Notes: Lions on verge of ‘serious contention,’ says Peter King

It’s not often you hear the words “Detroit Lions” and “serious contention” in the same sentence, but those are exactly the ones Peter King would use.

In his latest edition of Football Morning in America, the analyst explains how he’s been keeping a close eye on how the Lions are setting themselves up to succeed — both now and in the future.

“I think, quietly, the Lions have gotten competitive while building intelligently for the future,” he writes.

King points out that Detroit is among the three NFL teams that currently hold 12 picks in the first three rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft, next to Houston and Chicago. Those franchises have a long way to go, but as he phrases it: “Detroit, on the verge of serious contention, picks sixth, 18th, 48th, 55th and 81st this year—a league-high five picks in the first 2.5 rounds.”

Speaking of on the verge, I don’t need you to remind you the Lions were on the precipice of the playoffs after turning around a 1-6 start. With a heaping of draft picks and offseason additions like C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Cam Sutton, King thinks Detroit is in it to win it.

“GM Brad Holmes has done an excellent job looking to the future while stocking his team for today. If Jared Goff is the answer at quarterback, the Lions will be consistently dangerous for the first time in some time,” King finishes.

If the latter half of last season is any indication where Goff’s future lies, it seems offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has found the recipe to putting his QB1 in a position to succeed.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin ranks teams on the likelihood they draft a quarterback come April. “With so much ammo at the top of the draft, the Lions may not want to waste the chance to secure a more athletic successor.”

• What’s going on with the Lions secondary? Quite a lot. Detroitlions.com’s Tim Twentyman breaks it all down.

• Also from the Detroitlions.com crew, Mike O’Hara offers a third mock, but this one’s been affected by Combine and Pro Day performances, free-agent signings, trades, and more.

• Thought you guys would get a kick out of this considering the Lions’ history with “Hard Knocks.” Quote tweeting a list of possible Hard Knocks candidates, Jets cornerback Justin Hardee Sr. said no thanks.

• For the Matthew Stafford lovers out there (I will never stop randomly including him in Notes, not sorry), what’s the latest with (the Rams’) No. 9? Any truth to those retirement rumors?

• OK keeping on the theme of former Lions, apparently Darius Slay was pretty close to leaving the Eagles and becoming a different type of bird.