yet to have anything that resembles a upper tier TE.

If you want to call what Mayhew has done risky -- feel free. The only props I can give him is hiring Caldwell and that is only because he brought along Austin. To counter that though -- he also brought along Lombardi, which cancelled out all the good the defense did for us last year.

I take it back -- I give Mayhew props for not compounding the piss poor money management and either tagging Suh for 27 million or signing him to the ridiculous contract the Dolphins just did. He has exactly zero chance of living up to that deal.

 

[Old Lion]

Will you stop with the 2 entire draft classes nonsense. Most teams are lucky if 1 guy sticks from a draft class that is 4 years or older. Especially when they trade away picks to move up. That is because the good players sign for more money with other teams (and the bad ones cut by then obviously). We only drafted 11 guys in those 2 years. We drafted 9 in 2009 of which 3 are still on the team. That is 3 of 20 still.

To compare:

The Patriots 2011 draft they actually had 2 extra picks and only 2 guys of those 9 are still on the team. 2009 and 2010 they had a grand total of 24 picks and 5 are still on the team. That is 7 of 33.

Not that much better.

Complain all you want. These guys are going nowhere. You are wasting your breathe.

 

[lionstop1]

Nah, I think Kelly will be successful and I'm not talking about just winning a Super bowl. It doesn't even really matter who is left on the Lions team from whatever draft. Find me some other teams that have been able to keep everyone they draft for over 5 years. Why isn't anyone blaming some of those weak ass players for not performing and keeping their jobs in Detroit?

 

[Rollingthndr]

Will you stop with the 2 entire draft classes nonsense. Most teams are lucky if 1 guy sticks from a draft class that is 4 years or older. Especially when they trade away picks to move up. That is because the good players sign for more money with other teams (and the bad ones cut by then obviously). We only drafted 11 guys in those 2 years. We drafted 9 in 2009 of which 3 are still on the team. That is 3 of 20 still.

To compare:

The Patriots 2011 draft they actually had 2 extra picks and only 2 guys of those 9 are still on the team. 2009 and 2010 they had a grand total of 24 picks and 5 are still on the team. That is 7 of 33.

Not that much better.

Complain all you want. These guys are going nowhere. You are wasting your breathe.

Patriots wins super bowls. Lions dream about it.

 

[LionsWhyMe]

Edited... making a thread instead

 

[TBBishop]

To start, I can appreciate when upper management allows the coaches to have control over what type of team is being put on the field. After all, they're the one's that have to coach and lead these players every day. Then, I like the coaches that build "their way" and refuse to have it any other way.

Chip Kelly has done this, especially as of late, but the thing I like most about it all is that he's a risk taker. Taking risks is one thing I think all coaches, GM's, scouts, etc should participate in. It's one of those things that has a huge payoff once you get it right. I think most of the successful coaches have taken those risks to get over the top.

So why do I mention this?

Well....I think the Lions have a group of guys (Caldwell, Austin, Mayhew) that share this characteristic and heading into next season, they should continue.

As head coach, Caldwell stepped in and hired two coordinators with no experience and although things weren't perfect, I still think the payoff will be huge moving forward. Caldwell didn't rely on experience, he made his staff his own and I respect that.

Last year, Austin was most likely the one behind the Ihedigbo signing and much of what was behind the defense. I thought it was risky with his style of defensive play for the Lions but he made it work. This year, I'm sure his words encouraged the Lions that Ngata should be a Lion.

Although criticized, I find most of Mayhew's risks over the years good ones to take with the exception of Young. He'll trade up, trade for players, make moves and now has shown that he won't hesitate to let others go and move on. The Ebron pick was a hell of a risk but I think it will pay off. This year, I expect the same.

Here's two things I think we will see:

The Lions will take a RB early in the draft given the opportunity. Gordon will be the first choice, with Gurley being the next option (risk).

The Lions will move forward and shape the defense around the guys they have now. I don't think we will see what most expect at the other DT spot. I see a situation where the rotation will be unique to where Caraun Ried, Walker, and others (maybe a rookie) will see time there.

I don't appreciate when upper management lets coaches make the final descisions on personnel because it rarely works out. there is a reason why these 2 jobs are typically held by different people. Usually guys are not good at both of them. What Chip Kelly did at Oregon was make 3 star players look like 5 star players. Maybe he can accomplish that in Philly because from what I've seen, up until the Murray signing, he was replacing 4-5 star players with 2-3 star players. Good luck with that!

And I don't know if I see any correlation between what Kelly is doing and what Mayhew/Lewand/Caldwell is doing. Our brass had to let the star walk, Kelly dumped the star and l'm not even sure why at this point.

 

[Rollingthndr]

Kelly signed two of the most injury prone backs in the NFL to replace one of the elite RB's in football. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Patriots wins super bowls. Lions dream about it.

I wasn't even going to waste my time responding to OL's post, as the Lions and Patriots should never be mentioned in the same sentence, as they are two polar opposite franchises over the past couple decades.

I will just say this -- while the Lions are trading up for players, the Patriots trade back and accumulate picks. That is why you see the difference between the two teams draft picks.

Since you wanted to bring up 2009 too -- Detroit drafted THREE TIMES in 2009 before New England made a single pick.

In 2009, 2010 and 2011 -- Detroit had the 1st, 2nd and 13th pick in the draft. New England didn't have a first round pick in 2009, then had the 17th and 27th pick.

You know what -- OL was right. I'm just wasting my breathe. I know there will only be more excuses for Mayhew, no matter what I say. I will just agree.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Kelly signed two of the most injury prone backs in the NFL to replace one of the elite RB's in football. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

I think that is why he signed both Murray and Mathews. That way they don't have to carry the load and they can split it up. While I do agree McCoy is one of the elite RB's -- in the last two years -- I believe I read Murray has outproduced him by like 40 yards.

I do agree -- it will definitely be something to watch for regarding the Eagles team. Bradford is another injury prone guy they brought in.

People were calling Kelly crazy letting players like Maclin and Jackson walk, trading Foles and McCoy, but I think he has the team looking better than they were. They had holes at LB and the secondary. They trade McCoy and got one of the best young LB's in the NFL at an extreme discount. They then signed Walter Thurmond and Byron Maxwell to play CB from the money they saved on the McCoy trade.

Basically he took a team whose average age was almost 30 years old and brought in two new RB's, including the reigning Offensive player of the year from their biggest division rival, signed two new CB's and have one of better young LB's in the NFL under contract for a few years at 750k a year (i believe that is what I read).

I still think the Foles for Bradford trade was made, in part, because Murray and Bradford were roommates at Oklahoma and it was one of the keys of getting Murray to come to Philly.

It sounds crazy, but if Bradford can stay healthy -- I think he could have a monster year in Philly's offense. It made Sanchez into a viable QB and I didn't think that was possible. He set career highs, by a landslide, in YPG, YPA, Completion %, QB rating, etc. I think Bradford is more skilled and he ran a hurry up offense at Oklahoma, so he should thrive in this type of system.

 

[gandydancer]

Between Matthews, Murray, and Bradford.... This backfield will be called the "the glass house that Chip built"

 

[Microwahevo]

Kelly signed two of the most injury prone backs in the NFL to replace one of the elite RB's in football. Can't wait to see how that turns out.

I wouldn't cal Murray injury prone. First two years? Yeah. A bit. But the last two years he's only missed 2 games and carried almost 400 times last year and played all 16 games. Maybe he just needed to pack on some pounds ala Matt Stafford? He had that label too early on.

 

[gandydancer]

I don't remember the number of carries that was stated? I heard that no RB above that threshold has made it through the following season. It was around 370 and up. Names mentioned were Jamal Anderson and Jamal Lewis. They said Murray would be the first to ever do so in the NFL.

Jerry may been looking at past history. Just on Murray, because he sure was not on McFadden's injury history.

 

[jdwills126]

Chip Kelly is going all in. He got close to the playoffs and missed and felt he needed his players.

If I was an Eagles fan I would be on an emotional roller coaster with the players he let go and the ones he signed. I do believe he has to make a play for Mariotta. I know what he said but if he goes with Bradford it will be his ticket back to college. Bradford is to injury prone to run the speed spread that Kelly wants.

The difference between Kelly and Mayhew as I see it is Kelly has a plan is running it. I have no idea if Mayhew has a plan other than the seat of his pants and to hell with tomorrow.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

If I was an Eagles fan I would be on an emotional roller coaster with the players he let go and the ones he signed. I do believe he has to make a play for Mariotta. I know what he said but if he goes with Bradford it will be his ticket back to college. Bradford is to injury prone to run the speed spread that Kelly wants.

I think Kelly's offense makes it much easier on the QB. Nick Foles stepped in his 1st year and threw 27 tds to 2 interceptions. Mark Sanchez set career highs in pretty much every category, while averaging 300 yards per game. He will be the backup -- so if something happens to Bradford -- he can step in.

I think Bradford is going to have a big year running the hurry up offense in Kelly's system. Obviously, Mariotta is the better choice, as he has run Kelly's offense while at Oregon. I don't think Philly will have a chance at him though.

Going to be fun to see how all the moves work out for them. As you said -- if it works -- he is a genius. If it doesn't -- it will be back to college ball.