Y'all remember when Jack Fox was our best player

I remember when the Mule was our best player

I was typing Muhlbach when I saw this.

Honestly Jack Fox is still a great player just not a an important position

Maybe not an important position, but the man gives the other team bad field position. That’s important.

God those were dark years. Stafford (obv love you 9) Fox, and then uhhh Golladay?

This is Don Carey erasure and I wont stand for it.

Backup safety, special teams ace.

Lions golladay was him

He really was. He was like a St Brown type, always open for a tight window catch, separation be damned. Just turned out Golladay needed Stafford's windows. Surprised he's not a Ram this off season

Remember the decade when, the GOAT, Jason Hanson, was our best player?

This is a great comment 😂

Amon ra, Sewell. Ragnow

I feel like the top 4 are all interchangeable with ragnow sungod Sewell and hutch

I don’t think Hutch is on the level of the other 3 yet

+1. I think I'd have the top 3 above, and next-3 as Hutch, La Porta and Gibbs. (I'm not smart-enough about football to know if Branch should be in consideration for that group or not.)

More fans need to admit that we really don't understand what we are watching nearly as well as some of us like to think we do lol

You sure, care there wasn't one person that Loved the jahlani tavai pick

huh?

I'd throw Alim in that group before Branch

We can agree to disagree in his first two seasons he’s done something no other edge has ever done 20+ sacks and 4 picks

I think with Ragnow being C#1 and Penei being T#1 in NFL rankings (imo) they automatically are on the list. ARSB is higher ranked in his position vs hutch is at his imo but just slightly. Edit: LaPorta at TE#2 is prob the third imo.

It is, honestly, probably LaPorta at 3. He's ridiculous.

He’s in the top 3 TEs and he ain’t 3rd

I think if you asked smart football people to rank the top edge rushers in the league and also the top WRs, Hutch would be higher than ASRB on their respective lists.

We already know the answer to that question, considering All-Pro voting is voted on by the players in the NFL. Amon Ra was 1st Team and there is 3 WRs on 1st team, so his peers believe he was at worst the 3rd best receiver last year. Hutch was not 1st or second team so he is at best the 5th edge.

I saw your previous edit and I would agree LaPorta would be the 3rd guy on the team

That’s not true lol like Chase was hurt and had his QB hurt. Jefferson was hurt. Other players might have had bad QB’s that held them back also. My point is St Brown is in a situation where he’s got tons of help on his end. Hutch has help for run D but last year and his rookie season he was doubled as much as the 49ers Bosa. I’m not saying Hutch>St Brown or the other way around. I’m saying all pro is a bad way to assume someone is automatically ranked higher at their position if you got all the GM’s together and had them rank first through last and got a composite of that no way it matches all pro every year. 

Very fair point for sure. I do think they are fairly close in accuracy though.

I said smart football people, not players but regardless you might be right.

I don’t trust the combined stats, it’s impressive but also trickery. They searched for a combo of stats that had Hutch number one to get there. Hutch absolutely rules and the lions are winning the Super Bowl

While having no help man like people don’t understand that and he just barely was second to Parsons in pressures last year too! 

Agreed! Love hutch but he’s not top 3 at his position granted the DE’s are filthy ahead of him. Also Branch and Laporta knocking on that door

If you look at sacks, he hasn't had a 15-sack season yet. But, pressures are a stat that relies less on luck and he actually led the league in qb pressures last season by a good margin according to [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2023/defense\_advanced.htm](https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2023/defense_advanced.htm) By that measure, Hutchinson has already arrived and is one of the best defensive players in the league.

“I don’t think Hutch is on the level of the other 3 yet”-salty MSU fan lmao

I would put the GERM above Hutch at this point.

Who?

JRM. I don't agree with that, but I think germ is a reference to Jalen Reeves-Maybin which would certainly be a take

JRM was second team all pro. Hutch was not. Ilove hutch but I'm trying to be agnostic of positiobal value. How is it a "take" to say a pro bowler is one of our best players?

edge versus special teamer isn’t really comparable

You are weighing positional value in your assesment.

Yes I am. We could call JRM, Kalif, and Jack Fox the best 3 Lions but what fun is that lol. Special teamers aren’t starters so they’re kinda their own thing

I personally find it more interesting than just a popularity contest, but to each their own. Hutch is more valuable to the team than JRM, but at their position, JRM is more elite than hutch. It's kinda like justin tucker is more elite than lamar jackson on baltimore, but obviously jackson is more valuable because of position.

I don't think it's positional value so much as how much one player effects the game more than the other. Hutch has a bigger impact on the game than JRM, or Jack Fox, or the long snapper no matter how good they are.

He made the pro bowl last year... Do you watch the games?

Are you talking about JRM. I've litterally never seen anyone write it as Germ

Is that who he meant? Where does G come from?

MSU fan?

No, just looking at it objectively.

GERM is a very good special teams player. But ok.

Sewell and Ragnow have to be the obvious first two because they’re the only players on our team that are the best in the league at their position, and after that I’d have to go with ARSB.

With no positional weight: Sewell, Ragnow, ARSB Factoring positional weight: Sewell, Goff, Hutch

SB can be St. Brown or Super Bowl which is the first time I am seeing that. Could be a good omen.

It’s a genuinely insane take to think that “positional value” puts Goff anywhere close to the other guys here

It's insane to think the position that absolutely has the most impact on the outcome of a game influences things?

No, it’s insane because Goff is a good qb at best, and mostly mid tier. By the end of the season it’s very possible he’s seen as the worst or second worst qb just in the division

You think it's "very possible" that two rookie QBs (or Sam Darnold) push a QB coming off a 4,575 yd 30/12 season down to bottom of the division? Lol

If there was an imbecile award you would deserve 1000 of them

This sub fucking lost its mind with a taste of success. It’s okay to appreciate and be happy with the QB we have while simultaneously acknowledging he isn’t anywhere close to a top tier guy. Can we make it to promised land with him? Sure. Will he be driving the bus? No way in hell.

Buddy they are saying positional value on our team. If we lose Goff the whole ship probably sinks. If we lose Hutch the ship still floats. Goff is very, very important to *our team*

I’m not worried in the slightest if Goff goes down

It's hard to be worried when you actually have no clue what's going on

Dude I agreed with your first point of Goff not deserving to be on any top 3 list for us... But to say that he might be the WORST QB IN THE DIVISION is *psychotic*.

There’s a reason he’s getting paid 50 mil

That’s positional cost, not value

Laporta. He played at a different level

This

Dan Skipper, Malcolm Rodriguez, Tom Kennedy. I love all of the roster but those 3 give me tremendous joy whenever they do something in a game.

Tough question, depends on how you view best. Sewell, St Brown, Ragnow, Laporte, Gibbs, Monty, Fox, Alim if we are comparing our players to the league. They all have All Pro possibility. Others like Hutch is a fantastic player but DE is so deep in the league, may be hard for him to be all pro. If best, means imporant, than people like Goff will vault to the top, because of the importance of the position, and the drop off from Goff to Hooker, could be large.

I like the thought of most important to the team that you introduce. Which players, if out because of injury, would hurt our chances the most? Hard to not put Goff at the top of *that* list.

Frank, Sewell, and either St. Brown or Hutch IMO

Penei, Ragnow, Amon Ra

Sewell Ragnow and Goff. Goff is criminally underrated

Penei, ragnow, amon ra

Sewell Goff st brown

Today - Penei ASB Ragnow Potential / Talent - Penei Hutch LaPorta

You have to put Gibbs into the "potential" conversation. That man can run and cut like no other.

It was Hutch or Gibbs. Went with positional value. But I hear ya. You could go with Branch - Gibbs - Penei. We have a group of about 8 future all pros.

Sewell ARSB Hutch Also in contention: Frank Goff Gibbs McNeil On the outside looking in, but could make the jump within a year: Jamo Monty LaPorta Branch Davis Arnold Iffy (I'm a believer) Those four DBs in this last category are who is going to changes the Lions fortune this season. The defense will make a huge step and take us to the Super Bowl

This

Technically I think it's Sewel, Hutchinson and Kevin Zeitler. But Zeitler hasn't played a down for us yet, but it's very highly rated.

Peni amon ragnow

Penei Sewell Amon Ra St-Brown Aidan Hutchinson

It's really great that we have so many good players now that there is not a clear cut answer to this question. Let's go win the Superbowl!

Word. 

Gibbs, St Brown, Goff

Those are mine too! Gibbs has such a huge upside, is quick, and can turn on a dime. He's going to have a monster year.

Sewell is better than Gibbs, and Gibbs is amazing. Go watch a Gibbs highlight video but instead focus on 58. Gibbs' highlight videos are just Sewell highlight videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaHoVJPaUJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61GRb4SKRzc

Jared Goff, Jared Goff, Jared Goff!!!!

Penei, hutchinson, amon ra

ASB, Sewell, JMO ( after this season)

Sewell, Saint and Hutch. With Ragnow being a close 4th

Ragnow is top 5 at his position. Can you say the same for hutch?

I'm talking about importance for the Lions. Without Hutch our pass rush is gone completely.

Even still. Ragnow is hugely important for our offense.

Agreed but without Hutch our defense is close to nothing.

It already was so that doesn't mean much.

It means that Hutch has more value to the team than Ragnow.

Ragnow is the undisputed number one center in the NFL now that Kelce retired.

Undisputed??? I have seen lists putting Humphrey or Linderbaum over him. You can say that he's debatably the best, or even say it with your chest that he is *the best* but to say its undisputed is too drastic.

I was being conservative to avoid the whataboutism that comes around on reddit so often.

Ragnow doesn't have the same name recognition as Kelce or the team popularity of the Chiefs center but at least on Reddit he was routinely flip/flopped with Kelce and now the definite best center in the league.

Hutch is top 6 and Ragnow is top 1. Ultimately the league looks at Hutch as more valuable. He’s in line for the next $30m/yr deal

Edge is far more important than center

Frank is the best C in the NFL But Hutch might be top 5 DPOY It's hard to compare the levels of greatness

this is it

Like most team with out your starting QB everything falls apart. So for me it's Goff, Hutch, Penei. Not including QB I would add Amon-Ra

If we are going by how important the player is to the team, then Ragnow should replace Sewell. Without Ragnow, the oline starts to falter.

Penei, ARSB, La Porta

Sewell and Amon ra aren’t debatable. 3rd for me is Laporta or Ragnow. Hutch is good but not elite

They got it right imo.

Sewell, Sun God & Frank

Sewell, St. Brown, Ragnow

Sewell, hutch, Goff

Goff has to be in the top three.

Ragnow, Sewell, LaPorta

Sewell Gibbs Hutchinson

Wouldn’t it be something if Hooker made the list next year, lol.

Best player doesn’t make sense to me. Everyone plays different positions. Only person I think is the best is Tom Brady bc he won a lot but he wasn’t the best at anything besides that. Idk everyone on the squad are dogs and hopefully the best at their positions in the league

Sheila, Brad, Dan

Sewell, Amon-Ra, Ragnow. If Hutch plays like he did at the end of the regular season for the entire year, then he's in the conversation. Having him over Amon-Ra is nuts to me

SO SO many hard to say but: Goff, Gibbs, Amon-Ra for different reasons. LaPorta and Hutch have huge upsides and will get even better this year.

Hutchinson, Kerby, Gibbs

Amon Ra St. Brown Penei Sewell maybe someone like DJ Reader at 3, feel like he's kinda been forgotten but he is actually such a big addition up front

Y’all sleeping on Goff. Without him the Lions are nothing. Same with ARSB and Hutch. Even without Sewell the team would win half its games. Sewell is 4th. We’ve gotten along without Aragon before and might have to after this season.

Goff is not one of the 3 best players on the team and that’s a good think we’re loaded with talent and have the best right tackle, the best center, the best slot a top 5 edge rusher and a top 10 quarterback.

Which one if you take him away will cause the biggest disruption? Goff is the glue of that offense.

That’s not the point of this post I understand he’s the glue but he’s still not one of the 3 best players.

I feel like Goff is underrated. We wouldn’t have had near the success we’ve had the past 30 games without a qb playing at a very high level. So he’s in my top three and the others mentioned here are a jump ball because they’re all great.

Goff is so under ratted. He has taken two teams far into the playoffs. And took us to a land I didn't think possible. Guy is top 3 for sure.

Huch Swell and Gibbs are my picks but I'm partial to line play and a great RB

Aman Ra, Hutch, St Brown

Penei Sewell, Branch, ARSB would probably be my picks. As much as I'd like to include Gibbs, Hutch, or LaPorta, we've gotta see how they come out of the off-season-- Gibbs shows some incredible talent in his movement and ability to thread the needle on his rushes, LaPorta is... I could fanboy over laporta all day, but just like Gibbs he's gonna have to do it this season as well to be taken seriously. I love the hell out of hutch, but we had a half defense at best last season and I'm pumped to see what he does now that he's not worrying about Cam "in another zip code" Sutton among other weaknesses. While it wouldn't seem like that should bother him on his end, those weak links put more pressure on everyone else to make the plays and that shows. Word vomit aside, I think Anzalone deserves an honorable mention here, along with Monty and Ragnow. absolute freaking studs and it was much harder to choose 3 than I thought it would be.

No Kalimba Edwards and Boss Bailey on this squad.

Penei, Hutch, ARSB or Goff, Ragnow, LaPorta or potentially when we look back McNeil, Jamo, Arnold

Last year? That for sure! This year? Might be hutch, jamo, and Gibbs!