Detroit Lions Weblog

FitzSimmons, Campbell injured, McHugh Gets an Opportunity

The Lions Tight End Situation is a bit muddled after the wrist injury sustained by Casey FitzSimmons on Friday night. Dan Campbell, signed during the offseason as a blocking TE, has been injured throughout camp. Marcus Pollard, whose experience in a similar offense in Indy and his strong downfield, vertical pass catching catching skills would seem to make him a natural fit in the Lions new Mike Martz-designed offense, has had a significant reduction in his playing time thus far.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press by Nicholas Cotsonika, Pollard is an H-Back in the current offense. He will move into the backfield, split out, and play like a Tight End. One thing that was noticeably different Friday, was the amount of shifting formations and motion by the skill players occurred in a much higher frequency than from previous Lion offenses. It was miraculous that the Lions didn’t draw a lot more procedure penalties with all of this constant shifting and movement. Previous Lion teams would have encountered trouble executing all of this deception.

I like the Lion’s utilization of Pollard’s versatility in this manner, but am surprised that he seems to have a more limited role with the team. It appears that Sean McHugh will be given a major opportunity, especially with the injuries to Campbell and FitzSimmons, to assert his role with the team. If McHugh can be moderately effective, the team may be able to avoid trolling the waiver wire to pick up another tight end before the season begins.