Top 10 injury news of the Lions 2024 season - No. 4: The fortuitous offense
While the calamitous injuries on defense monopolized the headlines during the 2024 season, the Lions offense quietly had a very healthy year. All the offensive starters and most of the key reserves were available for the vast majority of the season. Critical players in Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Penei Sewell played all 18 games.
No. 10: Alex Anzalone's forearm
No. 9: Ifeatu Melifonwu's turbulent year
No. 8: Christian Mahogany's delayed debut
No. 7: James Houston's ill-fated comeback
No. 6: David Montgomery's mysterious knee
No. 5: Carlton Davis jaw fracture
All that good health allowed for fun, creative plays like these...
MOST SIGNIFICANT INJURIES ON OFFENSE - click links for video
(In parentheses are the number of full games missed due to injury including playoffs.)
IMPACT ON SEASON
Lions fans were hit with a couple of Monday-morning, jump scares with Ragnow's pec tear and Montgomery's initially-diagnosed-as-season-ending knee. All's well that ends well though, as there were no serious season-enders and no long-term absences.
Even the short-term absences had minimal impact as there was healthy, quality depth. Jahmyr Gibbs excelled in Montgomery's absence. Dan Skipper performed admirably with Decker out. Christian Mahogany filled in nicely for both Glasgow and Zeitler.
WHAT SHOULD WE MAKE OF THE OFFENSE'S GOOD FORTUNE?
An important takeaway is that it's hard to blame external factors on the defensive injuries when those same factors were present for the healthy offense. Both sides of the ball played on the same fields, trained under the same strength & conditioning staff, and were treated by the same medical team.
More than likely, luck is the reason for the stark difference in health between the offense and the defense. Having Lady Luck on your side may be more important than anything.
Lady Luck, take the wheel. - Domino in Deadpool 2
(Explicit language ahead)
ANY OFFSEASON INJURY CONCERNS?
To this point, there have been no major injuries this offseason which continues the healthy, hot-streak for the offense.
Of minor concern is an unexpected, offseason knee "clean-up" surgery for Amon-Ra St. Brown who didn't miss a game all last year. A clean-up often means a meniscus cartilage trim and clearing out of loose bodies in the joint. If that's indeed what happened, the severity of any cartilage damage is extremely variable, and the impact is hard to predict. In the short-term, he is likely to be fine.
St. Brown was limited at voluntary OTA in June, but stated he should be ready for training camp. While there are no significant short-term concerns, his performance this season will be something to keep an eye on.
OUTLOOK
The good news going into the 2025 season is that all offensive starters and key reserves are expected to be healthy for training camp and the start of the season.
The bad news is that the immutable law of probabilities may result in some injury regression-to-the-mean in 2025. This cuts both ways though. While the offense likely won't be as blessed as last year, the defense likely won't be as cursed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
I'm the Rangers boss who had just nine players on first day of pre season – we beat Celtic but it still ended in tears
Russell Martin will get his first look at his new Rangers squad when they report back for pre-season training next Monday. Whatever he thinks of the group of players left behind by Philippe Clement, at least he'll have enough to fill a starting XI. Advertisement That's certainly more than could be said for Mark Warburton when he rocked up at Auchenhowie for his first day as Ibrox gaffer. READ MORE: Rangers told what really happened with Max Aarons at Valencia as £4.5m man prepares 'surprise' for Russell Martin READ MORE: 12 Rangers reunions Russell Martin could look for from emotional Aribo homecoming to £20m Austrian misfit Sunday past marked 10 years since the Englishman shook hands on the deal that would see him become just the 14th man to occupy the manager's office at Ibrox. If you'd lined up the 13 bosses who came before him, that would still have been four more than the number of players the former Brentford gaffer found waiting for him in the first-team dressing room. Advertisement But it was upon that blank canvas that Warburton began drawing up his plan to finally restore Rangers to Scottish football's top flight after four bleak years in the lower leagues. In the end, his blueprint for success would be shredded by the relentless green-and-white winning machine constructed across the city by Brendan Rodgers before a bizarre fall-out with Dave King ended his time in Glasgow. But for a short spell, the Light Blue legions really did look upon Warburton as the man to make their club great again. In the first of Record Sport's exclusive two-part sit down with the former Ibrox gaffer to mark a decade since his appointment, he details: Advertisement How he arrived to find a squad down to the barebones. The pressure that was piled on his shoulders as he was tasked with answering the Ibrox board's non-negotiable demand for promotion And how Old Firm joy at Hampden gave way to Scottish Cup Final agony. Warburton certainly wasn't short on offers when the opportunity to talk with Rangers came up. A former City trader, he walked away from the world of finance aged 40 to pursue his dream of a career in football. And his stock was soaring after an 18-month stint in charge of Brentford that very nearly saw the Bees reach the Premier League's land of milk and honey. But it was at the suggestion of his assistant boss Davie Weir that the then 52-year accepted an offer to talk with Gers chairman King. 'I had a couple of really good offers from really big clubs,' he said. 'But Davie said, 'There's interest from Rangers, we should talk'. Rangers manager Mark Warburton gets in the spirit of things on armed forces day at Ibrox -Credit:2016 Willie Vass 'At that time, Rangers were where they were but Davie insisted it was worth the conversation - 'It's Rangers!' So we had a meeting in London and that's where it started.' Advertisement It might have been Rangers, but not as three-time SPL winner Weir had known them. The club was on its knees, still trying to recover from years of financial recklessness and a failed promotion push the season before. Warburton, though, could see the potential to build a team in his own image. 'If I'm right in the numbers the chairman had just released 13 players,' said Warburton. 'So, the first day we walked in, we literally had nine players. That was it. 'I was thankful to have the likes of Kenny Miller and Lee Wallace but there was only seven more! 'Even on the first day I had to ask for one of the academy lads to come over so we could at least play five-a-sides. Advertisement 'I was told there wasn't anybody good enough but there was this one lad who hadn't done well enough on loan and was heading out the door. His name was Barrie McKay. 'He comes over and within five minutes Davie and I are looking at each other asking, 'How is this kid not in the first-team?'' McKay would go on to become a mainstay of the promotion-winning team Warburton built in rapid fashion. For the rest, he would dip into the list of contacts he'd built up during his days as a youth coach at Watford and while working with the NextGen Series. Former Newcastle kids James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn arrived alongside Wigan defender Rob Kiernan. Danny Wilson returned to the club he'd spent his academy days at, as did Andy Halliday. Advertisement 'The loan market I knew really well so was aware of guys like Dom Ball and Gedion Zelalem,' said Warbs. 'It was really, 'Just go get a squad together as quick as you can'. 'Of course, we could pay a lot more compared to the other clubs in the division. 'But still, it was nowhere near the level of pay that the English Championship could offer, so it was a real struggle to get the likes of Tav, Waghorn and Rob to come up. 'I had to really convince them to come by telling them about the size of the club, the expectation levels, the huge fan base and what it means to wear that Rangers jersey.' The new recruits weren't the only ones have having to deal with the strain of feeding the Ibrox fanbase's hunger for success. Advertisement 'Well, there was no question of promotion,' recalled Warburton. "We had to get the team back up to the Premiership. Promotion was a non-negotiable.' Ex-Rangers chairman Dave King Things, though, could not have got off to a better start as Warbs' new-look side put on a stylish show in the campaign curtain-raiser, a 6-2 Challenge Cup win over Hibs at Easter Road. 'Things really did fall into place quickly. We had a great start. We were playing in such a brave way and the fans really bought into it.' It was that afternoon that the travelling Ibrox fans first aired their Magic Hat ditty in tribute to the Londoner. He'd go on to conjure up the prize the the board demanded of him, winning the Championship with an 11-point cushion. Advertisement But he very nearly provided an additional silver-lining that no-one saw coming when Gers were drawn to face Celtic in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. Despite being up a Parkhead side that were miles and millions in front, Warburton took the bold decision to instruct his second-tier outfit to go toe-to-toe with the Premiership champions in a Hampden thriller. 'It was my first Old Firm game and I looked on it as a privilege to be involved in that,' he said looking back on Gers penalty triumph after a breathless 2-2 draw. 'We stayed in Mar Hall the night before the game and I'm looking around at all these young boys in our team. None of them had played in a game like this. Advertisement 'I was looking for signs of nerves but all I saw was an absolute excitement for the game. They just couldn't wait to get to Hampden. That was really pleasing. 'From my background in the city, you look at certain situations and weight up the probabilities of situations. It occurred to me that it would be very difficult for Celtic to do anything other than underestimate us. 'They came in as Scottish champions. They had a midfield of Callum McGregor, Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic. 'They would expect us to try to shut up shop, to change our style and go more defensive. I just thought the best thing we could do is the opposite and really have a go. Advertisement 'From the first passage of play, we showed our intention. It sounds corny, but I just thought we deserved to win. It wasn't a lucky win. 'Of course, Patrick Roberts should have scored that big chance but I do think Celtic were surprised by the way we attacked the game and were even dominant for spells.' Victory was sealed when Rogic ballooned his decisive spot-kick. Celtic's Tom Rogic misses his penalty during the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final match against Rangers But as his players raced off in wild celebration, Warburton paused to think of the man standing in the opposite dugout. He said: 'Of course your first thought is what it means for the blue side of Glasgow. 'But then a second later I had a thought for Ronny Deila. Advertisement 'I knew the amount of crap he was getting at that time, and what he was dealing with. Some of it I thought was outrageous. He'd won the title but the abuse he got was shocking. 'I just remember thinking, 'Wow, what's he going to face now?' 'But of course personally, you can't not enjoy moments like that. It was a great day.' From that soaring high came the bitterest of lows in the final against Hibs. With a 2-1 leading heading into the final 10 minutes, Warburton's side contrived to let the Cup slip as David Gray's winner ended 114 years of Leith longing. While Gers had been given a three-week break after rounding off their league campaign, Alan Stubbs team were kept battle-hardened as they fought their way through to the play-off final. Advertisement 'We had injuries, and I think there's only four outfielders on the bench. That played a part of course,' added Warburton. 'But in terms of self reflection, the three-week break between our last league game and the final killed us. 'We just couldn't find a game. All the other British teams were were away on holiday, so we just couldn't find a first team to play. 'In the end, we had to go down to London and play Tottenham's kids. 'I've thought back to that period so many times and asked, 'could we have done it differently?' 'On the day itself, we didn't start well and had to come back from losing an early goal. Advertisement 'But when Andy Halliday scored to put us ahead, I thought, 'Well, we've got through it'. 'It was a hot day, we looked tired. 'Let's just get through it and get it won'. 'But then what happened happened. To lose a cup final in the last minute was devastating.' *Read part two of our exclusive interview tomorrow, as Warburton remembers the infamous 'Going for 55' display and the moment he knew he was in trouble at Ibrox.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kwame Poku set for Rangers transfer as Russell Martin 'wins' multi-club battle for winger
Rangers have reportedly won the race to sign Peterborough winger Kwame Poku. The 23-year-old was at the centre of a huge battle for his signature with a host of Championship clubs and the continent chasing him. Advertisement Posh director of football, the legendary Barry Fry, revealed 25 clubs were in for the star. READ MORE: Rangers to 'miss out' on prime target as Ibrox club set for transfer de ja vu READ MORE: Max Aarons 'close' to Rangers transfer as Russell Martin swoops for former £20million Man Utd target But Team Talk now report 'Poku is in line to join Glasgow Rangers, with Russell Martin's side believing they have won the race.' Poku is out of contract and available on a free, although the London Road outfit will be due a compensation fee. However, Rangers can exploit the cross-border rule which they used to sign Joe Aribo for much less than Posh would receive if he went to a club in England. Advertisement Birmingham City are one of the clubs interested and reportedly offered the player £30,000 a week. Martin is yet to make a signing and the Ghana winger is seen as the ideal replacement for Vaclav Cerny, who has returned to Wolsburg after impressing on loan at Ibrox. Kwame Poku in action Poku was a standout in League One last season and scored 12 goals with eight assists, despite being plagued by injuries. Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers page, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. Advertisement We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Rangers transfer rinse and repeat scenario Russell Martin simply cannot escape
There's something of an anomaly about the situation Rangers and their supporters find themselves faced with this summer. The need for patience has never felt quite so warranted or so well earned as it does right now. And yet the time for understanding and for trusting in the process may already be running short. Advertisement A club that has been crying out for a summer of radical, sweeping change is finally entering into the very period of wide ranging recalibration which has been so badly needed for so long. READ MORE: I'm the Rangers boss who had just nine players on first day of pre season – we beat Celtic but it still ended in tears READ MORE: Rangers takeover chief in Club 1872 summit as fan group break silence on key issues A broken, dysfunctional board has been thanked for its efforts and persuaded to step aside for the greater good. In its place, a harmonious, more far-sighted regime has been installed, headed up by new owners with fresh money and contemporary ideas. In other words, this is precisely the moment these fans have been waiting for. Advertisement And yet, in so many ways, it's probably starting to feel all a little bit too much like it always tends to do at this time of year. Another summer rebuild is underway already with the aim of overhauling a playing squad which quite patently is not fit for purpose on the back of yet another flaccid campaign of feeble underachievement. The fans have most certainly seen this movie before. Given the enormous size of that task – and with Champions League qualifiers now only one month away – there is a familiar sense of urgency and the need to reinstate a revolving door policy in and out of the car park at the club's Auchenhowie complex. Advertisement Which is why Rangers fans cannot be blamed if they are beginning to suspect that the more things change, the more they stay the same. They've been asked to take this very leap of faith too many times. Their pride has been bruised by too many painful landings. And yet here they are again, toes curled once more around the same cliff edge and anxiously monitoring developments as the latest waves of comings and goings begin to crash up against the rocks below. It happened under Mark Warburton and Pedro Caixinha. Then Steven Gerrard had several attempts with varying degrees of success. Gio van Bronckhorst had a crack at overseeing something similar in the summer of 2022. And Michael Beale almost wrecked the joint when it was his turn 12 months later in the Summer of Sam Lammers. Advertisement This time last year Philippe Clement was entrusted with repairing the damage but the Belgian managed only to make it even worse, at a time when the men in charge couldn't oversee a minor stadium revamp, never mind an entire squad overhaul. As a result, Rangers were rendered homeless off the pitch and spineless on it in, perhaps, the most catastrophic episode in a decade of rinse and repeat. No wonder then that patience and trust in the process is in short supply. New Rangers chairman Andrew Cavenagh at Ibrox That's hardly the fault of Andrew Cavenagh or of his new broom leadership group from across the pond. But, regardless, as the club's new figureheads, the onus now falls squarely upon them to shake up all the previous plot lines. As unfair as that may seem at such an early juncture in Cavenagh's overall long term plan, it's fact nonetheless. Welcome to Scotland. Advertisement The same rule applies to newly installed manager Russell Martin. Or, head coach, to give him his actual, Americanised title. Manager or not, Martin has the responsibility of overseeing this latest summer of change and, unfairly or not, he'll have to do so against the backdrop of so many rebuilds gone so badly wrong. With Peterborough winger and free agent Kwame Poku believed to be among the first raft of imminent arrivals and former Norwich full-back Max Aarons lined up for a loan move from Bournemouth, the early indications point to a policy of raking around in England's basement buckets. Harry Darling of Swansea, meanwhile, who was also believed to be one of Martin's targets, seems set to join Norwich instead. Advertisement All of this might bring around flashbacks to ten years ago when the foundations for Warburton's big summer build were being sourced predominantly from the same market - at a time when Rangers were still attempting to get back into the top tier of the Scottish game. Again, it's incredibly unfair on Martin to have to wrestle with ghosts from Rangers past just because of the historic misjudgements and misadventures of others. But it's an unavoidable legacy issue nonetheless. At just 39 years old - and on the back of a hugely disappointing loan spell at Ibrox during the cold-sweated madness of Graeme Murty's interim management - he's certainly not lacking in the courage department. On the contrary, Martin must have balls of steel to want to put himself in such a position, with the odds stacked so heavily against him. And especially given that he already had the offer of a far less stressful gig at the King Power Stadium sitting on the table. Advertisement On top of it all, the delay in finalising the takeover means the Americans were already slipping so far behind the eight ball ahead of the coming campaign that Martin will need to be part magician, part miracle worker in order to fulfil Cavenagh's ambitions of making Rangers great again at the first attempt. Should, however, it transpires that he falls short over the coming months then he'll need to conjure up even greater powers in order to survive in the head coach role for the longer term and to earn himself another shot at it all again this time next year. Patience and time are what Martin needs most of all as he pieces this latest rebuild together. But he's an intelligent man and a deep thinker who will also be smart enough to realise the pair of them make the most unlikely bedfellows in this part of the world. If he wanted to pocket an easier wage packet then he would have chosen a career at Leicester City. Instead, Martin chose life in Scottish football. And, for that reason alone, he deserves every last bit of patience and time an exhausted Rangers support can find within itself to afford him.
