It has been a while since I put the digital pen to the virtual paper and there have been a few reasons why. First, I have to admit, the Lions first game for the season was more than a little dispiriting for me. I avoided listening to the local sports radio channel (97.1 the Ticket) for two weeks after that shocking, miserable and utterly perplexing loss. Second I have been both busy at work, and sick (literally) and as a result I have been even more tired than usual. The biggest reason is that I have suffered from the usual depression and apathy that I go through on a regular basis. I am still here (as the title of this blog states) and I want to give a few through from the first 6 games of this season and finish up with where I think this team is going this year.
First game counts, but doesn't matter
I actually tried to write a blog about this game as it was happening (made possible by it being played on Monday, my day off) but by the third quarter I gave up after writing Lions go 3 and out or another interception ends the team's drive. The Lions played awful against the Jets. In fact the Lions played like it was still the preseason and were not taking their opponent or the game seriously. This is bad, but the not end of the world for the Lions as some of the problems they showed were so bizarre that it defied logic and explanation. I saw Golden Tate drop passes. Golden Tate does not drop passes. I look at things like that and think that while this game does count on the team's record, it does not matter. I say that because it tells me nothing of what the team is capable of, its strengths or weaknesses. The further away for that game we get, the more convinced I am of this thinking. Stafford threw four interceptions that game and has thrown one since then. I simply choose to believe (based on the evidence) that that game should not be viewed as a meaningful barometer of the team.
Losses to 49ers and Cowboys, Win against Packers
As go Kerryon Johnson's participation, so go the Lion's scoring, and winning. When the team uses its rookie running back more, they score more, they keep more drives alive, they control the clock more, and they win more. When they use Johnson less, they do all of the above mentioned things less. The loss against San Francisco is a good example of that. The Lions got dominated in the first half and in the second half they almost came from behind to win it, almost. The difference is that Kerryon Johnson was barely used in the first half an heavily used in the second. The team also has a problem playing complete games, something that they showed in all but one game this season. This was on display in their loss against the Cowboys in Dallas as they were dominated in the first half, came from behind to take the lead but loss to a last second field goal. The Lions did not play a complete game and did not use its star in the making running back Johnson nearly enough. The offense could not sustain drives and it could not put enough points on the board to make up for its weak defense. I am putting the Lion's week 5 win against the Packers in this section as well as the team once again did not play a complete game. the Lions dominated the first half and nearly fell apart as a injured Arron Rodgers nearly complete a come from behind win against them. The difference between this and the other two games (other than the win) is that the Lions were able to score just enough in the second half to keep their heads above water. It also helped that the Packers had the worst kicker since Nate Freese and Alex Henry for the Lions in 2014 as Green Bay missed 3 field goals.
Wins against Patriots and Dolphins
Rookie head coach Matt Patricia only took 3 games to get two big monkeys off of his back. His signature win against a winning team and a 100 yard rusher for the Lions for the first time in almost 5 years. Both of these feats alluded his predecessor Jim Caldwell for the entirety of his 4 years as Lions head coach. Both of these accomplishments came at the expense of the New England Patriots, Patricia's old team and still the favorites to represent the AFC in the Superbowl this season. This win was the first complete game the team has played this season. They scored in every quarter and dominated on offense and defense all the way from start to finish. The Lions repeated this feat in their win against the Miami Dolphins in week 7 (after their bye week) and ran the ball for nearly 250 yards (158 by Kerryon Johnson alone) and stayed ahead from their first possession to the final kneel down in victory formation. The Lions defense continue to get sacks (racking up another 3) and Stafford continues to be efficient and effective with only one interception since the first game (which as I have already stated counts but does not matter). Both of these wins came against teams with winning records and both were complete games for the Lions. More importantly both games featured heavy use of Johnson, netting him over a hundred rushing yards in both games. As the Lions use of Kerryon Johnson goes, so do the Lions drives, points, and wins.
Where is this team really going
I do discount the meaning of that first game against the New York Jets as I do not see it as meaningful. I will look at the other 5 games the team has played as of the time I am writing this (some of which was written while watching the Lion's road game in Miami). We see the team with 3 incomplete games in which they only won one and tow complete games in which they dominated and won. The difference is Kerryon Johnson; the more they use him, the more they win. The team's defense will continue to be inconsistent ad will fall of in the second half ( unless they get some more talent on the D line or if Ziggy ever comes back) so it is up to the teams offense to sustain drives, take time off the clock and put at least some points on the board to stay ahead. The defense does well in the first half and that allows the Lions to jump to an early lead but the offense can not let off the gas completely in the second half. If the Lions play more complete games, they will win nearly all of their remaining games, win the division and at least one playoff games. Looking at their schedule, the only game that looks unwinnable is the Rams (who I expect to be in the Superbowl against the Patriots). The other 8 games are completely winnable. Lets just see if the Lions actually win them.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Friday, September 7, 2018
Lions Blog: Reaction to 53 Man Roster
Intro
In a not at all surprising manner, I missed my last chance to do one last roster prediction before cut day. Since I can not yet change the past, I might as well do a reaction blog and take a look at just how wrong my earlier predictions ended up being. I just want to make it clear that this is not the final 53 man roster as changes take place throughout the season and I expect some to be made before the season begins. With that being said, let us take a look at what we have right now. I once again used Pride of Detroit as my source of research, specifically this POD article from 9-2-18 for the 53 man roster lineup as it currently stands.
Offense
Backup QB
The team went with the more seasoned quarterback as the backup instead of the younger cheaper option. I feel this was a mistake for that very reasons and that I did not feel Matt Cassel did much better than Jake Ruddock. By making this choice, the team is going with the player who is more experienced in working with the head coach rather than the offensive coordinator and starting quarter back, which is another bad thing. That being said, the Lions will live and die by the arm of Matthew Stafford and if he goes down with injury and misses any significant amount of time, this season is over. That fact alone makes it a non issue I do expect more Backup QBs to be drafted in the future.
Running Backs
It looks like the team is sticking with Bellore as the Team's Fullback and Zach Zenner is going on the Injured Reserve list for some reason. Other than that I was right in my second roster prediction as both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. Dwayne Washington was cut as I expected.
Wide Receivers
The group that I was most certainty, the wide receiver group ended up being the most surprising on offense. I am surprised not by who was cut but who was included. The team went with 6 WRs, Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, Kenny Golladay and TJ Jones as expected. Then the Lions included Preseason sensation Brandon Powell (who had that punt return for a TD) and Bradley Marquez (who I have no knowledge of). I expected the team to go with 4 Wide outs and maybe 5 if one of the undrafted free agents stood out. I never expected 6 wide receivers to be kept on the roster. I firmly believe that with the deficiencies elsewhere on the team that Marquez is just a place holder until a quality player at another position of need is signed and the team will go back down to 5 WRs.
Tight Ends
The team went over my prediction with 4 Tight Ends, giving the nod to Preseason favorite Hakeem Valles while keeping last year's 4th round pick Micheal Roberts, who some had been talking about as a potential roster cut. This of course means that there is one less spot for other players that I predicted would make the team but this seems less surprising than the 6 WRs.
Offensive Line
The team went with only 9 offensive linemen as apposed to the 10 that I predicted. I would prefer 10 as it gives the team the ability to field 2 complete lines in case of heavy injury on the O line (which always seems to happen with the Lions) but this is not a big deal with the number of players on the roster that can do multiple positions. There were also some differences with the players on the roster from what I predicted but none that were meaningful to me. I still have high expectations for this group this season, provided that they stay healthy (which has yet to happen).
Defense
Defensive Line
The defensive line having only 7 members is easily the biggest surprise for me on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive linemen rotate in and out on a frequent basis which means having more is preferable. The team is has 3 DE, 3 DTs, and one that can play both, the rookie Da'Shwan Hand. This low number of linemen will be helped by the fact that some of the linebackers will play at the line of scrimmage as well as edge rushers, especially Devon Kennard. I do expect the team to add another lineman though given that they have 6 WRs when they do not need that many. I expect one of thoseextra wide outs to be cut when a suitable defensive lineman is found on the waiver wire or as a free agent.
Linebackers
The linebacker group is a little close to what I predicted, minus Nick Bellore being moved back.
Defensive Backs. The team went with Eli Harold, a recent addition to the Lions, and Trevor bates over Johnathan Freeny and Bellore. I am not too familiar with these players and as such I don't have anything interesting to say about them. I was right in guessing the number of LBs the team would have though, so that is something.
Defensive Backs
Like I expected, the team is going with 10 Defensive backs across corners and safeties. I was almost right about who would make the team, expect that DeShawn Shead was the surprise cut that few if anyone saw coming. This means the startin outside corner spot opposite Darius Slay will go to Nevin Lawson full time unless Teez Tabor makes a run for it later in the season. Shead's roster spot was taken up by Dee Virgin, another player that I am not familiar with.
Most Surprising to Me
The most surprising aspect of the roster is the lack of depth on the defensive line and the over abundance of receivers (both WR and tight ends). I do expect there to be changes in the near future that will bring that into balance when quality Defensive line players players become available, though that might have to wait until after the start of the regular season (which is less than a week away at this point). Kick off time for the first game of the regular season against the New York Jets is 7:10 pm on Monday (my day off) and I will be watching.
In a not at all surprising manner, I missed my last chance to do one last roster prediction before cut day. Since I can not yet change the past, I might as well do a reaction blog and take a look at just how wrong my earlier predictions ended up being. I just want to make it clear that this is not the final 53 man roster as changes take place throughout the season and I expect some to be made before the season begins. With that being said, let us take a look at what we have right now. I once again used Pride of Detroit as my source of research, specifically this POD article from 9-2-18 for the 53 man roster lineup as it currently stands.
Offense
Backup QB
The team went with the more seasoned quarterback as the backup instead of the younger cheaper option. I feel this was a mistake for that very reasons and that I did not feel Matt Cassel did much better than Jake Ruddock. By making this choice, the team is going with the player who is more experienced in working with the head coach rather than the offensive coordinator and starting quarter back, which is another bad thing. That being said, the Lions will live and die by the arm of Matthew Stafford and if he goes down with injury and misses any significant amount of time, this season is over. That fact alone makes it a non issue I do expect more Backup QBs to be drafted in the future.
Running Backs
It looks like the team is sticking with Bellore as the Team's Fullback and Zach Zenner is going on the Injured Reserve list for some reason. Other than that I was right in my second roster prediction as both Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick. Dwayne Washington was cut as I expected.
Wide Receivers
The group that I was most certainty, the wide receiver group ended up being the most surprising on offense. I am surprised not by who was cut but who was included. The team went with 6 WRs, Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, Kenny Golladay and TJ Jones as expected. Then the Lions included Preseason sensation Brandon Powell (who had that punt return for a TD) and Bradley Marquez (who I have no knowledge of). I expected the team to go with 4 Wide outs and maybe 5 if one of the undrafted free agents stood out. I never expected 6 wide receivers to be kept on the roster. I firmly believe that with the deficiencies elsewhere on the team that Marquez is just a place holder until a quality player at another position of need is signed and the team will go back down to 5 WRs.
Tight Ends
The team went over my prediction with 4 Tight Ends, giving the nod to Preseason favorite Hakeem Valles while keeping last year's 4th round pick Micheal Roberts, who some had been talking about as a potential roster cut. This of course means that there is one less spot for other players that I predicted would make the team but this seems less surprising than the 6 WRs.
Offensive Line
The team went with only 9 offensive linemen as apposed to the 10 that I predicted. I would prefer 10 as it gives the team the ability to field 2 complete lines in case of heavy injury on the O line (which always seems to happen with the Lions) but this is not a big deal with the number of players on the roster that can do multiple positions. There were also some differences with the players on the roster from what I predicted but none that were meaningful to me. I still have high expectations for this group this season, provided that they stay healthy (which has yet to happen).
Defense
Defensive Line
The defensive line having only 7 members is easily the biggest surprise for me on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive linemen rotate in and out on a frequent basis which means having more is preferable. The team is has 3 DE, 3 DTs, and one that can play both, the rookie Da'Shwan Hand. This low number of linemen will be helped by the fact that some of the linebackers will play at the line of scrimmage as well as edge rushers, especially Devon Kennard. I do expect the team to add another lineman though given that they have 6 WRs when they do not need that many. I expect one of thoseextra wide outs to be cut when a suitable defensive lineman is found on the waiver wire or as a free agent.
Linebackers
The linebacker group is a little close to what I predicted, minus Nick Bellore being moved back.
Defensive Backs. The team went with Eli Harold, a recent addition to the Lions, and Trevor bates over Johnathan Freeny and Bellore. I am not too familiar with these players and as such I don't have anything interesting to say about them. I was right in guessing the number of LBs the team would have though, so that is something.
Defensive Backs
Like I expected, the team is going with 10 Defensive backs across corners and safeties. I was almost right about who would make the team, expect that DeShawn Shead was the surprise cut that few if anyone saw coming. This means the startin outside corner spot opposite Darius Slay will go to Nevin Lawson full time unless Teez Tabor makes a run for it later in the season. Shead's roster spot was taken up by Dee Virgin, another player that I am not familiar with.
Most Surprising to Me
The most surprising aspect of the roster is the lack of depth on the defensive line and the over abundance of receivers (both WR and tight ends). I do expect there to be changes in the near future that will bring that into balance when quality Defensive line players players become available, though that might have to wait until after the start of the regular season (which is less than a week away at this point). Kick off time for the first game of the regular season against the New York Jets is 7:10 pm on Monday (my day off) and I will be watching.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Lions Blog: Mid-Camp Roster Prediction
Being unable to watch much of the Lion's second preseason game against the New York Football Giants (Work will do that to me), I have elected to do a update to my 53 man roster prediction highlighting the changes as well as the reasons for them. Here is a link to the Pride of Detroit snap count article for preseason game 2 that I used for some information regarding player participation in Friday's game against the Giants.
Offense
Quarterbacks (2)
I made changes to this group. Rudock has played close enough to Matt Cassel at worst and much better at times in the preseason games (especially the 2nd one). Since he will be much cheaper than the veteran I say he is the one that stays to be the backup QB.
Based on some observations from the preseason games, it seems like my prediction of the end of Abdullah and Riddick's time here in Detroit was premature. Both of these running backs have showed enough flashes of their best capabilities to justify giving them another year. Dwayne Washington has yet to play in a preseason game and seem likely to be cut. Nick Bellore has been removed from the RB list as the full back and moved back to the Linebacker group. He has been rarely used as a FB in the two preseason games and due to an Injury in the LB group (that I will cover later) I decided to move him back to his original position to make room for the roster to have the 5 running backs listed (He can still function as a Fullback when needed).
No Changes, despite the typically good preseason performance of Jace Billingsley.
No changes with the tight ends, but if Roberts does not show some progress, one Hakeem Valles could eat his lunch (and take his roster spot).
No changes in the Offensive line group but the backups need to be better than what they have shown.
Defense
Defensive Line (9)
After my first roster prediction was posted, the Lions finally inked a deal with former Patriots Defensive Lineman Ricky Jean Francois, who I have put in place of Cornelius Washington who has seen his playtime drop in the preseason games. I have also switched Jeremiah Valoaga for Alex Barrett as he has seen much more playing time.
The Torn ACL injury in the preseason has claimed another Lion. This time it is Steve Longa who's season has come to and end and I have placed Nick Bellore back in the LB group. Mile Killebrew seems to be making a permanent move to Linebacker as he has been practicing there exclusively lately, hence I have made the corresponding prediction.
No changes for the Corner Back group, nor do I expect there will be.
The Safety group loses Killebrew (who could still play the position if needed) but otherwise this group is unchanged (which is a good thing).
Special Teams (3)
Barring Injury, this should be the most unchanged group of all.
Offense
Quarterbacks (2)
I made changes to this group. Rudock has played close enough to Matt Cassel at worst and much better at times in the preseason games (especially the 2nd one). Since he will be much cheaper than the veteran I say he is the one that stays to be the backup QB.
- Matthew Stafford
- Jake Rudock
Based on some observations from the preseason games, it seems like my prediction of the end of Abdullah and Riddick's time here in Detroit was premature. Both of these running backs have showed enough flashes of their best capabilities to justify giving them another year. Dwayne Washington has yet to play in a preseason game and seem likely to be cut. Nick Bellore has been removed from the RB list as the full back and moved back to the Linebacker group. He has been rarely used as a FB in the two preseason games and due to an Injury in the LB group (that I will cover later) I decided to move him back to his original position to make room for the roster to have the 5 running backs listed (He can still function as a Fullback when needed).
- Kerryon Johnson
- LaGarrette Blount
- Zach Zenner
- Ameer Abdullah
- Theo Riddick
No Changes, despite the typically good preseason performance of Jace Billingsley.
- Marvin Jones
- Golden Tate
- Kenny Golladay
- T'J' Jones
No changes with the tight ends, but if Roberts does not show some progress, one Hakeem Valles could eat his lunch (and take his roster spot).
- Luke Wilson
- Micheal Roberts
- Levine Toilolo
No changes in the Offensive line group but the backups need to be better than what they have shown.
- Taylor Decker
- Graham Glasgow
- Frank Ragnow
- T.J. Lang
- Rick Wagner
- Corey Robinson
- Joe Dahl
- Leo Kolamatangi
- Kenny Wiggins
- Tyrell Crosby
Defense
Defensive Line (9)
After my first roster prediction was posted, the Lions finally inked a deal with former Patriots Defensive Lineman Ricky Jean Francois, who I have put in place of Cornelius Washington who has seen his playtime drop in the preseason games. I have also switched Jeremiah Valoaga for Alex Barrett as he has seen much more playing time.
- A'Shawn Robinson
- Da'Shawn Hand
- Sylvester Williams
- Jeremiah Ledbetter
- Ricky Jean Francois
- Ezekiel Ansah
- Anthony Zetttel
- Kerry Hyder
- Alex Barrett
The Torn ACL injury in the preseason has claimed another Lion. This time it is Steve Longa who's season has come to and end and I have placed Nick Bellore back in the LB group. Mile Killebrew seems to be making a permanent move to Linebacker as he has been practicing there exclusively lately, hence I have made the corresponding prediction.
- Jarrad Davis
- Devon Kennard
- Christian Jones
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Nick Bellore
- Johnathan Freeny
- Miles Killebrew
No changes for the Corner Back group, nor do I expect there will be.
- Darius Slay
- Qaundre Diggs
- Teez Tabor
- DeShawn Shead
- Nevin Lawson
- Jamal Agnew
The Safety group loses Killebrew (who could still play the position if needed) but otherwise this group is unchanged (which is a good thing).
- Glover Quinn
- Tavon Wilson
- Tracy Walker
- Charles Washington
Special Teams (3)
Barring Injury, this should be the most unchanged group of all.
- Sam Martin (P)
- Matt Prater (K)
- Don Muhlbach (LS)
I feel better about this roster prediction with at least a couple of preseason games in the books. I will make one more just before the cut date (when the team has to get down to 53 players by) and there have been 2 more preseason games to go on.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Lions Blog: Preseason Game 1 Reaction
At long last football is here, sort of. On Friday the Detroit Lions faced the Oakland Raiders on the road in the first preseason game of 2018. I wanted to write down a few observations and reactions I had about thew game while they are still fresh in my mind. The team did lose this game 16-10 but in no way does that number tell a meaningful story.
Backup Quarterbacks Woes
Unlike in previous seasons where the first drive of the first preseason game is lead by the starting quarterback Mathew Stafford, this game feature none. Instead we were "treated" to the performances of the two competing for the backup quarterback job, Jake Rudock and Matt Cassel. I think it is safe to say that if Stafford goes down to injury for any period of time this season that the team will be in deep trouble for the duration. Despite the differences in experience levels, styles, and teams they played on, both quarterbacks exhibited the same problems, namely bad decision making and holding on to the ball too long and getting sacked as a result. Neither QB could reliably sustain a drive and both lacked the throwing strength and accuracy to be effective passers.
Run Game Optimism
We saw some life in the run game, possibly for the first time in half a decade. Friday's preseason game against the Raiders feature good runs from Ameer Abdullah (who scored the only Lion's touchdown), Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount. Zach Zenner even had a nice run thrown in there as well. Johnson was obviously the highlight of the group and very much the back that everyone was looking forward to. He mostly played in the back half of the game against 3rd and 4th string defenses but he was used in both the run game and the passing game. Johnson even had a long run that was called back due to a questionable offensive holding call. Even though there is little to base optimism for the run game on at this point (having only seen one preseason game) I never the less feel optimistic for this teams offense provided that its number 9 leading it (as opposed to 8 or 14).
Defensive 7 Chaos
The front seven on the defense is clearly a work in progress. The defensive line was missing Ziggy to be fair but it seem unable to generate pass pressure or be effective in stopping the run game. I am not surprised at the front line's ineffectiveness as it received the leas attention of the team's needs in the off season but I was surprised by the performance of the linebackers. The seem to leave large gaps for running backs and tight ends to blaze through and always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I do expect this group to get much better as the preseason goes on and as we approach meaningful football as it has to for the team to be as competitive in the NFC as I expect.
Grains of Salt?
To sum things up:
There is not a single one of those points that are the least bit surprising to me. Many people have been urging caution about the seemingly improved run game but considering the resources that the team has invested to fix the situation over the last few years our expectations should be this high. When healthy we should have a very good offensive line and we have a wealth of talent in the backfield. I do think the defense will get better (and even in that one game, we only lost it by one possession) and it is hard enough to get a quality starting quarterback yet alone a decent back up. I choose to look at the positive aspect (the run game) of this games as I think it is more meaningful in the long run.
Backup Quarterbacks Woes
Unlike in previous seasons where the first drive of the first preseason game is lead by the starting quarterback Mathew Stafford, this game feature none. Instead we were "treated" to the performances of the two competing for the backup quarterback job, Jake Rudock and Matt Cassel. I think it is safe to say that if Stafford goes down to injury for any period of time this season that the team will be in deep trouble for the duration. Despite the differences in experience levels, styles, and teams they played on, both quarterbacks exhibited the same problems, namely bad decision making and holding on to the ball too long and getting sacked as a result. Neither QB could reliably sustain a drive and both lacked the throwing strength and accuracy to be effective passers.
Run Game Optimism
We saw some life in the run game, possibly for the first time in half a decade. Friday's preseason game against the Raiders feature good runs from Ameer Abdullah (who scored the only Lion's touchdown), Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount. Zach Zenner even had a nice run thrown in there as well. Johnson was obviously the highlight of the group and very much the back that everyone was looking forward to. He mostly played in the back half of the game against 3rd and 4th string defenses but he was used in both the run game and the passing game. Johnson even had a long run that was called back due to a questionable offensive holding call. Even though there is little to base optimism for the run game on at this point (having only seen one preseason game) I never the less feel optimistic for this teams offense provided that its number 9 leading it (as opposed to 8 or 14).
Defensive 7 Chaos
The front seven on the defense is clearly a work in progress. The defensive line was missing Ziggy to be fair but it seem unable to generate pass pressure or be effective in stopping the run game. I am not surprised at the front line's ineffectiveness as it received the leas attention of the team's needs in the off season but I was surprised by the performance of the linebackers. The seem to leave large gaps for running backs and tight ends to blaze through and always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I do expect this group to get much better as the preseason goes on and as we approach meaningful football as it has to for the team to be as competitive in the NFC as I expect.
Grains of Salt?
To sum things up:
- The team needs to keep looking for a quality backup quarterback as it clearly does not have one right now.
- The Rung game is looking substantially improved at this very early point and I will have to update my 53 man roster prediction in the near future (which I was already planning on doing anyway).
- The new hybrid/flexible defense is a work in progress at this early point and needs a lot more time and effort to work its self out (as well as some additional talent).
There is not a single one of those points that are the least bit surprising to me. Many people have been urging caution about the seemingly improved run game but considering the resources that the team has invested to fix the situation over the last few years our expectations should be this high. When healthy we should have a very good offensive line and we have a wealth of talent in the backfield. I do think the defense will get better (and even in that one game, we only lost it by one possession) and it is hard enough to get a quality starting quarterback yet alone a decent back up. I choose to look at the positive aspect (the run game) of this games as I think it is more meaningful in the long run.
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Lions Blog: Pre-Camp Roster Prediction
On the eve of the 2018 training camp for the Detroit Lions I decided to come up with my own premature 53 man roster prediction for the team. I know that everyone is/ has done this to death already but I haven't done one yet. This is also a way for me to get better acquainted with the roster and some of its new players. Since Camp has yet to begin there will be plenty of time for me to be proven right, or wrong. In any case on to the list.
Offense
Quaterbacks
Even with the addition of an experienced backup quarterback I still thing the job belongs to Rudock as a long term development project/ legit backup. Oh, and Stafford is the starter.
Running Backs
My most controversial opinion has the team parting ways with both Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah. My reasoning is that both have similar skill sets as backfield receivers, both have series flaws (Riddick with repeated injuries, Abdullah with ball security) both were drafted by the former general manager, and both have been lacking in the teams run game. I initially tried to imagine the team picking one or the other but the more I though about it, the more it made sense to dispense with both of them. I have Zack Zenner in as the all purpose backup and Dwanye Washington as a potential kick returner. He fared very poorly at that role last year but has size, speed, and athleticism (stuff you can't really teach) and with practice and experience can get better at it. With Nick Bawden going to IR that leaves Nick Bellore as the team's fullback. I have the rookie Johnson ahead of Blount as he could develop into a all around running back an Blount is more of a 3rd and short yardage powerback use in a limited fashion.
Wide Receivers
The same Wide receivers from last year will be here again this year. So that means no camp darlings such as Theo Redding or Jace Billingsley on the roster this year.
Tight Ends
With the departures of Eric Ebron and Darren Fells, Luke Wilson will take over as the number one tight end and Toilolo as the main extra blocker. Micheal Roberts is expected to take a significant step forward this year as well.
Offensive Line
The addition of first round pick Frank Ragnow means the starting offensive line is complete (for the moment anyway) and with the additions of some other O-line men the team has decent dept as well. The only question is whether Ragnow will be the Center or the Left Guard (I think he will be the center as he is better at that position but he may start the season at guard and move to center later)
Defense
Defensive Line
The Defensive line will be the hardest group to figure out as such I mostly went with payers from last year and the few additions that were made. Robinson and Williams will be the team's nose tackles and Ansah is expected to roam around the field more often looking for miss-matches. If Zettel can continue his big step up from last year and if Hyder can return to his 2016 form this team could have a decent defensive line but that is a lot of "ifs".
Linebackers
The linebacker core has the most change over among the defense. I'm not really sure how the schematic change will affect this group so I just mostly went with the two picks from last year and the free agent additions and it came to these 6 LBs.
Corner backs
The team's secondary is mostly the same, which is a good thing as this was easily the best part of last year's defense. DeShawn Shead replaces D.J. Hayden on the roster. I do think Teez Tabor will get the starting outside job opposite Slay at some point but maybe not to start the season with. I have Diggs back at Corner as the safety group got more depth.
Safeties
The other half of the secondary, the safety got some potential long term depth with Tracy Walker being drafted as Glover Quinn in the last year of his contract. Otherwise this unit is mostly the same from last year.
Special Teams
The least change group over the last few years continues to be unchanged. At least no more dumb Long Snapper battle speculation.
Conclusion
My first 53 man roster prediction is just that, my first. I probably short changed the linebackers a bit and put too many players in the secondary but I would not complain if this ends up being the final roster to start the season. I may do another prediction closer to the cu day which is after the last preseason game. In any case, like I said before, I can not wait for the new season to start.
Offense
Quaterbacks
Even with the addition of an experienced backup quarterback I still thing the job belongs to Rudock as a long term development project/ legit backup. Oh, and Stafford is the starter.
- Matthew Stafford
- Jake Rudock
Running Backs
My most controversial opinion has the team parting ways with both Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdullah. My reasoning is that both have similar skill sets as backfield receivers, both have series flaws (Riddick with repeated injuries, Abdullah with ball security) both were drafted by the former general manager, and both have been lacking in the teams run game. I initially tried to imagine the team picking one or the other but the more I though about it, the more it made sense to dispense with both of them. I have Zack Zenner in as the all purpose backup and Dwanye Washington as a potential kick returner. He fared very poorly at that role last year but has size, speed, and athleticism (stuff you can't really teach) and with practice and experience can get better at it. With Nick Bawden going to IR that leaves Nick Bellore as the team's fullback. I have the rookie Johnson ahead of Blount as he could develop into a all around running back an Blount is more of a 3rd and short yardage powerback use in a limited fashion.
- Kerryon Johnson
- LaGarrette Blount
- Zach Zenner
- Dwayne Washington
- Nick Bellore (FB)
Wide Receivers
The same Wide receivers from last year will be here again this year. So that means no camp darlings such as Theo Redding or Jace Billingsley on the roster this year.
- Marvin Jones
- Golden Tate
- Kenny Golladay
- T'J' Jones
Tight Ends
With the departures of Eric Ebron and Darren Fells, Luke Wilson will take over as the number one tight end and Toilolo as the main extra blocker. Micheal Roberts is expected to take a significant step forward this year as well.
- Luke Wilson
- Micheal Roberts
- Levine Toilolo
Offensive Line
The addition of first round pick Frank Ragnow means the starting offensive line is complete (for the moment anyway) and with the additions of some other O-line men the team has decent dept as well. The only question is whether Ragnow will be the Center or the Left Guard (I think he will be the center as he is better at that position but he may start the season at guard and move to center later)
- Taylor Decker
- Graham Glasgow
- Frank Ragnow
- T.J. Lang
- Rick Wagner
- Corey Robinson
- Joe Dahl
- Leo Kolamatangi
- Kenny Wiggins
- Tyrell Crosby
Defense
Defensive Line
The Defensive line will be the hardest group to figure out as such I mostly went with payers from last year and the few additions that were made. Robinson and Williams will be the team's nose tackles and Ansah is expected to roam around the field more often looking for miss-matches. If Zettel can continue his big step up from last year and if Hyder can return to his 2016 form this team could have a decent defensive line but that is a lot of "ifs".
- A'Shawn Robinson
- Da'Shawn Hand
- Sylvester Williams
- Jeremiah Ledbetter
- Ezekiel Ansah
- Anthony Zetttel
- Kerry Hyder
- Cornelius Washington
- Jeremiah Valoaga
Linebackers
The linebacker core has the most change over among the defense. I'm not really sure how the schematic change will affect this group so I just mostly went with the two picks from last year and the free agent additions and it came to these 6 LBs.
- Jarrad Davis
- Devon Kennard
- Christian Jones
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Steve Longa
- Johnathan Freeny
Corner backs
The team's secondary is mostly the same, which is a good thing as this was easily the best part of last year's defense. DeShawn Shead replaces D.J. Hayden on the roster. I do think Teez Tabor will get the starting outside job opposite Slay at some point but maybe not to start the season with. I have Diggs back at Corner as the safety group got more depth.
- Darius Slay
- Qaundre Diggs
- Teez Tabor
- DeShawn Shead
- Nevin Lawson
- Jamal Agnew
Safeties
The other half of the secondary, the safety got some potential long term depth with Tracy Walker being drafted as Glover Quinn in the last year of his contract. Otherwise this unit is mostly the same from last year.
- Glover Quinn
- Tavon Wilson
- Miles Killebrew
- Tracy Walker
- Charles Washington
Special Teams
The least change group over the last few years continues to be unchanged. At least no more dumb Long Snapper battle speculation.
- Sam Martin (P)
- Matt Prater (K)
- Don Muhlbach (LS)
Conclusion
My first 53 man roster prediction is just that, my first. I probably short changed the linebackers a bit and put too many players in the secondary but I would not complain if this ends up being the final roster to start the season. I may do another prediction closer to the cu day which is after the last preseason game. In any case, like I said before, I can not wait for the new season to start.
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Lions Blog: 2018 Draft Picks
Going into this years draft, the Lions had a lot of needs to cover and only 6 picks to cover them with. The team also had the general knowledge that some of the more glaring needs would not be easily dealt with given that this draft class was short on defensive linemen. Bob Quin executed the most trades in this year's draft moving up twice and trading next year's third round pick to basically move up in the second round (its a little more complicated than that but its ends up in the same place). The results are 2 new offensive lineman, one defensive lineman, one defensive back, one fullback, and one running back. Many people were disappointed by the lack of a pass rusher in this year's draft class for the Lions but as I have stated the team did not really have good options for that this year and instead will be focusing on their schematic changes and relying more on linebackers for the team's pass rushing ability. This year's draft class was mostly about the run game and protecting Stafford and to that end, I think they did about as good as a team could do in one draft.
Day One
Frank Ragnow, G/C: With the expected departure of Travis Swanson, the Lions had a need for an interior offensive lineman (either a Center or a Guard) and Bob Quinn moved decisively in selecting Frank Ragnow to bolster the O-Line, and improve the run game. I must admit, I was not expecting this pick. There were two other offensive lineman as well as a few other positions that I had in mind that if I had been doing this blog ahead of the draft(like I should have done), I would have wrote about as a "here's who the Lions should take in the first round" kind of post. With this pick, Bob Quinn has completed his offensive line overhaul as Ragnow will be a starter from day one. Pro Football Focus had some good things to say about Ragnow ahead of the draft in this video where they stated he was their top center in the draft. Ragnow came from Arkansas in the SEC where he face teams like Georgia and Alabama with some of the toughest defenses in college football and yet in his career there he did not once give up a single sack, at either guard or center. If that fact does not give you reason to be pumped up about this pick, then nothing will. Stafford once again went through a season with one of the highest sack numbers in the league. This was due to a number of things constant injuries, bad offensive line coaching, changing personal on almost a weekly basis (thank you injuries), and some bad players left over from the Martin Meyhew era (also, the players on the right side of the line coming from teams that get away with things a lot more going to a team that gets penalized even when the other team commits the infraction). Ragnow is an aggressive blocker who is pro active on the line and down the field as shown in this highlight reel from NFL Highlights History. Many analyst graded the pick of Frank Ragnow as a "Reach" (mostly because of dogma relating to not picking a center in the first round) but considering how highly rated as a center and guard and that the team after us was going to pick him for sure (Cincinnati) I think its pretty clear that Ragnow is closer to a steel than a to a reach.
Day Two
Kerryon Johnson, RB: Regardless of who I thought the Lions were going to take in the first round, I always believed / knew that they were going to take a running back in the second round. My heart was set on Nick Chubb from Georgia, but when his team mate Sonny Micheal was selected late in the first round I knew there was going to be a run on RBs in the second. Sure enough, Chubb was taken very early as well as some others. Bob Quinn traded up in the first round (spending the fourth round pick in the process) and selected Kerryon Johnson from Auburn. The constant talk about the Lions is there lack of a run game and this draft class seems very focused on fixing that with Johnson the team is has plenty of options in the way they address it. I have heard plenty of comparisons to Le'veon Bell in his patience in the run game, waiting for holes to open up for him before he commits to a specific running lane. Johnson is a big athletic player ( a common theme with Bob Quinn's picks) who could serve as and every down back in the future or could develop into a long term replacement for Blount. Judging from this highlight reel from Sports Highlights where he seems to be the primary offensive weapon for the team indicates he should be significant improvement over the long standing running backs on this team. I expect him to be the starter at some point this upcoming season with Blount getting that role early on. I don't expect to wait long (like with Tabor last year) before Johnson sees the field, in fact I due expect him to play in every game. Kerryon Johnson is a big reason to be excited about the Lion's offense this year for sure.
Tracy Walker, DB: The team's third round pick seems like another long term development player much like last year's second round pick Teez Tabor. The selection of Tracy Walker, Defensive back from Louisiana was also the most criticized pick the Lions made this year especially from analyst who expected the team to go Defensive lineman the rest of the way after the first 2 picks. This Pride of Detroit scouting profile dated May 7, 2018 has some good info on him (with some good clips too) and states that he is a versatile DB who can play safety or corner and has good athleticism and range. It seems odd that the team would pick a DB when their secondary is so deep but that depth gets very questionable after this year with both Glover Quin and Tavon Wilson on the last year of their current contracts. Quandre Diggs is also on the last year of his rookie contract and while I fully expect the team to take his 5th year option, he will be an expensive player to sign to a long term contract given how well he played last year playing both corner and safety. Bob Quinn is clearly getting the team ready to make some difficult cap space related decisions in regards to their secondary and a player like Walker who can play multiple potions in said group is definitely a worth while asset.
Day Three
Da'Shawn Hand, DL: The Lions finally got that defensive lineman that people have been demanding all off season in the fourth round (which they traded away next year's 3rd round pick to get back) and the selected Alabama Defensive Lineman Da'Shawn Hand. Hand was a team mate with Robinson and was coached by our new defensive line coach Bo Davis. According to This Pride of Detroit article dated May 3, 2018 Hand is not really expected to be a starter right out of the gate but could be a great player if he is handled the same way he was at Alabama (considering he has the same Defensive line coach that seems reasonable) and with the lack of depth on the D line, there will be plenty of opportunities for Hand gain at least a rotational role fairly early on.
Tryell Crosby, OT: The Lions were not done with adding to the offensive line as the injuries to that group show even when they have good starters they need enough quality backups for when the inevitable injury bug hits. With that in mind Bob Quinn took Tryell Crosby, OT from Oregon, a player that most experts expected to have been taken much earlier on day three and wound up being considered a rare steal for the Lions by most opinions. This Pride of Detroit Article dated May 4, 2018 has more info on him but he seems like a good value pick that could end up being a starter in the future depending on how well T.J. Lang and Rick Wagoner end up doing. Both of the high priced offensive linemen were injured and seem to have difficulty adjusting to the way the Lions always get false start penalties and as a result they wound up having a disappointing season. I expect both Lang and Wagner to have a better season this year but if they don't it is good to know the team has a potential replacement on the roster for at least one of them (two if Joe Dahl takes a leap forward).
Nick Bawden, FB: One problem with waiting so long to write about the draft is that events have taken place since then. The Lions 7th round pick Nick Bawden, FB from San Diego brought about the return of the Full Back to the Lions. It makes sense as even after they cut Micheal Burton last year the team ended up using linebackers as the FB role. Bawden was at least partially responsible for the success of Rashaad Penny (who was another name that was sometimes mocked to the Lions ahead of the draft) as he helped clear the way in run blocking. We will have to wait to see what kind of difference Bawden makes to the run game until next year as he suffered a torn ACL in mini camp and will miss his entire rookie season as a result. The Lions did make last year's acting FB Nick Bellore a full time Fullback before the injury with the intent to provide some competition but with this development int looks like that competition will be delayed at least a year.
The Lions had much more focus this year in the draft. They set out to improve the offensive line and the run game, the last two pieces that kept the offense from truly excelling last year. Bob Quinn threw his best effort at improving both this year. He provided some depth/ future starters in the secondary and set up the defense to be more compatible with the new coaching staff. Need less to say, I am excited about the upcoming season for the Detroit Lions.
Day One
Frank Ragnow, G/C: With the expected departure of Travis Swanson, the Lions had a need for an interior offensive lineman (either a Center or a Guard) and Bob Quinn moved decisively in selecting Frank Ragnow to bolster the O-Line, and improve the run game. I must admit, I was not expecting this pick. There were two other offensive lineman as well as a few other positions that I had in mind that if I had been doing this blog ahead of the draft(like I should have done), I would have wrote about as a "here's who the Lions should take in the first round" kind of post. With this pick, Bob Quinn has completed his offensive line overhaul as Ragnow will be a starter from day one. Pro Football Focus had some good things to say about Ragnow ahead of the draft in this video where they stated he was their top center in the draft. Ragnow came from Arkansas in the SEC where he face teams like Georgia and Alabama with some of the toughest defenses in college football and yet in his career there he did not once give up a single sack, at either guard or center. If that fact does not give you reason to be pumped up about this pick, then nothing will. Stafford once again went through a season with one of the highest sack numbers in the league. This was due to a number of things constant injuries, bad offensive line coaching, changing personal on almost a weekly basis (thank you injuries), and some bad players left over from the Martin Meyhew era (also, the players on the right side of the line coming from teams that get away with things a lot more going to a team that gets penalized even when the other team commits the infraction). Ragnow is an aggressive blocker who is pro active on the line and down the field as shown in this highlight reel from NFL Highlights History. Many analyst graded the pick of Frank Ragnow as a "Reach" (mostly because of dogma relating to not picking a center in the first round) but considering how highly rated as a center and guard and that the team after us was going to pick him for sure (Cincinnati) I think its pretty clear that Ragnow is closer to a steel than a to a reach.
Day Two
Kerryon Johnson, RB: Regardless of who I thought the Lions were going to take in the first round, I always believed / knew that they were going to take a running back in the second round. My heart was set on Nick Chubb from Georgia, but when his team mate Sonny Micheal was selected late in the first round I knew there was going to be a run on RBs in the second. Sure enough, Chubb was taken very early as well as some others. Bob Quinn traded up in the first round (spending the fourth round pick in the process) and selected Kerryon Johnson from Auburn. The constant talk about the Lions is there lack of a run game and this draft class seems very focused on fixing that with Johnson the team is has plenty of options in the way they address it. I have heard plenty of comparisons to Le'veon Bell in his patience in the run game, waiting for holes to open up for him before he commits to a specific running lane. Johnson is a big athletic player ( a common theme with Bob Quinn's picks) who could serve as and every down back in the future or could develop into a long term replacement for Blount. Judging from this highlight reel from Sports Highlights where he seems to be the primary offensive weapon for the team indicates he should be significant improvement over the long standing running backs on this team. I expect him to be the starter at some point this upcoming season with Blount getting that role early on. I don't expect to wait long (like with Tabor last year) before Johnson sees the field, in fact I due expect him to play in every game. Kerryon Johnson is a big reason to be excited about the Lion's offense this year for sure.
Tracy Walker, DB: The team's third round pick seems like another long term development player much like last year's second round pick Teez Tabor. The selection of Tracy Walker, Defensive back from Louisiana was also the most criticized pick the Lions made this year especially from analyst who expected the team to go Defensive lineman the rest of the way after the first 2 picks. This Pride of Detroit scouting profile dated May 7, 2018 has some good info on him (with some good clips too) and states that he is a versatile DB who can play safety or corner and has good athleticism and range. It seems odd that the team would pick a DB when their secondary is so deep but that depth gets very questionable after this year with both Glover Quin and Tavon Wilson on the last year of their current contracts. Quandre Diggs is also on the last year of his rookie contract and while I fully expect the team to take his 5th year option, he will be an expensive player to sign to a long term contract given how well he played last year playing both corner and safety. Bob Quinn is clearly getting the team ready to make some difficult cap space related decisions in regards to their secondary and a player like Walker who can play multiple potions in said group is definitely a worth while asset.
Day Three
Da'Shawn Hand, DL: The Lions finally got that defensive lineman that people have been demanding all off season in the fourth round (which they traded away next year's 3rd round pick to get back) and the selected Alabama Defensive Lineman Da'Shawn Hand. Hand was a team mate with Robinson and was coached by our new defensive line coach Bo Davis. According to This Pride of Detroit article dated May 3, 2018 Hand is not really expected to be a starter right out of the gate but could be a great player if he is handled the same way he was at Alabama (considering he has the same Defensive line coach that seems reasonable) and with the lack of depth on the D line, there will be plenty of opportunities for Hand gain at least a rotational role fairly early on.
Tryell Crosby, OT: The Lions were not done with adding to the offensive line as the injuries to that group show even when they have good starters they need enough quality backups for when the inevitable injury bug hits. With that in mind Bob Quinn took Tryell Crosby, OT from Oregon, a player that most experts expected to have been taken much earlier on day three and wound up being considered a rare steal for the Lions by most opinions. This Pride of Detroit Article dated May 4, 2018 has more info on him but he seems like a good value pick that could end up being a starter in the future depending on how well T.J. Lang and Rick Wagoner end up doing. Both of the high priced offensive linemen were injured and seem to have difficulty adjusting to the way the Lions always get false start penalties and as a result they wound up having a disappointing season. I expect both Lang and Wagner to have a better season this year but if they don't it is good to know the team has a potential replacement on the roster for at least one of them (two if Joe Dahl takes a leap forward).
Nick Bawden, FB: One problem with waiting so long to write about the draft is that events have taken place since then. The Lions 7th round pick Nick Bawden, FB from San Diego brought about the return of the Full Back to the Lions. It makes sense as even after they cut Micheal Burton last year the team ended up using linebackers as the FB role. Bawden was at least partially responsible for the success of Rashaad Penny (who was another name that was sometimes mocked to the Lions ahead of the draft) as he helped clear the way in run blocking. We will have to wait to see what kind of difference Bawden makes to the run game until next year as he suffered a torn ACL in mini camp and will miss his entire rookie season as a result. The Lions did make last year's acting FB Nick Bellore a full time Fullback before the injury with the intent to provide some competition but with this development int looks like that competition will be delayed at least a year.
The Lions had much more focus this year in the draft. They set out to improve the offensive line and the run game, the last two pieces that kept the offense from truly excelling last year. Bob Quinn threw his best effort at improving both this year. He provided some depth/ future starters in the secondary and set up the defense to be more compatible with the new coaching staff. Need less to say, I am excited about the upcoming season for the Detroit Lions.
Monday, June 11, 2018
Lions Blog: 2018 Off-Season Free Agency
The free agency period for the Detroit Lions was mostly know for the notable players who left than the players who were added. People at the time did not really know the new head coach or what direction he was taking the team, especially on the defensive side and few knew what to make of the new players other than that they came mostly from New England and that they were not flashy signings. Meanwhile the players that left were big names that people got use to over the years and their departure with seemingly inadequate replacements if any caused a great deal of concern about where Matt Patrica was taking the team. I have been regretting not starting this blog sooner so I could have covered this period at the time it happened but I am also thankful that I didn't because I likely would have overreacted to things that I did not understand just like everyone else. With time and the draft behind us I wanted to blog about the notable moves in free agency Acquisitions and Departures. I choose the ones that I thought were either the most interesting or relevant.
Acquisitions
Offense
Defense
Departures
Offense
Defense
Acquisitions
Offense
- LeGarrete Blount, RB: Over the past 4 years the statistic that the national and local media has been hounding the most is the number of games the Lions have gone without a 100 yard rusher. It was Thanks giving in 2013 and that RB was Reggie Bush, who was also the last rusher to go at least 1000 yards in a season. The first big free agent addition to the roster this off season was a running back with 2 Super Bowl rings from 2 different teams from the last two years and his name is LeGarrete Blount. Blount is a power rusher who is good at short yardage downs and pushing the pile forward, which is something Detroit completely lacked for years. Last year there were far too many situations where the Lions were first and goal from the 5 yard line or less and they could not push through to save their own lives (playoff lives that is) and would wind up settling for a field goal on 4th down or worse, going for it and failing. Blount's addition is guaranteed to improve those situations at least by a little and that alone could make a big difference.
- Luke Willson, TE: At start of Free Agency the Lions found themselves with a large need for a new starting Tight end (I will get into the whys of that later in this post) and went out signed former Sea-hawks TE Luke Wilson (who came from the Windsor, ON area). Wilson was the team's second tight end (after Jimmy Graham) and now going to a team with a more pass heavy offense and a clear shot at the number one tight end spot should easily have a career year here in Detroit. This was the case with both Marvin Jones and former Sea-hawk Golden Tate who were both lower down the depth chart in their former teams and exploded when moving here. As a tight end Wilson does not have the athleticism or the big numbers of Eric Ebron but he has been a better blocker and a more consistent pass catcher (i.e. fewer drops) and above all he is far cheaper to have on the roster. I am hopeful that he will succeed here although I am still not happy about the reason why his services were needed to begin with as I will get into later.
Defense
- Christian Jones, LB: A former Bears LB, Jones was one of the later fee agents signed by Bob Quinn this off season. I don't really know much about him but he seems to be part of a complete overhaul of the Line backers and there fore the front seven of the team's defense under Matt Patricia. With the Lions moving to a system that will include 3-4 schemes I expect much of the teams pass rushing to come from line backers such as Jones. For the sake of it I will include a link to this Pride of Detroit Article dated 3-29-18 that goes into some detail about Jones. The article seems to suggest he will likely be a rotational player but could be used in blitzing situations.
- Devon Kennard, LB: The team's biggest free agent addition was a Line Backer from the New York Football Giants in both contract size and impact on defense, Devon Kennard should come in a be a full time starter in place of another LB that left the team this year. This Pride of Detroit Article dated 3-21-18 suggest that he is good against the run and can play from the Defensive line as well. As I stated before the team will have a new defense that will change between 3- and 4-3 as well as other sub packages so I expect to see Kennard on the field a whole lot this season in many different positions.
- DeShawn Shead, CB: I did not expect the Lions to do much with the secondary this off season with how well it did last year but I was wrong. A former Sea-hawk, Deshawn Head comes in to replace DJ Hayden (who left in free agency)will likely take turns with Nevin Lawson opposite of Darius Slay as an outside corner. In Seatle he played opposite of Richard Sherman and should provide better depth at the one position in the secondary that seemed iffy last year.
- Sylvester Williams, DT: One of the few Defensive lineman acquired in this off season is Sylvester Williams from the Titans of Tennessee and according to this Pride of Detroit Interview dated April 3, 2018 was not very consistent with his former team and is probably better as a rotational player. The important thing to note is that Williams is a Nose Tackle. Part of a 3-4 defense includes a Nose Tackle, which is the lone defensive tackle between two defensive ends. The nose tackle is primarily there to absorb blockers and push the pocket, which is on of the few positives the interview highlights on Williams. It still seems (to me at least) the Lions will be in a 4-3 defense with a nickle sub-package more than 3-4 and that will be the case for most of this year as Patricia learns what he has to work with this year. I expect that this year will be on for learning for the front 7 and as such Williams might not be used as much this year (I hope to cover more on that font 7 change this off season with a specific post).
Departures
Offense
- Eric Ebron, TE: The first truly questionable decision made by Bob Quinn in his time as General Manager was cutting Eric Ebron right before the start of free agency. Ebron was the Lion's first round pick from 2014 taken before many higher rated players such as O.B.J. and many fans have never forgiven him or the team for taking him. I was never one of those people. It's true that he had some issues with dropped balls but he also stretched the play field vertically drawing defenders away from players like Golden Tate in the process. Ebron was called a mismatch nightmare by many and this seems to fit because he is much more of a wide receiver than a traditional tight end (he was also not much in the blocking department). Ebron was cut due purely cap space reasons according to the team and I hope that is the case. The team has yet to use much of this cap space but I hope it will result in a big contract extension for Golden Tate. I also hope the loss of Ebron won't result in Tate not being able to get open as much due to having more defenders covering him that would have been covering Ebron.
- Travis Swanson, C: The last of the Martin Meyhew starting offensive lineman, Travis Swanson has missed the last hand full of games at the end of the season due to injury every year since 2015, often ending the team's playoff chances. I just knew last year that if Swanson did not return from his concussion that he would be gone in free agency. I am not happy about that as I though quite highly of Swanson and that he at one point was considered one of the better centers in the league. With Swanson gone, the role of center is up for grabs between Gram Glasgow and our first round pick from this year, which I will get into in the next post.
- Darren Fells, TE: As a back up to Eric Ebron, the Lions brought in a Veteran Tight End Darren Fells late last off season. Fells was supposed to bolster the pass protection and give another receiver for Stafford. At the start of the season Fells seem to be one of the team's top pass catchers at a time when Ebron was struggling. As the season went Ebron surged and Fells, well, he just fell and disappeared for the rest of the season. He departed the team in free agency despite the Lions efforts to keep him here, indicating that they wanted him back.
Defense
- Haloti Ngata, DT: On the defensive line front, free agency has been more know for the team's departures than its arrivals, One such case is long time veteran DT Haloti Ngata. Having been signed in 2015 after the departures of Suh and Fairley, Ngata was brought in to be a premier run stuffer and leader on the defensive side. He was never supposed to be a replacement for either of those players who left but was seen by many fans as such anyway, as such he never lived up to the expectations of fans. He was having what seemed to be the best year of his time here in Detroit in 2017 when he suffered a season ending injury near the midpoint of the season. The team's run defense suffered greatly as a result. With this in mind I was sure that the team would give him at least a year extension as he stated he did not want to retire (not wanting to end his career on a season ending injury). While the team made an effort to resign him, the change in coaching and the schematic change to the defense caused him to seek more agreeable pastures elsewhere (in this case to the Eagles).
- Tahir Whitehead, LB: The linebacker corp has seen the biggest change over these past few off seasons in the Bob Quinn era (at least on the defense side) and the departure of Tahir Whitehead is the biggest example of that this off season. With the departure of Tulloch, Whitehead was pressed into service as the middle linebacker in 2016 where he did not do so well. In 2017 the Lions Drafted Jarred Davis to take over that role and move Whitehead Weak linebacker spot where he had his best year with the team. Like with Ngata, I was sure the team would give him a contract extension, and I like Ngata I was wrong with Whitehead as well. The Lions move to a different defensive style likely cost Whitehead his role here as the team is moving to linebackers that can function better in the pass rush game.
- Brandon Copeland, LB: One of the two defensive players for the Lions to suffer a season ending injury from the first preseason game in 2017, Brandon Copeland had great potential coming off of a 5 sack season in 2016. Copeland for me was a shoe in to be resigned by the team as he spent as much time on the defensive line as a DE as he did as a LB. To me this seemed like an obvious fit in a flexible defense like Patricia ran in New England and is now bringing to Detroit, a LB who was also a DE on a team that needed more of both, especially in the pass rushing department. Copeland's departure in free agency is perhaps the most puzzling to me, especially as he seemed recovered from his injury. I hope there is method behind this madness because there certainty seems to be madness behind the method.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Lions Blog: 2018 Off-Season Coaching Changes
Heading into the 2018 off season (which for Detroit began at the end of game in week 17) it was clear to me that some substantial changes were coming for my Lions. The team had needs to be addressed and problems that brought about a disappointing 2017 season. Some changes took place immediately, such as the firing of a large amount of the coaching staff. Other changes had to wait for either free agency or the draft. I wanted to cover some of the note worthy changes here in this revamped blog while they are still somewhat fresh in my mind and while there is little to no new meaningful football news going on at the moment. I am breaking this into 3 parts with the first one on the coaching changes. Free Agency and the Draft will get their own posts later.
Head Coach: I had been a staunch defender of Jim Caldwell since the Lions 1-7 start in 2015 and believed it was destructive and pointless to be talking about firing the most successful head coach certainty in Lions recent history. I continued to support Jim until the loss at Cincinnati in week 16. That was not only the game that ended the Lions Playoff hopes, it do so in a pathetic fashion. The Bengals were a team that were playing for nothing, having been eliminated from play off contention and at the time were seen as likely to fire their head coach ( which wound up not happening). The Lions still had a good chance of making the post season (at least I thought so). When I watched the game though, it looked like the team had given up by the half time. I knew at that point Jim Caldwell's time as head coach was at an end. I was also learning the name of the Team's likely next head coach, Matt Patricia. While there was some question as to whether he would end up here by some pundits I was certain he would, his connection to the Lions General Manager Bob Quinn from both of their time in New England and the idea that Bob may have been planning this all along. Patricia Was the Patriots Defensive Coordinator and had worked other roles within the organization before that as well. He has multiple Super Bowl Rings and is known to be an effective DC. In New England he ran a defensive scheme that adjusted on a week to week basis to counter the offense of what ever team they are facing. This includes changing between 4-3 and 3-4 defensive set ups as well, which has caused many sports writers and the like in the Detroit area quite a bit of confusion. We have been running a 4-3 defensive ( 4 line men and 3 line backers) ever since I have been watching the Lions. Now people want to know what the base defense for the team is going to be with its new head coach. The answer seems to be that it will change from week to week like it did in New England. The fact the Patricia choose as his new DC was his old mentor Paul Pasqualoni, who seems to be an extension of the new Head Coach, it is easy to assume that Detroit's Defense will have a very Patriot feel to it come the new season.
Head Coach: I had been a staunch defender of Jim Caldwell since the Lions 1-7 start in 2015 and believed it was destructive and pointless to be talking about firing the most successful head coach certainty in Lions recent history. I continued to support Jim until the loss at Cincinnati in week 16. That was not only the game that ended the Lions Playoff hopes, it do so in a pathetic fashion. The Bengals were a team that were playing for nothing, having been eliminated from play off contention and at the time were seen as likely to fire their head coach ( which wound up not happening). The Lions still had a good chance of making the post season (at least I thought so). When I watched the game though, it looked like the team had given up by the half time. I knew at that point Jim Caldwell's time as head coach was at an end. I was also learning the name of the Team's likely next head coach, Matt Patricia. While there was some question as to whether he would end up here by some pundits I was certain he would, his connection to the Lions General Manager Bob Quinn from both of their time in New England and the idea that Bob may have been planning this all along. Patricia Was the Patriots Defensive Coordinator and had worked other roles within the organization before that as well. He has multiple Super Bowl Rings and is known to be an effective DC. In New England he ran a defensive scheme that adjusted on a week to week basis to counter the offense of what ever team they are facing. This includes changing between 4-3 and 3-4 defensive set ups as well, which has caused many sports writers and the like in the Detroit area quite a bit of confusion. We have been running a 4-3 defensive ( 4 line men and 3 line backers) ever since I have been watching the Lions. Now people want to know what the base defense for the team is going to be with its new head coach. The answer seems to be that it will change from week to week like it did in New England. The fact the Patricia choose as his new DC was his old mentor Paul Pasqualoni, who seems to be an extension of the new Head Coach, it is easy to assume that Detroit's Defense will have a very Patriot feel to it come the new season.
Defensive Coordinator: We have had a seemingly successful defensive coordinator in Detroit name Teryl Austin since 2014 that every year seemed like the next big head coaching candidate and yet slipped through the cracks every year. When learning he was not going to get the head coaching job here he left to take up the DC job in Cincinnati. Teryl's defensive scheme was much more of an attacking one with lineman going as far down field as they can to get to the opposing quarterback or running back. This resulted in a defense that put up some big sack numbers during the good times (2014 and a little bit of 2015) but looking like it could not handle running backs or tight ends let alone get to the quarterback. It seems to me in hindsight that Austin only had one good year in 2014 when the Lions had the number one run defense and the second best overall. When the team lost its big defensive tackles like Suh and Fairley the Lions defensive never came close to that production again. I have started to think that Teryl Austin is a bit over rated as a result. He was handed a really good defense by the previous head coach Jim Schwartz and probably under performed what its potential was that year. I am not saying we should have stuck with Schwartz as I think he was a bad fit for a team with disciple problems (which the Lions did) but I do think there is a good reason Austin is still not a head coach all these years after that stellar defense he fielded in 2014. Paul Pasqualoni was brought in by the new Head coach and while the team has been saying that Paul will be making the calls on the defense it seems to me that he was bought in to implement the changes that Patricia is making to the defensive side of the ball. Paul has not been a coach in the NFL for years and spent most of his tine in college football at Syracuse. He acted as Patricia's Coach and mentor years ago an it is clear that he had a big influence on Patricia's defensive style.
Retaining Jim Bob Cooter: With the off season changes to the coaching staff once change I am glad wasn't made was with the Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. Stafford's improvement since he took over the Lion's offense mid way through 2015 has been talked about at length by many people since then and everyone seems to agree that it is for real. JBC was Stafford's choice to remain the OC and since getting his big contract extension last year the Lions have molded the offense to the quarterback's liking with high end free agents and draft picks on the offensive line and two new running backs, so to take away his CO would be counter productive to say the least. In my idea world, teams would not even have an offensive coordinator as that role would be fulfilled by the quarterback, but since no team does that the next best choice would be an OC that is in lock step with, and is a natural extension of the quarterback and JBC fits that description to the letter.
The coaching changes were the first to be made so it makes sense that I would cover them first on this blogthat no on will read of mine, but since it was the longest ago I wanted to make sure I wrote something down before I forget about it. I will be doing entries on the free agent acquisitions and draft picks in later articles which will hopefully come soon.
Offensive line Coach: In 2013, Detroit had a decent offensive line a 1000 yard rusher name Reggie Bush. In 2014 the team had the same offensive line and the same running backs and yet the team had a massive decline in both pass protection and rushing yards. The difference was a change in coaching staff, specifically the offensive line coach Ron Prince. I have seen several things on a consistent basis since 2014 including lack of protection of our quarterback, lack of an effective running game, consistent injuries to starting members of the offensive line, and a lack of unit cohesion resulting from said injuries. This has been true since Jim Bob Cooter took control of the offensive as well as a complete change over in personal on the offensive line including two first round picks and two high priced free agents, the results have been the same. I believe the firing of Ron Prince as offensive line coach was the single biggest thing the Lions could have done to improve this struggling unit. The new O-Line coach Jeff Davidson is not someone I am familiar with. According to this Pride of Detroit Article dated 2-13-2018 which services as a profile of Jeff, he has worked with multiple teams since 1995 including the Saints, Patriots, Browns, Panthers, Vikings, Chargers, and Broncos and has had varying degrees of success utilizing a power blocking man to man scheme that uses a fullback (more on that in a later article. I have to believe that that Jeff will be a substantial improvement over Ron as O-line coach which combined with the other improvements to the pass and run game that I will cover later will make this one exciting offense to watch this coming season.
Retaining Jim Bob Cooter: With the off season changes to the coaching staff once change I am glad wasn't made was with the Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. Stafford's improvement since he took over the Lion's offense mid way through 2015 has been talked about at length by many people since then and everyone seems to agree that it is for real. JBC was Stafford's choice to remain the OC and since getting his big contract extension last year the Lions have molded the offense to the quarterback's liking with high end free agents and draft picks on the offensive line and two new running backs, so to take away his CO would be counter productive to say the least. In my idea world, teams would not even have an offensive coordinator as that role would be fulfilled by the quarterback, but since no team does that the next best choice would be an OC that is in lock step with, and is a natural extension of the quarterback and JBC fits that description to the letter.
The coaching changes were the first to be made so it makes sense that I would cover them first on this blog
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Starting up a Detroit Lions Section of My Blog
Since 2014, I have spent an unhealthy amount of time thinking and talking about my local National Football League team the Detroit Lions. I have annoyed friends, family and co-workers with my interest and opinions about the Lions and yet for what ever reason I never actually sat down and typed out anything on the subject matter. I have also let my Detroit focus blog go unused for about 4 years despite having plenty of stuff I wanted to blog about (in most cases, this thought would occur well after the fact). As an attempt to provide a little more meaning to my life as well as perhaps giving myself an outlet for my thoughts on local stuff I am returning to this blog. I cannot say how often I will post here but I do believe I have let too much stuff go by of which I have had opinions (strong ones in some cases) that have gone mostly unheard by anyone else, thus this new beginning. Since we are just past the 2018 NFL Draft and the first few phases of free agency This seems like as good of time as any to start blogging about the Detroit Lions.
Just a little background on my experiences watching the Detroit Lions. I have lived in the Detroit area all of my life but I spent much of it unaware of the team ( I missed the Barry Sanders era completely). I was aware that they were a bad team in the 2000's and at family Thanksgiving gatherings Football would be on but I did not care at the time. I first watched a significant amount of Lions football in 2007 when we got our first HD antenna and started receiving HD broadcast over the air. I watched most, if not all of that season. It was actually a better than average season for the Lions that year (the Matt Millen era) as the team went 7-9 after starting hot and ending bad. It was good enough for me to get my foot in the door. I watched the first few games of the 0-16 2008 season before losing interest. I missed all of the 2009 season as well as the introduction of the team's current Quarterback Matthew Stafford. In 2010 after moving out to my own place getting a nice new TV I knew that Football would be the perfect thing to watch on it. I was treated to my first case of my Football team getting screwed by the officials as I watched a game winning touchdown taken away in grand, stupid fashion under some sort of "completing the process" rule (The "Calvin Johnson" rule as it became known as). I knew that the season was ruined at that point and tuned it out as I moved on to other distractions. In 2011 I watched the full season as the Lions with their new Quarterback (who's name I was fast learning) and their star Wide Receiver ( who I was also getting more knowledgeable about) put up crazy numbers and crazier passes and the Lions went 10-6 and to the post season for the first time in more then a decade. Even though Stafford suffered a hand injury in the middle of the season that cost the team at least a few games I though the the team did well. As a result I was very much looking forward to the 2012 season and even more let down by it as well (4-12). Once again I checked out fairly early in the season. In 2013 I watched the whole season and have been doing so ever since. I have been keeping track of the off season developments since 2015 as well as watching (when I can ) the NFL Draft every year. Since watching the team going 11-5 in 2014 I have been more optimistic about the Lions chances in the upcoming season than most of the people I know ( or know of) and while my expectations for the team have yet to be met in any year The Lions have consistently (since 2014 anyway) done better than most of the experts that I follow have predicted which I take as some sort of validation of my enthusiasm.
I know that I skipped over a bunch of stuff and only touched on the things I did mention but I just wanted to set up some idea of where I am coming from. I am someone who Has been following the team for about a decade with mild interest during the first 5 years and much more determined interest in the second 5 years. Since 2015 the off season has become longer for me in the way that I look forward to the start of the season much more. I follow every development as I try to figure out where the team is headed. I just wanted to get this blog going again with a basic post. I intend to do more detailed observations about this off season and even past seasons. Hopefully I will be more consistent in blogging from here on out. Here's to hoping.
Just a little background on my experiences watching the Detroit Lions. I have lived in the Detroit area all of my life but I spent much of it unaware of the team ( I missed the Barry Sanders era completely). I was aware that they were a bad team in the 2000's and at family Thanksgiving gatherings Football would be on but I did not care at the time. I first watched a significant amount of Lions football in 2007 when we got our first HD antenna and started receiving HD broadcast over the air. I watched most, if not all of that season. It was actually a better than average season for the Lions that year (the Matt Millen era) as the team went 7-9 after starting hot and ending bad. It was good enough for me to get my foot in the door. I watched the first few games of the 0-16 2008 season before losing interest. I missed all of the 2009 season as well as the introduction of the team's current Quarterback Matthew Stafford. In 2010 after moving out to my own place getting a nice new TV I knew that Football would be the perfect thing to watch on it. I was treated to my first case of my Football team getting screwed by the officials as I watched a game winning touchdown taken away in grand, stupid fashion under some sort of "completing the process" rule (The "Calvin Johnson" rule as it became known as). I knew that the season was ruined at that point and tuned it out as I moved on to other distractions. In 2011 I watched the full season as the Lions with their new Quarterback (who's name I was fast learning) and their star Wide Receiver ( who I was also getting more knowledgeable about) put up crazy numbers and crazier passes and the Lions went 10-6 and to the post season for the first time in more then a decade. Even though Stafford suffered a hand injury in the middle of the season that cost the team at least a few games I though the the team did well. As a result I was very much looking forward to the 2012 season and even more let down by it as well (4-12). Once again I checked out fairly early in the season. In 2013 I watched the whole season and have been doing so ever since. I have been keeping track of the off season developments since 2015 as well as watching (when I can ) the NFL Draft every year. Since watching the team going 11-5 in 2014 I have been more optimistic about the Lions chances in the upcoming season than most of the people I know ( or know of) and while my expectations for the team have yet to be met in any year The Lions have consistently (since 2014 anyway) done better than most of the experts that I follow have predicted which I take as some sort of validation of my enthusiasm.
I know that I skipped over a bunch of stuff and only touched on the things I did mention but I just wanted to set up some idea of where I am coming from. I am someone who Has been following the team for about a decade with mild interest during the first 5 years and much more determined interest in the second 5 years. Since 2015 the off season has become longer for me in the way that I look forward to the start of the season much more. I follow every development as I try to figure out where the team is headed. I just wanted to get this blog going again with a basic post. I intend to do more detailed observations about this off season and even past seasons. Hopefully I will be more consistent in blogging from here on out. Here's to hoping.
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