Is the Detroit Lions rebuild behind schedule? (with Chris Burke)

The Detroit Lions are down bad right now, and fans are starting to question everything they had believed about Dan Campbell and this regime. Fan confidence is below 50 percent for the first time since Matt Patricia was running this team, and it’s hard to blame the Lions faithful when this team has only won four games under Campbell in 22 games.

But a little perspective is needed, too. This roster was gutted a year ago, and Detroit has made a very clear effort to fill those spots with young, developmental pieces who are still learning through mistakes. They’ve been hit by a ton of unlucky injuries—which is particularly harmful when your rebuild is still too new to have built the depth necessary to combat injuries.

That said, it would be disingenuous to say that there haven’t been serious mistakes along the way. The Lions have gotten essentially zero contributions from a couple of their second-round picks, their lack of investment in the secondary is clearly costing them, and some ill-timed coaching errors have undoubtedly cost the team a win or two.

So to wade through all the muck and gauge how Lions fans should currently be feeling about the direction of the franchise, we brought an old friend back to the podcast.

Chris Burke of The Athletic left the Lions beat this summer to focus more on NFL Draft content, but he still keeps a close eye on the team every Sunday. I’ve always admired Chris for his level-headed view of the team, and now that he is no longer “too close to the team,” he can offer a fresh perspective on where things currently stand to us who have been locked in the basement with this franchise for our entire lives.

Here are some of the topics we cover with Burke:

• How bad of a situation are the Lions actually in right now?
• Do you think Brad Holmes believes they are behind schedule right now?
• What is the likelihood of a defensive turnaround out of the bye week?
• Is Jared Goff truly the quarterback of the future?
• The early debate of drafting a quarterback vs. going defense-heavy
• How important is Ben Johnson to the entire team?
• How concerning is Dan Campbell’s game management?

Listen to the entire podcast below:

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