At Least
WOW!!!
At least we are all together and united by the fact that Millen cannot judge talent. I mean he probably would have looked at Steven Boyd as a has-been when he was coming out of college. By the way... was Matt Millen even all that great? If we could make Spielman our next GM would you be aboard>
the Fords
Recently, previous Lion Head Coaches Bobby Ross and Steve Marriuci commented on the Lions organization. Both had good things to say about the Fords. Has there ever been a Lions coach with bad things to say about the Lion ownership? Darrell Rogers only complaint is that they would not fire him quickly enough. I find this interesting because many (most?) Lion fans blame the Fords for the teams ineptitude, usually claiming that they wont due what it takes to build a winner and in reality they believe that the Fords do not want a winner but merely a money maker. Previous coaches seem to disagree. My only problem with the Fords is that they hire the wrong people and are slow to let them go when it becomes apparent that they are incompetent. What say you Ford Haters?
Millen has a history of over rating his
Millen has signed players to extentions and their talen never matched the contract. Kilimba Edwards,Shaun Rogers,Jeff Backus,the list is long but it says one thing,Millen can't judge talent. Marenelli also brings his honor students here and they are going to change the world,well someone should tell Marenelli that Ofensive Coaches have figured ways around his Tampa 2,it is time for something new! Unless his dwarfs can tackle one on one,he has something new.
Soooo,CB
Havin' some fun are we? These are the people you are going to team up with and you poke at us and then turn around a try to stroke us? Hmmmm. BTW,YES you CAN putt with the driver.After a little practice it works fairly well! There are no hard and fast rules as to which club you have to use at any given time or in any given situation.You can drive with your putter,but I highly discourage it! GO LIONS GO F-TROOP!
Why Redding didn't make it at DE
WOW! Patrick ! you made some sense there. I agree,his position SHOULD BE DT. It makes you wonder though ,why he played so well while big baby was out and then so poorly,or rather up to expectations,when big baby returned.Some say it was because he was in a contract year. I don't quite buy that but what other explaination is there? He HAS the talent, he's already proven that,so what's been the problem?I didn't mind that they re-signed him for some big bucks as I think it would have been a mistake to let him walk.I hated that they re-signed Kalimba when they did though! I deffinetly couldn't see the advantage of keeping him,but I believe it was Marinelli that lobbied for Edwards. Boy did he miss on THAT ONE! Let's hope that was one of his few mistakes or oversights!
Why Redding didn't make it at DE
I was reading the Forum and some of the discussion of Reddings time at DE. I think if he had stayed at that position,he would be out of football. He never had the outside rush,or strength to to lets say,take a Tackle like Backus and throw him on his butt. Reddings "move" was the spin move,he would spin right or left,and the Tackle would be waiting for him when he was done. He didn't have a Bullrush,so I don't know what Millen saw in him,his foot speed was average,so go figure.
SNP
They're both self proclaimed cheaters too so I don't know if I trust them enough to repair them properly. I do want to be on their team though...lol...gotta learn from the best.
Huggy? You want that I should bring ya a charcoal stick? You know that stuff that football players put on their faces? At least the other guys wouldn't be complaining about the glare.
Another question for you expert golfers...can I putt with a driver?...lol
Go 4th of July!!!! 30 more days till football.
It's 5 o'clock...somwhere...have a great day and enjoy the fireworks tonight...
SNP...I hear that all you have to do to see the FIREworks is to sit at the rim of the canyon.
Later
billybarnes
They do what they do. CB, you'll be playing with 2 groundskeepers. Just have Festus and LMP bring their turf patch kits.
Thanks huggy
You made me feel right at home with that comment about having 9 players IF I play. My wife is bringing her clubs so there may be 10 but that depends on how she's feeling at the time.
I have an idea...I could play that little guy that pushes the broom after the parade goes through on Aesop's fables. I'm sure there will be lots of dung to clean up after you guys play through. I went out and hit a few balls out of the yard yesterday. The wife says I have a pretty nice drive whenever I'm able to hit the damned ball. The grounds keepers will have lots of work to do IF I play. Tonight she is going to teach me the proper way to repair divets.
What would Najeh Davenport want to play for the Lions? Did anyone inform him that we don't need another RB, one that would probably get us a 1st down on 3rd and short? Did anyone ask him if he could spell Mississippi?
Hey disco...do I have to go to Toledo to get to Frankenmuth?
BTW...HAPPY, SAFE, and FUN 4th to ALL of you!
Go Lions!
Cory Redding
Statistically speaking only was one of the three best DTs in the NFL last year. Big Baby gave up over 5 YPA last year while Redding was around 3 YPA. I see Cleveland has Rogers working out at DE in OTAs.This is a suggestion I made last year in training camp along with the suggestion that the Lions personnel was better suited for the 3-4 than the T2 4-3.Square pegs inn round holes.
billybarnes
That take on the Lions seems pretty accurate to me. Lots of questions that will have to be answered on both sides of the ball. I think Elmer is banking on the vets he brought in on D helping things gel quicker because they have worked with him before. At CB, while Bodden may be the most talented, he has the least amount of experience in the T2. Kelly has to stay healthy and prove he can still get it done. It's easy to be pessimistic and think this defense won't improve at all. There's a lot of things that have to happen for it to get better, but if some of Elmer's moves work it could be possible. Avril, Fluellen, Dizon, Darby and IAK all need to work out and play well. Me being one of the more pessimistic posters on here, that's a lot to ask from the Lions, but it could improve if these guys work out and play better then I expect them too. It will tell a lot about Marinelli's talent evaluation and his abilities as a defensive coach.
Neil
I thought Kalimba was a void? Reading your posts about what a DT is supposed to do, I have to agree on the run stuffing thing, but having a DT like Sapp was in the T2 that can collapse the pocket and get pressure from the middle makes the defense work all that much better. Redding managed to get sacks 2 seasons ago, and he needs to do that again somehow because there isn't a consistent outside pressure from the DE's on the team.
Kalimba left no Void!
Him and Bailey were "USELESS" !!!!!!!!!!
Good riddance!
Sorry
About the mess up on the Lion's Camp Preview.I'm trying to do about 4 things all at the same time.It was a very good article by Chris Harris that I thought was pretty accurate at this point and time.
Lion's Camp Preview 3
The Lions lost left defensive end Kalimba Edwards to free agency (he's in Oakland), and while he was never a consistent sack artist, he does leave a void. Jared DeVries and Ikaika Alama-Francis figure to duke it out for the starting gig opposite Dewayne White, and that threesome makes me think the Lions might have an issue mustering a pass rush again this season.
Finally, in the cavalcade of defensive backs the team acquired this winter there's one interesting battle: for the starting cornerback spot opposite Brian Kelly. During minicamp, the Lions had holdover Travis Fisher, who was assuredly part of the problem in '07, starting on the right side, while Leigh Bodden was his backup. Bodden is the man Detroit acquired for Shaun Rogers, so you'd have to believe he'll be given every chance to get comfortable in this Tampa 2 scheme and win a starting job.
Fitting in: Other than at tailback, most of the rest of the changes on this team come on defense, which is a good thing:
￢ﾀﾢ The Lions took LB Jordon Dizon out of the University of Colorado in the second round of April's draft, and figure to plug him in at middle linebacker, making him an IDP sleeper, as Paris Lenon moves to the strong side.
￢ﾀﾢ Brian Kelly, who comes with a big rep at cornerback but actually lost his starting job to Phillip Buchanon in Tampa last year, isn't the man-to-man cover guy that someone like Bodden is. But he's eminently familiar with Marinelli's Cover 2 schemes, considering the two worked together as Bucs.
￢ﾀﾢ The team added FS Dwight Smith, an off-field troublemaker in Minnesota, and he, too, is familiar with Marinelli from their days in Tampa.
￢ﾀﾢ Chuck Darby comes over from Seattle to replace Rogers at defensive tackle, where he'll play alongside Cory Redding, provided he can recover from a torn patellar tendon. And guess what? Darby, too, has experience playing under Marinelli in Tampa.
On the line: At least GM Matt Millen didn't use another first-rounder on a wide receiver, right? Still, second-guessers abounded after Millen picked OT Gosder Cherilus with the 17th pick in the draft, especially with several quality running backs (and OT Jeff Otah) still on the board. Usually first-round tackles are groomed to work on the left side, but Cherilus is a run-blocking specialist who'll play on the right (while Jeff Backus continues to work Jon Kitna's blind side), which means he'll pretty much be overpaid from jump street. Edwin Mulitalo is good at left guard, and Stephen Peterman was adequate replacing the disastrous Damien Woody at right guard. Dominic Raiola is a decent center. Overall, it's an unspectacular line that allowed 114 sacks the past two seasons, but at least part of that was Martz's fault. There should be holes for Smith, Bell et al, when they run.
On the mend: Calvin Johnson struggled through a back injury all year in '07 and is supposedly healthy now. Shaun McDonald, who figures to be the slot receiver, had knee surgery. Brian Calhoun has reportedly regained a lot of his speed after missing two full seasons because of a knee problem, and the team is very interested in looking at him as a pass-catching back during training camp. TE Dan Campbell missed almost all of last season with a torn triceps, but is expected back. And on defense, both Ernie Sims and Cory Redding had shoulder surgeries over the winter, and Daniel Bullocks had a knee issue taken care of.
The bottom line
What we all want to see is how quickly Kevin Smith can make the other backs in Detroit irrelevant. Rookies are never a sure thing, even when they're designated a starter during training camp (et tu, Brandon Jackson?), but Smith's competition certainly doesn't look ferocious. Keep an eye on whether the Lions sign a big back to vulture touchdowns, and also watch who starts the team's preseason games. If it's Smith, a fantasy star could be born.
