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.

How the offensive and defensive line would look like for the Detroit Tigers

Offensive Lineman – Joe Jimenez

Only one real option on the team, the Tigers aren’t the burliest group. Yes, they’ve got some guys in the low to mid 200’s when it comes to the “lbs”, but Jimenez is the player on the roster who checks in over the 270 mark. At 6’3″, Jimenez stands at the same height as quarterback Mize, so there shouldn’t be too many vision obstructions to worry about.

Interior Defensive Line – Miguel Cabrera

The future Hall of Famer and current member of the 500 home run club, Miggy can plug the middle of the line and stuff the run with his 6’4″, 240 lb frame. I didn’t put Cabrera as the offensive lineman because of injury history, and lack of explosive speed. Edge rushers would have a field day getting around number 24. Here he can succeed a bit more in my opinion. I could be completely wrong. I should just leave true football analysis to our site mates.

Edge Rusher – Jonathan Schoop

Admittedly there is no clear edge rusher on the Tigers roster. C’mon Al Avila, get it together! That said, Schoop has enough size to at least attempt to get by an offensive tackle. One thing we know for sure about Schoop is his versatility. If we asked him to get on the defensive end, I have no doubts he’d give it a shot.