Detroit Lions Weblog

WR Mike Furrey signed, Troubles Brewing

The Lions have recently signed veteran WR/S Mike Furrey. Furrey has been listed as WR on the current Lions depth chart. Furrey is a high effort player who is a coach’s favorite. He should contribute on special teams, should provide depth as a slot receiver and could be moved back to the secondary if there was a need for added depth there.

The Furrey signing is a strong affirmation of issues that were recently reported by MLive.com’s “Killer” Kowalski. Kowaslki said that the Lions coaches have grown increasingly disappointed with the efforts of WR’s Charles Rogers and Mike Williams. Rogers is rumored to have continued his hard-partying lifestyle and Mike Williams, who is overweight and out of shape, has missed ten days of conditioning for “family matters”. It is very hard to be critical of the Lions over these two players performance. Even though I preferred Andre Johnson over Charles Rogers, every draft expert seemed to believe that his overwhelming athletic ability would propel him to future NFL success. I was a strong proponent of drafting Mike Williams. While at USC, Williams had great hands and appeared to have a strong desire for the game. Apparently he lacks any desire whatsoever for success.

The Lions should be criticized roundly for using so many costly 1st round picks on WR’s, though. Wideouts are very difficult to project for future NFL success and thought of losing three first rounders this offseason (including Harrington if Williams and Rogers are cut) could set the team back for another 7-8 years. The acquisitions of Corey Bradford and Mike Furrey are clear signs that the team may have to soldier on without these underachieving players. Worst of all, they may have to use ANOTHER high round draft choice for a receiver if things continue at their current rate. I shudder!

The Lion’s Fanatics, orchestrator’s of last year’s “Orange Out” when the Lions played the Bengals, have reported that Alex Lewis will likely be starting ahead of “Dirty” Davis at OLB. Lewis fits the bill as an undersized, quick LB like those that have been utilized by the Buccaneers in the past in their cover-2 defensive scheme. Lewis, who showed flashes of talent in his rookie year, is very inexperienced after missing last season due to injury. It also would appear that Teddy Lehman will be the team’s MLB according to their report. If this true, it becomes increasingly apparent that the Lion’s may be targeting Texas’s Michael Huff or Virginia Tech’s Jimmy Williams as their first selection in this year’s draft.