Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions ink LB Goddard, DE Swancutt

It is now roughly one week before the Lions will converge upon Allen Park, MI and begin training camp. With the onset of camp, things will liven up significantly around here. Nothing stirs my heart more than the commencement of the football season.

The Lions signed their 2005 6th round draft picks, DE Bill Swancutt and LB Johnathan Goddard last week. Both are longshots to make the roster but are also both the type of players who if they flourish, could make unexpected and much-needed contributions to the 2005 teams’s success. Goddard, a DE at Marshall who lead Division I football in sacks, is being converted to linebacker. He may play some DE on third downs. Hopefully, his ability to pressure the quarterback and nose for the ball will translate to NFL success.

Swancutt is an interesting case. Co-Pac Ten defensive player of the year, Swancutt is the classic example of the “tools” versus game performance (statistical and intangible) debate. Swancutt was often referred to as a “poor man’s David Pollack” when scouts discussed him at the combines. Both he and the Georgia linebacker are both high effort, overachieving type of players whose actual game performance exceeds expectations due to their relative lack of athletic ability. Swancutt seems to be a player who is a stark contrast to former 2nd round pick, Kalimba “The Ghost” Edwards. Edwards is your classic “tools” player. Kalimba has incredible athletic ability and if he were ever to remain healthy and harness those abilities he may be able to establish himself as a successful NFL player. Edwards appears to to lack the focus and aggressiveness to meet the once lofty expectations that were held for him. The most aggressive efforts we have seen from Edwards were directed at a highway patrolman this offseason.

Meanwhile a player like Swancutt often gets overlooked and underappreciated while all he has done is consistently perform at an level to make a major impact for his teams. It will be interesting to watch the performances of these two players and see whether the presence of a Swancutt will impact Edwards’s performance at all. Swancutt is exactly the blue collar type of performer that Lion fans often gravitate towards. It remains to be seen whether Swancutt is going to perform at a high level in the NFL but he is the type of player that fans like to get behind. If Swancutt doesn’t pan out, the tackle I saw but Kyle Farnsworth of the Tigers on Sunday on Kansas City Royal’s pitcher Jeremy Affeldt gives me some hope that he could be a NFL defensive linemen.