Jason Hunter's coming-out party

Watchers of last Sunday's Lions game might have thought, "Who's that guy playing rather well at DE and not named Avril?"

That would be Jason Hunter. Carlos Monarrez at Freep.com has a nice write-up on the Green Bay castoff, who was undrafted out of Appalachian State in 2006, who had a sack, a pass deflection and hurried Brett Favre throughout last Sunday's game.

Coaches and teammates love Hunter's mean streak.

"Everybody always says, 'Well, Jason doesn't do this and doesn't do that,' " defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said. "I said, 'You know, every day, I watch Jason Hunter, and he's tough every day.' I think, when a player plays the way he does, he's going to have success, because he is stone-cold tough."

Added RT Gosder Cherilus, who frequently has to go against Hunter in practice:

"He's not going to try to run around a block," Cherilus said. "He's going to try to run through it. If you're one of those guys who likes to have people go around you and not through you, you're in trouble, because if you're off-balance, not doing the right thing, he's going to bring you right back into the quarterback's lap."

But Hunter admits he was less effective later in the game when the Vikings and massive tackle Phil Loadholt made adjustments. He's certainly in a better situation in Detroit than he was in Green Bay to get playing time. With experience may come adjustments of his own, and a much needed, consistent pass-rushing threat.

Talk about it in The Den!

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WSJ: Lions "the NFL's worst defense, ever"

Football writer Reed Albergotti of the Wall Street Journal (the Wall Street Journal has a sports page?!) explores how the Lions defense got so terrible.

The headline says "The NFL's Worst Defense, Ever: Bad Drafts and Strategic Bungling Have the Lions Bleeding Yards at Record Pace." To be fair, nowhere in the article does Albergotti call the Lions' D the worst ever, and editors, not reporters, write the headlines. Albergotti does note, however:

The team's defense has allowed 1,033 points in 34 games—the most since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House.

Despite a new defensive-minded head coach and a completely re-engineered roster, the Lions lost their first two games this season by a combined score of 72 to 40, putting its defense back in its familiar place at the bottom of the league.

All this presents an enduring mystery: In a league like the NFL that's expressly designed to help bad teams help themselves, how can a defense whose players will earn $45 million this season be so stubbornly horrible?

Albergotti imparts to the nation reasons for which we here are all too familiar (my paraphrases):

1. Committing to, then bungling, the Tampa 2, which can work with smaller, less strong players BUT requires discipline and knowing the playbook and your responsibilities so well as to be instinctive. The Lions got smaller, weaker, less talented and the players never grasped the defense.

2. Ridiculous hires (Rod Marinelli as head coach and The Son-in-Law as defensive coordinator, neither of whom had experience in the job they were doing.)

3. Millen's impossibly bad drafting.

Though he's famous for picking bad wide receivers, Mr. Millen's greatest shortcoming may actually have come on defense. He used a second-round pick in 2007 for defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis, who is no longer in the NFL, and two third-round picks in 2004 and 2005 for cornerbacks Keith Smith and Stanley Wilson, who are not on an NFL roster. In addition, from 2004 to 2008—when Mr. Millen left the team—nearly all of the players the Lions drafted in the late rounds haven't panned out.

Albergotti talks about how Jim Schwartz and Gunther Cunningham are transforming the defense again. Going bigger and stronger, running a more traditional 4-3. Clearly the transition isn't complete. (Albergotti defends the Lions in this respect, though -- that New Orleans offense also shredded a typically stout Eagles D the following week.)

Albergotti concludes thusly:

Mr. Schwartz hasn't been around long enough to get very much depth on defense, and a season-ending injury to defensive end Jared DeVries was a significant loss.

"What Jim Schwartz took over, in my opinion, was worse than an expansion franchise," says former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick, who will call the Lions game against the Redskins for Fox on Sunday. "There's only so much you can do in a year."

A fair and accurate assessment? Share your thoughts in The Den.

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Lions Cornerbacks Overmatched?

Detroit's starting cornerbacks Philip Buchanon and Anthony Henry will not play today. In itself, that isn't much of a concern. They would probably both play if this was the regular season, but they are nicked up and no reason to risk aggravating anything. The Lions know what they can do.

On the other hand though, this may be a sign of things to come.

We all know that the corners are a weak spot on the team. I am fairly certain that the play will be better than last year, simply because it can't be worse, but this group of corners - particularly after Buchanon and Henry - may really limit Gunther Cunningham's options of what kinds of defenses he can run. Gunther has promised the Lions' fans an aggressive blitz-happy defense that puts a lot of pressure on opposing offenses. This can only be effective if the coordinator is comfortable putting his corners on an island, and that can only happen if they can be counted on to hold coverage for a few seconds. It is somewhat questionable whether Buchanon and Henry can be counted on for this. It is definitely doubtful that their backups can.

While there are no definitive statistics that measure the quality of a secondary, you can determine their relative worth with a glance through the numbers. Last year Detroit finished dead last in yards per attempt at 7.9, with the next worse a full half yard better and league average 6.2. Detroit finished dead last with 4 interceptions. Only four teams had fewer than 10 and the league average was 14.5. Detroit allowed a practically unfathomable opposing quarterback rating of 110. By way of comparison, only five quarterbacks in NFL history have had full season ratings as high as Detroit allowed its average opponent.

I'm not exactly sure how relevant the statistics are. Detroit will be starting at least three new players in its secondary, with the only possible holdover being safety Kalvin Pearson. By the time the season begins it is very possible that Pearson will be the only returning player in the defensive backfield. Last year's problems were both awful starters compounded by awful backups. Detroit had no good young players in the secondary, and the entire unit needed to be rebuilt.

And while this year will be different, it may still be ugly.

Detroit's #1 corner (presumably) is Buchanon who only left Tampa Bay because he would no longer start there. He came to Detroit because it is one of the few places where he would.

Yikes.

Henry was part of one of the other defensive backfields that had fewer than 10 interceptions last year, and at this point in his career would probably make a better safety than a corner but there isn't anyone behind him who is even close to pushing him inside.

Double yikes.

In a way, today's game might be good for Lion Fan because with Peyton Manning throwing the ball around the field against the Eric Kings and Ramzee Robinsons of the world we will be a little more grounded on what this season has to offer. Buchanon or Henry will inevitably miss time throughout the year, but even with them we might experience some ugly flashbacks. I expect Cunningham will be forced to deploy the Tampa 2 with soft zones as a way of disguising inadequate cornerback play. Gunther might be prevented from putting either safety in the box very often and opposing running games might gash Detroit in the way with which we are already so familiar.

I hate to be so pessimistic, but it is hard to find the light at the end of this defense's tunnel. Not this year. But the nice thing about the glass-half-empty approach is that the Lions will have ample opportunity to prove me wrong.

Feel free to disagree with me Here, in The Den

Gunther goes off on defenders "turning down" tackles

Detroit Lions defense, 2008-style, will apparently not be tolerated.

Graham Couch of the Kalamazoo Gazette reports at MLive.com that new Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham was furious after looking at the film of the preseason loss last week to the Cleveland Browns.


"There's not going to be any excuses," Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said Wednesday minutes after the Lions wrapped up training camp, at least officially. "I can't tolerate it, and I won't. They're either going to tackle, or they're not going to play on this team."

Cunningham was particularly upset about what he perceived as a lack of "want-to" from Lions defenders during an 81-yard run by the Cleveland Browns' James Davis on Saturday.

"I'm flat pissed off, if you want to know the truth," Cunningham said, fuming more and more as he thought about it. "I don't tolerate that. I cannot tolerate turning down a tackle. We had four guys on that play last week turn it down, not miss it, turn it down, in my opinion."

Cunningham said he "exploded" at his defense while reviewing film of the game.

Cornerback Ramzee Robinson was the first to miss Davis, followed by safety LaMarcus Hicks and two other unidentified players.

"What's it like?" Robinson said of being the subject of one of Cunningham's tirades. "I can't put it into words. Just know you want to go to the bathroom right before it happens and come back when it's over.

"No player likes to be called out and be the center of attention on a bad mistake."

This may help explain the play on which Lions rookie S Louis Delmas clocked RB Aveion Cason and started a rather large altercation at practice the other day -- that was the first practice for the defense after Cunningham's blow-up.

Here's hoping Cunningham follows through on his threat to not keep players who are timid when it comes to tackling. It seemed to be a pervasive problem during last year's run to 0-16. At a minimum, it's good to see Gun showing emotion about it, and sharing his feelings with Lions fans.

Last year's head coach Rod Marinelli would refuse to acknowledge stuff like this, would calmly say he'd have to check the film before discussing it, and then would never follow up with the public on his feelings or what he was going to do about it.

They're talking about it in The Den!

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DeAndre Levy Steps Up

and he needs to. With the injury to Cody Spencer, Detroit has no buffer, and that means that Levy and Jordan Dizon are going to be the only line of defense when it comes to rotating in, covering for one of the starters, or providing quality special teams play.

A week after Gunther Cunningham praised and damned him in a single sentence, Levy responded by being a leading playmaker in the exhibition win against the Falcons. With Spencer out for the year, Levy is now picking up reps at MLB and will probably be the primary backup to Foote.

"DeAndre's done a nice job of being physical in camp and doing the physical things," Schwartz said. "His biggest challenge, just like all rookies: being good with the scheme. And not just being good with the scheme in the meeting room or out here in practice, but when that real stuff starts happening and the other team's a different color, all of a sudden it becomes a little bit harder to try to get through. But that's his challenge and it probably will accelerate him a little bit."

Said Levy: "The biggest thing is I've got to focus my eyes and train my eyes to see the whole picture. That's one thing that Larry Foote does really well that I look to and try to put in my game."

Katie Koerner at detroitlions.com provides some choice quotes from Levy on the promotion.

“It’s a good experience because it helps you learn the defense better, and kind of makes you more sure on your plays because you are forced to learn both the linebacker positions. You know where everybody is supposed to be, and with a lot of the shifts and adjustments on the line it can only help your game as a player.” “JP (Julian Peterson) and (Larry) Foote, they both kind of help the young guys out. They have been around and in the league a while and played a lot of good football. They kind of give you tips here and there about where your eyes should be and how to prepare and go about things the right way at practice and in game situations.”

“I always feel like I need to work on something. Right now, I think the biggest thing that I’m trying to get better on is my eyes and my vision. Coach Gun (Gunther Cunningham) is a big guy on that and you know you have to see the whole picture and the whole thing because one misstep can put you out of the loop. It felt good to get the first game out of the way and see what it was like, but I am waiting for the real season to kick in and for all the energy and excitement to really get going."

Discuss it Here, in The Den

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Gunther Making Noise

It is sheer pleasure to see Gunther Cunningham and Jim Schwartz so involved with the media, and in Schwartz's case in particular so articulate and such a strong promoter of the team. Cunningham is a little different, while also a quote machine he doesn't hold much back and isn't afraid to either praise or call a player out, as we witnessed a few days ago with DeAndre Levy.

When Detroit hired Cunningham there were whispers, reported by Pro Football Weekly that he was done. That "The last time he got anything done, Derrick Thomas was coming off the edges ... he's lost his edge as a coordinator." While that report was alarming the story was yet to be written, and so far the story is all good. The players seem to be enthusiastic about his system, and they seem to love d-line coach Bob Karmelowicz's teaching, which is somewhat odd because that was Marinelli's wheelhouse.

Anyhow, this has been a rich week for Gunther articles and quotes. In the Oakland Press blog Matthew Mowery shared this

We're heading down the road on the packages. Jimmy (head coach Jim Schwartz) says the other day, 'Gun, you've got every coverage in football.' And, in some respects ... yeah, we are experimenting with what fits us the best, but we have a multitude of defenses in, both up front, and in the secondary, and we must have 40 blitzes in already.

"We're still not good enough in blitzes," Cunningham said. "I'm not used to guys coming slow. When we send them, they have to get there, and we're going to have to have a little attitude adjustment meeting after this practice. They're going to hear it, loud and clear.

"When you put pads on, you find out the real men. There's lots of frauds around. You know, the coaches are, too. They talk a good game, then you watch them coach, and they don't do it. Players do the same thing. And sometimes, the guys you don't expect to be the real tough guys they show up, and you go, 'My god, was I wrong on this guy.'

There's an intensity and level of demand that wasn't present under Marinelli. With Rod it was 'we'll keep the shovels sharp, we'll keep trying, we'll work more', and while those are nice sentiments they don't compel urgency like Gunther does.

The Oakland Press blog was written on 8/6. On 8/7 Tara Ryan shared another Cunningham quote at DetroitLions.com

“I think we are starting to get that attitude adjustment; we had a couple of good one-on-ones with the secondary yesterday; Ramzee Robinson hit one guy under the chin, drove him to the sideline and dumped him on his back. I haven’t seen that since I was coaching in the 90’s and I made a big deal about it last night. We are going to be that kind of team; we are going to be aggressive, so we have to practice aggressive.”

Also on Friday John Niyo reported another quote

general manager Martin Mayhew asked him to watch 75 plays of a player the Lions are considering."He asked me, 'How'd you like him?' " Cunningham said. "I said, 'I've seen a lot better, and you wasted a lot of my time.' But that's my job, and you've got to look."

I guess Cunningham doesn't care who it is, he'll say it like it is.

Agree? Disagree? Have something to say about it? Discuss it Here, in The Den

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The Pain Train is coming

According to Adam Caplan, the Lions have signed seventh-round draft choice Zack Follett to a three-year deal.  Known as the “Pain Train” to his Cal teammates, Follett has said that he patterns his game after the original Pain Train, Terry Tate. 

Coming out of Clovis, CA as a four-star recruit—the 40th-ranked linebacker in the nation--Follett immediately made an impact at Cal with his speed and aggressiveness.  Playing in every game as a true freshman, he had 32 tackles and 2 sacks.  As a sophomore, he only started one game, yet lead the team in tackles for loss (12.5), tied for the team lead in sacks (5.5), led the Pac-10 in forced fumbles (4), had 62 total tackles, and was honorable mention All-Pac 10.  As a junior starter, he was second-team All-Pac 10; again with 12.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks, plus 64 total tackles.  However, his season was interrupted by a neck stinger, caused by the aggravation of a bulging disc discovered in high school.  Just prior to his senior season, Cal switched to a 3-4 alignment, partially to maximize Follett’s explosive, attacking style:

I would say they were successful. Follett finished fourth in the Pac-10 with 10.5 sacks.  He also led the Pac-10 in tackles for loss (23) and forced fumbles (5).  He was named first-team All Pac-10, in a conference rife with NFL linebacking talent.  He was also MVP of the Emerald Bowl after racking up 9 tackles (8 solo), four of them for losses (-33 yards).  That also includes two sacks, one of which forced a fumble.

As easy as it is to get pumped about Follett’s amazing hits, huge plays, and passion for football, there are several drawbacks to his game.  Follett’s far from a complete linebacker; he was asked to do little more than blitz in college. He lacks the coverage skills to be a traditional 4-3 strong side OLB, and there were multiple reports from minicamp that he’s having difficulty picking up Gunther Cunningham’s scheme.  While it’s tempting to compare his skill set to OLB Julian Peterson, a more apt comparison would be former Buckeye and Patriot Andy Katzenmoyer, whose explosive highlight-reel hits in college failed to translate into excellent all-around play in the NFL . . . and whose career was also sidelined by neck stingers.

Follett’s only saving grace may be that he won’t be asked to be a traditional strong side OLB; the Cunningham-Schwartz scheme will feature a lot of blitzing, as high as forty percent of snaps.  If Follett can prove to be a situational threat when blitzing, and a special teams demon, he could yet make the roster—and be the next against-the-odds fan favorite, in the mold of David Kircus, Greg Blue, and “Blue” Adams.

Discuss it here, in The Den!

Good rundown of new Lions coaching staff

Chrissie Wywrot at DetroitLions.com provides a good primer on Jim Schwartz, his coordinators, their philosophies and the rest of the coaching staff.

From the article ...
Head Coach Jim Schwartz on his defensive coordinator, Gunther Cunningham:

“We worked together three years in Tennessee, two of which were playoff years,” said Schwartz. “We’re like-minded when it comes to not just defense but how you want to build a team.”

Gunther on his philosophy:

“One of the things I’ve always believed in is high blitz,” said Cunningham. “Up to 40-percent in a game, which is off the charts for most people – but that’s what I believe in. I think you have to keep the quarterback nervous all the time.”

Gunther again, on a versatile LB like Julian Peterson allowing him flexibility to run different plays, such as the quarters formation, which includes three down linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs:

“(With that formation) we can start moving around and get a feel for it and confuse the offensive line,” said Peterson. “We can make them think there’s more people coming than there actually are.”

There's more comments regarding the offense and special teams. Nothing especially earth-shattering here, but a decent summer read.

Discuss in The Den!

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A View Of The Top

Lions Den regular AtticusSpeaks breaks down the Lion administration from the ownership to the assistants in an excellent essay.

Ford Sr. -- nice man by all accounts. Would like to win. At times has taken steps -- even bold ones -- to try to win. But -- while some guys obtain teams to satisfy a competitive zeal (like Snyder) and NEED to win -- in their guts -- that's not Ford. So ... he'll give it a try -- but he won't give it 100%. AND more importantly, he's just not a talented executive and doesn't truly know football all that well. So even a 100% effort isn't likely to change things -- other than getting lucky on a decision regarding underlings

I don't have much to add as we share very similar views of the Lion hierarchy, although I think I have a brighter opinion of Sam Gash than Atticus. Much more and ongoing discussion Here in The Den

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Killer - Flu

No, there's no need to call the Centers for Disease Control. Tom Kowalski at Mlive.com continues his summer scouting reports by looking at second-year DT Andre Fluellen.

Andre Fluellen, a third-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions last season, might appear to be in trouble because he doesn't have great size for a tackle and he's no longer in the Tampa Two system he was drafted to play. That might not be the case, though, because Fluellen has impressed coaches so far with his quickness and athleticism.

Fluellen has to learn a completely different way of doing business inside than under the Tampa Two. And he doesn't fit the big player mode that Jim Schwartz seems to like. And the new regime "couldn't care less" that the old regime made him a high draft pick, Kowalski said. All that doesn't exactly make his future with the Lions sound bright, but apparently Fluellen is working hard, has improved his strength, and Schwartz and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham are willing to keep him on as a work in progress. Talk about it in The Den!

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Lions claim another ex-Chief

Apparently still not satisfied with the size and depth along the defensive front, today Martin Mayhew claimed former Chiefs DE Brian Johnston.  Johnston was a 2008 seventh-round pick out of I-AA Gardner-Webb.  The 6'-4", 269-pounder likely made a poor fit for new Chiefs DC Clancy Prendergast's 3-4 scheme.  Johnston finished his college career as the Big South Conference's all-time leader in sacks (21) and tackles for loss (55.5).  Though he started his freshman year at outside linebacker, he started every game of his sophomore, junior, and senior years at DE.  Johnston neatly fits the prototype of Gunther Cunningham's new scheme: 255-270 pounder, pass rusher's body, should be able to line up wide with a hand down and get to the quarterback.  Gunther got to see plenty of Johnston last year while running Kansas City's defense, so he must have seen something he likes.  Still, Johnston will ultimately represent one more log on top of the "almost-but-not-quite" logjam on the defensive line. Discuss it here, in The Den!

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Follett finished with school, but just starting education

When Larry Foote was asked about how he was handling the transition from from a 3-4 ILB to a 4-3 MLB, he said, "I had my first meeting with the linebacker coach, and we put in a couple of the base defenses and it was similar to some of the stuff that we did at Pittsburgh.  My mind wasn't as lost as the other guy who was next to me."  Foote declined at the time to mention who that other guy was--but now, we can guess.  Nick Cotsonika of the Detroit Free Press has posted an article about rookie OLB Zack Follett, who's still trying to wrap his head around Gunther Cunningham's playbook.  Follett's not stupid--his woodworking skills reveal a creative brain--but thanks to NFL rules and Cal's academic schedule, today is the first day he's allowed to formally work out with the team.  After struggling in minicamp, he's already a couple of days behind on the OTAs.  Still, if he can keep his head above water, Follett's straight-line speed, playmaking ability, and love of the big hit make him an excellent fit for this defense.

Discuss this in The Den!

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OTA propaganda

Since the Lions aren't allowing media access to the OTAs until Thursday, there's essentially no information available beyond what the Lions decided to release via the official website.  Speaking mostly about Matt Stafford, DeAndre Levy, and Derrick Williams, the piece offers a lot of background knowledge, but little real information has to how things are progressing.  Levy's section is probably the most worthwhile; Cunningham seems to be absolutely convinced that he can move to the inside--and play like that's always been his natural position.  Even if Levy doesn't see much of the field this year as a base-defense MLB, the odds are good that he'll get a lot of preseason and garbage-time reps in preparation for 2010.

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