00:06Tom said we got some really good texts
00:08on this. It's July 1st. What's the biggest
00:10story in Detroit sports the rest
00:12of 2026 second
00:14half of the year
00:18the Lions. Come on. You guys are joking
00:23No, it's set
00:24up for them to go win this division
00:27revamped offensive
00:28line score a bunch of points
00:30and bludgeon people, right? That doesn't
00:32mean they're winning a playoff game. That would be in
00:342027 doesn't mean we're talking
00:36Super Bowl. That would also be in 2027
00:38correct, but for this year with this
00:40schedule in this offense, it could look like 24
00:432024 where they
00:44beat people by an average of 11 points a game
00:46beat up on some bad teams
00:48topple some good teams build
00:50some momentum and set the city on fire
00:54Yeah, I mean it's what
00:56it can't be is
00:58they just beat
01:00all the teams that they're supposed to be because it's
01:02the last place schedule and then lose to the
01:03bills. Let's say they split with
01:05the Packers same with the Vikings
01:08they lose to the Patriots
01:10lose to the box like
01:11you've got to be able to beat
01:13some of those teams or else it's just
01:16going to be well
01:17it's they're beating up on the last place schedule
01:19but they can't beat anybody of significance
01:22Jeff and Wixom says the story the rest
01:24of the year has to be the Lions if they have a great
01:25regular season everyone in the city forgets all
01:28other sagas
01:29the biggest story will be the Lions but it will be
01:31because they don't have defense
01:35Greg in
01:36St. Pete
01:37a lot of it does hinge on and I
01:39really think more of it hinges on the two
01:41safeties. We talked a lot about the
01:43corner position with DJ Reed and the way
01:45he faded at the end of last year or just
01:47wasn't able to recover after the hamstring injury
01:50obviously Terry on Arnold has been a
01:52story. I think
01:54they will have guys
01:56that can be serviceable
01:58in those positions that it's
02:00really going to be Brian Branch. When is he
02:01back? What level does he play at?
02:04And Kirby Joseph. How
02:06often is he available if at
02:08all story for the back half
02:10of the year is going to be how the Lions are barely
02:11better than a year ago. Dan's fourth OC
02:13isn't clicking the secondaries being torched
02:15and the injuries are piling up again
02:19the biggest story for the second half
02:21doesn't even happen in Detroit. It's Utah
02:23where Kosa becomes the dominant number one
02:25goalie we've been needing for a decade
02:30text saying
02:31the story of the second half of the year
02:36Steve Iserman
02:37will be fired. Scott in East Point
02:42could be
02:44I don't
02:45think so. I
02:47don't think okay, but I don't think there's really any
02:49pressure if they were going to fire him
02:51it would have already happened. You don't let a guy
02:53handle the Larkin saga and then
02:55fire him. You don't let him do the draft and free
02:57agency and trade, you know, one of your
02:59precious assets and then fire
03:01him unless Larkin still here. Nothing's been
03:03done. You don't let
03:05Dave Dombrowski trade David price and
03:07then fire him. Oh, wait. Oh, okay
03:09the owner's father did that
03:11I'll stand down. No, I don't think
03:13it's on the table, but
03:15because Dave Dombrowski didn't have the
03:17track record of Steve Iserman as a player
03:20story of the second half the Pistons go
03:23all in. They get rid of Duren
03:24extend a SAR trade for
03:27Jalen Brown and add
03:28King James
03:31Trajan is the story of the
03:33second half of the year
03:34it is possible. Like I mean it depending on what
03:37happens here in free agency
03:39whether it's trades or free agency
03:43he is
03:43holding he
03:45he has the opportunity to be
03:47the most productive GM
03:49in regards to the way that
03:51they have they have the ability
03:53to change and modify
03:55the roster put it this way. He has
03:57a chance to as Rico
03:59would say at the Coney table
04:01stand up and walk out
04:04I'm not going to sit here
04:05doing the Coney routine where we all tell each
04:07other. Don't be the guy to
04:09make a big move. I'm going to get up
04:10from the table. I'm going to put
04:11cash down and I'm going to go make
04:13something happen Texas. I
04:15can't lie. I'm getting nervous
04:16about the Pistons. I'm hopeful
04:18something big is on the horizon, but
04:19with each passing minute
04:20I'm thinking we could be destroying
04:22a lot of what we built
04:24I don't feel that way. I feel like
04:26this team is built on Kate
04:27Cunningham who's still very much
04:29here. I think their defensive
04:30identity is built on a star
04:31Thompson who ain't going nowhere
04:34destroying what was built
04:36did we watch Duren stall out in the
04:38playoffs? Are we really worried or
04:40nervous that we're going to blow it
04:41with Jalen Duren? Who are the guys
04:43that you believe no matter what
04:45happens are going to be here? And
04:47and I okay I know Kevin Herter
04:48signed a contract so he'll be here
04:50but I'm talking about impactful guys
04:52what's that? Red Velvet will be
04:53back. Yes because obviously Cade's
04:56here. I think Asar is here. Yeah. How
04:58much different could the rest of this
05:00roster look going in the next season?
05:05Isaiah Joe will be here but that's a
05:07new face. Okay. I'm starting to think
05:08about other guys that'll be here.
05:10Dennis Jenkins will be here. I don't
05:12know that Sasser will be right.
05:14Paul Reed will be.
05:18I don't know that Karis will be because
05:19Karis could be used in a trade for a
05:21bigger piece.
05:23Tobias we're unsure about. Right. How
05:25many new starters could there be?
05:27As many as three. Right. Yeah. I mean
05:29Duncan's another guy who we'll see.
05:31They have some flexibility with his
05:33contract. Yeah. I mean the only two I'm
05:35certain are coming back in the starting
05:36lineup are Cade and Asar and most
05:39likely Duren because I don't think he's
05:41getting what he wants.
05:42But the possibility exists that out of
05:45the five starters you could have three
05:46new starters on this roster going into
05:48next year. And that may concern people
05:50because the team won 60 games that we
05:51also saw them hit a dead end in the
05:53second round and they need to make
05:55moves. So I'm not afraid or intimidated
05:57or change can be uncomfortable but
05:59needed could be very productive. I'm not
06:02nervous about this. I'm not impatient
06:03about this. Normally I'm the impatient
06:05one. I'm not impatient. I like how
06:06Trajan's conducting this. I could be
06:08proven wrong. This could end up going
06:10to nowheresville. It could be either
06:11bringing the same team back or getting
06:13caught with your pants down and not
06:14making a big move and we'll discuss it
06:16if that happens. But I genuinely think
06:19Trajan's setting himself up for
06:20something good here. Even if that's
06:22just getting Duren at a better price.
06:24Right. So the afternoon show has the
06:26Coney bit with the GMs. Yeah. If pretty
06:28much the band stays together with
06:30everybody, Scoble's not moved, Trajan
06:32keeps most of the same people
06:34together. Can we come up with a band
06:36name for the GMs? That's our that's
06:38going to be a way we handle our bit.
06:39Yes. Yes. Yeah. I'll start thinking
06:43about it on the table. The gears are
06:45turning when we're August 4th. That's
06:48after the trade deadline for the
06:49Tigers. Yeah. And we're sitting in this
06:51world where Larkin's still on the team.
06:53Scoble didn't get traded. The Tigers
06:55are fake competing and Trajan pretty
06:57much kept the band together. Yeah. I
07:00mean, it's sure there's that, but I
07:02don't think there's any way. I just
07:04don't see a way where Scoble's still
07:06here after the trade deadline. I just
07:08don't because of some of the things
07:10that we've talked about. One, you're
07:12going to have to make a giant move in
07:15a month where there's not as many
07:17opportunities to make that move. I
07:19already got a band name, the same kids
07:20on the block, same kids on the block. I
07:23like play hanging tough. Uh, let's get
07:28to Edward in Detroit. Edward, good
07:29morning. You're on 97 one. Good morning
07:32guys. I fear that the biggest story
07:35this year is going to be the death of
07:36grit. Um, the, the, the end of this
07:40run, not to say that it necessarily
07:42has to be, you know, bury them, but I,
07:47one of the things that this Terry on
07:49Arnold story has revealed is how so
07:52many Detroit fans believe that you can
07:54just cobble together and off a
07:56defense that you can go out on the
07:59bus stop and get guys and replace
08:01players like Branch, Joseph and Arnold
08:05with just a wave of the hand. Well,
08:08let me ask you this, Arnold, what are
08:10they replacing? What type of production
08:12are they replacing because they don't
08:15have Terry on Arnold? They are
08:17replacing a, a frontline first round
08:21draft pick defensive back in the NFL.
08:24All right. So I agree with, he was a
08:26first round pick as a frontline
08:28corner. I disagree. Well, it's, it's
08:31my understanding that Arnold had
08:33been, had played better and let's just
08:36say that he wasn't, he wasn't a top
08:39defensive back, but to say that now,
08:42and I guess what your question kind of
08:44gets into what I'm worried about is
08:46the notion that Arnold that was playing
08:48that was out there doing okay. It's
08:51spots to now think that some guy who
08:53wasn't playing is going to be the
08:56answer that, that, that I believe is
08:59the problem. If Arnold was the 25th
09:02best defensive back, the 30th best
09:04defensive back in the NFL, you're going
09:07to go get a guy that was selling
09:08insurance a year ago and he now
09:10suddenly he's going to be better for a
09:13team that supposedly it has a Super
09:16Bowl in mind. See, that's the thing
09:18that people are drugging past. I
09:21thought the Lions were a Super Bowl
09:23competitor and I just heard one of you
09:25say, oh, well, they'll, you know,
09:27they'll be back to 2024. Maybe they'll
09:30win a playoff game. If that's the
09:32expectation that I guess I'm, I'm
09:34looking at the, I guess my expectations
09:36are too high.
09:37Don't confuse it with being okay with
09:40that outcome.
09:40No, nobody's okay. If that's the
09:43outcome, we're just discussing what we
09:45think is on the table with this group
09:47as they're currently constructed. If
09:48you've listened this week or last week,
09:50I think we've discussed the fact that
09:52their secondary is a huge concern.
09:54Well, it's a huge concern and I just
09:57think, man, when we look back, if they
09:59missed the playoffs and we look back at
10:02no sense of urgency when they were at
10:04or near the top of the NFC, no legacy
10:07plan for Decker and Ragnow, three
10:10third round draft picks were their fifth
10:12passing option. You know, the Joseph
10:15deal, was he examined? Was he not
10:17examined? I mean, we're going to look
10:19back at this and we're going to say,
10:20you know, how many of these things
10:22were, you know, that happened out of
10:24the blue or how many of these things
10:26were their, their conscious choice and
10:28all of it's just blown up. They just
10:30made bad decisions and they've lost
10:32their, their window might be closed
10:34now. Sure. Those are all
10:37possibilities, but it could also be a
10:39possibility that Rakia Sin is just
10:43better than Terry on earth. And I'm not
10:44talking about a pro bowl caliber player
10:47or he's going to knock the socks off of
10:48anyone, but he could just be better than
10:51the best that Terry on earth was in two
10:53years. Well, that's possible, but then
10:56we're, we're, we're doing that horrible
10:58thing of comparing us only to ourselves. Yeah.
11:02Then what does that, what does that mean
11:03for our competitors? Do you think that
11:05Chicago cares that we went from a C
11:08player to a C plus player? Do you think
11:11that Minnesota cares that Green Bay cares?
11:13And that's the part that we're
11:15overlooking. I think, yeah, we might
11:16improve, but what does that improvement
11:20mean relative to the people that we were
11:23looking up at, you know, fourth in the
11:25division last year and out of the
11:26playoffs, we're suddenly going to leapfrog
11:28those players because we've got some,
11:31you know, tertiary guy off the street to
11:33play defensive back. I don't see it.
11:37Well, I think they're going to leapfrog
11:38those teams. And I don't think it's
11:39really because of anything to do with
11:41Terry on Arnold being here or not being
11:42here. Right. I think it's going to be
11:44yesterday. He ranked 97th out of 114. He
11:48had more, he's a below average player. Yeah.
11:50I believe he had more PI calls than he
11:54had past breakups. Caller makes some good
11:56points with Branch and Joseph, but I
11:58think lumping Arnold in with them is
11:59insignificant in terms of leaping these
12:01teams. Don't forget. This was a nine
12:03and eight football team. They weren't
12:05six and 11 buried in the division. Right.
12:07And again, I know afternoons and
12:09Veleni hates when I bring up the
12:10schedule. I think it matters that Green
12:12Bay has to play the Rams and we get to
12:14play the Cardinals that Green Bay has
12:16to play the Houston Texans in that
12:18defense in that front and we get to play
12:20the Tennessee Titans. That stuff matters
12:22in the regular season. And that's all
12:24we've discussed because what's the topic
12:262026. The conversation is this year
12:29when December 31st, 2026 hits, they
12:32won't have played a playoff game. They
12:34won't have lost the regular season
12:35games. Correct. But I think they are
12:38going to be the story as the year rounds
12:40out when they get back to regular season
12:44dominance in part because of the
12:46offensive line and in part because of
12:48the schedule. I make no promises nor am I
12:51okay with the season ending with just
12:53regular season success. Greg is like,
12:57hey, we are way late, dude. You just
12:58got to move on. All right. 248-539-9797.
13:01AJ Hinch at 802-971.
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