Damien Smith

Deputy Director of Research (Economics) @ESRC. Former civil servant. Loves cities. All tweets my own--mostly things that make me think.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@TFG_Football Should the Lions trade for Denzel Ward?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@swarheit Being on the exempt list means that he still would have gotten paid - the Lions would not have avoided the cap hit. I think the arrest much genuinely have stunned them for them to do this.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@PrideOfDetroit Dan Pizzuta, on the Mina Kimes show, picked Isaac Teslaa as an x-factor for the Lions this season for an odd reason: he expects Petzing to use more 11 personnel and Gibbs is very effective running out of that formation. What do you think?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@Whiticar The rounds following that were also disappointing. Sorsdal is on the bubble, and Antoine Green is out of the league.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@PrideOfDetroit On Jon Ledyard & Ollie Connolly's podcast this week they say that the Lion's trade-up bets (like Vaki and Manu) have not been turning into sustainable depth, which has been filled by cheap free agents. What do you think of this critique?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@AtoZ_Payton It's more likely Goff gets another extension than this...

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@PrideOfDetroit Jourdan Rodrigue said (on Check the Mic) that the McVey innovation last year was to run 11 personnel plays out of heavier sets. Does the Lions' Kendrick Law pick point in another direction--to run (or appear to run) heavier personnel out of lighter sets, and to be more multiple?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@ROTL_UK FYI: https://t.co/WD0955w8YG

[Tom Pelissero @TomPelissero]

Former Morgan State LB Erick Hunter is signing with the Lions, per source.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@TFG_Football Are you low on Keionte Scott?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@DetroitOnLion Your last take is a corollary to your first: why use future capital on a thin class?
The revealed preference of teams as a whole shows that this class is not rated that highly.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@FootballGuy_Al Tell me that you've seen this:
https://t.co/WsUVBlm8HG

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@DetroitOnLion The game theory of this would have played out this way no matter what the Lions did. Even if they signed Rasheed Walker (say) other teams would still assess the likelihood they draft an OT to be high. What saves this is that no one knows *which* of the top 7 OTs is the target.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@PrideOfDetroit Is the Lions coaching staff actually good at developing "developmental" talent? In the five years of this regime the only Day 3 picks to get multi-year extensions are St. Brown & Barnes; of cut players only James Houston is a notable non-ST contributor.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@FootballGuy_Al Too many are also talking about Miller as if he’s a “high floor” prospect with limited upside. He’s 22, and has gotten better every year. Why doesn’t he have a lot more room to develop?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@haugejostein I've been offered food on a train (in Serbia) but I'm black and was a novelty travelling there at the time (this was 20 years ago).

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@LedyardNFLDraft When is your pod on OL? Would like to get Ollie and your thoughts on it.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@PrideOfDetroit Is there such a thing as a "Dan Campbell player" and do national commentators generally have it right when they say this?

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@erikschlitt Thanks Erik! Just wanted your perspective.

[Damien Smith @indysmith]

@erikschlitt Just if you agreed with Thorn that Fano is the top OT in the class (and if he is a fit for the Lions).