Lions and Pistons and Draft…OH MY!

Detroit Pistons: I’m probably being redundant here, but let me say this now and bring a strong opinion. The Pistons, Despite their 27-24 record, are all but

Detroit Pistons: I’m probably being redundant here, but let me say this now and bring a strong opinion. The Pistons, Despite their 27-24 record, are all but done and in big trouble. They have played poorly most of the season, especially at home, and those 4th quarter theatrics’ where they take over games are long gone. This team is not only physically beat, but more dangerously, psychologically beat. Allen Iverson has been a bust on the defensive end, and on offense, some guys just stand around and watch A.I. do his thing. Hiring Michael Curry appears to have been a mistake as well. I feel for Curry, who has courage and leadership qualities, and a burning desire to do well. However, he counters that with questionable court-side strategy and rotations, and the players confidence in him can no longer be deemed optimal. He knew and acknowledged before the season that this team should be in the Eastern Conference Finals and anything less would be unacceptable. Yet, these Pistons are becoming more known for their 4th quarter flops, and Rasheed Wallace has been on the trading block enough for Wallace to comment on those ramped up rumors.

 

I give some credit to Joe Dumars for wanting to shake things up and not stand pat, but acquiring Iverson appears to be a bad move, especially when any coach, especially a rookie coach, is going to have his hands full with Wallace, even when things are going right. It’s not that Iverson, a future Hall of Famer, is not a great player. He’s just not the team player that this franchise has come to be known for through the years under Jack McCloskey and Chuck Daly. This current regime has one championship, but you get the sense they have almost underachieved. Dumars has a lot of decisions to make in this next year and make no mistake, they could impact this team for better or worse for years to come. In fact, with the Iverson and Curry moves, some would argue Dumars might be losing his touch as well.

 

Detroit Lions: Leigh Bodden was recently cut and I for one, am not sure that is the right move. The problem or question is, what kind of defense will the Lions play? Under Marinelli, they used smaller players to run the Tampa-2 defense with a lot of zone principles. Most of Boddens’ success in Cleveland came basically playing a hybrid of man to man defense, and he rewarded the Browns with a big year and had six interceptions, 14 pass break ups and 88 tackles. Add in three fumble recoveries, and he was tied for second in the league in takeaways. Flash forward to production in Detroit, and he had just one interception.

 

New Lion defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham ran the Tampa-2 in Kansas City for Herm Edwards, the problem is, he said he doesn’t like the Tampa-2 and only ran it to please Edwards. It also appears the Lions new head coach Jim Schwartz isn’t a fan of the Tampa-2

either. If so, then why would you let Bodden go other than the criticism and parting shots he took at the outgoing coaching staff in calling the Lions defense “predictable,” and a defense that was, “hard to make plays in.” I understand wanting loyalty and buying into the program, but the problem that Marinelli got into was choosing loyalty over talent, a big mistake in the NFL when talent and parity is similar, and most games are decided by seven points or less. So should Bodden have been cut? I’m not sure, but he was and we can only hope it was for the right reasons and Martin Mayhew is not revisiting the Millen-Marinelli theory of personnel “loyalty.”

 

 

 

Lions Draft:  Okay, I know people get upset when I write from an authoritative point of view, but I always remind people my view is an opinion, and I believe in bringing it strong or don’t bring it at all, or as Jim Rome would say, “Have a take.” So anyone, I have some strong opinions on the draft that haven’t changed. And here they are:

 

 First, The Lions at 0-16 are the worse team in football, this entitles you to the best football

 player in the land. This means you don’t reach for players, and the guy you take should

 be at least one of the best five players around, and a envisioned long-time Pro Bowl player.  

 This means that eliminates most of the defensive players on the board. The middle of the defensive line is weak since Shaun Rogers left, and Boston College’s DT BJ Raji is tempting, as is LB Aaron Curry. Yet neither one of those guys is worthy of that high a pick.

 

Secondly, you have to carefully evaluate the talent at hand. Dan Orlovsky has shown he can play in this league and is a highly-underrated QB.  Plus he wants to be here and has the  patience to be here. Drew Stanton has shown when healthy, he can move this football team and is eager to learn. There are no Matt Ryan’s in this draft and Matthew Stafford seems to be overrated. The problem here is Scott Linehan, the new offensive coordinator, has a strong past connection with Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper’s knees are weak and his best days are behind him. He also doesn’t have Randy Moss to throw to any more. Jon Kitna should also be on his way out as a journey QB, but who knows what the Lions are thinking.

However, Orlovsky has shown that QB is not an immediate need. They can get a QB next year in a deeper QB draft.

 

So, this brings us to one of the weakest links on this Lion team, and one of the highest paid positions in the game—left tackle. This is a sensitive area since Jeff Backus went to UM, but the speed rushers are eating him up, and the Lions struggle with backside pressure and running the ball as well. How ironic is it that the strongest position in this draft is left tackle. Andre Smith, Michael Oher, Eugene Monroe, and Jason Smith are high on everyone’s lists. Certainly the Dolphins looked pretty smart in taking Jake Long as the overall no.1 pick. Certainly moving Backus to an inside position would appease some.

This would immediately help the Lions passing game and running game and give them a few wins.

 

Of those four, who do I like? I still am going with Michael Oher. He has overcome a lot and has the patience to help turn this thing around. I also like Andre Smith if his weight does not become an issue. While Jason Smith and Monroe are intriguing prospects and pass the “underwear eyeball” test, their stock has them moving up based on non-playing evaluations. Oher on the other hand, improved his stock by having a strong Senior Bowl showing after being a little inconsistent when he arrived. Virginia has had a good lineage of offensive tackles, but Monroe struggles sustaining blocks. Smith is a tad slow in pass blocking and more of a run blocker like Backus (with more upside than Backus because he can slide his feet). So in my opinion, Oher and Andre Smith are the way to go. Smith brings a lot of power, but will he be the team player than Oher looks like he will be? Both of these guys look like perennial Pro-Bowl players and this obviously a tough choice.