Lions' receivers

[Hambone]

IMO - a really nice receiving corps has a good blend of speed, size, good route runners, very good hands = diversity - so not 4 or 5 burner smurfs with questionable hands, and not 4 or 5 slower possession types.

Should be a very competitive TC to see who steps up to replace Whitehead as maybe the field stretcher deep threat; though Hollins has good speed and McInnis too for a big receiver; the Lions already have the size / physical types with Cottoy, Hatcher & McInnis. A new guy stepping up to be a threat and have a strong season could make for a league best receiving corps.

An most CFL teams should be steering clear of that list of veteran receivers who were formerly very good in the CFL (i thought Ellingson, for example, would be very good for the Als, but he along with Duke Williams or Shaq Evans were real bombs last year - lost a step, nicked with injuries or just not into playing hard anymore) = better off to find a young, new guy IMO (cheaper likely too); I could see a vet type (like Manny) being kept around as back-up & leader, but not necessarily need for that type.

I think Eberhardt stands a good chance to take up Lucky's spot. He could well be to 2024 as Hollins was to 2023 and Hatcher to 2022; that guy who is more than capable but couldn't get onto the game roster due to the depth ahead of him.

Fulgham is the newcomer who intrigues me most. His NFL draft profile seems to echo that of Dalton Schoen, struggles against press coverage by corners and to gain separation in press and too gradual in his turns. If he lines in the slot the waggle and wide open CFL spaces should minimize those issues which are big in the NFL with no waggle. Strengths sound Burnham-like; quick to turn and locate the ball, accurate adjustments as ball-tracker, mid-air ballerina with body control to twist and secure the catch, highest point stabber with excellent timing to maximize his leaps. Also noted as a "sticky" blocker with strong hands and desire to finish his blocks.

Overall they seem to have a good cross-section of sizes and body types amongst the 19 (not counting Hatcher) who are on the roster now.

Love Manny but don't see a fit. Last year BC's standard game roster had 6 receivers plus Williams. With Campbell's love of defensive rotations and the need to man up to run them they will again go with 6 receivers + Williams and 6 OL. As such the game day roster is will have 3 NATs with Cottoy, McInnis and Harty plus 3 American starters (Hollins + 2 to be determined) with Williams, assuming he wins the returner job, providing in-game injury replacement depth. BC wants to inject some younger blood as part of a slow roster turnover. All they could really offer Manny is a spot on the 1G or PR in a "break glass in case of emergency" role. I can't see him being willing to do that.

[OV:54-40]

I wasn't meaning to suggest the Lions should entertain a veteran presence / back-up receiver like Manny - much rather roll with young talent.

And if it's just 6 receivers on the game roster (meaning just one back-up in Harty, or 2 if you include a KR with some receiver ability like Williams), that's kinda iffy for a pass first/happy offence IMO, but maybe it works out, especially if a new guy steps up and gets plenty of targets; Harty is a vet and decent possession receiver (but very good & tough ST player); there is also the possibility of using one of the first 2 draft picks on a receiver and that guy goes into camp and shines and wins that open starter job, or beats out Harty for a spot (a receiver like Mital (Laval) - might be there at #6/doubtful at #15) - but I would not count on that thinking being tried.

[B.C.FAN]

I wasn't meaning to suggest the Lions should entertain a veteran presence / back-up receiver like Manny - much rather roll with young talent.

And if it's just 6 receivers on the game roster (meaning just one back-up in Harty, or 2 if you include a KR with some receiver ability like Williams), that's kinda iffy for a pass first/happy offence IMO, but maybe it works out, especially if a new guy steps up and gets plenty of targets; Harty is a vet and decent possession receiver (but very good & tough ST player); there is also the possibility of using one of the first 2 draft picks on a receiver and that guy goes into camp and shines and wins that open starter job, or beats out Harty for a spot (a receiver like Mital (Laval) - might be there at #6/doubtful at #15) - but I would not count on that thinking being tried.

The Lions need another national receiver for depth and development. They had veteran nationals Justin McInnis and Daniel Petermann last year . Petermann dressed as a backup whenever McInnis filled in for one of the American starters. With McInnis likely to be a second national starter this year along with Jevon Cottoy, the only other national WRs under contract are Jake Harty and former Westshore Rebel Kieran Poissant. I'd love to see the Lions add at least one national receiver in the draft, ideally with one of their first two picks.

[OV:54-40]

I wasn't meaning to suggest the Lions should entertain a veteran presence / back-up receiver like Manny - much rather roll with young talent.

And if it's just 6 receivers on the game roster (meaning just one back-up in Harty, or 2 if you include a KR with some receiver ability like Williams), that's kinda iffy for a pass first/happy offence IMO, but maybe it works out, especially if a new guy steps up and gets plenty of targets; Harty is a vet and decent possession receiver (but very good & tough ST player); there is also the possibility of using one of the first 2 draft picks on a receiver and that guy goes into camp and shines and wins that open starter job, or beats out Harty for a spot (a receiver like Mital (Laval) - might be there at #6/doubtful at #15) - but I would not count on that thinking being tried.

The Lions need another national receiver for depth and development. They had veteran nationals Justin McInnis and Daniel Petermann last year . Petermann dressed as a backup whenever McInnis filled in for one of the American starters. With McInnis likely to be a second national starter this year along with Jevon Cottoy, the only other national WRs under contract are Jake Harty and former Westshore Rebel Kieran Poissant. I'd love to see the Lions add at least one national receiver in the draft, ideally with one of their first two picks.

Ok, so they use a top draft pick on a good receiver prospect, and where does the guy fit in? Under Hambone's scenario there are only 6 real receivers dressed: Cottoy, Hollins, Hatcher & McInnis + a new import guy as the starting 5, plus Harty as an experienced back-up (plus a real good ST guy), with a KR like Williams able to do some receiver duty as need be; so the top draft pick does not dress but is stashed on the PR (poach-able by other teams?) or the IR to "develop" ?

Makes more sense if they are willing to dress 7 receivers (which IMO makes sense for a 5 position group starter crew - just like dressing only one back-up O-lineman for a 5 starter group is risky and myopic IMO).

Aim higher with top draft picks and maybe you net a Clermont type who can play receiver reps right away (plus maybe be a good ST guy).

[Hambone]

I wasn't meaning to suggest the Lions should entertain a veteran presence / back-up receiver like Manny - much rather roll with young talent.

And if it's just 6 receivers on the game roster (meaning just one back-up in Harty, or 2 if you include a KR with some receiver ability like Williams), that's kinda iffy for a pass first/happy offence IMO, but maybe it works out, especially if a new guy steps up and gets plenty of targets; Harty is a vet and decent possession receiver (but very good & tough ST player); there is also the possibility of using one of the first 2 draft picks on a receiver and that guy goes into camp and shines and wins that open starter job, or beats out Harty for a spot (a receiver like Mital (Laval) - might be there at #6/doubtful at #15) - but I would not count on that thinking being tried.

The Lions need another national receiver for depth and development. They had veteran nationals Justin McInnis and Daniel Petermann last year . Petermann dressed as a backup whenever McInnis filled in for one of the American starters. With McInnis likely to be a second national starter this year along with Jevon Cottoy, the only other national WRs under contract are Jake Harty and former Westshore Rebel Kieran Poissant. I'd love to see the Lions add at least one national receiver in the draft, ideally with one of their first two picks.

I don't disagree with that although I peg OL as the highest priority. I think they have a good chance of getting an OL at 6. Receiver might be a bit more iffy. A Mardner could be gone. They might not want to take the second receiver they have on their board so early and he could be gone or they might see him as a reach at 15. Sometimes the draft cards fall into place to fit your priorities. Other times they don't.

[don corleone]

So much for the Chase Claypool to the CFL speculation and nice to hear he has signed a one year deal with the Bills. Hoping it is a good situation for him and he gets his career back on track with a strong year.

[Hambone]

So much for the Chase Claypool to the CFL speculation and nice to hear he has signed a one year deal with the Bills. Hoping it is a good situation for him and he gets his career back on track with a strong year.

I think that was "Lords of Flatlands" aka rectangular province induced speculation. Rod Pedersen tweeted out one of his spitballs back on March 31st. Two days later the Riders added him to their neg list, Rider fans got excited and the speculation gained some legs. It was never going to happen this year, maybe when he got closer to Covington's age in a few more years. Claypool had only been a free agent for 2-1/2 weeks at that point. He's just too young to not have somebody down there sign him. Last time I looked around that time there was still 33, nearly half of the original list of FAs, available and he was the 2nd youngest. Teams just needed to see who they lost in free agency and who they gained in free agency, draft and UDFA period. It was never a matter of if he caught on an NFL team, just which team.

[DanoT]

Getting Josh Allen as his QB can only help Claypool's performance. Of course Claypool has to mature and act like a pro, something that may or may not happen.

[don corleone]

It will be interesting to see if someone of note gets cut from other teams and tempt the Lions to bring another receiver in.

Sounds to me as Fulgham and Eberhardt are leading candidates to fill the openings left vacant by Rhymes and Whitehead. No depth to speak of behind either. Same goes for Cottoy and McInnis. It's a little too optimistic at this time imo.

Understand Hatcher is doing well with his recovery but still.

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions din’t need another receiver. They may lack experience but they have as much depth as I’ve ever seen. Rookies are making plays all over the field.

[Hambone]

It will be interesting to see if someone of note gets cut from other teams and tempt the Lions to bring another receiver in.

Sounds to me as Fulgham and Eberhardt are leading candidates to fill the openings left vacant by Rhymes and Whitehead. No depth to speak of behind either. Same goes for Cottoy and McInnis. It's a little too optimistic at this time imo.

Understand Hatcher is doing well with his recovery but still.

After watching today's scrimmage and the past 4 days of practice there is zero reason to go scrap-heaping somebody else's cast-offs. Fulgham and Eberhardt aren't just looking like leading candidates but are looking like seasoned vets who came to camp with spots locked up. Eberhardt made a highlight reel catch in the corner of the endzone behind Rugamba today. Very Burnham-like.

As for the rest this is a deep group with several others having great camps. Lee, Berryhill, Cotton and Sample all looking very good. BC is going to be cutting a couple of very good prospects of their own because they simply won't have room to keep them all. If Campbell had concerns about either Fulgham or Eberhardt I think we would have seen one of them getting some 1st unit reps.

The only possibility I see for them to bring in another receiver is for NAT depth should Harty's situation drag on.

[don corleone]

After watching today's scrimmage and the past 4 days of practice there is zero reason to go scrap-heaping somebody else's cast-offs. Fulgham and Eberhardt aren't just looking like leading candidates but are looking like seasoned vets who came to camp with spots locked up. Eberhardt made a highlight reel catch in the corner of the endzone behind Rugamba today. Very Burnham-like.

As for the rest this is a deep group with several others having great camps. Lee, Berryhill, Cotton and Sample all looking very good. BC is going to be cutting a couple of very good prospects of their own because they simply won't have room to keep them all. If Campbell had concerns about either Fulgham or Eberhardt I think we would have seen one of them getting some 1st unit reps.

The only possibility I see for them to bring in another receiver is for NAT depth should Harty's situation drag on.

One thing is it takes a good player to even make a pro camp. At times players need opportunity more than they need to improve skills. Improvement comes from playing.

I actually think Harty not showing up helps force the Lions to go younger there.

While it does seem optimistic you could well be right about the current group and we only need to look at Montreal to see a relative no name receiving corp that played well together. Much of that goes back to the rest of the team with proper calls and reads with good blocking. When everyone does their job it looks easy.

The way it looks to me the Lions would have more trouble filling in for an injury to Cottoy or McInnis over Hollins or one of the other wideouts. Not sure what the plan for that would be.

As for guys still out there, I would think about a guy like Terry Godwin providing he is interested and working out. I thought him and Hollins were about the same last year only one got paid and one did not.

[Hambone]

Since before free agency DC you seem fixated on unnecessarily adding some other veteran receiver. There is no lack of talent in camp. They came out of last season knowing they already had good players ready to step up. They'd already identified McInnis and Eberhardt as being ready for full time starting spots to be added to Cottoy and Hollins. Eberhardt showed in camp and preseason last year that he was one they couldn't let get away. If they had concerns about them then they shouldn't have let Lucky and Rhymes go.

Godwin? One has to ask why Hamilton cut him at the start of camp. They gave him a $5K signing bonus and he was set to make $93.2K hard money in 2024 so hardly a cap move. It's not like they are loaded at receiver. He was their starting boundary WR last year. They were hoping Justin McGriff would take that role. They were very high on him last year but he shattered a leg. He just suffered a torn ACL a couple days ago and was just released. Unless Godwin failed his medical maybe they circle back.

I like the addition of Harty. He's been around for a few years and likely brings value in that he knows all 5 positions allowing him to slot in anywhere much like Wally did with Paris Jackson in his final years. If his situation continues it would be nice to have more than Tieide available. He's been more or less invisible so far. However they also have a ton of roster and ratio flexibility everywhere. They could easily backfill an injury to Cottoy or McInnis with an American without hurting themselves at another position. We'll see how that plays out. There will surely be some veteran NAT receivers looking for a new team after final cuts.

I ran into Neil, Rick and George Chayka at Carlos O'Bryans last night, They were in having a bite after FanFest ended. I commented to Neil how good the receivers looked and in general the noticeable depth across all position groups. I opined that they were going to have some very difficult decisions to make. Paraphrasing here but his response was "Yes we will have very tough decisions, but that's a good place to be in. When you have easy decisions that isn't a good sign".

[David]

The way I see it, in the event of an injury to McInnes or Cottoy, the Leos could go with an American there rather than trying to scramble to find another National off the scrap heap.

This is how I could see us starting the season with Nationals:

3 oline: Knevel, Couture, Chungh
2 receivers: Cottoy, McInnis

1 dline: Covington/Cherry (rotational), but Bemiy/Joseph or Archibald may see some time at DE
1 linebacker: Hladik MLB (not sure what will happen with Lokombo & Varga at SAM. Lots of good Americans at camp).
2 DBs: Greene or Rene at safety. Greene or Bagayogo at field corner.

My point is, we have more than enough talent elsewhere to cover the mandatory number of National starters should either McInnes or Cottoy go down. Thoughts?


DH

[B.C.FAN]

The way I see it, in the event of an injury to McInnes or Cottoy, the Leos could go with an American there rather than trying to scramble to find another National off the scrap heap.

This is how I could see us starting the season with Nationals:

3 oline: Knevel, Couture, Chungh
2 receivers: Cottoy, McInnis

1 dline: Covington/Cherry (rotational), but Bemiy/Joseph or Archibald may see some time at DE
1 linebacker: Hladik MLB (not sure what will happen with Lokombo & Varga at SAM. Lots of good Americans at camp).
2 DBs: Greene or Rene at safety. Greene or Bagayogo at field corner.

My point is, we have more than enough talent elsewhere to cover the mandatory number of National starters should either McInnes or Cottoy go down. Thoughts?


DH

Until injuries started to add up, the Lions had 4 nationals on their first-team defence (Covington, Hladik, Greene and Rene) and 5 on offence (Knevel, Couture and Chungh up front, and McInnis and Cottoy as receivers). When Marcus Sayles returns, he may take the spot of one of the nationals in the secondary, but the Lions have unprecedented national depth at all positions except receiver. I think they're counting on Harty to return and possibly to have Tieide for depth and special teams.

Hladik is playing WILL this year, backed up by Lokombo. LB coach Travis Brown mentioned in one of Matt Baker's recent camp updates that Hladik had dropped some weight to play that position. I expect Varga to back up Josh Woods at MIKE, but they have lots of national options across the defence. They won't be able to keep everyone.