Building the Lions

Root, Route, Rout

2011-09-19T14:20:00.011-04:00

The Root...

It was great to see Titus Young get involved early in the offense. He made nice athletic plays on the ball. He was aggressive and attacked the ball. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he plays with attitude (obvious from his confrontation with Brandon Flowers, where he almost tore the shirt off Flowers' while his facemask was being held). He's a talker, now. So, when he gets going he can be an annoying little mosquito. But I'm not sure why Flowers lost his composure, though it could have just as easily been a penalty against Titus when he appeared to take a wild swing at one of the KC players after relinquishing hold of Flowers' jersey. So Titus was also losing his composure.

The Lions already have so many weapons on offense, with Calvin Johnson obviously the biggest threat. With Brandon Pettigrew, Tony Scheffler, Nate Burleson, Jahvid Best and now Titus Young available to create mismatches; Scot Linehan has almost too many options to choose from for Matt Stafford to throw to.

Scot Linehan is still trying to run Best up the middle and I don't see that as productive. Unless Scot is trying to get Best accustomed to banging heads in the middle and finding lanes ... or he is trying to set up future plays, I don't see the purpose of this. The running game is not where they want it to be, and it won't be until next year when they get Mikel Leshoure back. But if they would use Best on more screen plays, like Green Bay has done in the past when their RBs were not powerful up the middle, they can get the job done. I see a difference in Best's running this year and he doesn't seem to have the burst that he had the beginning of last year. He still has that pure speed, but I remember a couple spin moves from the guy that got me excited that we could have someone special at RB. So, it was nice to see Jahvid show some signs of life by flying over the pile and scoring a touchdown.

The Route...

Matthew Stafford tried to give the ball away, but in true 2011 KC fashion-- thus far-- they decided to let the Lions off the hook when Jon McGraw (filling in for Eric Berry) fumbled and Scheffler recovered. KC lost their composure and incurred back to back, self-immolating penalties. Stafford also showed that he has pinpoint accuracy, as well, when he threaded a ball into Calvin Johnson for the TD.

The KC run game and misdirection plays were giving the Lion defense fits but KC just couldn't maintain their advantage, stalling and scoring their only points of the day with a field goal. They never threw a pass during their first 3 offensive interludes -- proclaiming their insecurity with Cassel and their passing game. Of course, last year they were one of the best running teams in the NFL. The Lions desire to stuff the run was severely tested and while KC had Jamaal Charles healthy, the Lions were failing the test. KC used the Lion aggressiveness against them. However, with their backs up against the red zone, the Lion defense stopped them 1 yard short of the first down.

The Lion offense looked out of sync the whole first half, going 3 and out and punting the ball multiple times. Fortunately, though KC continued to rush the ball pretty well (without their best RB, Jamaal Charles) they couldn't get enough 1st downs, without any contribution from Cassel throwing the ball. Succup missed one field goal and the rest of their series ended with either a punt or turnover.

The Lion offense was relying heavily on the pass, almost directly contrary to the KC game-plan. Calvin was covered nicely by Brandon Flowers (who received a 5yr, 50 mill payday before the game) most of the afternoon. But some of the fault goes on Calvin too, who didn't seem to have his game face on, yet. He wasn't attacking the ball and too often waited for the ball to come in to him. Flowers made some great plays to cut in front of CJ and knocked it away. But CJ is just too physically dominant to be shut out completely with his size and leaping ability. However, overall the Lion offense was disappointing with many incompletions, and were for the most part unable to run up the middle. They were saved by KC penalties time after time thoughout the first half, until finally Scheffler scored with most of the 2nd quarter gone.

Thus KC ran up the time of possession with runs, but failed to score. The Lion defense needs to be given kudos for not allowing them the homerun plays with their RBs. The speed of the LBs this year is evident. But they got turned around and discombobulated by the misdirection and I foresee more misdirection in their future until they learn how to stop it.

Finally when they were down by two scores, Kansas City threw out their game plan and asked Cassel to toss the rock ... abandoning the run game as an afterthought. Chris Houston received a gift interception when Dwayne Bowe tipped the ball right to him, as Eric Wright was putting pressure on Bowe to make a good catch. Amari Spievey, later on was the recipient of an errant Cassel throw.

The Lion offense also tried to shoot themselves in the foot with offensive holding and a (bogus) chop block penalty on Best, negating a big play to Burleson and a CJ TD on one series. Jason Hanson kicked multiple field goals as they got close, but had to settle for 3 points or had to punt on subsequent series.

The first half ended ugly with both teams suffering incompletions and ineptitude...but with the Lions leading and Ndamukong Suh getting his first sack of the year at the end of the half. At this point, I did't feel that the game was in any kind of jeopardy, because the Chiefs were throwing this game away, but the Lions missed so many opportunities that I knew Schwartz was seething worse than I was.

The Rout...

It wasn't until the second series of the 2nd half that I felt there was any offensive rhythm. I have to say thank you to the Chiefs for the penalties and turnovers. They gave the Lions an opportunity to find their offense (which really didn't take off until they got Best out in space) and get in some live tackling drills. IMO Kansas City gave this one away, more than the Lions won it. But, obviously, you can't dismiss a 48-3 rout. The Lions are a really talented team. Nevertheless, I'm not giddy. The Lions picked it up with the more practice they were getting, but they surely didn't start out dominant.

I have some fear that Calvin's ankle is bothering him more than they are telling us. And IMO he is the one player that it would be very difficult to recover from losing...more-so than Stafford or Suh. And I was very disappointed with how the entire team seemed unfocused at the beginning of the game. Kansas City's defense had something to do with that, of course. Let's not be totally dismissive. They have some very good talent on that side of the ball. Brandon Flowers is an up and coming CB, who I was entertained by. And Tamba Hali is one of the premier 3-4 pass rushers. Unfortunately for them injuries are killing them. But they are not helping themselves with meaningless penalties and poor offensive game-planning. If you make yourself one-dimensional, you give the defense a head start in shutting you down. And the Lions don't really need that kind of help this year.

On a side note, Todd Haley is a guy I've never believed was a quality head coach. So, I was very much surprised with his team's effectiveness last year. And by the look on his face and the lack of response by his team, I think he may lose his job by mid-season...and he knows it.

9-11 Lions Win at Tampa

2011-09-12T12:51:00.002-04:00

All the talking heads (except Heath Evans) seemed to have jumped on the bandwagon before this weekend. Though the Lions were 2 point underdogs, most analysts predicted them to win.

It was good to meet the former NFC Central co-horts; the former cushion for the bottom of the black and blue division. I won't say the teams really knew each other that well, because the only hold-over from those years were probably Backus and Ronde Barber. Still, it felt like a division game, to me.

And it was a good win. Not a great win. Denard Robinson is getting more press this morning. (And he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, Saturday. Michigan is looking bad, like coming off Millen-years-bad. Brady Hoke will need a couple years until they are "Michigan" again.) Stafford, Calvin and Scheffler are getting some highlights...but not a lot of extra commentary. That's okay, I like things low-key.

Tampa will be all right this year despite this loss. They definitely need to work out what happened to their offense. Maybe it was just Suh, et al, but Freeman didn't look that great. He's a good young stud QB, but he was taking some pretty hard hits at the beginning of the game. If they don't get him better protection a lot of teams are going to try to use the Lion blueprint. Not saying they'll succeed using exactly the same methods, but good coaches get similar results with other methods. I would say the Bucs are around an 8-8 or 9-7 team. In my book that's nothing to sneeze at. Yet, that probably...like in the NFC North...means they won't make the playoffs in the NFC South.

Green Bay isn't sleeping. I thought maybe if they won their Super Bowl last year they might come back this year fat and lazy...wishful thinking, I know. They had some breakdowns on defense, and New Orleans definitely gave them some stuff, too, on defense. But IMO GB is a 10-6, 11-5 team and the team to beat right now.

I didn't watch the Chicago game, but I saw some highlights. It looks like the defense is going to carry this team again this year. But don't sleep on Cutler, if he has time to throw the ball and doesn't have to listen for footsteps, he can be killer. Until I actually watch these snooze inducers, I will refrain from predicting a season record for them. But they could be a tough team to play.

I watched the first part of the Minnesota game, and ran out of patience partway through the 2nd quarter. They pulled McNabb for Webb for a series, and I'm not sure why. McNabb ended up with some pitiful stats, however...so maybe they continued to pull McNabb out in the 2nd half? Anyway, that is messed up. I have zero expectations for McNabb. But you have to give him a whole game to screw up before you yank him. If they continue switching QBs during the game, I predict a 5-11 season for these guys.

The Lions looked like a 10-6 team to me. Tampa is probably an 8-8 team, and they were just that much better than them. They dominated the lines of scrimmage both ways. We knew the d-line was good, but they really dominated Tampa's young and highly touted d-line. Of course, those Tampa d-liners are very young, so we don't really know who they are yet. But I gave my husband a fist bump when the announcers mentioned the dominance of the o-line. Stafford to Calvin is as advertised. Burleson will be back to form, toe tapping along the sidelines, whenever the bursa sac incision on his elbow is no longer bothering him. Kick coverage is worry, but I think they can clear that up pretty quickly. Linebackers are 1-1/2 times better than last year's group. They and the d-line stuffed the run. DBs helped versus the run too. DBs looked okay in pass coverage, though not awesome. Freeman challenged them for some big gains, and they came up losing too many...just turn your head toward the QB and push the guy out of bounds for goodness sake, Guys. LBs started covering the TEs much better in the 2nd half though whereas they had been letting some of those receptions happen in the 1st half.

Anyway, the next game is against the pathetic looking Kansas City Chiefs (who really must have won last year with smoke and mirrors) who got whomped by the Bills (who I consider to be middling bad...not horrendously bad). We shall see how the Lions play against Gunther's old team. There may be some residual bad blood between our coaching staff and upper brass and theirs, because of the Jarrad Page tampering/draft pick loss brouhaha. We'll see how that trickles down to the players. Nonetheless, most out of conference games tend to have higher scoring, so we'll see how this plays out. If I predict a high scoring game, it will probably be a 6-3 game so I'll restrain myself. Right now, I'm not sure if KC can score as bad as they're stumbling over their own feet.

I appreciated the better Fox crew announcing the game, they still misspoke a few times which drives me crazy. But better than listening to the opposing team's biggest fans in the booth, like last year. I appreciated the objectivity. If they're going to screw up names, they're doing it for both teams...that's fair anyway.

2011 Defense

2011-09-09T10:48:00.008-04:00

D-line

I loved what this unit did to Tom Brady, Colt McCoy, and Andy Dalton this past preseason. The following may sound like Downer Debbie, but just remember that my expectations of this group is high. As an aside: one thing I'll take away from this preseason is additional respect for Colt McCoy. He kept his composure and threw the ball accurately to his WRs, after getting hit time after time. With Lions in his face he continued to hang in the pocket and deliver the ball. The other QBs (even the great Tom Brady) didn't have that...but back to the point of this post.

Typically in the 4-3 Defense the DE is the star of the show, but we all know who gets the d-line lime-light. Ndamukong Suh. To be honest with you, though, I didn't think he had a great pre-season. For him, I thought he played just average and that he got pushed out of plays was worrisome. The term "sophomore slump" typically is only used in reference to QBs, but with a rookie season like Suh had last year, it seems appropriate to apply it to his preseason performance, at least. Sophomore slumps generally are caused by over-thinking and not reacting immediately. I hope that doesn't happen for Suh. Nevertheless, it will be hard for him to top what he did his rookie year. So, what will the media do if/when he doesn't get 10 sacks this year? I have no question that Suh will play hard, but I do question what all the publicity and adulation he got last year did to his preparations during the off-season. I think he's still making up ground and rounding into football shape. With the skills that he has, his intensity level, and an internal desire to be great, I really don't worry about him. But I think the preseason may have humbled him just a tad. And that's okay. I just question what the pundits are going to make of it, when he's not the guy who is getting all of the sacks.

Corey Williams, Sammie Hill, and Andre Fluellen, along with yet-to-be-seen Nick Fairley round out the rest of the DT corp. And a decent corp it is. Williams is rarely given his due, but he is the guy who really made Suh as good as he was last year. Corey has tremendous power and a great burst off the line of scrimmage. However he is 31 years old and I'm not sure if he can equal what he did last year. Now I'm referencing just his burst off the line of scrimmage...not the encroachment/offside penalties he incurred last year. There was a little too much of that, at inopportune moments, last season...but he was not the one garnering the flags this preseason, thank goodness. I still believe he has some tread on his tires and he, along with Sammie Hill, are good space-eating run stoppers who give the other DTs lined up next to them (not sure if they still call them under-tackles, Schwartz/Cunningham have a different terminology (and philosophy) than other 4-3 defenses) the opportunity to make the big splash plays. {Corey and Sammie are the big behemoths on the d-line; weighing at the reported weights of 320 and 329 pounds, respectively.}

To tell you the truth, Sammie Hill disappointed me some this pre-season. Last year against the 2nd and 3rd units, he looked like a man amongst boys. But this preseason he looked very average; getting pushed out of the rushing lanes and not fighting off blocks. He still has a nice slip move and can break through a double team on occasion, but he's not doing it consistently. I'm not sure what is going on with him. In my mind, I believe Mayhew was hoping that Sammie would push Corey Williams down the depth chart -- maybe even by next year. Maybe I'm tripping, but I think Hill has as much talent as Corey, and just needs some seasoning. But Sammie isn't playing with any intensity and I don't get it.

Anyway, the forgotten man, Andre Fluellen played like a mad-man -- with his hair on fire. Of course, he better do so if he wants to keep a job with Suh ahead of him and Nick Fairley coming up behind. (Suh is playing a little lighter this year at 307 pounds, Fluellen is up to 302 pounds, and Fairley is listed at a svelt 291 pounds). Fluellen also has the versatility (a Schwartz mantra) to play at the DE position, as he did last year when they ran into injury problems. He has a very fast get off (in fact he looked like he was off-side a couple times during this pre-season, but I swear he was moving after the ball was snapped...I checked on the DVR. He is just so darned fast on that initial burst he looks illegal). He doesn't have the power of Suh or exceptional hands, but he does have a great burst and that can take you pretty far in this game.

I see Gunther rotating these guys freely depending on who has the hot hand. And I know I'll be checking the DVR to see who is in (because the announcers aren't going to deign to let us know. They'll probably talk about what color eyes the opposing QB has.) The DT position is not only the strength of the defense, but they are the strength of the team. Where Gunther drives them is how far this team will go.

RDE Kyle VandenBosch is in the premiere pass-rushing position, the headliner position of the 4-3 defense, up against the LT of the offense. But we all know he isn't the headliner. At least he wasn't in his first year with the Lions, suffering an injury early on and ending up with only 4 sacks. Of course he is older (32 years) than his DE counter parts, but he is a great leader and this lockout shortened off-season was his time to shine. He has great intensity and definitely has more heart than most of the DEs the Lions have had in recent history. I do wonder if the injury factor will continue to hamper his production as he continues to age...but I love this guy. What he lacks in speed and agility he makes up for with his persistence and bulldog mentality. He is never mentioned with the top 5 DEs in this league, but he has made a difference to this team's attitude. He makes those around him better and I respect him for that.

LDE Cliff Avril plays across form KVB and he's playing on a one-year deal...trying to impress for his next contract in Detroit ... or elsewhere. This is going to seem harsh, but I don't see him loving the game or playing with the same passion as KVB. Nor do I see him staying in Detroit for the long haul to be honest. If he does well this year and gets a lot of sacks, he's going to follow the money. And if he doesn't do well, the Lions aren't going to pay him as much as he thinks he's worth.That's how I see it. Next year's cap situation and the number of players due to hit free agency from the Lions (if they don't get an extended deal done before mid-season) probably means this is the last year we see of Avril in honolulu-blue. Of course, I thought the same about Stanton last year. I really hope I'm wrong about him, but his body language is telling me that he's not fully committed. If they have a winning season, his attitude may change...but at this moment I see him as a me-first player. And I don't think he's a complete player, even though he's their best pure pass-rusher. He goes too deep and doesn't keep contain, and even though that wasn't an issue during this pre-season it will be against the mobile QBs they will be facing this year.

Behind these two, they have Willie Young and Lawrence Jackson (LoJack). Willie plays with reckless abandon, and sometimes that works well and sometimes it doesn't. There is no doubt he has the speed to be a pass rush specialist, I would just like to see more discipline from him-- situationally. For a 7th round pick from last year he's made great strides, however. And I could see him pushing Avril, if Avril has a let-down.

LoJack is very good player. He may not be the special player that HE thinks he is (USC guys have a certain innate belief in themselves that doesn't always match their on-field production...but that may be my bias against USC speaking. Or it may be caused by the past history that the Lions have had with drafting USC players. Sigh.). But if he continues to work on his techniques, I think this is the perfect scheme for LoJack to be a difference maker.

The DTs are going to give the DEs, in particular KVB and Avril, an opportunity to shine. It would be a shame if they don't cause some havoc with the QBs.

The biggest improvement to the 2011 defense has come in the middle of the defensive field at LB. Gunther likes to move the LBs around some and they each have to be versatile. Sometimes the MLB will have OLB duties and vice-versa.

Stephen Tulloch is the biggest off-season acquisition on the team and automatically upgrades this group. He had a very good career in Tennessee playing MLB, which is where he will play most of the time with the Lions. However, he only signed a one-year deal (because he couldn't get a mega-multi-year deal anywhere like he was expecting) so there is huge incentive for him to perform well. Unlike Avril, Tulloch has a different body-language. He's telling me that he's going to make it happen. I need to see more of him stuffing the run and filling the holes better...but the tackling skills are there and he knows how to get off blocks. I saw a severe lack in those two departments with the LBs last year so it is nice to see improvement there.

DeAndre Levy moves back to ROLB. There isn't really a weak side, or strong side designation to the OLB roles but typically I think of ROLB as the weak side. The Lions don't blitz very often with their LBs, but if they did I wouldn't think of Levy as the guy to do it. It will be interesting to see what Gunther and Schwartz have up their sleeves with Levy. He's a disciplined player and a good tackler (for the most part). He also can sniff out the screen and doesn't bite on reverses. Those are good attributes. But last year, I think he was playing too conservatively. With better players around him this year, I'm hoping to see him play with a little more ... I'm not sure of the term. Looseness isn't really it. Fierceness is close. Freedom isn't really it either, because he still has to play with discipline. I guess I just want him to trust his gut more and play like it matters to him.

Justin Durant has played some MLB, but will be asked to play LOLB which is where he started out. Durant hasn't really made much of an impression on me yet. I'm sure I'll have more to say about him soon. I know what he is supposed to be and how he is supposed to play...he's supposed to be fast and a hard hitter, best against the pass...but I just haven't been able to key on him. Sorry.

Behind these three starters are Bobby Carpenter. IMO he's got the best nose for sniffing out the screen and those pesky passes to the flat, which have been an area of weakness for the Lions in the past. The TEs and RBs out of the backfield have killed the Lions for a long time now. If Durant or Levy get killed by this, I would have no qualms seeing Carpenter starting. I know he hasn't played like a first rounder throughout his career, but I think he's coming around now that he's back in the 4-3 defense.

Isaiah Ekejiuba and Ashlee Palmer are special teamers who play LB and I don't ever want to see them starting. Finally, if Doug Hogue had been an UDFA he would not be on the team. Mayhew may be kicking himself for not drafting more LBs earlier this past year because Ekejiuba, Palmer, and Hogue have been underwhelming. Palmer has a glimmer of hope, but so far I haven't seen it for the other two.

There are 4 legitimate NFL LBs on the Lion's team, and they will push each other to be better...but I worry about injuries hitting here because of the lack of talent with the other three guys.

The Secondary

Chris Houston was last year's reclamation project and is the best CB that the Lions have right now. He is the most dependable, the least error prone, and has the best instincts. However, he is not a guy who is going to change the way the QB plays against the Lions. On the positive side, the QB is going to throw his way and he does have the ability to pick off some passes and take them for 6. On the negative side, if he gets picked on, his confidence is probably going to be shattered again.

Eric Wright is this year's reclamation project. His confidence in Cleveland was shot to pieces. He does have some history that indicates he can get the job done, and he made some nice wrap-up tackles in the preseason...which was nice to see. At least he was trying to wrap-up, anyway.

Alphonso Smith has been a no-show with the broken foot during the preseason. So we will have to wait and see his progression from last year. He got picked on in the horrendous New England game last year, but he also had the most interceptions for the Lion secondary. He's young and brash, and maybe he's a little smarter now. He is clearly a talented player, and at this point, if/when healthy he will contend with Eric Wright for the 2nd CB position.

Brandon McDonald started off having an impressive pre-season making good hard hits, wrapping up, knocking balls away. As the preseason went on, not so much. He was caught out of position, was unable to catch up to WRs who caused him to bite with double moves, and got caught peeking. Maybe he just needs more time with a good coach, but right now he is replaceable. As a fifth year player he should be better at this point in his career.

Aaron Berry is young and it shows. But he plays like he means it, and that is heartening. Does he make mistakes, yes. But he has also got enough speed to make up for some of his gaffs. He's got a lot of rough edges, but he's got some potential.

Overall, this is the weakest area of the team and a cause for concern. And I predict that Mayhew will be looking quite closely at all the CBs coming out in next year's draft. I'm not sure Johnathan Joseph (the CB from Cincinnati who ended up going to Houston) would have made a huge difference this year, but missing out on him was one of the few blows I've seen Mayhew take in his GM-ship. Maybe Mayhew still makes a trade before the deadline, but as it stands... if teams are going to exploit one area, this is the area they'll target. I'm just praying that the d-line makes up for the CB deficiencies.

Louis Delmas is healthy and I want to see him play better than last year. I think that he can play back more than he has been and be a ballhawk type S ... but he loves the big hit more. I wish he wasn't trying to be Troy Polomalo, because he could be a turnover machine if he wanted to be. Not only that, but those big hits aren't accompanied by wrapping up. (I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but it's a theme, you see.) I've seen far too many RBs bounce off Delmas and continue for long runs or TDs. Maybe he was just trying to do too much last year, compensating for the surrounding lack of talent in the back seven. But if he's going to justify the hype surrounding him and backup his talk on the field, he is going to have to start making more plays against the pass. And I think he is capable of doing that if he starts thinking more and chirping less. Nonetheless, I love watching a guy who is having fun playing football and I root for him to become what his talent promises.

Erik Coleman was brought in to play beside Delmas, but thus far Amari Spievey has earned the starting spot. Both are decent players. I'm disappointed that Spievey came into camp last year out of shape and unprepared thus forcing the move to S from CB. But from all accounts he has his head on right this year and he has earned his starting position, rather than being given the spot by default like last year. Coleman is pushing him to be better and Spievey is responding well.

John Wendling backs up these three, but he's a better special teamer than he is a safety. So if he is ever on the field during a regular defensive play, be worried.

Safety is no longer a deficient area of the team. I'm not saying it's a strength, either, but at this point 'not deficient' is a huge improvement. Factor in some excellent d-line play, and this could be a top 10 defense. CB play is the one thing that could hold them back. However, last year -- with fill in, off the waiver-wire scrubs -- they still managed to improve from the depths of the bottom dwellers into a mid-level production defense. And I know there are QBs who altered their play because of this d-line. They no longer give backup QBs all-pro passing percentages. Yeah! Therefore, with the improvements up the middle of the defense with LB and S, I have even higher expectations for this defense. You can't have pro-bowlers at every position, but I would be happy with a pro-bowler on each level of the defense. Suh, Tulloch, and Delmas have the capabilities of earning that. Turn-overs are going to be the key to reaching the next level. They need the LBs to be better run defenders and cause fumbles, and the safeties to make more plays against the pass and get interceptions. Then I'll be happy.

2011 Offense

2011-09-07T15:30:00.005-04:00

Matt Stafford looks like he's ready to rock and roll this year. This is a big year for him and I am expecting big things. He has looked like the next elite QB of the future in limited preseason action. The kool-aid is tasting good. Now I want to get to the meat of the regular season and see how he performs with real games on the line. As much hype as the kid is getting this year, I just hope he keeps his head on straight and maintains the attitude that has gotten him this far.

Shaun Hill looked like his usual self, and one of the best backup QBs in the league. He's got more athletic skill than I gave him credit for last year. He doesn't look like he should be able to run, with his upright stance, but he can. And he's got the noggin for playing QB. If he had a little more arm strength he would be a sure-fire starting QB somewhere. As it stands he could go into a number of cities and become their starting QB. Nonetheless, I really don't want to see him except in mop up situations. But its comforting to know that the Lions have an above average option at QB if Stafford needs to sit for a week or two.

Drew Stanton has remarkably turned his fortunes around from last year. With the lockout hampering movement by players, and his furthered understanding of the playbook by actually playing in real games; he has become almost a good option as a replacement QB. He performed fairly well under fire at the end of last year against legitimate competition, pulling out some games. He had some ups and downs...but he took a few announcers by surprise and did what we knew Stanton could do...run the ball for first downs and keep plays alive. He doesn't always look pretty doing what he does, but he has a remarkable capacity to get things done. And surprisingly he has also apparently convinced Scott Linehan that he can run his offense to Linehan's standards. He also gives Linehan the option of using a mobile QB in short yardage situations, which is something he won't do with Stafford. I've also been impressed with Drews evident leadership skills and ability to make those around him better.

O-Line

As we all know, the QB needs to stay upright and have time to throw the ball. During the preseason and most of last year they showed a knack for this. I'm not saying they're perfect, obviously. And I'm all for upgrading the power pigs, but I think Martin Mayhew did fine by not reaching for an offensive tackle in the first round of this year's draft. Most 2011 mock drafts had Mayhew reaching for a left tackle. But frankly, there weren't any of them who could have beat out Jeff Backus at LT. And there wasn't any franchise LT available in this free agency. Backus isn't real powerful and sometimes he gets beat by a speed move, but overall he's a pretty decent LT. I wish he had started out at LG and solidified the interior of the line for 15 years, but it's too late now for him to change positions ... and he is what he is. With Fox and Hilliard behind him, there is finally enough depth for him to take a day off if he isn't healthy enough to play (not that he will want to, considering he has a pretty impressive streak going).

On the other side, I still have a lot of dislike for Gosder Cherilus. Maybe I'm unreasonable, but I don't see enough improvement to justify keeping him at RT. In any other year of free agency they could probably find somebody who had decent feet and an ability not to make STUPID mistakes to replace him. In fact, I think Corey Hilliard outplayed him for the most part. For a 4-year veteran Cherilus should be one of the pieces they don't have to worry about ... but I just don't think he's good enough. Hilliard had a couple STUPID moments during the preseason as well, and Fox doesn't have the power to play RT (so they say). So, Cherilus retains his postion. But I see Will Heller (or one of the other TEs) helping him a lot this season.

The Lions wanted to upgrade the power up the middle, but with Rob Sims, Dominic Raiola, and Stephen Peterman ... and across the board ... this looks more like a screen team to me. Raiola is best on the move and isn't going to move a big DT out of the way. But put him out on a moving target, and watch him decleat the guy. I'm a little surprised that they've decided to go without a FB to clean up the interior blocking, but with Will Heller able to block like an O-lineman I guess I can understand their thinking. I guess we will see some things that we didn't get to see in the preseason, which used a lot of I-formation, with the running game now that they are running without a FB. Regarding the interior players, I like Rob Sims and think he's probably got the most talent of the o-linemen. However, he still hasn't played his best ball yet this year. He needs to kick it up a notch. Peterman is a gritty player who will play nasty if that's the best he can do. Sometimes you need a guy like that...but I wish he were a little faster or a little stronger to go along with his heart and determination. I know that Mayhew wanted to upgrade RG specifically, but there is always next year.

The backups are the newly acquired Jacques McClendon, who I've never seen play, and Dylan Gandy who is a OC/OG interior swing man. Unless McClendon can beat out Peterman at this late date, I don't see the power game getting better until next year. They are built to protect the passer and therefore the Lions are going to be a pass first team.

This is where fantasy players want a clear cut #1 player, and I'm afraid that the Lions are going to be another one of those 2 or 3-headed monsters. I like Maurice Morris probably more than I did going into last year. I thought he might be getting a little long in the tooth. Now, I was a big proponent of the Lions drafting Morris when he came out in I think 2001 or maybe 2002, and Seattle beat the Lions to the punch in the 2nd round (#54). (Which honestly pissed me off no end.) Still, Mo showed last year that he could still run up the middle behind this o-line, where these little guys just can't seem to get it done. He's 31 years old now but he's really got a lot of tread left on his tires because Seattle used him very little and until Best went down he was just a change of pace guy.

Still, I'm excited to see what Keiland Williams does back at a running back position, rather than at the blocking fullback position. He is a big dude at 5'11" and 230 pounds and I don't expect to see him going down on the first hit. I watched him some when he was with LSU and while he doesn't have a lot of wiggle, he is a pretty athletic runner. He has some similarities to Mikel LeShoure in his body type, though he's not as talented.

Jerome Harrison showed some nice things in the pre-season games, once he got his game-legs. He's got a little more power than Jahvid Best, but not as much pure speed. Not that you need pure speed to break tackles and make yardage...he's got some shimmy left in his shake. And I do love a guy who can catch the ball as cleanly as he one-handed that one catch. I need to apologize to Jerome, because I didn't see much production in his first game and I judged him by that. I don't think he's a consistent 125 yard/game rusher...but he has some moments left in him.

Last but not least, Jahvid Best may be the best (no pun intended :) ) of the bunch. Though he never seemed to get started except on screen plays, which is where he should excel, defenses have to honor his speed. With his ability to come out of the backfield, he creates a mismatch in the same way as Reggie Bush, CJ Spiller or some of the other small backs on other teams against pass defenders. I just don't think he'll ever be the every down back that Schwartz was hoping for. I hope that I'm wrong and his injury history doesn't continue. But in my opinion he'll disappoint if you expect him to be like Chris Johnson (which is what I think Schwartz was trying to recapture.) . Chris Johnson got the big bucks because he's freakishly able to avoid/withstand the big hits and make yardage up the middle and break outside like the scatback he resembles. Best will never by CJ2K, on the other hand he may have more longevity because he won't have to take as many hits if Linehan plays to his strengths. I really do look forward to next year when we can see Mikel LeShoure play alongside Best...LeShoure is a Stephen Jackson type runner, IMO.

Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler are very good TEs. Scheffler is obviously more of the pass catching guy, but he's also getting better in the blocking department. Pettigrew seems to be running in mud compared with Scheffler, but Pet still manages to find a way to get open. They both have great hands and are well respected for their capabilities around the league. Pettigrew is more of a mid-field threat and Scheffler is more of the deep threat. But both are nice big dependable targets. Now we just need to see them both healthy, so they can help Stafford out. Throw Will Heller into the action, who has fairly good hands himself, but is a blocking monster and you have 3 decent threats.

It's taken them long enough, several high draft picks and multiple free agent acquisitions, but they seem to finally have a decent WR corp. Everyone knows Calvin Johnson is a stud, but Maurice Stovall is the guy of whom I've become fan. Last year, when Calvin Johnson went down, they didn't have a guy who could get downfield and be that big target player. Now they have a guy who uses his body to position himself, attacks the ball well, and catches the clutch balls. Put Calvin and Maurice side by side and they're difficult to tell apart without looking at their numbers. Of course, get them running and you can clearly see who is who ... but not many can run like CJ. That's really not a knock on Maurice. His speed is actually better than I thought it was. It's just that Calvin is a bonafide freak of nature.

Then you have Nate Burleson, who is just the life of the WR party. When he is playing like he's been playing, and toe-tapping along the sidelines; what are DBs supposed to do? It just doesn't seem fair for the defense to have Stafford putting perfectly placed balls where only his WRs can catch them ... and Nate and CJ catching them in stupendous fashion routinely along the sidelines. But fair shmair, I'll take it.

Now they just have to find somebody who can run up the middle. Will that be Titus Young? We don't know, because we've seen very little of him. From my recollections he is a Burleson clone, except maybe not as good of hands. Stefan Logan can make YAC, and since he's not going to make as big a difference in the kick return game--because of the new rules--I would like to see him take some balls from the flat and kick butt weaving around, Wes Welker-like, in the middle of the field.

All in all, this should be a very decent offense if they perform at all similarly to what they did in preseason. Cincinnati and Buffalo are bad teams, though, and you almost should disregard what happened there. Still New England and Cleveland have decent defenses and they looked good against them. The best thing about this past preseason is that they did what they were supposed to do, and there were no smoke and mirrors (ala 2008). Honestly, I almost wanted to see them lose against Buffalo because I didn't want everybody in the media hyping them up so much. But, when you look at it, that Buffalo team was so severely out-manned with their 2nd unit going up against the Lions 3rd and 4th units, it would have been embarrassing to lose against them. I feel ya Buffalo fans.

2010 Roster Depth

2010-06-03T09:06:00.006-04:00

The Quarterbacks

QB1-Matt Stafford
QB2-Shaun Hill
QB3-Drew Stanton

Stafford is clearly the "franchise" for the Lions. I think he has a phenomenal arm and they rave about him as a leader. One of the questions I had about him was about his love of the game. And I think that has been pretty much cleared up. He's a quiet student of the game. Not ostentatiously passionate like the Jet's Mark Sanchez. And the Cleveland game was a seminal moment for him; being miked up for that game was perhaps the most beneficial thing that could have happened to him.

Now, I want to emphasize that I'm not normally a cynic. And I think Matt's a good kid and has gobs of talent. But, frankly, I am still a "believe it when I see it" kind of gal. After all the years of the Lions looking for a franchise QB, I'm not quite willing to buy in just yet. Past Lion history aside. Look at what has happened to every sophomore QB not named Peyton. They show great potential, flashes of greatness their rookie year. Then, the 2nd year they have dipped. I'll wait until year 3 to give Matt's full assessment. Things look good...so far. But I said the same for Joey Harrington. He's still not as accurate as I would like him to be, and he knows how to put touch on the ball ... but most of the time chooses not to. His defensive reads have been rough and he's tried too often to make things work when he would be better served to tuck it and eat it, but I expect all of that from a rookie. That's why I said last year was another wasted season. But if he works on those three areas, plus just having a better team around him it would help him tremendously. Unlike last year, I have some hope for this season.

The Lions needed to get a viable number 2 QB, after they made the right decision and let Daunte Culpepper slink quietly and miserably into free agency. There were few options in that free agency due to the lack of quality veterans. Those who had a modicum of ability were in high demand. Therefore, Martin Mayhew worked his magic and traded for Shaun Hill, who had started a few games for San Francisco under Mike Martz. By getting him early, they not only filled a need for a reasonably priced viable/stable #2 QB with some history of success; they also eliminated Martz from getting a QB he would be comfortable with as a backup to Cutler in Chicago.

As a #3 QB, this is Drew Stanton's year to show some development to his game. As a 2nd round pick in 2007, I figured 2-1/2 to 3 years would be his developmental curve... and by my time-line, he should be able to show that he understands what it takes to be an NFL QB. At least 1/2 of one of the last 3 years was wasted on IR and PUP. But this will be his 2nd year (mostly healthy) in a fairly QB friendly system and is entering his 4th year in the NFL. So, the time is right for this tree to bear some fruit. Returns, though, have not been promising. After having a pretty good pre-season last year, his performances when given opportunities during live action were underwhelming. This year, so far the OTAs have been quiet regarding Drew, with the only recent news I've heard was that he'd been picked off by a rookie CB.

This is probably Drew's last season as a Lion whether he suddenly becomes an accurate passer or not. He's never going to be a Schwartz and Linehan guy. They brought in their own guy. But he could help himself to find a starting job elsewhere by showing himself to be a good student of the game --that he understands how to read defenses; and by staying in the pocket to deliver the ball and becoming more of a traditional QB. Scrambling isn't his problem, but he just has to learn to slide around in the pocket (keeping his eyes up looking for a receiver) and use his athleticism in dire emergencies only. If he can't show that he can do it with Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson, Tony Schefler, Brandon Pettigrew, Jahvid Best; I don't think he'll impress many scouts around the league. After this amount of time in the league, they expect a QB to have progressed from his college days.