Jonathon Scott On Lions Experience

Den regular Freebird22 with an outstanding find. Jonathon Scott relates his experience with the Lions which points directly to the dysfunction among the Lion coaches during his years on the team. Years of coaching turnover with new systems and schemes annually, created a destructive spiral where promising young players like Scott were significantly handicapped in their development.

In Detroit, the life of a lineman was maddening. Scott said the communication breakdowns between the offensive coordinator and his offensive line coach ran rampant. One told him to step left on a play, the other said to step right.

“So which one do I do?” Scott said. “If I don’t it the offensive line way, I won’t be able to play. If I don’t do it the offensive coordinator’s way then I’ll never get on the field. There were always situations like that.”

Chaotic fragmentation. The shoddy separation of powers triggered on-field breakdowns. Scott said the linemen became “chickens with their heads cut off.” Who was supposed to block where was a play-to-play mystery.

“You can sense frustration throughout the entire team,” Scott said. “Cancer is a disease and negative energy can be transmitted easily from one player to the next and one coach to the next. I’ve witnessed situations where coaches aren’t on the same page. So when you try to change all that negative energy and do a 180 on game day, your chances aren’t that great.”

While Scott's revelations are a direct indictment of Rod Marinelli they also provide Lion faithful with a spark of hope. Regardless of how talented Lewand, Mayhew and Schwartz turn out, their unity of plan should create as much immediate on-field improvement as any personnel decisions.

Ongoing discussion here in The Den

---

Grim Outlook For Lion Quarterbacks

There is an old maxim that a team with two quarterbacks is a team with no quarterbacks. If this is so, then what is a team with no quarterbacks?

Killer presents a scouting report on Daunte Culpeppper that is less than flattering.

Linehan had a huge influence in the drafting of Stafford. Both Lions general manager Martin Mayhew and head coach Jim Schwartz have talked about Linehan's input, his experience with young quarterbacks and his plan to develop Stafford. It's only reasonable to assume that if Linehan was pushing hard for Stafford that he has some real doubts about whether Culpepper was going to be consistent enough to be a winning quarterback in Detroit. After all, who knows Culpepper better than Linehan? ~ Last year, former Lions offensive coordinator Jim Colletto told me that ... Culpepper's biggest problem was that he too often threw to the wrong receiver in the offensive system.

Even while Kowalski is known to be a bit unreliable in his reporting, this discussion is quite troubling. For Culpepper to have a career renaissance he has to remake himself into a quarterback who relies on savvy rather than physical gifts. He is no longer the quarterback who can disrupt defenses with his size and speed, and he hasn't had a good year since Cris Carter retired. If his decision making hasn't improved in his years since Minnesota then it will be a very long year for Detroit as long as Culpepper is under center.

---