Celebrating a Detroit Lions win with a Detroit Tigers team on the gridiron

Yesterday was the first “Victory Monday” of the season for the Detroit Lions, and with Major League Baseball on strike, I thought it’d be a fun idea to give the Detroit Tigers something to do and see how the roster would line up on the gridiron!

Huddle Up

First things first, congrats to the Lions on their first win of the season, defeating the division rival Minnesota Vikings in a thrilling 29-27 contest. It was a true feel-good sports moment. The dedication of the victory by head coach Dan Campbell to the victims of the Oxford shooting was especially touching.

With things looking bleak in the baseball world, I decided to build off of the joy following the Lions’ win and give the Tigers roster something to do. Let’s see how they would line up if the NFL was on strike, and we needed a sort of Keanu Reeves “The Replacements” scenario.

Detroit Tigers Position by Position Breakdown

Quarterback – Casey Mize

It all starts with the signal-caller. The Tigers roster for sure has some hard throwers who could rocket the ball down the field if needed, but I’m going with the pedigree of the former number one overall selection, Casey Mize. Mize has poise and really blossomed this past season into a major league-caliber starting pitcher. It’s only a matter of time before Mize is a perennial All-Star selection, and has Tigers fans calling for an extension. Mize is a great athlete and has the composure and smarts to lead a team to a victory.

I’d have Kyle Funkhauser as the backup, being that he played some QB in high school.

PS – I was going to call Kyle “Funkman” and link to some classic Marty Funkhauser bits, but they were mostly NSFW. RIP Bob Einstein.

Detroit Tigers Running Back – Akil Baddoo

While we know that Baddoo can throw a touchdown pass, I feel like he’d be better off taking the ball from the backfield, finding a lane, and scoring six via his 28.9 feet per second on the ground. At  6’1″ and 210 pounds, a back of his size and speed would be deadly at the NFL level. The only downside would be the Tigers outfielder can’t lose his football helmet as he heads towards the end zone.

Wide Receivers – Derek Hill and Victor Reyes

Hill’s sub 6.4 60-yard dash is one of the best in the big leagues, and as a burner Hill could be that slot receiver teams love, and should probably be suiting up for the Lions right now if we’re being honest. The team could use him. Tigers fans are used to Hill’s dazzling catches in centerfield, so his hands shouldn’t be a problem in pro football either.

Reyes stands 6’5″ and weighs 194 pounds. He’s that outside threat who can run and I can just see him catching end zone fades from Jared Goff all day long. The Tigers outfielder also has a pretty good arm, so he could pull off one of those “wide receiver throws the touchdown pass” plays teams love to do.

Matt Manning was also an option here, as the former basketball standout stands at 6’6″, but Reyes wins out for his speed.

Tight End – Michael Fulmer

The prototypical NFL tight end size is about 6’3″, 240 lbs. Fulmer checks in at about that. The former Arkansas Razorback probably doesn’t have the speed necessary to compete for passes across the middle of the field, but he can block for now while the aforementioned skill players handle the bulk of the receiving duties.

I almost put Alex Faedo here. Faedo’s Florida Gator roots have to mean he knows how to play football just by proxy, but he’s yet to play a down, so to speak, for the Tigers, so he didn’t qualify.

The Detroit Tigers secondary:

Linebackers – Robbie Grossman, Tarik Skubal

Grossman is a veteran leader on the Tigers’ current roster, and that kind of mentality is needed in your linebacking core. He’s slightly under the average NFL linebacker height, but he’s shown patience at the plate in the big leagues and will know how to attack and pick his spots accordingly.

Skubal is deceivingly big, and could definitely be a linebacker on this squad. At 6’3″, 215 pounds, the southpaw can use that height to see over the defense and reach up to disrupt the passing game.

Cornerbacks – Daz Cameron and Willi Castro

Ideally, you’d have Derek Hill pulling a Troy Brown playing both offense and defense for the team. I won’t make him do that, and instead, have Cameron and Castro handle cornerback duties. Cameron is lightning quick and will cover the opposing team’s WR1. So you know, Allen Robinson or Davante Adams. Light work for Daz.

Willi will be the slot corner, and use his pretty good sprint speed to cover the inside of the field.

Safety – Javier Baez

It feels pretty great to be able to say Javier Baez’s name as an option here. The Tigers made that big shortstop splash in free agency, and now Baez can play one of the most important positions on this hypothetical football field. Baez is a baseball nut and loves the game, so I’m sure he’d take that IQ and love for the game (assuming he’d be the same way in football) and be a field general defensively. Baez can do things on the field few others, if anyone, can. He will bring that creativity to the Lions and help defeat the likes of Aaron Rodgers. If anyone can create that kind of magic, “El Mago” can.

There you have it, folks, I’m sure there are better examples of each I could’ve used, but one thing is for sure, we need the lockout to end and get back to reporting baseball news.