anning for Stafford to be back in 2020.To argue another possibility is to blithely ignore reality and knowingly take a baseball bat to an overgrown hornet’s

The Lions are in trouble in the receiver depth department." Detroit Lions OpinionThe Lions have failed to fix their receiver problemNew Austin Bryant Detroit Lions Jersey ,400commentsThe Lions are in trouble in the receiver depth department.EDTThe Detroit Lions had problems on top of problems in 2018 when it comes to wide receiver. Sure, Kenny Golladay had his coming-out party and hit 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his career. But outside of that, they traded Golden Tate, who was their leading receiver at the time, Marvin Jones Jr. went down with injuries, Bruce Ellington was not Golden Tate and went, too, down with an injury. By the season’s end, the Lions were down to working with guys like Andy Jones and Brandon Powell. It became clear that receiver was going to be an incredibly big need in the offseason. But the Lions botched their approach in fixing the problem. It’s not like they didn’t try, though. They did sign Danny Amendola, who should play a major role in the Lions offense. But outside of that signing, there’s a lot left to be desired.The Lions brought in Jermaine Kearse, who had previously worked with Darrell Bevell, to be their fourth receiver. But he, unfortunately, suffered a broken leg on the first series of the preseason. They also drafted Travis Fulgham, who has had somewhat of a rough camp and looks to be a long term project. Then there’s a slew of guys like Brandon Powell and Tom Kennedy that are either destined for the practice squad or destined to find their roles on other teams. This feels like another perfect example of Bob Quinn’s compartmentalized offseasons. Quinn has spent each of his offseason’s furiously working on one or sometimes two sections of the team while ignoring everything else. For example White Isaac Nauta Jersey , in his first offseason he worked on improving the Lions’ run game while ignoring the defensive line. Then he worked on fixing the offensive line while ignoring the tight ends. This year he fixed the tight ends and threw a ton of money at the defensive line, but ignored the receiver position—or at least didn’t put a strong enough focus on it. Now the Lions have found themselves in some trouble. You could argue that they would be fine had Kearse not been injured, but he is. Now the Lions are doing that thing they do: They could fix a problem easily, but, instead, they go the “super smart” and frugal thing instead. The route that never seems to work out (see: 2018 tight ends). This week, the Lions signed wide receiver Jordan Lasley. The team is chock full of receivers that have looked questionable all summer long, and then instead of working to improve that situation, they add a receiver with a questionable past and no proven production in the NFL.Who knows? Lasley might be the second coming of Jerry Rice or something. He might just fit right in with the Lions and have a breakout campaign. But it seems likely that he will be cut by his third team since coming into the league last year. Then the Lions are right back at square one. Then there’s Dontrelle Inman. He visited the team on Monday afternoon and left without a contract. There’s a guy that can easily fit in to that fourth role and give you maybe 300-400 yards receiving or, worst case scenario, fill in for one of the top three guys if an injury should happen to happen. But the Lions let him leave, and now he’s found a team. So what does the team do now? As it stands right now, the receiver that stands out the most is Chris Lacy. He’s looked good in camp. At some points he’s looked downright great. He’s even worked reps with the first team in place of Marvin Jones, who has missed some time with an injury. He’s a guy you’d love to see succeed since he’s an undrafted guy who has worked his way up from the bottom of the depth chart to the point where he can and probably will make the team. But, so far, we’ve seen very little of him in a game. He’s caught two passes for 18 yards on four targets. It would be nice to get some more exposure to him Friday against the Bills. My concern could be purely reactionary at this point, because you never know. The Lions might be just fine this season. After all, we’re talking about the Lions’ fourth receiver here—not exactly the team’s highest priority. If the Lions can stay healthy Luke Willson Jersey , they may never need to utilize any of these guys. But if they can’t, the Lions offense will look an awful lot like it did late in the season last year. That’s something this team just can’t take again. AUTHOR’S NOTE: Just in case you missed the headline, this column deals heavily in a particular curse word and its philosophical nature to the game of American football. If you object to its presence in your reading material, this is your warning to know that it is present throughout the following column, and will repeated, uncensored, without shame.1. There’s an old anecdote from Ron Jaworski’s “The Games that Changed the Game” about “playing fucked.” Jaworski and Jon Gruden visited an Indianapolis Colts practice and witnessed the following:2. Understand that the Detroit Lions have operated on the same principle that Moore laid out years ago. The moment Matthew Stafford was ruled out prior to the Chicago Bears game, and again this prior week against the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions were officially fucked. Everything else that happens emanates from trying to accept this.You can’t prepare for fucked. You can’t practice it. You just have to accept it when it comes. The Lions couldn’t have prepared for Stafford’s injury in any universe. He was critically important, and the longer he sits out the more questions will rise as to what this team should be doing without him.To their credit, this team has been trying to create a vision where dependence upon the quarterback isn’t so paramount. Each offseason the same line is hammered out: balanced offense, better defense. Adaptability over specialization.It hasn’t worked so well. No matter how hard they scheme, no matter who takes the ball at tailback or who tries to impose their will on defense on a given Sunday, the Lions cannot escape who they are. They are intrinsically tied to their veteran quarterback.Which means, quite simply, that without Stafford they are fucked.Playing fucked is a lifestyle. As November fades away, plenty of teams in the NFL prepare to play fucked. You can’t tank mid-season in this league. Teams with only three wins under their belt on the eve of Thanksgiving can only act tough, promise to play hard and try not to embarrass themselves too much. They do this because they know that the only goal that matters in this season—securing a playoff spot—is well outside of reach Sylvester Williams Jersey , but protocol dictates nobody can speak that truth so openly.3. The knowledge that you are fucked requires the proper state of mind. Acceptance is critical. Human beings are most of the time not in control, although they are called to act otherwise at all times.To this end, head coach Matt Patricia’s doomed reign falls into further incoherence as he insists that, no, the Lions are not fucked. to develop and grow, but there will not be a starter controversy so long as Stafford returns next year healthy.6. But that is the question. What does the future hold for Stafford and the Lions? What state will he be in going forward?It almost seems unfair to worry long-term in the immediate aftermath of such an injury, but the paradigm shift has been coming for a while. Stafford worked hard as hell to become the iron man he is, never missing a game, but to do so he played through repeat injury. It was always a hand, or a hip or a back, something nagging him somewhere. A good soul can ignore pain only for so long. And when the break comes, it becomes hard to overcome.What does this look like in two more years? Stafford grows older. Injuries mend, but never fully fade; complications could appear down the road.For 11 years now, the Detroit Lions have existed in a new era from its past, futile incarnations (so far it’s been one that’s slightly less futile). That existence of Stafford created a universe of possibility, the kind only made possible with a proper franchise quarterback. Fear will linger now that any day, any future injury could derail it all, close the timelines and narrow the universe as the Lions slip back into the primordial soup of questions.But at what point can this be addressed? Jeff Driskel is not starter material at present or a near future Eli Harold Jersey , and with each passing season the butcher’s bill for the Lions grows longer. The pass rush is non-functional at this point; the secondary will grow worse as assets are stripped and driven from town. The offensive line is falling apart and the run game still isn’t there. And do you trust general manager Bob Quinn to make a proper selection given a darkening track record in the NFL Draft? This may be why there’s a need to put on appearances, to act as if Stafford will be back this year: if for nothing else but to assure everyone that the order of things is fine. Should Stafford’s future truly be in question, it would require tearing down the whole foundation to set things right. It might be worth doing that anyway.7. On a final note: In case it wasn’t excessively clear after Saturday’s fiasco, there is a better chance for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than there is that Colin Kaepernick will be signed by a team in the NFL—far less Patricia’s Lions.Saturday’s workout was an aborted attempt to sell poisoned peace that nobody was buying. The overture was not made in good faith and nobody trusted anybody as it came to fruition.There was never any sense to begin with for the Lions to be involved. Kaepernick is a quarterback who played primarily out of the pistol (which the Lions don’t play) behind an excellent offensive line (which the Lions don’t have) over five years ago (it’s 2019). He was not going to come in at the end of November and save the Lions from a massive win deficit to overcome the Vikings, Packers or the current NFC wild card holders, nor will he be hold any place on a future roster—after all, you’re planning for Stafford to be back in 2020.To argue another possibility is to blithely ignore reality and knowingly take a baseball bat to an overgrown hornet’s nest.Kaepernick is a third rail topic that requires so many layers to peel, but it is possible—I would argue, even morally right—to separate all these layers when speaking about his chances to play football again. You can separate what actions he has taken in the past, what political beliefs he stands for, whether the league has done him dirty and whether he is capable of playing at a 2012 level again. This is not a hard ask, but one answer after Saturday is simple enough. He won’t be joining the Lions.This does not need more thought than that. After all, the Lions are fucked.