New Shaun at DT says Old Shaun at DT would like to return

Remember those rumors that former Lions DT Shaun Rogers wanted to return to Motown? Tom Kowalski at MLive.com reports that they're true, according to Rogers' former Cleveland Browns teammate and new Lions DT Shaun Smith.

"That's my best friend and he wishes he could come back here now. He misses it," Smith said after the Lions' morning workout. "You've been somewhere your whole career and you have some good times and you see the talent they're bringing in - (Larry) Foote, (Julian) Peterson and (Phillip) Buchanon - the defense is better now. They've got some quality veterans who can play and there are some young guys with potential.

"He said the people in the building were good and the people in the locker room were good. Just happy to be in the NFC and play ball. It's fun playing in the NFC."

Lions fans remember Rogers as the team's best defensive player in recent seasons. They also, however, remember a player who sometimes had attitude issues, who seemed to take plays off and took whole series off on the sidelines, huffing and puffing. Still, in balance, memories of a Pro Bowl-calibre player outweigh the negatives.

There's not much likelihood of the prodigal son returning, however. Rogers is settling in with the Browns. Still, it's nice to hear of players wanting to come, or come back, to Detroit -- particularly when they're citing an improved defensive corps as one of the attractions.

Talk about it in The Den!

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Delmas could end the Lions' decade of disappointment in second round

Dean Holden at NFLTouchdown.com calls 2009 Lions second-round pick, S Louis Delmas, one of the most promising second-rounders to hit Detroit in a long time.

While former Lions president Matt Millen's failures in the first round of the draft were well-publicized, he was also rather awful in the second rounds. Holden notes that Delmas could break a string of second-round picks that range from careers cut short by injury to not reaching their potential to somewhat disappointing to brutally bad.

Kind of a lengthy post, with analysis of each year's second-rounders since 2000, so I won't copy-and-paste here. I urge you to follow the link and give it a read.

With the exception of Dominic Raiola and Shaun Rogers in the second round of 2001, it's been pretty darn close to a whiff. Too soon to say that about the recent choices like Ikaika Alama-Francis and Jordon Dizon, but they haven't exactly lit things up. And Drew Stanton? He still has his believers, but ...

Discuss in The Den!

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