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Hey, everyone, Jeff Risen here with the Daily DLP.
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It is Monday, March 23rd.
2:21
Happy Oberon Day to those who celebrate.
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We deal here in West Michigan.
2:26
I will not be making it down to bells today, but I know a lot of people who do, and it's
2:31
Good sign of spring.
2:33
We had some fun stuff go on in the NFL this morning, and we're going to lead with that.
2:42
I actually was in the process of recording the Daily earlier, and the news broke, and
2:47
I wanted to interject it in.
2:50
So this morning, Adam Schefter and all the newsbreakers got the reports that the Seahawks
2:58
are paying Jackson Smith and Jigba a new contract, a new record contract, and I want to read
3:05
This is from Schefter's post at ESPN.
3:09
Jackson Smith and Jigba, the reigning NFL offensive player of the year, has reached an
3:13
agreement with the Seattle Seahawks on a four year, $168.6 million contract extension
3:21
that makes him the highest paid wide receiver in NFL history.
3:25
The deal averages 42.15 million per year, and includes over 120 million guaranteed
3:35
set both setting records for any wide receiver.
3:40
How does this relate to the Lions, you say?
3:44
We are less than two years away, or two years out, from Amunra St. Brown, signing a then record
3:52
setting contract, happened the day before the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit.
4:00
Amunra, let's go back to this deal, signed a four year, $120.1 billion contract extension
4:09
with the Lions, $77 million guaranteed.
4:16
Jackson Smith and Jigba, less than two years after St. Set the Bar with a $120.01 million
4:25
contract total, is getting that much guaranteed, is getting over $40 million, $43 million
4:35
more guaranteed, less than two years later.
4:39
Wow, the deal with Smith and Jigba now makes St. Brown the ninth highest paid receiver
4:52
We talk about this a lot, the timing of when you enter the market matters, and this is
4:59
pertains to the Lions with guys like Jack Campbell and Jameer Gibbs.
5:05
The price tag only goes up.
5:07
One of the best things that I think that this Lions regime has done with Brad Holmes and
5:12
Mike Dissner, John Dorsey Chris Spillman at all, is that they have smartly locked up their
5:19
core players to pre-market deals.
5:28
I think we're going to see that again.
5:30
Now it hasn't always worked out like Kirby Joseph, the injuries are a problem there, and
5:36
that clouds it, but the Saints are a great deal now.
5:39
Penae Sule was a fantastic deal at the time that he signed it.
5:45
They got in before the price tag kept going up, because y'all, they ain't going back.
5:51
The salary cap keeps going up, the revenues keep going up in the NFL.
5:55
It means the contracts are going to keep going up, so the earlier you get them done, the
6:02
It's crazy money for Smith and Jigba.
6:05
But for him, that sets the bar.
6:08
It also makes it nice that the Lions have also locked up Jameson Williams to what seems
6:13
like a more budget-friendly deal in retrospect.
6:17
There were a lot of people that grumbled at the time that they were paying him too much,
6:21
but there's been a market correction on the wide receivers.
6:26
They were under market value for a long time.
6:29
Remember when the Lions signed Calvin Johnson to his deal and made him the highest paid
6:34
receiver in NFL history by a ridiculous amount?
6:38
They overshot the market at that time by about $25 million, which at that point was a lot
6:46
of money, capitalized.
6:48
Now, it's not even a year of St. Brown, it's just crazy.
6:55
But for years, it took a long time before Calvin Johnson was not the highest paid receiver
7:03
And we've been bending to the end of his contract when he retired early.
7:08
The markets catch it up.
7:10
The NFL teams are figuring out that wide receivers do need to get paid more premium ones, especially.
7:16
And just the interesting timing on that one, so wow.
7:24
How long before Alan Rossi and Brown wants a new contract?
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America leads the world in medicine development.
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We get new medicines first, nearly three years faster.
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Five million Americans go to work because we make medicines here at home, and not relying
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on other countries keeps us safe.
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But China is racing to overtake us.
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Or will we choose to stay ahead?
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When America leads, America cures.
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Learn how at AmericaCures.com.
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Pay for it by Farma.
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He's a great player.
8:34
Get at least a couple of years yet on that, but well, life in the NFL, man, that's one
8:41
of the reasons why I encourage the lines to get Jameer Gibbs done as soon as possible.
8:46
You want him signed before the Falcon sign, Jean Robinson, because it's a game of chicken.
8:54
Obviously, whoever signs first, we'll sign for less, because the other one's going to
9:02
sign for, as Saint did, that 0.01 million that was on there at the end of the 120, it's
9:10
going to happen with Gibbs and Robinson.
9:12
One of them's going to sign first, and the other one will sign like three days later for
9:17
That's how they do these things.
9:21
The nature of the beast.
9:25
You wait too long, press tag only keeps going up, or alternatively, you risk alienating
9:32
Why won't you pay me?
9:33
Give me what I'm worth.
9:34
Am I not that important to you?
9:37
You don't need that kind of drama.
9:39
That's Las Vegas Raiders, that's New York Jets style drama.
9:42
We don't need any of that crap in Detroit.
9:46
We'll get on with what was really going to be the focus of the daily, which was I published
9:52
this morning at the Detroit Lions podcast, a list of a safety for every round of the 2026
10:00
Lathes in the series have done interior offensive line, off all linebacker and edge so far.
10:08
Move to the safeties, which is a position where I do think that the Lions will have some
10:12
interest at various realms that I'm not sold that they're going to be in on the first
10:18
The first round selection there was Dylan Teeneman, so I think Caleb Downs will be long
10:23
If Caleb Downs is there, he is one of those, I don't care who else is on the board, I'm
10:28
taking him because he's the best player available.
10:31
I have a hard time seeing the Lions not seeing him as the best player available, no matter
10:37
who else is there at 17.
10:40
He's a fantastic talent and checks a ton of boxes, but I don't think he's going to be
10:48
Teeneman, we've covered before, we've talked about him earlier, makes some sense as the
10:56
Good player, very good, very Lions appropriate style of safety.
11:03
But I wanted to focus on the guys who were the next two in the list and the first one
11:09
is the guy that we don't talk about, hardly at all, and does get a lot of run in draft
11:13
circles, but probably should, that's Jaylon Kilgore.
11:17
And some of it is the fact that in a lot of the mocked draft stimulators who's listed
11:22
as a cornerback, y'all he ain't a cornerback, he's a safety.
11:26
He is a hybrid, you could label him a defensive back in the way that we talk about Brian
11:31
Branch as a defensive back, but his NFL future is very much at safety.
11:38
Three-year starter played the spur role.
11:40
The spur is, it's a hybrid linebacker safety role that is primarily focused on coverage
11:48
and playing in space.
11:53
It's not the role that Nick M. and Worry played, although he does it very well for the Seahawks
11:58
If you're a Michigan fan, this is the role that Jibral Pepper has played as a, you know,
12:04
edge safety back at Michigan.
12:08
He's done fairly well at that in the NFL, and by the way, he's still out there, wouldn't
12:12
hate him and for agency, although it'll think that the lines are going to have a lot of
12:16
We'll see Kilgore outstanding athlete was a state champion long jumper in high school.
12:24
It showed at the combine, he put on a show there, game altering speed, and I can't emphasize
12:31
this enough, and it shows on his film for the Cox, clocked it over 23 miles per hour
12:39
I talked to somebody at South Carolina.
12:42
He has topped 22.5, at least seven different times.
12:47
This isn't a fluke, y'all.
12:49
Dude can fly, and it shows on tape.
12:55
Loads of experience in the Brian Branch-esque slot safety role, talk a little bit about
13:00
You can play with Branch, play for Branch early, while Branch gets healthy at the beginning
13:08
of the season, and then you figure out amongst them, mix and match.
13:14
You can do different things if a team goes into two tight ends on the other side, you're
13:20
Has ball skills, eight interceptions, 21 PDs.
13:26
He looks like he played wide receiver in high school.
13:30
Great at playing the ball in the air.
13:32
He can high point it.
13:33
He can anticipate where the receiver is going to get it.
13:36
He can step in front.
13:40
Very good playmaker.
13:41
Again, it's weird that he is not more talked about, and I think some of it with fans specifically,
13:48
and I think a lot of that is because their list was a cornerback and everyone was like,
13:51
well, he's not one of the best cornerbacks, we didn't really see his cornerback film.
13:55
And some of that is, then we'll go down to the console here, and we'll actually go to
13:58
the bottom one, penalty prone grabber in man coverage when he can't match the lateral
14:05
Unfortunately, that's all over his tape, and it is something where if he were matched
14:11
up against Ammanra or...
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The film stars Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, and Ace of Gonzalez in a wild action comedy
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streaming this Friday, only on Hulu, rated R.
15:01
And struggles in man coverage with receivers that can run routes well.
15:05
That's Ammanra, that Smith and Jigba, that CD-LAM, excuse me, when he goes inside.
15:12
You craft your wide receivers who can operate inside or outside have given him a lot of
15:19
Thankfully, there's not a plethora of those, but as a safety role, that will be mitigated.
15:26
A lot of that was from when he played corner, and he did play corner for the Game Gucks
15:33
But primarily the spur roll, but this is where you would want him almost to be as a box
15:40
linebacker, as your nickel-backer in that package.
15:47
He is a little bit too easy to block at times, he is not shy about attacking the run.
15:53
That's one of the positives there.
15:55
Enthusiastic run supporters of box safety, does have good pre-stamp awareness, does have
16:00
some lower body tightness.
16:03
It's not necessarily playing on train tracks in the way that Tieneman does at times, but
16:09
it would be nice if he had a little bit more flexibility and could sharpen his angles
16:16
and his brakes out of his drops and stums, matching the stem better.
16:23
But good player, I do expect that the Lions will have some interest in J-Line Kilgore.
16:28
Now we'll go to the third rounder, and this is a player that gets talked about a lot
16:32
in the Detroit Lions podcast Patreon Slack, a very fun player to watch, very fun player
16:41
AJ Halsey from LSU, and I will just read what I wrote here.
16:50
The well-traveled Halsey stepped up in the senior season at LSU, playing more of a high
16:54
safety role after more frequently being a box or slot safety during his time at both New
16:58
Mexico and Houston, only played one year at LSU.
17:02
He's a throwback to the Joey Browner Eric Turner style of the 80s and early 90s safeties,
17:08
and I really do see a lot of Eric Turner in him with one important and very, very important
17:15
deviation from Turner.
17:17
He's just advanced.
17:19
I'm going to read off the positives here, and you can watch him if you're watching along
17:26
Thank you for liking and subscribing, or if you're on Spotify streaming along and watching
17:32
this while you're working.
17:35
I'm a Spotify junkie, so get most of my podcasts there.
17:42
Play as much bigger than a 6'215 size, excellent pre-snap recognition.
17:47
The guy exudes football IQ, just whipsmart dude.
17:55
It's not going to hurt that he played at LSU with Calvin Shepard with his strong LSU ties
18:01
as the Lions Defensive Coordinator, just going to throw that in there a little bit.
18:06
Great nose for the ball and where it's going, proven ability to align in a variety of safety
18:10
positions and roles.
18:12
He does have quick reactions in coverage.
18:16
He can bounce off from a stop, sees it, reacts quickly as quickly as he can.
18:27
He's a competitor and agitator, tone-setting leader on the field.
18:30
I think the best way to describe that.
18:33
He is the guy who will let you know that he's tackled you.
18:37
He is the guy who, when he picks the ball off in front of you, will spin the ball in front
18:42
of you and will get in your face and let you know it.
18:47
It's not CJ Gardner Johnson style, but it's trending in that direction.
18:55
This last game at Houston, he actually got suspended for starting a fight, got ejected.
19:04
Above average block avoidance in space, this is an area where he is better than Kilgore.
19:10
Dude just senses where blocker again, football IQs off the charts.
19:16
Now we'll go to the cons.
19:20
I put this in the piece that I wrote for the Detroit Lions podcast, a safety for every
19:29
I left it off here because I do think it was too harsh, but I'm going to bring it up
19:38
Remember T's table, like I see you all, I see you all like, oh my god, no, no, no, no.
19:47
T is not that slow, but the 4.5 that he ran at the combine doesn't show on film at all.
19:59
Poor acceleration from a stop.
20:02
Top end speed is below average and he lacks a chase gear.
20:07
That is straight from the T's table or scouting report back in was that 2016.
20:14
Little shuddering over that one.
20:21
He does not have makeup speed.
20:23
He will get beat over the top.
20:26
He's not going to help you over the top.
20:30
That's just not where he's at.
20:31
Even as smart and as quick to react as he is, the foot speed just isn't there.
20:37
He is much more of a very undersized nickel linebacker.
20:43
And he is a split safety.
20:47
Does like body control and balance at top speed.
20:49
He will overshoot the point of attack.
20:51
It doesn't happen often, but it is there.
20:55
The other one, hit or more than a tackler.
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Talked about this with VJ Payne the other day, who was the fifth round pick.
21:36
The fifth round example in a safety forever round the guy out of Kansas State.
21:40
And it's a pet peeve of mine.
21:43
He hits with his shoulder and doesn't wrap up consistently.
21:46
Halsies better at it than Payne, but there is a lot of it where he is just going for the
21:51
knockout below and some of the shirt tackled.
21:54
And that's exacerbated because he did have a shoulder injury throughout the 20-25 season.
21:58
He played through it.
22:00
But you can tell a little bit and it inhibited his tackling some.
22:06
So that's AJ Halsey.
22:08
You want to make him the prospect of the day.
22:15
Fun player, but there's a very real detriment with him.
22:18
We'll bring up the other guys.
22:20
Fourth rounder was Blood Clark from TCU.
22:24
Best in class ball skills I will give him that twitchy quick reactions.
22:30
Has very inconsistent eye discipline.
22:32
He will suck up on play action fakes.
22:36
He will chase the wrong guy on a misdirection, that sort of thing.
22:40
And we'll also go for the interception instead of the shirt tackle and stop.
22:43
We only have ever talked about the positives about Blood Clark on this channel and this
22:49
I wanted to bring up a little bit of the negatives because I do feel like he's getting
22:52
a little too fluffed up.
22:54
There's a reason why he is the fourth round pick here and why he is, I still think he's
23:00
going to be a fourth round pick when the NFL draft comes about.
23:03
Sixth rounder is Colwiz Newske.
23:06
How mine snub from Texas Tech after five seasons at North Dakota State.
23:12
Lot of injuries there.
23:16
You know the refrain.
23:17
We're as excited the fact that he missed one full season with an injury, missed half
23:23
of another season and also has at least two documented concussions which are unrelated
23:28
to the injuries that he missed time with.
23:32
Six with three to fifteen dude can fly.
23:36
Box overhang safety.
23:38
I wanted to bring up one thing about him that really stands out with Colwiz Newske and
23:45
He has an innate ability to duck under a block or wait for the blocker to clear and then
23:54
attack right behind it and get like he does that so freaking well.
23:58
I love prospects that have one like definable trait characteristic that sets them apart.
24:04
I'll go back to when Montess Sweat was at Auburn and he had the strong arm rush and then
24:13
he could use his offhand and get off of it and go in any direction.
24:17
Like I love those unique characteristics like that.
24:21
Brian Branch actually had it as a blitzer from the slot on the delayed blitz like he would
24:27
open up to the a little bit to the outside and then dart in and get pressure that freaking
24:33
love that about Brian Branch.
24:34
One of the reasons why he was my number eighteen player in that draft class.
24:38
I like guys with unique characteristics like that but there are a lot of injury concerns
24:43
with Wiz Newske that need to get brought up a very good player and the seventh round
24:49
here is Jacob Thomas from James Madison player that I was turned on to by a fellow
24:54
draft Nick early in the draft process like February.
25:00
Guy good player six one two twelve former quarterback and you can tell that he is still fairly
25:08
new to playing defense but there's a lot to like there high football IQ good ball skills.
25:18
Some developmental style player who could be look last year and seventh round that took
25:24
Dan Jackson he's more much more of a box safety style player you know closer to the line
25:30
of scrimmage the better he is Thomas is the opposite of that he he's a guy that can
25:35
play over the top and if you're playing single high he needs some some polish back there
25:41
but he can do that also just brought it up with Branch do it can blitz from the slot watch
25:47
their game watch James Madison's game against Louisville he gets a sack on their quarterback
25:53
where he starts out over the slot and the slot like misses him because he was supposed to
26:00
chip him on the out missed and he gets to the quarterback like that great acceleration
26:08
that's your daily for today enjoy Oberon if you were so inclined I do like it I do like
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it with an orange like the the eclipse version better that's just me treat responsibly hope
26:22
your brackets are still alive we're the six sweet sixteen in March Madness I still have
26:28
thirteen of my sixteen teams and my national championship game is still Michigan versus
26:33
Houston still going strong there fingers crossed I will crush me though I have Florida
26:39
going on ways hope your brackets are doing well too I'm in like the fifty fifth percent
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tile at ESPN it is what it is Jeffers and signing out be good to one another