This week’s Detroit Lions mailbag surrounds Aidan Hutchinson replacements, including a key question: Is the interest in Haason Reddick legit?
Unsurprisingly, this week’s mailbox was filled with questions about Aidan Hutchinson and how the Detroit Lions defense will respond to his (likely) season-ending injury. So on this week’s Midweek Mailbag podcast, we tried to tackle them all in one segment, so that we could move on in the second.
The first starts with an obvious question: Who should the Lions add? Our discussion is centered on two somewhat-reasonable options: veteran Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith and Titans defender Harold Landry. Both fit the profile of players the Lions like at the edge position, both are on teams that are certainly in “seller” mode, and they could come at relatively cheaper prices.
But what about Haason Reddick? The Lions have, at the very least, checked in with the New York Jets about the disgruntled defensive end who is now clearly on the trade block. Is the Lions’ interest legit, or are they doing due diligence?
Both myself and Erik Schlitt seem to think the Lions are just testing the waters. Given that Reddick has been holding out for a contract for so long, it’s likely not just going to cost the Lions draft capital, but also serious cap space to acquire Reddick. Additionally, the Jets have less incentive to trade Reddick to an NFC team.
“It’s a lot of obstacles to go get a guy who doesn’t quite fit what you’re looking for,” Schlitt said.
Our conversation then turns to internal options. Not just which players may step into Hutchinson’s role and who may get the promotion from the practice squad, but schematic changes the Lions may consider now that they’ve lost three primary edge defenders in the past month. Will the Lions play more nickel? Will they move Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal around? Will the (eventual) return of Ifeatu Melifonwu change the calculus?
All of that is discussed on this week’s podcast, plus a whole lot more about the upcoming contest with the Minnesota Vikings.
Here’s a timestamped rundown of this week’s episode:
- (3:20) — Who will the Lions end up trading for?
- (7:45) — What does the interest in Haason Reddick actually mean?
- (12:00) — Will the Lions move around pieces on the defensive line now?
- (14:10) — Who among the reserves will step up? Isaac Ukwu? Mitchell Agude? Isaiah Thomas?
- (19:00) — Will “winning for Hutchinson” become a rallying cry for the team?
- (22:25) — Will Lions blitz more without Hutchinson?
- (31:00) — Terrion Arnold’s growth
- (37:00) — How will the Lions avoid Andrew Van Ginkel, handle Vikings’ pressure packages?
- (50:40) — Will the Vikings defense go through another regression this year?
You can listen to the entire show below, or you can watch replays of the show on YouTube and Twitch. There’s extra content in the videos, including a breakdown of some of Ukwu’s plays from Sunday.
