Well, welcome to the Secondhand Lions podcast. And my name is John Drennan. I'm usually here with my good friend, Bill Radford. In fact, we've been doing this podcast every single week since July, the week of the Hall of Fame game. Bill is not with me today. He's traveling and was not able to join. So I do have a special guest. I'm going to start by introducing her, a Lions fan.
Her name is Katie Omstrom. She is the oldest of our three children and the reason that my wife and I moved to New Hampshire because of her and her family, our two grandkids who, least one of them is a Lion fan. So, hey, Katie, I want to welcome you to the Secondhand Lions podcast and we'll get this going. Welcome. Yay. Thank you. This is definitely a happy surprise to be here this week.
Yeah, seems like during the season might have made more sense. Two years Katie helped share in our getting the tickets so we could watch every single Lions game. Being in New Hampshire, we have no problem watching the New England Patriots games and oftentimes the Buffalo Bills, but the Lions can be difficult. Now last year, Katie, the Lions had, I believe, 12 prime time games.
So we didn't need the ticket so much. Yep. But you did join me at one of my listeners. No, I go to Buffalo Wild Wings in Concord about an hour away and you joined me with your son Lou one time last year. That was great. I was thinking about that. I've got a picture of him and his hat sweatshirt full Patriots gear. So yeah, so let's go.
Yeah, let's talk about that. So why is Katie on here? Well, she grew up in Michigan and in the years that the Lions were just terrible, they were horrible. One year they won no games. But since the last, well, I've been in New Hampshire now six years and, you know, the last five years has been a complete shift with the Detroit Lions. so Katie, I live very close to and
She's one of my buddies here to watch the Lions. And Katie, I know you just mentioned Lou. He's a Patriots fan and has his Patriots gear. What about our granddaughter, your daughter, Jamie? Well, I'm really, I want to talk about Lou for a sec. So my son, I'm really proud of him for kind of stepping out on his own and decided to be a Patriots fan because growing up in Ann Arbor, it was very easy to be a Michigan fan.
was easy to be a Lions fan because just everyone around you was. And my parents were from the area. So I know my grandpa was a Steelers fan. And so there was always kind of that, yeah, grandpa's watching Pittsburgh in the other room. Everyone else is in this room watching the Lions. ⁓ And so I think it's just funny because Lou's dad, my husband, wasn't a big football fan growing up.
And so Lou has kind of taken it upon himself to bring New England into our New Hampshire home that has been completely dominated with Michigan and Detroit sports. So ⁓ he is our our lone wolf. And ⁓ my daughter has asked for some lion's gear for her birthday and Christmas. And the poor kid still hasn't gotten anything yet. So ⁓ we're going to need to get on that.
So listeners are probably thinking, come on, grandpa, if she wants Detroit stuff, let's get on it. So, and they'd be appropriate. She wants a lot of stuff. So she's nine. And by the way, Katie, anyone that knows, you know, growing up in Michigan that the rest of world might not know this, but every single Thanksgiving we got the lions on. Yeah. And so that's such a big deal. And that's now happening in New Hampshire as well.
Yeah, yeah, it is really special and Christmas this year too. So yeah, yeah, they played on Christmas not very well. There was one Thanksgiving, Katie, where we weren't with us, but ⁓ Lynn, your mom, my wife and I went to ⁓ family members where the his wife
His wife's brother-in-law was the trainer for the Lions, so we had dinner later because we waited for him to arrive after the game, and that was really interesting to be able to get his immediate insights following that game.
Well, you mentioned New England and your son, and I also admire that he's, you know, he's a New England guy growing up here. I gotta tell you, and for our listeners, when I moved here from Detroit, keep in mind that was before Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell, and I moved into New England just as they were starting their downfall after losing Tom Brady and so on, but...
I would listen to Sports Talk Radio and I just couldn't believe how spoiled the fans were here and how they just, their expectations were so high. And I'm thinking, you guys have no clue. Like I just would hope for a winning season once in a while. Getting to playoffs once in a while. And now as Bill, my partner on this and I have talked about,
Our standards have gone up so much that this year everyone's so disappointed, even though we had a winning season. And I get that. So. No, I've noticed that too. How quickly our standards changed with the Lions where I mean, they, I sort of jumped on the bandwagon maybe in their second or third year with Dan Campbell and just noticing how disappointed I was when they didn't make it to the Superbowl in their third year.
of their transformation. I mean, it was just, it's fun to have those expectations and kind of funny to look at yourself. And I think a big part of that is because I've been in this area for almost 20 years. I've seen the Patriots win again and again. I've seen the Red Sox win again and again. And ⁓ with the Lions, you're right. Like we would joke, we had jokes about how they were ⁓ and seven, and eight, and nine.
a win or two wins was exciting. So we've really come a long way. And I think it's kind of it's fun to be in this place where people are excited about them. I love to go, you know, unlike the not chat forums, but, you YouTube watching replays and all the comments and just people all over the country are excited about the Lions. And it's just fun to be part of that.
Yeah, for sure. ⁓ And you you mentioned you grew up in Ann Arbor and a connection that we kind of have to the Patriots was Tom Brady, who was close to your age, a little bit older and played in Ann Arbor, University of Michigan when Katie was in school there. And so we knew all about Tom Brady. honestly wasn't surprised that he had a great career. Obviously, I didn't know he'd become the GOAT, but
He was so good at Michigan. was just so smart, no turnovers, great throws, great reads. And that's just all the stuff that transfers to the NFL. So yeah, we had that connection with New England. Yeah. So, well, Katie, I want to dig into for our listeners, just kind of an unfolding of what's taken place so far this spring. You know, we're in the spring season of
Combines and then the Free agency and the draft is only eight days away. I'm so excited about that So I'm just gonna kind of go through some things here and feel free to comment at any point I'll move quickly, but I want to talk about notable losses to the Lions this year starting with Taylor Decker their left tackle but most of us thought he won't be back even if he wanted to be because
He's just not worth the money that they would have had to pay. He's had a lot of injury issues. A lot of people thought he might retire. But he's not a lion. Graham Glasgow, last year's center, who's done really well for the Lions the last few years, but just didn't do it at center. he's, I don't know if he retired. I think he did, but he's gone. Alex Anzaloni, most people thought he would be gone just for contract reasons.
And Alqmin Mohammed, their edge opposite Aiden Hutchinson, he went to the, I believe Tampa Bay, so he's gone. And each of those players, to our listeners, are all 30 years old or older. So that was, know, the Lions are moving toward a younger roster. Other notable losses, Ray Lopez did a really great job on the D-line last year.
He's, I think, went back to the Cardinals, but he did a good job first for one year. He was a defensive lineman. Amique Robertson, a lot of people thought he might leave, same reason. I think he was 30, you're pushing 30, went seeking a bigger contract than the Lions would pay. Kaleef Raymond, loved by his teammates, a good punt returner, a good extra receiver. He's with the Bears.
which he would have gone anywhere but those Chicago Bears. He'll be playing for them. And speaking of the Bears, Katie, your favorite Lions player, you got his jersey this year at Christmas. David Montgomery got traded and moved on. And should we have a moment of silence? Well, I actually didn't realize all those other players he just named were leaving either. I'm. ⁓
holding back tears right now. ⁓ It's again, just like it's been so much fun watching this team develop over the last several years. And ⁓ there is some really kind of standout characters that you could just, you know, pick out easily watching them play. So yeah, but Montgomery, gosh, he's, he's something special. I'm wearing his Jersey as we speak and ⁓ just excited to see what he does next.
Hopefully not too well against the Lions, so. Yeah, and he's with Houston, so I don't even know if we'll play them this year.
That's right. He came. He was in Chicago before he came to Detroit. Right. Yeah. And in fact, every time we played Chicago, I was so annoyed by him because he was so good. I mean, every time he touched the ball, thought, OK, here we go. So when I heard we got him a couple of three years ago, thought this is great. And it was great. It was great. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, all those names I mentioned, Taylor Decker was the only holdover from the former
coaching staff. Then Alex Allen Zaloni came in first year that Campbell did, so he was here for all five of those seasons. Has it been? Yeah, it has been five. I think Graham Glasgow, same thing. I think they brought him in. He's been here at least four years. And Kaleef Raymond, five years. So those guys have all been around. The last name I'll mention, Josh Paschal, he's not back. So
Those, and I think there some others, but those are the most notable not coming back. So that left a lot of holes. You know, Decker, we have to check these boxes and fill these holes. Decker is a tackle, Glasgow is a center, Anzaloni is a reliable linebacker, Muhammad is a reliable ⁓ edge rusher, Ray Lopez is a good D lineman, Amique Robertson is starting D back, Cleve Raymond a
special teams and backup receiver to obviously Montgomery and Josh Paschal who didn't play last year but previous years had been a reliable backup. So, have we filled those holes? Let's talk about the add-ons. In no particular order, I love that we picked up Isaiah Pacheco who played for I believe two Kansas City Super Bowls and really ran hard. I remember
I had kind of same impression of him as I used to have for David Montgomery. He just runs so hard. Now he got hurt two years ago, didn't play as well last year, but again, being one more year removed from that injury, if he's close to form this year, he's actually a really good replacement for David Montgomery. Roger McCrary, a cornerback who's a starting level cornerback, is going to strengthen that.
potentially a replacement for Amique Robertson. Christian Aizen, and not sure I'm saying every name right, but he's another potential starting D-back at either safety or cornerback to help build the loss of Amique Robertson. Tyler Conklin is a starting level, certainly backup level, ⁓ tight end. And, you know, last year, Katie, you probably remember at the end of the year, we were without our two starting
tight ends. Right. Oh, what's his name? Our starting tight end. I have a senior moment typically every time I do one of these. And our backup, Brock Ray. Laporta. Yes, Sam Laporta. I don't know why I have trouble. His name is one just him and Cleve Raymond. Our listeners know. John, come on, get those names.
But yeah, definitely Laporta and Brock Wright were both hurt. Well, they should both be back and Tyler Conklin will add to that room. Big, big addition is Cade Mays, our center. got on a three-year contract and everybody's really high on him to anchor that because last year we just didn't have that center play. Larry Boram, who is certainly a strong backup tackle, but according to Lions could be a starting tackle.
So helps to replace the loss of Taylor Decker. Greg Dorch is a receiver that came from the Arizona Cardinals where our new offensive coordinator, Drew Petsing is from. So those guys have history. Everything I hear about Dorch, he's a pretty reliable backup to Khalif Raymond. He's a good punt returner. He's a good receiver, slot receiver, got great hands, and he's younger.
And by the way, Paquette Pacheco is a few years younger than Montgomery. And on the Montgomery trade, let's go back to David Montgomery. Well, that was a huge loss. We got a fourth round draft pick to be used this year. We got, ⁓ Ju Scruggs, who's a backup, ⁓ offensive lineman. And we went out and got Isaiah Pacheco.
for a lot less money and he's a few years younger. So overall, I think the Lions, that trade, in addition to Pacheco, strengthened us in spite of the loss of Montgomery. Well, and like you said, everyone is really young. So, guys are all 25, 26, 27. So that's a really nice runway for the next several years. Yeah, great comment. You're right. Everyone I mentioned is in that mid-20s.
A couple more, Damone Clark is a veteran linebacker to help replace the loss of Alexander Zaloni. ⁓ Ben Bartsch is a backup offensive lineman, again to give depth there. DJ Wanham is an edge rusher that has started many games in the NFL that basically, in my mind, replaces the loss of ⁓ Mohammed. And he's more of a run.
Stopper than Mohammed was they may be less of an edge ⁓ My dog's barking right now Katie. Can you hear that? No, my dog's barking too. Can you hear him? No, so we got good filters here. It's pretty good. Yeah good Peyton Turner another backup edge is on the roster Two more Teddy Bridgewater who was a lion in the past. He's a reliable backup
quarterback because another notable loss is Kyle Allen our backup quarterbacks no longer with us from last year, but Bridgewater is and Finally they announced the signing of Chuck Clark and he shows up in the roster But he doesn't show up in the free agency notes. So he's a backup safety Who I believe is on the roster. We also resigned our kicker Jake Bates
We We re-signed Rodriguez as a linebacker, Nowacki as a linebacker, Tom Kennedy, who's I think this is his fifth or sixth year now with the Lions. We signed Levi Orr- Orr- ⁓ Ornarecki, I'm saying his name wrong, but he was out all last year injured, but the year before did quite well. We re-signed Myle Adams.
Miles Adams, think Dan Thomas as a backup safety, Rak Yacin and Avante Maddox, both those guys, all three of those guys I just named, all did great last year filling in in the defensive backfield. ⁓ just a lot of movement going on. And Katie, right now, if we look at the roster on their Lions website, it shows 66 players.
By the time you get your team together, you've got 53 on the active roster and 13 on the practice roster available.
So there you go. Any comments on that flood of information I just shared? I didn't hear Hutchinson. He just resigned four years as well. yeah. Yeah, I only talked about players who were free agents. ⁓ got it. And yeah. So the core of the team, people like Hutch and Jameer Gibbs and so on, they're all locked in.
No, those numbers are really strong. they've got, I mean, I'm no expert at this, but it seems like they've got some flexibility and choice going into the draft because they're set up so well already with their numbers. So it'll be really fun to see what they do. Yeah. And I actually think that's the perfect comment because you're right. They have flexibility now in the draft because potentially
They filled every hole. Now, that doesn't mean they filled the holes to the degree to get them in a Super Bowl, but they did exactly what you said, created the flexibility now in the draft. For example, with Larry Borum, they could say, you know, we know we need a tackle, but if they could get the guard from Penn State, who's considered probably the best offensive lineman in this draft, even though he's not a tackle,
he could come in and anchor the left guard position for a decade and then Larry Borum could potentially still play tackle. yeah, there's a lot of options. So, hey, I do want to talk about the draft that's coming up and before I do, just a real quick note. I was sharing with you, Katie, there's a story some of our listeners might know of a player that stood outside.
Alan parked the practice facility two days ago, and by the way folks, is Wednesday, eight days before the draft, so two days ago, Freddie McGee, who's from Canton, Michigan, played at Salem High School, walked on at Eastern Michigan, played there, last year was the MVP of the Arena Football League with 14 interceptions, he's a real gritty guy and he stood at
Outside the arena with a big sign and with his football cleats wrapped around his neck over his shoulders. The sign said, I've got grit and it's basically a sign, give me a chance. And I saw him interviewed this morning on NFL Today and he talked about how he's had to earn every single thing in life. He's got a lot of grit. He's 5'8", 175 pounds or so, but.
You know, was MVP in the arena football league. He just wants a chance. So I only bring that up because it's an interesting story and who knows, will they give him a chance? Will he make the roster? No one knows, but. And if not the Lions, will someone else give him a shot? So yeah, super fun story to follow. Yeah, you're right. And he was asked, has he heard from any agents? And he says, yes, he has because agents are looking for players that can.
they can make deals with. So, yeah, yeah. Amazing. That's really fun. All right. Well, Katie, I'm no pro expert with this. I'm, you know, it's not my living. I'm not a reporter. I don't go to all that many things. I don't go to anything except I went to the draft two years ago. And by the way, the draft coming up, I got to tell you, that was an absolute blast being in Detroit two years ago for the draft amongst about
a quarter million people every single day, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and being part of that spectacle. This year it's in Pittsburgh. I thought about going. My wife said, you should go to that job. But anyhow, I do follow a lot of the mock drafts.
The drum I've been beating all spring, I mean all the way back to January, is the Lions need to take their first two picks and get an edge and a tackle and not in that order based on who's available. And I still believe that those are their first two picks. I may, my thought a few weeks ago was we've got the 17th pick and we know we can get a good tackle or a good edge with that pick.
And then we've got the 50th pick. I have proposed the Lions trade their 50th pick plus next year's second round pick plus maybe one of their two this year fourth round picks and see if they could move up. So for example, the Dolphins have the 10th or 11th pick, I think the 10th. They're in a big time rebuild. So would they take this year's 50?
this year's fourth round and next year's second round and say, we'll do that deal. If the Lions could do that at 10 and 17, they nail their biggest needs, an edge and a tackle. I'm the only person I know of who's proposed something like that. So. Well, you have seen draft day a hundred times, so it's front of mind. I think, you know, it's just,
fun that we're not, we don't have the first pick again. Yeah, right. Great comment. Yeah, we're not. 17th pick is a good, a good problem to have, Well, Katie, back, you know, when you were a kid, they had, I think the first round pick three years in a row. That's how bad they were. just couldn't escape it. Is that how they got Barry Sanders in the nineties? Yeah, but not first round.
No, was, believe the, I'm sorry, he was first round, but I meant first pick Not first pick, no, I know. I think he was second or third. But those three years in a row, I believe every year we took a receiver.
just crazy. my, well. I feel like if they had, they've got nine draft picks, they've got first round, second round, two fourth, two fifth, two sixth, and a seventh, I feel like they could almost give all seven, I mean, if they did, my suggestion,
and gave up this year's 50th pick and a fourth rounder, even if they had to add a fifth and sixth rounder, that'd still leave them with another fourth rounder and another sixth or another fourth, fifth, and sixth, and seventh, because they do need to get another linebacker and, you know, I'd like to see them get another safety. But, boy, if they can nail those first two, I think they're positioned for Super Bowl.
Will this be the year? Well, we hope so. So in wrapping up Katie, I'm sure you know this because I was talking about it all the time on this podcast. Bill and I started this podcast to take the journey with the Lions to the Super Bowl. Really hoped it would be this last year. folks, it could have been, think if, well, no, it couldn't. But in retrospect,
We had the roster, but it got so beat up, losing both safeties, losing two tight ends, et cetera. It's just hard to recover. But you know, we didn't have the right offensive coordinator, but I think that's a huge hole we've fixed this year. Time will tell. So, no, it wasn't last year, but we certainly have the pieces where it could be this year. So, and I know you'll be there with me texting.
If we're not physically together, we'll be texting throughout the games this upcoming season. So anything else you want to say? Go Lions. Good way to finish. So folks next week, I'll be back on with Bill probably right before the draft. And then once the draft happens, we might do a special edition, but we'll certainly be talking a lot about that going forward. So.
⁓ With that, thanks for listening. Katie Ohmstrom, thanks for being on here and part of this today. We'll be back next week, folks. Take care. Thank you.
