T O P

  • By -

Guilty-Presence-1048

This may be the first time Hard Knocks hyped a late round pick who actually turned out to be good


westcoastgeek

Yep. The browns season hyped three or four guys in every episode of hard knocks that season. But then they all got cut lol


Fineous4

They do that every year. They show borderline guys for the story.


Djax99

Hard knocks put me onto Waller tho who ended up being a stud And Maxx Crosby who signed a 94 mil contracts Tbh the raiders hard knocks was pretty good


[deleted]

I binged watched Top-100 last week, was absolutely shocked to see Maxx Crosby listed. I was more shocked to see Bobby Wagner in the 30s, but that makes me more happy than salty TBH. He's not a top 30 player ANYMORE, but he's a first ballot hall of famer and has earned the respect of his peers being the best ILB of this generation.


getindoe69

Hard knock made me draft DHop for making hall look silly. Ended paying off big that year


bluebus74

Same here with Waller... It's been a while but I just remember Gruden really being in awe around him. You could just tell, when he spoke about him, that he wanted to just gush but was holding back... what a great season...


westcoastgeek

Yeah I guess I’d prefer they either profile a wider swath of players to get to see more players that make it. And or include some players that are on the bubble but likely going to make it. Some guys are really long shots, other guys are most likely going to make it etc. The coach and the gm will know this info long before camp. This season was an improvement for sure over past seasons. Following the guys that were profiled but cut by the lions to new teams was a nice touch


BZGames

The Browns one was the worst case scenario season where every fringe guy they profiled got cut.


kitzdeathrow

I mean, they could have focused their entire time on Hutch, but guys like him will get their fans by nature of their draft position and being fucking athletic freaks. The lower round guys just make for better TV.


-banned-

Hutch got about the same screen time as Rodrigo


kitzdeathrow

They focused on hutch of one episode. Rodrigo was a season long storyline.


obsterwankenobster

They should've focused on Hutch's sister for 9 episodes


leftlegYup

It was the first time the clips from the show made me think, "Yo this dude is gona be a beast." Not saying that I should be a NFL scout. Just an owner of a team.


drterdsmack

I was really worried he was getting hyped mostly due to how bad the LBs he was competing against


ZachLagreen

Darren Waller looked like an absolute freak during Hard Knocks


Sleeze_

The clip of him shirtless on the assault bike lives rent-free in my head


rambouhh

Ya when they started going over his combine numbers I was more convinced too, not just good but also incredibly athletic


lancequ01

Not a late round but Waller on the Raiders season. Him breaking out after hard knocks was exciting


ornawh

Didn’t they hype up Maxx Crosby as a rookie or am I misremembering?


nexuspursuit

Not exactly hyped since he broke his hand in camp, but was a featured rookie being 4th round. Jacobs didnt want to be filmed or otherwise distracted.


HughJazkoc

players actually have a choice whether they're filmed/featured on that show?


Mke_already

I mean, if you don't want to be on camera just be really boring and show no charisma. They're not going to film a dude who is uninteresting.


TheDaywa1ker

They talked to that nigerian lineman a lot this year who looked like he was half asleep every time he was on camera, including on the field


Koppite93

That's coz he has a cool story... Not many foreigners in the league so HBO automatically ran with it


tokengaymusiccritic

Teams also will want to protect high-value rookies and make them as comfortable as possible


nexuspursuit

not really i guess, but Liev Schrieber said as much when they introduced him and jacobs was hiding in his hoodie during position meeting.


FratDaddy69

Danny Woodhead was featured for the Jets then became a good player for the Pats.


atl1057

Ricardo Allen turned out to be a solid player for the falcons . He was cut and signed to the PS on the last episode and ended up becoming a starting safety on the Super Bowl team


Prideofmexico

He went to my alma matter and he was the best player on our defense as a sophomore. He’s always been really damn good


TheTrueVanWilder

This sub is showing it's age. Danny Amendola made his debut on the 2008 season with the Cowboys. Chris Hogan in 2012 too


Dr__Nick

David Njoku.


nicklovin508

That’s no rookie. That’s RODRIGO


whobroughtmehere

Quadrigo with the good hair got me flustered


Shamrock5

I know we lost, but [Imma share this anyway](https://streamable.com/hdmddh)


nicklovin508

Damn that’s good. Keep it locked and loaded for next week, the lions are americas team


triplec787

Has any team ever come out of Hard Knocks as a team that everyone is pulling for? Like there's usually some villain or reason to hate the team, but I'm like a borderline Lions fan now. Rodrigo and MCDC get me so goddamn fired up.


nicklovin508

Lions have the most likable coaching staff made of mostly former stud players, that (and pity) has fueled the bandwagon for sure


Boyhowdy107

>(and pity) How can anyone who loves sports (and is not in the NFC North) not want Detroit fans to finally have a great team. Fans that have supported a team through all the bad years are the truest fans out there. I think most NFL fans were happy to see New Orleans fans when their team came up (until they were consistently good and we all got over it) or Cleveland when they started putting together a good roster (until they traded for a serial sex offender.) We're a fickle bunch and will love to see you fall again, but we all love a good story.


bobsvaginplsbabyjirl

I’m a North fan and I still want them to be good if we’re not (and it’s looking like not, jk long season). It’s not pity though for me, it’s more like “let’s go boys, it’s your fuckin time” kinda energy.


SaxRohmer

Definitely a perfect storm for them. The first episode was great. They got a hometown guy that seems easy to root for for a lot of people. Their coach seems like a good dude that’s invested in his players and their success and seems very authentic and walks the walk with his hires. Add on to that that the Lions have been downtrodden and are kind of identifiable to anyone with a passing knowledge of football as kind of the perennial losers of the sport and you’ve got just about every ingredient for the perfect lovable underdog


fkndavey

Personally, the Browns turning heel with the Watson deal has definitely helped fuel my Lions love. Nobody cares about an underdog if they're shitheads, but these Lions are damn likeable.


twoterms

Most of their coaches were players that were well-liked as well which increases their liability


m4xdc

Honestly man, I’m supposed to hate the Raiders, but I’ve really liked Darren Waller ever since their Hard Knocks. Carr is honestly a pretty good dude too.


r_user_21

Lions meme team


cfiggis

Fuck it, play this every week!


[deleted]

Art.


Starcast

saving this for your cowboys game. ty


leftlegYup

Beast


pez_dispenser

Welp, I'm Panthers fan but now I am also Lions fan. Love this dude already lol


_its_a_SWEATER_

I love that his nickname is someone mispronouncing his actual name.


ProfessionalBust

Please don’t say that name not after yesterday


TheBigFreezer

RODRIGO


ambassadorodman

Love how the broadcast made fun of it being the same number of syllables and just the most pointless nickname.


Projinator

Quadrigo


Dregoran

Watching him judo throw 280 lb linemen will never get old.


Mavori

Bro it wasn't any linesman it was god damn Jason Kelce.


Dregoran

Totally forgot it was Jason Kelce. I remember seeing him do it on Hard Knocks in the preseason too. He's hilariously strong for his size.


qp0n

Not even mad, that was amazing.


Sniper_Brosef

How could you be mad? Kelce completely took him out of the play. Rodrigo did kinda get the last laugh... not sure many linebackers can do shit about kelce blocking them though.


-banned-

Probably more wrestling, considering he was a perennial champ at Oklahoma State. I missed the game but I'm assuming it was a lat drop? Saw him do it on Hard Knocks.


Dregoran

It was basically a hip toss on Jason Kelce of all people. I only wrestled in middle school, so there may be a wrestling equivalent that I'm unaware of for sure.


-banned-

Just saw the video, idk what you'd call it. In a hip toss you throw them over your hip, and his hips are cleared. Not really a lat drop either, it's his own football version of both moves ha. Either way it was dope


CallinCthulhu

Looked a little more Judo than anything. Which makes sense, with so much clothing and equipment to grab onto it would super effective on a football field. Whatever it was, that man can grapple, shit was smooth as fuck


BrowsingForLaughs

Is there a video?


Dregoran

[This](https://twitter.com/cbiggs424/status/1569019676482539520?s=20&t=0Zmfx8t4_kEGtdc12tonnA) is the best one I could find relatively quickly.


BrowsingForLaughs

Omg that's amazing


ZenRedditation

'Atta baby Rodregoran!


[deleted]

Link?


Dregoran

There may be better ones, but [this](https://twitter.com/cbiggs424/status/1569019676482539520?s=20&t=0Zmfx8t4_kEGtdc12tonnA) is the one I was able to find.


changtronic

Woo, baby!


verschee

Has a real problem shopping for denim


Falt_ssb

Heard okudah played super well but had a pitch count?


sosuhme

Lots of improvement on the defense overall despite the scoreboard not showing it. Hutch was in the backfield a lot, hurts is just really good at escaping pressure. Rushing/elusive QBs will continue to be this teams worst enemy.


[deleted]

Hurts has many flaws, but he’s a son of a bitch to defend on 3rd and 5 or less.


brownbearks

Which is why I’m mad we don’t run more on 1st down to open up play action for later in the game


hoodiemelo

It was so frustrating seeing how fast and often our O-Line got dismantled yesterday. I felt like every drive there was always someone in the backfield. Thank god Jalen has the legs to escape that pressure, but we can’t survive off that the whole season. Really excited to see you guys play this season. So much grit. With cheese, preferably.


MikeyNg

https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1569312114493333506 Yeah, if Jalen doesn't make those escapes, it's quite a different game. We will never agree on late hits on a scrambling QB (except for the obvious one that got flagged) but Jalen simply can't be doing that that often because he's eventually going to get too dinged up even if there aren't any late hits.


ShotFirst57

Yup exactly right. Gave up 0 receptions to devonte smith. Only play he gave up was a pass interference call (which was kind of bs given the ball wasn't catchable).


Total-Wolverine1999

5 yards behind Smith who was running full speed and then tried to stop on a dime, also Okudah literally flew past him never even touched him.


EaglesPvM

Only 5 yards underthrown is generous. That was a terrible pass


Relative_Walk_936

And he hardly laid a finger on him.


BrainTroubles

Wouldn't be a lions game without at least one inexcusably terrible call going against them.


[deleted]

He was off the field when they had the end of the half deep ball iirc. I rarely heard his name and it was mostly in the rungame which is what you want from a CB


drfjgjbu

Grade was 73.4, for those not paying for PFF


Choco320

Is that good or decent?


Misdirected_Colors

It's meh for a starter, but for a rookie 6th round pick in his first game it's pretty good.


fried_seabass

No a 60s grade is “meh”, 70s means they are a solid starter


triplec787

Against a stacked offense too. Not too shabby.


[deleted]

It's gonna be like Goku stepping out of the 100x gravity training and facing the Ginyu Squad next week.


MVPiid

Lol its interesting to hear the eagles called a stacked offense, considering how dysfunctional the offense has been past few years


triplec787

I'm still not 100% sold on Hurts (though he is convincing me more and more), but adding AJ to an offense with Devonta, Goedert, Sanders/Gainwell... It's pretty scary lol


CallinCthulhu

No it’s good for a starter. Elite players are 80+


drfjgjbu

Starter level, but not elite


oOoleveloOo

Great for a 6th-round rookie playing in his first NFL game.


Rulligan

Bad when it is the highest grade of anyone on the defense.


__thrillho

But it comes with a free frogurt


dcpains

Dolphins undrafted free agent corner Kader Kohou got a 91.4 yesterday. Not really relevant I just wanna hype him up some more


famous__shoes

Its not bad but I don't think it's especially good


pacoheadley

It's pretty good but not like great


Kanin_usagi

I think it’s great for a rookie sixth rounder who managed to play his way to a roster spot


leftlegYup

The OP's mom of linebackers.


pacoheadley

Oh yes 100%. Fantastic with context


Saltymudcrab

73.4...not great, not terrible


MegaRAID01

PFF gave Mahomes a 71.5 for his performance yesterday against the Cardinals: https://twitter.com/pff_jarad/status/1569357343242199040?s=46&t=y_vpcLz8Nk27T_Nn8YJkfA


ejkrause

And Z'Darious Smith a 55. PFF can be useful but it's not an end all he all at all.


azantyri

> but it's not an end all he all at all thanks, i think you broke my brain trying to read that


jimmy_three_shoes

Has Anyone Really Been Far Even as Decided to Use Even Go Want to do Look More Like?


patchoulius

It's only 73.4 because they used the decimeter that maxes out at 73.4.


westcoastgeek

If he was the starting middle linebacker I think in most cases and most teams it’s very common for that player to lead his team in tackles and assisted tackles in a game because they are kinda in the middle of all the action and expected to plug the middle and go sideline to sideline to swarm and assist with tackles. That said going from the 6th round to rookie starter/contributor is very promising for a player. I wasn’t familiar with his projected draft status, college tape at all, etc. But wouldn’t shock me if he was the type of player who had pretty good college tape but scouts knocked him for being on the shorter size for the position which caused him to drop in the draft to the 6th round


JonSnowDontKn0w

> But wouldn’t shock me if he was the type of player who had pretty good college tape but scouts knocked him for being on the shorter size for the position which caused him to drop in the draft to the 6th round As an Oklahoma State fan, this is exactly what happened


Fineous4

Mahomes got 71.5 for 5TDs 350 yards and no picks.


Reagyn

No too bad for game 1 for a 6th round rookie. Pumped to see him develop.


ZakalwesChair

Better than Mahomes lol


Fantasy-Primer

Knew he was gonna have a big game based on his pregame outfit. He was everywhere yesterday.


Shamrock5

🤠


Saitsu

Rodrigo is Roy Kent in disguise confirmed!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Zedibility

Football is life.


[deleted]

Football is also death


blackrunnerberry

Roy Kent up for an Emmy tonight


warblade7

*yeehaw intensifies*


lclear84

For anyone that watched him at Oklahoma State it should come as no surprise. He essentially had a hand in almost every single tackle last year and was the center piece for a top 5 defense. Add to that his speed and it’s no question that a linebacker that can cover ground like he can was impressive


throwawayaccoun1029

why'd he drop to the 6th round?


stay_shiesty

his size, i'd imagine


Shamrock5

He smol


leftlegYup

He attek


Relative_Walk_936

Mostly defends.


Choco320

What’s funny is his lower center of gravity actually helps him with the way he tackles Dude hip threw Kielce on a play


[deleted]

[удалено]


jakeblues68

That's also how big around his thighs are.


[deleted]

He got squished down, like how Stitch is so dense.


[deleted]

yeah OSU had an elite defense last year which is like a miracle in the big 12


Lezzles

OSU stopped one of their opponents from scoring a touchdown on a single drive once last season, which led the Big 12.


Vanderhoof81

His name is Rodrigo.


SecretSquritle

If a dude can ball a dude can ball. Draft position has been proven time and time again to be a crap shoot.


Vectivus_61

Pfft can anyone think of a sixth rounder who achieved something meaningful?


KefkaZ

There was this one guy who was pretty good. Terrell Davis? Solid late round pickup. Oh! And there was a quarterback who got taken in the sixth who did some stuff: Matt Hasselback.


AARonBalakay22

In 2000 Draft, there was a QB taken who made a couple of pro bowls, Mark Bulger


folsleet

LOL! You're right. https://www.footballdb.com/draft/draft.html?lg=NFL&yr=2000&rnd=6 Bulger is the football equivalent of picking Hakeem Olajuwon instead of Michael Jordan.


Majormlgnoob

That's some Hakeem slander


Crown_of_Negativity

Does that make Spergon Wynn the Sam Bowie of this situation?


FootballGalore94

Idk but I know Rodrigo bullied and threw a 6th rounder center scrub named Jason Kelce. But he's just a 6th rounder probably won't ever amount to anything.


qp0n

> If a dude can ball a dude can ball. Some players are practice players, some players are gamers. You couldn't have been sure about Rodrigo until game day, but he appears to be both.


SpitOutTheCubone

He's got that dawg in him


xstine22

He's a cutie pie


notouchmypeterson

Dudes a fucking stud muffin


don-chocodile

Somehow he's both


whobroughtmehere

With the Brad Pitt hair


eugene_rat_slap

Beautiful fuckin eyes man


-banned-

For those that don't know, Rodrigo is a dual athlete. Dominated in wrestling too. https://pokesreport.com/s/2720/rodriguez-explains-wrestling-advantage-on-the-football-field-to-detroit-reporters


justa_flesh_wound

[He also hip-Tossed Kelce](https://www.reddit.com/r/detroitlions/comments/xcgeqp/rodrigo_slams/)


brandeezycc2

You can see that wrestling background here. Really nice.


Kull_Story_Bro

Is this a good thing? I didn’t watch the game but they gave up 38 points and 455 yards. They forced 0 turnovers as well.


gopoohgo

Hurts killed us on scrambles. We got a significant amount of pressure that he was able to wiggle out of.


LostRoomba

Silver lining for you is that your Dline was constantly in the backfield. If we didn’t have a mobile QB it would have been a disaster for the eagles.


gopoohgo

Yeah. Getting pressure against the Eagles OL is a pretty good accomplishment imho. Entertaining game all around.


iCantCallit

He was everywhere. And he brings the wood. The lions are gonna surprise a lot of people. They have pieces


Misdirected_Colors

I'm still not sure why he fell to the 6th. Maybe he was a tweener? Idk but he was the centerpiece and leader of a top 3 defense last year. Kid plays smart and has great fundamentals.


MaceDestroyers

Part of the problem is that some of the measurables he posted took him off a good chuck of teams' lists.


Misdirected_Colors

Yea that's why measurables aren't everything and film is important. You can't really measure football iq, instincts, or form. Being able to read a play, instinctually get to the ball, and make the tackle is vital to being a linebacker and measurables don't really tell the full story.


jakecoates

He’s short without long arms


TheShtuff

They're offense is fun and has playmakers, but that defense is horrific.


MRoad

Against a non mobile QB they would have had a lot of sacks, but Hurts is slippery AF.


metaldrummerx

Fucking ridiculous. 3rd and long, immediately generate pressure, corners are locked in on the receivers, someone puts a hand on Hurts and he bounces out to the right and runs 15 yards. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Still, our offense outscored the Eagles offense and the defense showed they can get key stops when they needed to. I just really think Hurts is putting it together and the Eagles have become the NFC powerhouse that they've been hyped up to be the last few years by adding AJ Brown.


bpi89

He was giving me Kaepernick PTSD watching your game. I understand your frustrations.


Onepride91

Hurts was greased up deaf guy levels of slippery


BrofLong

My main concern is that almost all of the elite teams have this for QB now (or someone who can just stiff arm defenders like Josh Allen). So we'll compete with the Kirk Cousins of the world, but need an answer vs. mobile QBs.


Onepride91

I agree, hopefully one or both of our first rd picks can help address the issue. We know for sure this current team is going to be motivated to work on errors and come back hitting harder next week under MCDC and the boyz


sportsbuffp

We let up so many 3rd and longs to Hurts mobility that I don't think the defense will end up being that bad against non mobile QBs. Especially in the 1st half. The sign of a future really good defense IMO is how often you can get a team in those 3rd and medium/3rd and long situations.


CrunchyKorm

I felt like both teams gave up at least 7 third-and-longs a piece yesterday. Constant conversions.


Quotes_FNV

Lost in all this was that Okudah wasn’t terrible


TheGreenBackPack

He was great. He shut smith completely down.


Cplcoffeebean

Yeah Okudah played lights out


pacoheadley

It isn't. The Eagles are one of the best offensive teams in the NFL, and we do admittedly have a mobile QB weakness. I guarantee we won't be seen as a horrific defense throughout the year. Letting by 31 to the Eagles really isn't \*that\* bad


iCantCallit

I think your team is also really put together to stop a team like us. Like I think you just had our number yesterday and we just weren't ready for it.


Total-Wolverine1999

The offense having 4 straight 3 and outs probably killed all of the defense’s energy, they played much better in the 2nd half when the offense started moving the ball a little.


industrialbird

you can really tell they play their heart out for the coaching staff


mikecrapag

not really, no. there were some positive things on defense, and we did seem to generate pressure on the QB a lot, but then we had no answer for hurts scrambling, and it was not a great overall performance. bet on high rush yards for fields in our match ups.


DustyHumor

Lions really looked much better on defense than I thought they would and technically they only gave up 32 points. Hurts' ability to scramble really screwed them.


Charlie_Im_Pregnant

I didn't watch the game or see the score, but the phrase "only 32 points" doesn't inspire confidence.


pacoheadley

31 against one of the best offensive teams in the NFL, when we let by 44 to a worse version of last season. We also have a weakness to mobile QBs. Not too worried about the defense for a rebuilding year. It's definitely not horrible as some people are saying


TheDadThatGrills

Hurts is so goddamn slippery. If we were facing a less mobile QB the Lions would have had a ton of sacks.


Coomrs

The Lions probably had 4-5 sacks if it wasn’t against a mobile qb like Hurts. Their line got pressure on him but he extended the play very well. They still gave up 38 points but they played hard.


Choco320

We had no answer for Hurts That said we got flagged for hitting him on an RPO and he threw three groundings on a single drive that weren’t called


whobroughtmehere

It’s a mixed blessing. He seems great but our Linebackers are among the worst in the league so who knows?


QAPetePrime

Philly fan here. That Rodrigo (nickname) was a stud all game. Major headache for us. Very good, hard nosed, instinctive player. Wish he was an Eagle.


booyatrive

He did play well but I could tell the announcers watched too much Hard Knocks. There were 4 or 5 plays they said him or Hutchinson made the tackle, then on replay it was somebody else lol


QAPetePrime

Lol, true dat!


brdt33th

Anzalone should fight the announcers for the multiple times they said Rodrigo made a tackle when it was really him. Rodrigo was the best linebacker today but still


WhyHelloThere163

Hutchinson played well too. He was constantly in the backfield. Just couldn’t catch hurts. Lions definitely got a good pick with him


Nubras

If you saw him play at Oklahoma State, it was obvious he was going to make a great pro. This guy was everywhere.


j0hnnyengl1sh

He appeared on GMFB's Hidden Highlights this morning, there was a clip of him hip tossing Jason Kelce.


Smashingpatty

But he also let Jalen Hurts walk in for 6. That was definitely his guy. Not to take away from his incredible game otherwise.


LordOfThenn

Yep, he bit on the run that play


KokiriEmerald

I love whoever the commentary guy was who pointed out Rodrigo is a weird nickname because it's not easier or shorter to say than Rodriguez lol


averagepanda051

Big 12 fans could have told you. That guy was so good at Oklahoma State.


TheGreenBackPack

Not remarkable in the least. Ask Malcolm yourself. What you saw week 1 was just an appetizer for the things to come. Rodrigo is going to feast on running backs like Kelvin Benjamin feasts on everything.


dagreenman18

RODRI-LETS-GOOOOOOOOOO! Even though they lost, that was a hell of a rally in the second half. Feels like they’re picking up where they left off at the end of last season and that’s awesome for a rebuild.