Detroit Lions Sell Out Home Opener, Remain Luckiest Franchise in Sports

Like many of you reading this, I have been a Detroit Lions fan for my entire life.

Unlike many of you, I have never bought a ticket to a Lions game. So the Lions avoiding having their home opener blacked-out is not something I had a hand in.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not impressed. In fact, I’m not sure the Lions deserve such loyal fans. They’ve certainly done little to deserve them.

I’m not just talking about the losing streak. Nothing chases away fans like losing, but that’s not the only thing going on here.

I’m talking about 45 years of bad ownership by one William Clay Ford, who has treated winning like a secondary goal, or even a by-product, ever since he bought the team. He has been grinding dirt into Lions fans’ wounds for a long time, and yet they keep coming back. Why—you may ask?

Because it’s not about the ownership. It’s not about Ford, either the car company or the person. It’s not about the economy. When it comes down to it, it’s not even about winning.

It’s about going out, having some fun, and loving and supporting the Lions—plain and simply.

We fans don’t have to turn out to these games. It costs a lot of money to see a Lions game, and lately going to see a Lions game means paying money to see your team lose.

Yet the tickets continue to sell, while Michigan’s unemployment rate continues to hover around 15 percent, and Detroit continues to spiral into urban oblivion.

Really, though they’re on the rebuilding trail, things could not be any worse for the Detroit Lions. Every possible circumstance seems to be against them.

And yet tickets are selling. Jerseys are selling. Despite all historical evidence to the contrary, Lions fans believe something is going to happen with this team.

This would not happen in another city. Jacksonville is looking at potentially blacking out every game this season, and they actually won games last year.

So I salute you, Lions fans, especially those with a ticket.

Though your loyalty is lemming-like, it is to be admired.

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Detroit Lions Notch a Good Loss in New Orleans

Everyone just calm down.

I’ve heard a whole lot of comparisons to the 2008 Detroit Lions after Sunday’s 45-27 trampling at the hands of  the New Orleans Saints.

It’s understandable; they did lose by 18 points, and they are the 2009 Lions. It’s natural to compare them to last year’s version.

As I remember, though, the 2008 Lions lost to roughly the same Saints 42-7, and that was without an injury to their top cornerback against the league’s most prolific passer.

So let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

Yes, the Lions lost. Yes, it was an 18-point loss, and their 18th-straight loss. Yes, they became the first modern-era team to have a losing streak spanning three seasons. No, they didn’t even cover a double-digit spread (13).

Yes, Drew Brees threw six touchdown passes and a second-string running back had a career day. Yes, Matthew Stafford had a bad day, showing his inability to finish drives and a propensity to throw interceptions at the worst possible time (two of his picks were caught inside the 20-yard line).

Kevin Smith was shut down and Calvin Johnson had only three catches, though one was for what should have been a long touchdown.

Heard enough? Good. I know the Lions lost big, and in many ways it looked very bad. Now let me follow that up with two very important words:

So what?

That’s right, I don’t care. Anybody who expected to open the season in New Orleans with a big, statement-making win needs to start up a support group with Joey “Blue Skies” Harrington, Jon “10 Wins” Kitna, and Kevin “20 Touchdowns” Smith.

Temper your expectations, people. If you didn’t believe it before, believe it now. We are not looking at a playoff team. Deal with that. The Lions are going to lose a lot of games this season, and the Saints are one of the toughest games on the schedule, so what’s the problem?

Now, having said that, with as bad as it looked, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

See, despite the final score, the game wasn’t a blowout. At no point did the Saints pull their starters and start beating down the Lions with second-string players. In fact, it was still a reasonably winnable game (though a long shot) until Stafford’s third interception.

Though they never led, the Lions never trailed by more than the 18 points they lost by. In fact, after falling behind by 14 points early on, they battled back to within four points early in the second quarter.

At any given point, the Lions were one missed opportunity away from making it a much closer game.

Much of that has to do with Stafford. The interceptions he threw were momentum-killers, and he was unable to get touchdowns instead of turnovers or field goals.

But he’s a rookie quarterback, and he’s making rookie quarterback mistakes. This is his first real game against NFL competition, and therefore the first in which he must realize that his gifted right arm is not enough to carry him to success without  good decision-making.

His problems and mistakes are coachable, and he will learn, but expecting him to know it before he steps foot on the field is unrealistic. These are games Stafford has to have before he learns what throws he can make at this level and how.

For that matter, these are games the entire Lions team has to have.

They fought hard, but at the end of the day, they were outgunned. The Saints are a team thinking playoffs, and the Lions are looking to snap an 18-game skid.

I’m not going to say this is a moral victory, because I don’t believe in moral victories. For a team that hasn’t won a game in almost two years, the only moral victory this season will be the numeral “one” on the left side of a hyphen.

That being said, as losses go, this one could have been worse. The Lions were supposed to lose this game, and they did, but they didn’t perform below any reasonable set of expectations.

They will get better, visibly, as the season goes on. More than half of this year’s 53-man roster was not on last year’s 53-man roster, so chemistry is a major issue.

And hey, the Lions have all kinds of issues, all over the field. We know this, but don’t throw them under the bus yet.

The only question right now is whether the Lions are playing better than last year, and if they’re headed in the right direction.

After one game, the answers to both questions are yes. It’s unusual to say that after a 18-point loss, but this is a team under unusual circumstances, who lost to the same team by 35 points last season.

So everyone calm down and enjoy the show. Start a pool at the office for the Lions’ first win. Smile politely at the guy who picks “2010.”  But don’t be that guy, don’t throw your hands up in September.

This ride is only beginning, and it will get better soon.

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Detroit Lions Likely Shopping Daunte Culpepper Already

Daunte Culpepper had better not get too comfortable in his Honolulu blue jersey this season.

After head coach Jim Schwartz made the call to start Matthew Stafford at quarterback from day one, Culpepper’s presence is suddenly much less valuable to the Lions … except maybe on the trade market.

Of course, what if the Lions are just testing Stafford out? They could pull him and send in the veteran, Matt Leinart-style.

If you follow the cues, Stafford is in for good.

According to Schwartz, starting Stafford “isn’t an experiment. He’s our starting quarterback.”

But are the Lions interested in shopping Culpepper, instead of keeping him on as a reliable, steady backup to Stafford?

It’s possible that the Lions are interested in keeping him on, but Schwartz seems to think “He’s back,” and that “he did everything to win the job.”

So, Stafford is “our starting quarterback,” and Culpepper “is back?”

Who is Schwartz trying to convince? It sounds an awful lot like he’s sending out a press release to the other 31 teams: “If you need a starting quarterback, we have one sitting the bench here, available cheap!”

Under normal circumstances, Culpepper would be a tough sell. After years of injuries, decline, a retirement, and then half of a sub-par season playing about 50 pounds overweight, he came back strong, in great shape, and reportedly playing some of his best football in years. Then he lost the starting job to a rookie quarterback anyway.

But then, Culpepper looked more than adequate in the preseason, which is more than some teams can say about their projected starter (I’m looking at you, Denver Broncos).

The X-factor in all this is Drew Stanton. After he suffered another knee injury, Schwartz avoided putting him on injured reserve. Schwartz has said that Stanton’s injury is minor, and that he should be back within the first half of the season.

If Culpepper is traded, Stanton becomes the backup, which may be well-warranted, since he was arguably the most impressive and most successful quarterback in the preseason.

But whether Culpepper is traded or not may depend on whether Schwartz and Co. are confident with increasing Stanton’s role, which they will be unable to do until he’s healthy again.

The problem with that is money.

If the Lions were to trade Culpepper, they would want to do it before the start of the regular season, when Culpepper is due a large roster bonus.

But beyond the difficulty of convincing another team to effectively pick up his bonus in the next two days, Stanton will not be ready in that time, which will force the Lions to possibly pick up two quarterbacks to back up Stafford while Stanton heals (if he heals).

Still, the question of trading Culpepper is almost certainly when, not if. The Lions have taken care of their quarterback issues with Stafford, for better or worse, but there are still holes to be filled all over the team.

Culpepper now represents a vehicle with which to fill those holes, either with players or picks.

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Detroit Lions Look to Buffalo To End Safety Battle

Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz must have seen something he liked Thursday night.

One day after playing against him in a Bills uniform, the Lions engineered a trade to bring safety Ko Simpson to Detroit for an undisclosed 2010 draft pick.

When not watching the quarterback battle, the Lions have been trying to figure out all preseason who they could start at safety. Louis Delmas was one starter, but who was the other?

Gerald Alexander? Traded.

Daniel Bullocks? Injured.

Kalvin Pearson? A decent player, but had a miserable preseason.

Stuart Schweigert? Showing well, but inconsistent and coming off an offseason calf injury.

Marquand Manuel? Had an okay preseason, but nobody cares (apparently).

Simpson just leap-frogged the field by showing up in Detroit. He is entering his fourth season, and has been a solid contributor in Buffalo since his rookie season in 2006.

Better yet, if Simpson performs well, he could, at age 25, be a long-term answer for the Lions at the safety position.

The darker side of this trade is that it means the Lions’ coaching staff didn’t see enough from any of the prospective safeties on the squad to start them comfortably. So any strong preseason performances you thought you saw are irrelevant.

As it stands, the Lions just added a player the day before final cuts, which means an extra safety will be packing his bags. Manuel and Schweigert are the obvious choices (though probably not both), but even former projected starter Kalvin Pearson should be looking over his shoulder.

In fact, everyone should. Even the guys who survive Saturday’s cuts.

For days now, the Lions have been saying they were going to scour the waiver wire for every last shred of talent, using that No. 1 waiver priority to full advantage. Apparently that applies to trades, as well.

It is increasingly obvious that the coaching staff is not really happy with the roster they have in place, even after turning over half of it. They still want to—and quite frankly, need to—improve.

It’s safe to assume we’ll see a lot of front office activity in the week leading up to the regular season. That may or may not be smart, since at some point they should be able to tell their players to stop worrying about getting sent away and go play football.

The way things look now, that point might be the trade deadline.

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Brooks Bollinger and Kevin O’Connell Jumble Detroit Lions’ QB Picture

Brooks Bollinger and Kevin O’Connell are Detroit Lions, and I’m not quite sure why.

When I first heard the news about Bollinger, I immediately went to my computer to talk about how it was only to get through the final pre-season game while Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton sit out with injuries.

Then the O’Connell signing came to light. Now I’m beginning to wonder about Culpepper and Stanton.

Stanton has been a distant third and little more than an afterthought on the minds of the Lions’ coaches. Rumors began to float after the New England Patriots released O’Connell, that Stanton might be trade bait in the “Tom Brady’s backup” sweepstakes.

However, Stanton’s knee injury will take weeks to heal, and this is his third season (of three) with an injury severe enough for him to miss considerable time. That drops his stock considerably.

Culpepper has been steady and consistent, and perhaps even a favorite to win the Lions’ starting job.

But he is due a roster bonus before the start of the season, and if the coaching staff has decided to go with Matthew Stafford, then Culpepper may also be trade bait.

Either way, the Lions now have five quarterbacks on the roster—again—and it’s unlikely to stay that way when the regular season rolls around.

That means either O’Connell or Bollinger is the odd man out…unless the Lions are going to blow everybody’s minds by dealing off/cutting Stanton and Culpepper.

Let’s just assume that won’t happen.

What has happened here, then, is that Bollinger and O’Connell have created their own quarterback battle. But instead of fighting for the starting job, they’re fighting for a roster spot.

O’Connell I can see hanging around for a while. Bollinger is still a question mark.

Think of Bollinger like an arm cast.

An arm cast is irritating, not terribly useful, limits your abilities, and shouldn’t be around for more than a few weeks. But unfortunately, due to injury, it is a necessary evil.

Chances are, Bollinger won’t see the start of the regular season, and he can go back to his budding UFL gig with the Florida Tuskers. On the other hand, he may find himself the Lions’ 2009 edition of Drew Henson.

Henson last year was a placeholder. His job was to take up space. To call him a stopgap is an insult to stopgaps, and the gaps they’re used for.

Henson actually got a couple of reps in the regular season, when the worst happened and every other quarterback was injured.

Bollinger needed those kinds of odds just to get a call from a team that hasn’t won a regular season football game in 21 months, and he probably won’t be around for week one, but like Henson, if more injuries occur during the season, the Lions just might get him on speed dial.

For the long term, though, Bollinger has had a few years on him in the league, so the idea that he is a “project” the Lions can develop is much less appealing when the guy is turning 30 this year.

O’Connell, however, can be a project. He was drafted in the third round by the New England Patriots last year, but was inexplicably released after being the favorite for the Patriots’ No. 2 spot.

It’s a little concerning picking up players the Patriots have given up on (they’re usually right…what’s Corey Dillon doing these days?), but it’s not like O’Connell is a 33-year-old journeyman looking for one last payoff or a title shot. He’s 24, and still learning the game.

Ultimately, neither of these signings is likely to affect the top battle between Culpepper and Stafford.

Culpepper’s injury is minor enough for him to still be questionable for Thursday’s preseason game at Buffalo, which means he could still win the starting job.

Stafford, of course, is perfectly healthy, and is the Lions’ future regardless of what other quarterbacks are on the roster.

Stanton, though I like the kid, is developing a reputation for china doll fragility, and is looking at a team that has no real loyalty to him.

So If O’Connell (or Bollinger) shows upside, and Stanton can’t stay healthy, his days may be numbered.

One thing is clear, though. With the Lions signing two quarterbacks as the regular season approaches, they are not just looking to fill injury gaps.

They’re auditioning for a roster spot.

Drew Stanton Winning the Daunte Culpepper-Matthew Stafford QB Battle in Detroit

It’s a good thing Drew Stanton is a positive guy.

If he wasn’t, he might need therapy, considering the way his career with the Detroit Lions has gone.

In two years, Stanton has gone from second-round savior with lots of potential to forgotten third wheel…with lots of potential.

So neglected is Stanton that despite head coach Jim Schwartz declaring that all three quarterbacks were going to get equal reps in camp, and despite Stanton’s notably strong performance in both preseason games, it is unlikely that he will be given an opportunity to even think about being the backup.

A second-round draft pick in 2007, Stanton spent his rookie season on injured reserve, even though his sprained knee would likely have been healthy during the regular season.

The rationale? Since Stanton was a rookie project and was going to miss the preseason with his injury, they shut him down to let J.T. O’Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky jockey for position.

Besides, it would take the pressure off so he could learn the ropes of an NFL offense from the bench, and then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz wanted to tinker with his throwing motion, as if he were a posable action figure.

When 2008 rolled around, Martz and O’Sullivan were shown the door to San Francisco, bumping Stanton to a distant third on the depth chart. However, Stanton, under new offensive coordinator Jim Coletto, was forced to start from scratch in his development.

Being third on the depth chart, the only way Stanton would see any playing time is if the worst happened and both starter Jon Kitna and backup Orlovsky went down with injuries.

Or not.

As it turned out, the stars aligned and Kitna was shut down for the year. A couple of weeks later, Orlovsky was injured, leaving only Stanton and “just because” reserve quarterback Drew Henson on the roster.

Stanton was ready for his first career start.

Four days prior to it, the Lions signed “retired” quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who weighed as much as an offensive lineman and was in worse shape.

Culpepper got the start with the team’s playbook strapped to his arm, because according to the coaches, Stanton would have “embarrassed himself” had he played.

As it turned out, Stanton split time with Culpepper in Week 10, since Culpepper hadn’t had time to practice certain sets.

Culpepper went 5-for-10 for 104 yards and an interception.

Stanton “embarrassed himself” to the tune of 6-for-8 for 96 yards and a touchdown.

That performance seems to have continued in the preseason, with Stanton running the best drives and throwing the best passes of the day.

Don’t believe me? You don’t have to. Here are the stats from the first two preseason games, ripped directly from NFL.com:

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sck	Sack/Lost	Rating
Matthew Stafford	27	12	148	44.4	5.5	1	3.7	2	7.4	28	0	0	43.4
Drew Stanton	25	13	180	52.0	7.2	2	8.0	0	0.0	45	0	0	102.1
Daunte Culpepper	22	15	127	68.2	5.8	0	0.0	0	0.0	20	1	6	83.0

 

Statistically, Stanton is winning the battle. He leads in every category except completion percentage, where Culpepper holds the edge.

Add in the fact that Stanton has scrambled six times for 68 yards this preseason, and you have to wonder why he’s not more of a factor in the quarterback battle.

I understand that Stanton has a few issues. I know he was 5-for-12 against the Browns, and I know that he’s performing well against second- and third-string defenses, and that the situation might be very different if he were facing stronger competition.

But this is preseason. Isn’t this where we find out what we have? Culpepper and Stafford have both gotten starts this preseason, so would it be so terrible to give Stanton some reps with the first team this week? They have absolutely nothing to lose.

Even if the coaching staff has no interest in starting Stanton in the regular season, he’s still a second rounder with upside. A strong preseason performance could boost his trade stock, if nothing else.

Or they could discover they’re sitting on a gem of a talent. We don’t know, and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we ever will.

Detroit Lions’ Daniel Bullocks Avoids Getting Cut by Hitting IR

Daniel Bullocks entered the 2009 NFL season with a target on his back, and everybody has been shooting.

Guys like Kalvin Pearson and Louis Delmas were aiming for his job.

And guys like me have been gunning for him to get cut in training camp.

It’s not that I wanted it to happen. I’ve got nothing against the man. I didn’t even predict him to get cut when I had the chance (Note: the man I did pick, Tra Battle, has since signed with a UFL team). It was just one of those things that seemed likely, and making predictions like that is what fuels the sports writing community.

But it’s a moot point now. For the second time in his four-year career, Bullocks will miss the entire regular season with a knee injury, likely ending his career with the Detroit Lions.

Bullocks, who was entering the final year of a four-year contract with the Lions, landed on IR in his rookie year, had quiet 2007 and 2008 seasons, and now is on IR again. If a player is supposed to play his best football in a contract year, the rubber “bust” stamp can now safely come down on the former second-round pick.

To accentuate this, consider that Bullocks had to clear waivers in order to make it to IR in the first place, and 31 other NFL teams decided they could live without him.

Bullocks has spent a great deal of his professional career injured, which overshadows the fact that when he has been healthy, he has shown a complete lack of play-making ability. The beginning of the 2009 season was no different, with Bullocks showing weakly in training camp and OTAs before getting injured.

I predicted Bullocks would make the cut at training camp, simply because the Lions had nobody better to plug in alongside Delmas.

After weeks of Bullocks under-performing, Pearson looking better than expected, and hometown boy Stuart Schweigert forcing people to learn his name, it is very possible I’m wrong about that. Pearson was looking more and more like a starter on every play, and now it appears he will be.

Admittedly, I’m still not convinced Bullocks would have been cut without the injury, because the safety position is lacking quality depth. Anthony Henry could plug in at safety, and likely will in the next season or two, but if he were to do so this season he would leave a gap at cornerback.

Bullocks’ injury is another disappointing chapter in a string of unfortunate second-round draft picks this decade, joining Teddy Lehman, Barrett Green, and Boss Bailey as another second-round pick derailed by injury.

Aaron Brown Turning Heads, but Lions Fans Should Keep It in Perspective

I hate to be the one to always have to do this.

No, I’m not going to lecture everyone about how the Lions’ comeback 27-26 victory means nothing. We know that after last season’s 4-0 preseason and 0-16 regular season.

I’m here to temper the mass hype over Aaron Brown.

On Saturday, Brown lived up to his billing as a speedy back with a bit of an attitude problem.

He scored two touchdowns. The first came on a play where he basically just ran by everyone, and the second came on a screen pass where he juked a couple defenders and then ran by everyone.

He celebrated with a faux Lambeau Leap and then by giving the Falcons 15 free yards with a well-documented backflip.

It sounds great. It looks even better. On the replays, Brown looks like a blur among men.

One minor problem.

Brown came in during the third quarter and put up those numbers against a third-string defense on a team that ranked 24th in total defense last year and made almost no improvements to it in the offseason.

Many of the guys Brown ran by probably won’t even make an NFL team.

Now, with Brown’s perceived dominance over what will amount to be the better part of a practice squad, he has at least earned himself a roster spot. That’s as it should be. If nothing else, Brown has proven himself to be superior to future third-stringers and cut players.

But at this point, that is all he has proven. No matter how good he looked, his performance is not setting the league ablaze.

Why? Because speed is great, but it’s not all there is. First-string NFL defenses can account for a speedy back. This is known as “Reggie Bush Syndrome.”

Bush’s speed was supposed to be unmatched, remember? He was going to run for 1,500 yards every season and be a threat to take it all the way, every play. Sure, he’s still fast, but so are NFL defenses—and every season he plays, he gets a little further away from “featured back” status.

Now, Brown is fast too. He’s not fast like Bush, but he’s fast, and he could be a nice change-of-pace back for the Lions with some seasoning.

But to anyone who saw Saturday’s game (probably not many, given the NFL Network blackout) and thinks that Brown is the next big thing, keep dreaming.

Excitement is fine, and Brown could still be the next big sixth-round steal. But for now, Kevin Smith is the man in Detroit, and the best Brown should get this season is a few carries to spell Smith and Maurice Morris.

Detroit Lions’ Strong Defense in Camp Not Necessarily Good News

Training camp reports have a bit of a bipolar nature to them.

One day, the team looks great. The next, they’re weak. The defense is dominant. The offense is dominant.

Somebody is having a weak showing and might get cut. The next day, they set the place on fire with big plays and outstanding work ethic.

However, one constant in the Detroit Lions’ training camp has been that the defense has performed very well every day of camp so far.

Earlier this week, I noted that the Lions’ defensive line was abusing the offensive line. Since then, the linebackers and secondary have been performing well in seven-on-seven drills, which is basically a scrimmage without front lines.

In addition, head coach Jim Schwartz has been operating under his “don’t hold things back” mantra, which means the defense is blitzing in camp scrimmages, just as they will in games this season.

So this is good news, right? The defense is doing what it’s supposed to do, and it looks improved, with more than a 50 percent turnover from last year. Maybe they’ll be strong this year, or at least middle-of-the-road, right?

Sure, it’s possible. But the problem with training camp is if the defense wins a drill, that means the offense lost it. The defense isn’t dominating opposing offenses, they’re dominating their own offense.

In other words, is the defense really better, or is the offense worse? Is the defense capable of stopping people, or is the offense incapable of scoring, even on the league’s worst defense?

There’s no way to tell at this point. There won’t be until the preseason, and probably not even then. There won’t be any sure answers until the defense gets a huge test against the New Orleans Saints to kick-off the regular season.

Sure, maybe I’m overreacting.

The offense always takes a longer time to get going than the defense in camp, and the offense is missing its projected No. 2 receiver, Bryant Johnson, due to an evil transport device.

On top of that, the offense is running a new system, with its third new offensive coordinator in as many years, a rookie quarterback—a veteran who may or may not be washed up, a draft bust who may never get the chance to show that he’s not.

Maybe it’s my disposition, and maybe I can’t help seeing things any other way after last season, but it seems like every positive out of training camp has an untold negative.

Matt Stafford looks good in a drill that heavily favors the offense.

Drew Stanton looks sharp, but probably won’t ever see the field.

The defensive line looks good when they dominate the offensive line.

The defense is playing well, because the offense isn’t executing.

Maybe someday, there will be a time when good news about the Lions isn’t accompanied by a dark undertone.

Detroit Lions’ Defense Fueling Team Drive with Personal Drives

Second-worst scoring defense of all time.

The 2008 Lions earned that distinction last year, and presumably will keep it until a Mike Martz-led expansion team in San Antonio rears its head.

The Lions allowed 517 points (16 points off the all-time record) and 16 wins to be tallied against them last year, and in the half-year since, the defensive side has been almost completely rebuilt.

Last week, I highlighted the Lions’ offense, specifically which members were playing with a chip on their shoulder, something to prove.

One could argue that the entire Lions defense has a chip on its collective shoulder, given its last-place standing the last two years, but that would be a cop-out.

So here we go.

 

Gunther Cunningham

Perhaps this is a cop-out as well, but Cunningham has a lot to prove after his less-than-successful tenure with Kansas City.

On paper, the Lions replaced the coordinator of the worst defense in the league with the coordinator of the second-worst defense in the league.

We’ve heard the justifications. Cunningham was only running Herm Edwards’ scheme, not his own. He has head coaching experience. He has been more successful in the past. Jim Schwartz believes in him. He wants to bring the blitz to Detroit.

That all sounds great, but without significant results, he’ll just the guy brought in to move the Lions’ defense from 32nd to 31st. Maybe.

 

Ernie Sims

Is he regressing when he should be approaching his peak? Can he be a leader for the defense as one of the only talented Lions holdovers this season? Does he have the talent to be a Pro Bowl linebacker, as his ninth overall selection would suggest?

The questions about Sims are to be answered this year, because his excuses are gone.

With a Pro Bowler on the strong side, and a world champion in the middle, he no longer has to pick up the slack for his inept linebacker corps.

With a defense now focused on blitzing and instinctive play, he no longer has the Tampa-Two system to blame, and he will be able to compile as many stats as he is able to.

This season will determine, definitively, which way Sims is going as a player, and he knows it.

Either he’ll be an All-Pro, or another Roy Williams: A good player who showed a flash or two early on, but never quite lived up to his billing.

 

Daniel Bullocks

There are some who think Bullocks is destined to be a training camp casualty this year. Others project him to be a starter.

Which Bullocks is real?

If he plays well and stays healthy, he’ll be a fixture next to Louis Delmas in the Lions’ secondary for years.

If he doesn’t, he’ll just be another second-round bust, shipped off next year for a conditional seventh-round pick and a bag of tees, and he’ll make a bad decade that much worse.

 

Larry Foote

The whole reason Larry is in Detroit is because he has something to prove.

In Pittsburgh, he was being limited to two-down linebacker duty, and he was starting to hear the footsteps of second-year man Lawrence Timmons, as he began to cut into Foote’s playing time.

In Detroit, he wants to show that he is better than a 29-year-old linebacker playing to get replaced. He has a one-year contract, and has already playfully pointed out to Lions management that they should have signed him for longer, as he is going to be worth more next year.

Foote has set his own table here. He’s sure to be a fan favorite, since he asked for a release from his contract with the team he won two Super Bowls with, specifically to play for the rebuilding worst team in NFL history.

He is from Detroit, he has expressed his desire to sign long-term and possibly retire there, and while he’s not making guarantees, he is setting fairly high expectations for himself.

The bottom line?

Foote thinks he play better at this point in his career than the Steelers thought he could, or were allowing him to do. Now he has his chance. Is he right?

 

Sammie Lee Hill

Sammie Lee Hill is from a small school called Stillman College. He is the first man ever drafted into the NFL from the liberal arts college in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

There, I said it. We’re gotten it out of the way, so the tags generally attached to Hill since he was drafted are right there in the first paragraph. Let’s move on.

Hill is drawing some insanely premature comparisons to the NFL’s newest hundred- millionaire, Albert Haynesworth. Most of us know it’s way too early for such lavish comparisons. Let’s see him play an NFL game, first.

But that name has been tossed out there, and there’s no taking it back, now. He is admittedly built like Haynesworth, and obviously made a huge, perhaps even Haynesworthian impact at Stillman, but that’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid who hasn’t even played against middle-tier college talent.

Even if Hill turns out to make the roster and be average, he will still be considered a disappointment to some (perhaps the casual fan), even as a fourth-round pick, because of that ill-advised comparison.

Hill may have the kind of potential to make him the NFL’s next defensive tackle superstar, but he might have some trouble reaching the lofty goals some have set for him before his first NFL training camp.

Keep an eye on him nonetheless.

 

Zack Follett

Speaking of unusually high expectations, here we have the most celebrated seventh-round draft selection, maybe ever.

Follett is the primary reason for this article in the first place. Nobody comes into this season feeling more slighted than Zack Follett. After all but accepting that he was going to go undrafted in 2009, the Lions picked him up in the seventh round, and in his excitement, he sent out his own personal “Prediction: Pain” to 31 other NFL teams.

Aside from his post-draft comments,  Follett’s reputation as a hard hitter is well-recognized, and supported by a number of YouTube highlight reels featuring his play set to hip-hop music.

Of course, this is absurd. I played middle linebacker in junior high, and I was not very good. But if you created a montage of every decent play I ever made from multiple camera angles, I would look like a rock star on top of everybody’s draft board.

The point is, much of the hype is fluff. Gunther Cunningham likes the kid, loves his “kill you every day” attitude on the field, but even he has said Follett hasn’t looked great so far. He likely won’t see any reps with the defense this year, and sad as it would be, he might not ever.

But then, I’m just the kind of guy he wants to shut up, along with 31 other teams that passed on him six times, and the 234 guys drafted before him.

 

Jason Hanson

Not a defensive player, but I didn’t mention him last week, and special teams doesn’t get its own article.

Besides, “Thunderfoot” deserves a nod from somebody.

Hanson, whether anybody outside Michigan knows it or not, has been one of the most reliable, consistent, and all-around best kickers in the league for the last 15 years.

Last year alone, he set an NFL record (50+ yard FGs made, career – 41), and tied another (50+ yard FGs made, single season – eight).

But on a winless team? Pro Bowl voting wouldn’t go near him. And it hasn’t, for almost 10 years.

Hanson has suffered from “bad team bias” for years when it comes to national recognition. Kicker isn’t a position anybody looks at unless they’re kicking game-winning field goals.

Unfortunately, that is something (perhaps the only thing) Hanson has had precious few of.

Hanson is 39 years old, is the leading scorer in Lions history, the eighth-leading scorer in NFL history, and will undoubtedly be the last No. 4 the Detroit Lions ever see.

Yet as he enters the first year of a four-year contract, possibly the last four of his career, he is playing for his legacy.

When Hanson hangs them up for good, will he have finally broken through? Will he be recognized as one of the finest kickers in the history of the sport? Or is he destined to remain the leading scorer on a punchline of a team?

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