Are you ready for the wrecking crew of DJ Reader and Alim McNeill? Opposing teams are not.
Large, awful Detroit signed DJ Reader on Thursday, and the Lions released his introduction package right away. Apart from the Pride of Detroit press conference that we previously discussed, wherein the team provided an optimistic update regarding his injury—a torn quadricep—many resources are currently accessible online to pique fans’ interest in their potent new disruptor in the middle of the defense. Some photos of Reader (and the other new Lions) signing official contracts, meeting the staff, and putting pen to paper in Allen Park can be found in the behind-the-scenes photo gallery on the team’s official website.
The full 12-minute introductory press conference for the former Bengal is now available for viewing on the team’s official YouTube account. You can hear for yourself that Reader is “super happy” to be lining up with another Carolina person like Alim McNeill (and that Carolina has the greatest athletes in the country). Our own Erik Schlitt covered a lot of the best statements in his roster impact analysis of the deal.
He’s thrilled to be playing for Dan Campbell, and meeting the head coach in person was inspiring: It’s true. It’s like a wave that passes over you when you realize someone is genuinely interested in you and is communicating with you. When they are speaking with you, they give you the cold shoulder. You nearly get chills from it. I thought that was the nicest part because it makes you feel like, “Alright, I’ll really run through a wall for this guy.”
In addition to the official press conference, team reporter Dannie Rogers sat down for a five-minute interview which was also posted to the official YouTube channel. Rogers led off by asking about Reader’s tweets during Detroit’s recent run in the playoffs. “It looked like you were the Detroit Lions’ biggest fan (this) postseason on Twitter. Can you break down the tweets?!?!” After the big guy’s rave review of the Lions’ success, Rogers pointed out how well things worked out to get him to Detroit: “You were almost manifesting this.” Reader’s eyes are aglow when he agrees:
“It’s crazy right, how that happens?” Like, that’s just how life works, I guess. You know, um, you’re around good people and you see good things and sometimes you want to be a part of them. Luckily I got that chance.”
Through the course of the interview, Reader talks about the serendipity of his excitement over the Lions’ playoff success flowing unexpectedly into signing with Detroit, how he (a former Clemson Tiger) can’t wait to mess with NC State’s Alim McNeill (“you know, can’t hold that against him”) as a fellow Carolina guy, and the love he has for his family. Apparently, Reader’s son is fired up about the move too: “His favorite color is blue, so he is super hyped. He’s ecstatic right now, and he’s excited to be a Lion. He’s like, ‘you know the lion’s the king of the jungle.’ He said he was a tiger before, but he’s excited to be a lion.”
Pretty much everybody is high on the possibilities that putting Alim McNeill next to DJ Reader brings for the Lions’ defense. On the latest episode of their Dungeon of Doom podcast, MLive’s Kyle Meinke and Ben Raven were enthusiastic about what the defensive line will look like in 2024. Meinke can barely contain himself (skip to 10:23 in the 39-minute audio):
“What an imposing looking dude! Picturing that guy—who was a top ten defensive tackle in the league last year according to Pro Football Focus—playing alongside Alim McNeill, also a top ten defensive tackle last year according to Pro Football Focus. Like, that to me is how you get better in free agency. . . it’s building strengths. It’s complementing what you have, and what they have in Alim McNeill is a really powerful defensive tackle who plays the run very well. Detroit was number two against the run last year and he really took steps forward as a pass rusher after dropping some weight. It was a breakout season. He might have been a Pro Bowler if he hadn’t gotten hurt late in the year.
And now you pair him with DJ Reader. This powerful, powerful bull rusher. Um, a guy in the middle. Like, it’s going to be a problem for offensive lines. They are going to wreak some havoc. They’re certainly going to defend the run (laughs), which is how it all starts. . . DJ Reader, one of the best dudes in the league. Put that meat next to Alim McNeill. That’s like 700 pounds of girth. It’s going to be a freak show up front in the interior of the Lions’ defensive line. I don’t remember the last time we could say that about Detroit.”
Even Mike Valenti on 97.1 The Ticket was pumped up about Reader joining the Lions on Thursday: “I like this. This to me is the best signing of your offseason.” Walking through the logic, Valenti was upbeat about the team addressing the defensive line in this manner. “I’m in. I needed to get better up front. I had a preference to an EDGE, but I’ll never be mad about a balanced defensive tackle. Meaning a guy who’s not just a run stuffer. He’s not just an occupier. It’s a guy you can play on passing downs and he can help you. Reader’s that.”
Valenti went on to make a similar point to MLive’s Meinke about what the pairing of the Carolina guys does to opposing blocking schemes:
Valenti: “Put him next to McNeill, you got two of the top ten defensive tackles in football. Rico, that’s real. That’s going to be a nightmare for offensive coordinators. You got three guys to block two. Good luck with that.”
Rico: “I mean, you really already weren’t running up the middle last season.”
Valenti: “You ain’t gonna do it now.”
Rico: “And now you just improved that. You made a strength even stronger.”
Valenti: “Yeah.”
Rico: “Which brings a lot of third-and-longs.”
Valenti: “I’ll be in disbelief if people run the football on this team.”
On the Ken Brown and Mike O’Hara podcast on WJR 760 from Friday (skip ahead to 16:22 in the 32-minute audio posted online), Brown loved bringing in Reader: “to me, this is an A+ signing.” O’Hara immediately went to the interior pairing aspect:
“I think he’ll help Alim McNeill too. I think he’s a good complement to him. I think Alim’s a good player on his own, but to get a guy—look, we’re talking about an unusually big man in Reader. he just, he looks like a guy who can handle the interior by himself. And you know what, he probably has over time. . . they had a really good run defense to begin with. This makes it even better.”
Good luck to all the opposing offensive coordinators trying to do anything against this incredible defensive interior. It’s going to be a heck of an offseason imagining how much better the run defense can even become.
