"Have at it” – ESPN.com Fields Suggestions on How to Fix the Lions

ESPN.com’s NFC North blogger, Kevin Seifert, threw up a post asking his readership to lay out their blueprint for the Lions’ future.  He received just about every conceivable suggestion, from pumping up the offense, to ignoring the offense and fixing up the defense, and everything in between.  This morning, Kevin collected some of the best answers and supplied his own.

He generally supported the no-job-is-safe approach that Schwartz has taken, though cautioned that sometimes, consistency is a virtue in and of itself.  He also advocated a long-term strategy of addressing both the offensive and defensive lines—something almost every Lions fan can get behind.

Frankly, the most dire situation isn’t the OL, whose play has been somewhere between “okay” and “pretty good”.  Nor is it the DL, where injuries have either felled or limited Jared DeVries, DeWayne White, Cliff Avril, Jason Hunter, and Sammie Hill.  That’s the top two DEs at each position, and three of the four projected starters on the defensive line.  Once the DL gets healthy, the front seven should be moderately stout.

However, the secondary remains a completely unfettered disaster.  Theoretical #1 cornerback Anthony Henry started off solid, but is starting to show why the Lions have wanted to switch him to safety.  Phillip Buchanon has the talent to be a #1 corner, but his play has been wildly inconsistent.  Will James, would be an excellent nickel corner, and an okay complement opposite a true #1.  However, he’s currently the Lions’ best corner, and that is not good.  Ko Simpson has played very well next to Louis Delmas, but Simpson’s been dinged up, and Delmas is playing like the very talented rookie that he is: talented . . . but a rookie.

Don’t forget, Gunther Cunningham’s aggressive blitzes can’t work, and won’t be called, if the secondary can’t hold it down behind them.  As long as the defensive backfield is in such disarray, the Lions won’t be able to run their defense like they want to.  Minimally, the Lions will need to either acquire a veteran starting corner, or spend a weekday draft pick on one.  After that, they’ll have to either settle on Ko Simpson or scout out his replacement.  Finally, they’ll have to rebuild the depth at corner with a mid- and/or late-round pick or two.

Discuss it here, in The Den!

Still no word on Grady Jackson's status

It looks like DT Grady Jackson will be able to play in Sunday's season opener against the New Orleans Saints. It looks that way today, anyway.

Tom Kowalski at MLive.com reports that Jackson appealed a four-game suspension he received last year as an Atlanta Falcon for allegedly using a banned substance.

Writes Killer: "NFL spokesman Greg Aiello would only say that Jackson has not been suspended and that the situation is still under review."

The NFL has had months since Jackson appealed his suspension to resolve this. It isn't fair to him, and it isn't fair to the Lions to not have resolution one way or the other. And it's better for the team, if there's going to be a suspension, to have it early and get it out of the way.

Should Jackson be suspended -- soon or eventually -- replacements include Landon Cohen, Andre Fluellen, rookie Sammie Lee Hill and Orien Harris.

Talk about it in The Den!

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Many questions remain on D-line heading into last preseason game

At a time where teams optimally are making their final roster decisions for a couple of positions, the Lions have questions yet to answer and decisions yet to make regarding virtually their entire defensive line heading into tonight's final preseason game with the Bills.

Tom Kowalski at MLive.com reports that a season-ending Achilles injury to DE Jared DeVries didn't help matters.

DeVries already was slated for the starting left defensive end position with Cliff Avril and Dewayne White fighting for the starting job on the right side. Now, the Lions probably will move Avril to the left side -- that's where he will get a lot of action in Thursday's game -- to compete with Jason Hunter.

Andre Fluellen, last year's third-round draft choice, also has been moved since the injury to DeVries. Fluellen was at tackle but also is playing at left end.

Questions remain on the interior of the defensive line as well, according to Killer:

Veteran Grady Jackson is expected to be a starter, but the Lions expect only 12 to 15 plays per game out of him for the first few weeks of the season. The Lions need to find another starter and another player to rotate with Jackson.

Who will step up? The candidates are Shaun Smith, Chuck Darby, Sammie Hill, Landon Cohen, Ikika Alama-Francis and Orien Harris.

Having this much unresolved this late in the preseason about so many D-line positions probably isn't good. But it's a long road back from 0-16.

Talk about it in The Den!

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Put The Nooses Away

Put the hemlock tea bags back up. Unload the 12 gauge. It wasn't that bad. Really.

Okay, so it was pretty bad, but if you maintain a comfortably pessimistic philosophy regarding the Lions, then it is actually pretty easy to find some of the bright spots in an otherwise uninspiring and borderline disastrous game. Drew Sharp, the only local writer I know of who is more cynical than me regarding the Lions wrote

It looks like they're already in regular-season form.

This is exactly why the Lions are certifiably nuts should quarterbacking savior du jour Matthew Stafford start when the March to 0-32 begins in earnest in New Orleans on Sept. 13. It's counterproductive exposing a rookie quarterback to a team apparently still hell-bent on creating as insurmountable an early obstacle as possible.

in an otherwise rambling column. He also wrote

If attitudes are indeed changing and Schwartz is indeed the right messenger, he should quickly make it clear that these Lions remain too fundamentally weak defensively to needlessly risk sentencing the future face of this franchise to the football gallows.

and while I agree, I fail to understand how this is surprising to anyone. Detroit's biggest flaw in 2009 was the defense, and not biggest by a little, but rather biggest by a lot. Despite multiple quarterback injuries, the Lions demonstrated a modestly decent offense last year with Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith leading a reasonable two-way threat. It wasn't remotely good enough to overcome an awful defense, nor was it good enough to lead the way to any kind of contention even with a defense approaching average. It just wasn't the reason that Detroit went winless.

And over the winter Detroit followed their pattern of the last 8 seasons to fix the defense, they brought in a number of veteran free agents while waiting til the middle rounds to focus on their defensive holes. It is entirely predictable that their 2009 defense will resemble their 2008 defense. I expect it will be better, but nowhere near good.

So if we go into this whole thing accepting that it will be another long year, it is much easier to enjoy the small victories, knowing that the big ones aren't coming.

Stafford Okay, he didn't play well. Not even a little. But better for the faithful to see it now, then to have unrealistic expectations build throughout the preseason. The pressure for Detroit to play the kid is officially off and the Lions can go into the season with Stafford on a natural developmental trajectory, rather than a forced one that is more likely to end in disaster.

Jerome Felton He really played well, coming in with Culpepper midway through the 2nd quarter and immediately getting three consecutive runs for a first down. After an up-and-down rookie year exclusively at fullback I think we can hope that Felton may be able to fill a bigger role as part of a two-headed tandem that may really wear down opposing defenses.

Culpepper For the second consecutive week he looked very comfortable running the Lion offense. He showed great patience and good mobility in the backfield to stretch out plays. He was effective at waiting for plays to open and then throwing very catchable balls.

DeAndre Levy He whiffed on one of the Cribbs returns but otherwise was very effective, making plays all over the field including a great open-field tackle on special teams.

Jordan Dizon Is starting to really come on after a washed-out rookie season.

Sammy Lee Hill After an underwhelming first game, Hill seemed to consistently get a good push inside. He didn't show up on the stat sheet but he spent much of his time in Cleveland's backfield disrupting things.

Nick Harris Just killed it, averaging 50 yards over his 7 punts. Unfortunately the 22 yard average on returns ruined his net average, but that speaks more the quality of the two return teams and Josh Cribbs, rather than to Harris. He wasn't kicking line drives.

So see? There you go, a nice handful of positive takeaways from last night's game and that was only on one viewing. So forget the sleeping pills, don't lock yourself in the garage with the car idling. It's another day and the Lions are pretty much the same as they were two days ago.

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Salary Cap Forum Updated - PREMIUM

2009 Lions Cap Status through August 6th

Transaction Log Updated through August 6th

Sammie Lee Hill Player Cost

Derrick Williams Player Cost

Louis Delmas Player Cost

Brandon Pettigrew Player Cost

Cap Adjustments

Follow Detroit's salary cap with expert George Ketchman here. (Requires premium membership to RoarReport.com)

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Hill, Salaam, Boldin fail conditioning drill

Tom Kowalski at MLive.com is full of news from the first day of Lions' training camp.

Rookie DT Sammie Lee Hill, veteran OL Ephraim Salaam and receiver D.J. Boldin all failed a conditioning drill and were held out of first practices. All later took the drill, a 300-yard shuttle, later in the day and eventually passed, so they'll be back at practice Sunday.

"What's disappointing the most about it is that when they left here (in late June), they had the conditioning test and they passed,'' said Lions head coach Jim Schwartz.

Making a better first impression to start camp was DT Landon Cohen, who threw up 50 reps on the bench press at 225 pounds, which Schwartz called "super-human." He said the team overall has improved its upper-body strength, while "staying the game" on its lower-body strength.

Talk about it in The Den!

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Levy signs; Lewand expects all draftees signed by Friday

Some good news heading into the start of training camp Friday: Lions team president Tom Lewand said he expects all of Detroit's rookies to be signed and in camp on time, Tom Kowalski reports at MLive.com.

Those yet to ink deals include first-round pick TE Brandon Pettigrew; second-round S Louis Delmas; third-round WR Derrick Williams and fourth-round DT Sammie Lee Hill.

"I feel confident that we'll have everybody in camp on time," Lewand said this afternoon. "We've been pretty close to meeting it every year. The last couple of years, we've missed a day or two at times and you certainly don't want to do that and I don't think there's any reason why we should this year. "We've got good relationships with the agents we're dealing with. They're established, credible, good agents who have good track records of their own."

Why wouldn't you want to report on time as a rookie on a team this bad? Where else do you have a better shot at playing time?

As if to prove Lewand's point, ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert reports on his NFC North blog that the Lions signed third-round LB DeAndre Levy to a three-year deal today.

Discuss in The Den!

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Training Camp Battles: Defensive Line

Returning to the training camp battles on the defensive side of the ball. I haven't been too happy with the discussion so far which accidentally became more of a biography than any kind of worthwhile analysis. The tepid response in The Den confirms my thoughts. Furthermore there have already been a couple of excellent discussions about the defense, both in The Den and elsewhere. This morning Den regular AtticusSpeaks went through a fairly in depth discussion of the entire roster. mickeyblu posted a link to a FoxSports discussion of the team, and finally there is already an extensive ongoing discussion of the defense in The Den, started by poster scottallen222 about the state of the defense. I'm not sure that I can add anything original in this space, so instead I will attempt a different tack while discussing the defense, and hopefully it will be a little more interesting than the prior articles.

Defensive Tackles

Probably the point of greatest concern by Lion observers of the entire roster, it is difficult to argue that the team has one legitimate starter at the position. Last season Detroit began the year with six defensive tackles on the roster, they are unlikely to have so many this year.

Grady Jackson. Little can be said about the guy that hasn't been said elsewhere. Long-time vet, he's the most legitimate of the tackles on the team. He played at a high level as recently as two years ago, but no longer has the legs to be a full time player. He should provide starter-level production when he is on the field. Chance to make the roster: 100%

Sammie Lee Hill. Rookie fourth rounder who has impressed so far. Raw and ideally would be used sparingly his rookie year, he may be thrown into the fire early. He and Jackson are the only two tackles with the bulk that Schwartz prefers. Chance to make the roster: 100%

Andre Fluellen. Spent more time at left end than at tackle his rookie year, and played fairly well, showing surprising pash-rush skill. One possibility might have him at end on running downs, moving inside on passing downs. Chance to make the roster: 100%

Chuck Darby. Long time vet set a career high in tackles in '08 but was widely blamed for the defective run defense of the '08 team. He's never carried a line and he isn't about to start, but he can still be effective as a rotational guy. Chance to make roster: 85%

Landon Cohen. Got regular rotation time the last half of '08. He's been ordered to gain weight and his effectiveness at a bigger size will determine whether he wins a spot. The lack of competition leans in his favor and since he accrued a year with Detroit I do not believe he is eligible for their practice squad. He has a good chance of making the team as a regular inactive. Chance to make roster: 75%

John Gill. UFA out of Northwestern, he had an impressive Pro Day showing good strength and quickness but he is not ready to contribute at the NFL level and seems practice squad bound. Rick Gosselin named him one of the sleepers of the draft, for what it's worth. Chance to make roster: 30%

Orien Harris. Strictly a look-see guy. He's been productive in training camps even while he's bounced around the league. If he sneaks on to the roster his spot would be tenuous, at best. Ongoing discussion about the Harris acquisition Here, while Ty provides some more detail Here. Chance to make roster: 15%

Defensive Ends

Dewayne White. The only ex-Buc that Marinelli demanded who actually worked out pretty well. Is the only secure starter on the defensive line. Chance to make roster: 100%

Cliff Avril. He got four starts last year but his strength at the point is still questionable and he may be more suitable as a two-down end, particularly since there are ends on the roster more suited to defending the run. Chance to make roster: 100%

Ikaika Alama-Francis. Call me an optimist but Francis has all of the tools to be a standout pro. He's ideally sized at end for Schwartz' bigger line and started to get his legs toward then end of '08 after washing out of his rookie year due to injury and inexperience. There is no way this guy should ever have been a 2nd round pick, but think of him as a developmental 5th rounder and he is right on pace. He has the strength to defend the run and the explosiveness to get up field on passing downs. I expect him to be a very regular contributer at both ends. Chance to make roster: 100%

Jared DeVries. Has only been a starter the last three seasons and remains more valuable as a reserve. Typical yeoman-type player who will fight hard but is fairly easily controlled by better tackles. His roster spot is probably dependent on whether Detroit signs Kevin Carter or not. Chance to make roster: 80%

Jason Hunter. Special teams ace for the Packers he also did a credible job filling a regular spot late in '08. Isn't the size that Schwartz looks for and is probably a special teamer for Detroit, but he should land a spot. Chance to make roster: 75%

Eric Hicks. Was a good end for Gunther Cunningham and Bob Karmelowicz for years before his career wound down in '07, and his last really productive season was '05. Karm thought enough of him to call him and offer his a shot, but these types of comebacks don't usually work out too well. Chance to make roster: 20%

Ryan Kees. UFA out of St. Cloud. Isn't NFL ready but he could force his way on to the roster due to lack of competition. Big framed developmental guy, ideally suited to a year on the practice squad. Chance to make roster: 5%

Rudolph Hardy. Spent most of his rookie season out of the NFL before being added to Detroit's practice squad late. Strictly training camp fodder who is playing for another practice squad gig. Chance to make roster: 1%

Detroit had enough bodies to field a defensive line, but most of those guys aren't terribly good, with only White approaching NFL-average performance at his position. Rome wasn't built in a day, and rebuilding this line might be tougher than slapping up the Parthenon. I still expect Detroit to add bodies, if not Kevin Carter then someone, but either way I will be surprised if there isn't a significant draft investment in the defensive line next spring.

I have a lot of important drinking to do tomorrow, so the next installment may be delayed until Friday. Meanwhile discuss it Here in The Den

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Marinelli's men; how will they adjust?

It's getting to be that time of year with 2009 season previews, and Athlon Sports has one with a fairly astute breakdown of the Lions in different areas -- and one point I found particularly interesting:

Marinelli was proud no defensive lineman weighed more than 300 pounds entering training camp last year. Now Schwartz has told everybody to bulk up, and he acquired a couple of monsters to stick in the middle. The Lions signed tackle Grady Jackson, who is listed at 345 pounds but weighs much more. They also drafted tackle Sammie Hill, a raw, 329-pound prospect out of Stillman. Keep an eye on end Cliff Avril, who was a tweener when the Lions drafted him in the third round last year. He likely will start at right end as a speed pass rusher, but the Lions might move him around creatively. Dewayne White and Jared DeVries are solid, know-what-you’re-getting ends. But it will be interesting to see how end Ikaika Alama-Francis and tackles Andre Fluellen and Landon Cohen fit. All were drafted by the previous regime for the Tampa 2.

The Athlon writer also notes "Former coach Rod Marinelli wanted smaller, quicker players, and he wanted them to execute his Tampa 2 defense generally the same way regardless of the opponent. Schwartz wants bigger, stronger players and more versatile schemes. He wants to play to his players’ strengths and opponents’ weaknesses."

I think the Athlon writer is right, that IAF, Flu and Cohen may have more to prove to the new regime this training camp than some others. If Schwartz's and Cunningham's defense don't play to their size and/or strengths, how versatile can they prove themselves to be, being able to adjust?

Discuss in The Den!

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Could Sammie Lee Hill Be Forced To Play Right Away?

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This morning, Tom Kowalski of MLive.com wrote an opinion column, stating that Sammie Lee Hill may be one rookie forced into a large role early with the Lions due to the possible suspension of Grady Jackson. With Stafford, Pettigrew and Delmas all expected to be in various degrees of position battle--all expected to be huge parts of the Lions' future success--no one has talked about Hill playing a significant role any time soon.

Until now.

Here's what is certain. Sammie Lee Hill is a big big big boy. At 6'4" 330, he is hard not to notice. Other than that?

In the words of Kansas, "If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know."

Hill is a unknown in the truest sense of the word. The 4th rounder out of Stillman had almost zero gametape on him prior to being drafted. Lions' coach, Jim Schwartz once complained that the only tape he had seen on Hill was a grainy amateur tape with a post from the press box in the way.

Some fans claimed they had seen on Hill, but all of us saw the same one, him jumping up onto a table in shorts. Not exactly telling. (I mean, maybe if it had been out of a pool or something)

The scouting report I put together on Sammie Lee Hill earlier this offseason reads as follows:

A developmental prospect out of Stillman College. He is big and very athletic—and very very raw. He's used to out-muscling opponents. Coaches will work closely with him to develop a football player where an athlete currently stands.

Yet, as much as we caution fans to wait for the pads to come on before making judgments, it could be the work in shorts that starts the ball rolling for Hill. Kowalski reports that Hill has done a "good job so far...in terms of footwork, leverage, and hand placement. That is essentially the answer to the biggest question mark on Hill, fundamentals. If Hill can continue to use those skills with his pads on, he could definitely be the answer to the Lions' defensive line woes. Frankly, it's all speculation at this point. The athleticism and raw potential of Sammie Lee Hill is undeniable. We all know Kowalski is a glass half full type of guy, it's what we love about him. But, if he's right about Hill--if Hill is forced into playing time and shines, it would be a turning point for a franchise that is due. Discuss it in the Den!