Detroit Lions Weblog

Eddie Drummond returns, Jon McGraw aquired from the Jets, first pre-season game!

The Lions continue to add depth to their secondary. They traded a conditional draft pick for Strong Safety Jon McGraw. McGraw, aquired from the Jets, has struggled to remain healthy throughout his career. When healthy, McGraw has made strong contributions. The move is a little curious to me because it appears that with Kenoy Kennedy and Bracy Walker at SS, the team would have plenty of depth at the position (They also have special teams ace, Vernon Fox at SS on the depth chart). Conversely, the Free Safety position features a noticeable lack of depth especially considering the starter, Terrence Holt, will be starting for the first time in his short NFL career. It appears that R.W. McQuarters will be the backup plan for Free Safety should Holt falter.

Eddie Drummond recently returned to the team. At times in his career Drummond has almost single-handedly carried the team with his excellent returns yardage. Still, Drummond also has missed a great deal of time due to injury and will have to prove that he can recover from last year’s season-ending injuries to warrant any significant contract from the Lions. I hope he can return to form, Drummond is a major component to the Lions experiencing success this season.

The first Lions pre-season game is tommorrow evening (Hallelujah!). I can already hear the comforting tones of Frank Beckman as I set here typing. With the faltering Detroit Tigers, I am doubly excited about the start of the Lions season. I have to keep telling myself that it is only the first pre-season game, and that I need to temper my excitement a little bit. I can’t wait to see Mike Williams, Shaun Cody, Marcus Pollard et al finally take the field (even if it is for only 9-10 plays). Hopefully, the scaled-down,pre-season, new Ted Tollner offense will still show signs of the necessary system changes that we are all anxious to see from this once stale offense. I can’t wait to see Boss Bailey and Charles Rogers as they both return from injury. I also am excited to see players like FB Will Matthews, DE Bill Swancutt, CB Stanley Wilson, TE Jason Randall and QB Dan Orlovsky as they all attempt to show that they deserve roster spots on the team.

This is the most optimistic time for Lion fans in recent history. Tommorrow is the first step in either the increase of optimism or the continuation of the annual crushing of that eternal optimism that most loyal Lion fans have to possess to still continue to follow the team. Even with the looming QB controversy, it is quite hard for me not to be excited about the future of this team. That being said, there is a small part of me that anticipates an injury-riddled, mediocre season. The fates have conditioned us not to expect otherwise.