Tackling, secondary big concerns -- sound familiar?

Two snippets I found interesting from Detroit News football writer John Niyo's column today:

Special teams is an area of emphasis with the new coaching staff. But that was hardly apparent Saturday.

Josh Cribbs is arguably the NFL's best return man, but he made it look way too easy in the first quarter against the Lions, who are missing a couple of key coverage men in Cody Spencer (injured reserve) and Casey FitzSimmons (ankle). Cribbs' 95-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff was called back because of a late holding penalty. But there were no flags on his 84-yard punt return for a score, just lots of missed tackles.

"There's no reason to start the game the way we did on special teams," Schwartz said. "It's a work in progress, but were going to find out who can tackle and who can't. That's going to be a major criteria for making this team."

Stan Kwan's return unit wasn't much better, averaging 18.6 yards on kickoffs. And that's a growing concern, with Aveion Cason perhaps getting too many reps and neither rookie Derrick Williams nor Aaron Brown distinguishing himself. When you have too many returners, Schwartz noted the other day, that means you don't have any.

A lot of us have been scratching our heads about why Cason is getting so much time as a returner. Maybe that's a reflection of the coaching staff's lack of confidence in Derrick Williams or Aaron Brown in that department. And that ain't good. Hey, let a rookie take kicks out to the 18 yard line rather than a veteran, I say. At least there's a potential for upside with the rooks.

While the defensive front seven's inability to get consistent pressure on the QBs or stop big running plays is already looking problematic, Niyo notes that the secondary may be the team's weakest link.

Five Browns wide receivers had catches of 20 yards or more Saturday night. Two came on the opening drive against starting cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Henry, but the depth behind them is a real worry, especially with Keith Smith (groin) still on the sideline.

"Our corners need to get up and challenge guys," Schwartz said. "We need to find out who will have the confidence to get up and challenge rather than playing cautious."

They also need to find another safety who can stop the run alongside rookie Louis Delmas. Kalvin Pearson had trouble again in run support Saturday, and LaMarcus Hicks didn't fare any better replacing him. It was the same against Atlanta in the exhibition opener. Marquand Manuel, who has a calf injury, should get a shot to start when he's healthy.

Noticing a theme to Schwartz's comments? Get up there and tackle. Challenge. Don't play tentative. Be decisive and make plays.

I refuse to get visions in my head of Bobby Ross saying "I don't coach that!" or Rod Marinelli saying "Put it on me."

Discuss in The Den!

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Will Delmas' partner at S please stand up?

Culpepper vs. Stafford? Nah. We all know how that one ends, eventually.

What's shaping up to be the biggest competition of training camp is who will start at safety opposite rookie Louis Delmas (who's already looking great and cemented his position).

Tom Kowalski at MLive.com reports that while there's no official depth chart yet, Kalvin Pearson has been playing with the first unit opposite Delmas. Daniel Bullocks, who started 15 games last year, has gotten time with the second and third units, Killer writes -- but that could be just because he was limited in practice due to injuries earlier in the year.

Then there's newcomer Marquand Manuel, who started 14 games with the Denver Broncos last year.

Writes Killer:

Pearson averaged 10 tackles per game in his first four games of full-time duty but then his play started to drop off. Before a season-ending 10-tackle game against the Green Bay Packers, Pearson was averaging just five tackles for the previous seven games.

Pearson is 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds, and his lack of size might have been a contributing factor, but Pearson doesn't buy it. Neither does Schwartz.

"If you said size was an issue last year for (Tennessee cornerback) Cortland Finnegan, he's 5-9 and maybe 185 pounds, but he's incredibly durable," Schwartz said. "I don't want to put (Pearson) into a box, so to speak, and say he can't hold up for the season. I want to keep an open mind and give him an opportunity."

Pearson puts his production drop on his playing every special teams down while starting.

And the winner is ... Anthony Henry? A lot of folks speculate Henry's future is at safety. But I'm starting to think that might not happen, for the simple reason that CB doesn't look like a position of depth or strength. If a third CB can emerge allowing Henry to be shifted, the Lions abysmal secondary will get slightly deeper and a little more talented.

Talk about it in The Den!

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Training Camp Battles: Defensive Backs

Today I'll take a look at the safeties and cornerbacks and try to make hay of how the position group might settle out. The defensive backs are probably the toughest group on the team to project out because not only is it unsettled, it is mostly composed of veteran castoffs and young players set adrift by other organizations. Detroit figures to go into the season with 8-9 dbs on the roster and right now it is hard to really argue more than about five guys have better than tenuous positions on the team.

Safeties

Louis Delmas. I can't possibly write anything that hasn't been discussed exhaustively in the Den and elsewhere. scottallen222 started a thread that got extensive contributions Here. Chance of making roster: 100%

Kalvin Pearson. Earned some impressive copy out of the OTAs, Pearson is probably the favorite right now to win the second starting job. He's limited and probably shouldn't be a full-time player but for now he's the best Detroit has. Chance of making roster: 90%

Marquand Manuel. I expect him to compete hard for the starting spot opposite Delmas, and I also don't expect him to win it. He really isn't very good. He's got a lot of experience with a number of teams, none of which were too motivated to keep him. He was cut two years ago after the first year of a five year deal. Yeesh. Even so, I think he'll show enough that Schwartz will have a hard time cutting him. Chance of making roster: 80%

Daniel Bullocks. That Bullocks is the most experience returning safety is a testament to [something]. I don't think anyone outside of Allen Park has either a great feel for exactly how talented Bullocks is or how much potential remains. I expect we'll have a better idea after this summer. I expect Bullocks to make the roster as the fourth safety but it wouldn't be a huge upset to see him cut. Considering that Gerald Alexander was competing against Pearson, Manuel, and Bullocks it is a bit scary that he was expendable so quickly. Chance of making roster: 75%

Stuart Schweigert. Had a couple of really promising years for the Raiders before going over a cliff a couple of years ago, losing his starting gig and then getting cut twice in training camp last summer. He was signed by Detroit to replace LaMarcus Hicks so I guess he might have a better shot of making this year's team but I don't think his odds are good. Chance of making roster: 30%

LaMarcus Hicks. Still has some practice squad eligibility, and Detroit might stash him there until they need him. Chance of making roster: 20%

Tra Battle. It is tough to distinguish his chances from Schweigert's or Hicks'. Like Hicks, Battle still has practice squad eligibility so he may find a spot there. Chance of making roster: 20%

Cornerbacks

AtticusSpeaks provided an excellent treatment of the Lions' corners a few days ago. I could do the same but it would look very familiar to those who read Atticus'. Instead I'll just roll through the suspects with only a couple of comments.

Philip Buchanon. Starter. Chance of making roster: 100%

Anthony Henry. Starter by default. His presence might force Schwartz and Gunther to keep one more corner and one fewer safety. Chance of making roster: 100%

Eric King. Nickel. I sort of think he will be starting before the end of the year. Chance of making roster: 90%

Keith Smith. Dime, I guess. Chance of making roster: 60%

Ramzee Robinson. Mister Irrelevant. Chance of making roster: 30%

Chris Roberson. Practice squadder. Chance of making roster: 5%

As Atticus points out, the cornerbacks are a wasteland. A year ago Detroit arguably had better corners than they do today. While it is impossible for this year's group to be worse than the '08 flavor, it is just as easy to argue that they won't be much better, particularly as injuries expose their lack of depth.

Discuss this Here, in The Den

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Lion Youth Movement? Not So Much.

Last year the Lions suffered a double-whammy of not only being the worst team in the league but also one of the five oldest overall. While Detroit did shed a number of the older veterans that were on the opening day '08 roster, they were in large part replaced by equally old veterans. Daunte Culpepper, Grady Jackson, Bryant Johnson, Larry Foote, Julian Peterson, Anthony Henry, and Philip Buchanon are all newcomers expected to start and as a group average 31 years old.

On opening day 2008 Detroit's starters averaged 27.9 years, the 8th oldest starting corps in the league, with eight starters at 30 years or older. Projecting out the 2009 opening day starters is a little tricky, but reasonable guesses can be made.

B Johnson      28
Pettigrew      24
Backus         32
Cook           30
Raiola         31
Peterman       27
Cherilus       25
C Johnson      24
Culpepper      32
Felton         23
K Smith        22


Avril          23
Darby          33
Jackson        36
White          29
Sims           24
Foote          29
Peterson       31
Buchanon       29
Bullocks       26
Delmas         22
Henry          32

The ages are as of 9/30/09. I'm sure some of The Den faithful might argue with Darby or possibly Cook, but it is equally likely a veteran player like Devries starts in place of Avril or that Kevin Carter supplants Darby so overall the average wouldn't be affected much either way.

The average age of the projected offensive starters right now is 27.1 years. Defensive starters 28.5 years for a composite 27.8 overall average, an overall decline in average age of 0.1 years. With this lineup Detroit would go from eight starters aged 30+ to seven.

It also isn't clear that the bench will be much younger than last year. Younger players such as Dan Orlovsky, Gerald Alexander, Shaun Cody, and Anthony Cannon were allowed to leave while older backups such as Eric Hicks (33), Terrelle Smith (31), Cody Spencer (28), Marquand Manuel (30), Ephraim Salaam (33), Jon Jansen (33), Ronald Curry (30), and Dennis Northcutt (31) acquired to replace them. While it is unlikely that all of these veterans make the team, it seems clear that Mayhew and Schwartz intend to rely heavily on greying veterans to bridge the gap to their rebuilding plan. It is very possible that this year's version of the Lions is even older than the '08 flavor that rapidly broke down and lost effectiveness.

Ongoing discussion Here in The Den

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Marquand Manuel says don't hold his frequent travels against him

Good little article from Nick Cotsonika at Freep.com on new Lions S Marquand Manuel.

The Lions are Manuel's sixth team in eight seasons.

But as well-traveled as he has been, he has also played well enough to appear in 111 games -- regular season and playoffs combined -- and to start 55 of them, including Super Bowl XL at Ford Field.

"Some people look at it like, 'Oh, you've been on a lot of teams,' " Manuel said. "I've started on every team I've been on -- not one game, not two games, but 14, 15, 16 starts."

Manuel said it was coaching changes and free agency that led to all of the movement.

Manuel said his experience has helped him pick up the Lions' defense, which is similar to what he ran with the Seahawks.

It should help him compete for playing time against rookie Louis Delmas and veterans Daniel Bullocks, Kalvin Pearson and Stuart Schweigert.

My take? Safety is shaping up to be one of the bigger question marks on the team. The Lions most definitely need somebody to emerge as solid on the other side of Delmas. I suppose Manuel has as much of a shot as the others.

Discuss in The Den!

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