Detroit Lions Weblog

Here’s Where the Story Ends…

The disappointingly underachieving career of former Lions first round draft selection Charles Rogers ended today. Obviously, Rogers will land on his feet. He will quickly sign an incentive-laden, low-priced contract and begin salvaging what meager NFL career he may have remaining. For the Lions interminable rebuilding process (nearly 50 years), this was very costly in the long term.

Generally speaking, the first round draft selections you decide upon are supposed to be the cornerstones around which you can build the remainder of your franchise. The Lions have recently cast aside two of those important pieces in less than 6 months. I realize that in real-life situations, opportunities are sometimes wasted and things do not always work according to pre-conceived expectations. These failures have been compounded and become even more painful with each successive disappointment because the Lions have frittered away so much time, organizational development and money (filthy lucre?) on players who have had almost zero positive impact or long-term benefits for them. This failure is a very poor reflection upon what is clearly among the worst organizations in all of professional sports (maybe of all time).

Rogers, an enigma, is largely to blame here. He clearly is a misguided and imperceptive person. He was granted a very lucrative and potentially rewarding opportunity when the Lions drafted him. He appears to have little motivation or understanding of what it will take for him to succeed in the NFL. He is likely the biggest wide receiver bust in the history of the league (How does it feel to have the monkey off of your back R. Jay Soward). My biggest fear is that Rogers will muster up what remaining skills he has to become an effective contributor elsewhere, worse case scenario, in the NFC North.

The Lions also released past team contributors LB James “Dirty” Davis, OT Kelly Butler, RB Artose Pinner, DT Damian Gregory, OL Brock Gutierrez, and ‘06 draft picks CB Dee McCann and G Fred Matua, both who I presume they will attempt to place on their practice squad. Pinner will be a valuable addition as backup for another team. He is not flashy, but he is workmanlike and consistent. Kelly Butler has a certain amount of promise as player, I’m actually very surprised he was released.

Three players who survived the cut-downs are major surprises who overcame spectacular odds to make the roster (and should be cause for the Lions to celebrate): WR/KR Shaun Bodiford, OG Frank Davis and LB Anthony Cannon. Hopefully, they will be able to develop into positive contributors and give the team the quality of performances that will make up for the poor performance of the others who were originally expected to do well but didn’t.

Finally, I have strong feelings that the release of Rogers may be redemptive for the Lions, maybe even cleansing. All of the hype, glitz, and glamour that surrounded the drafts of players like Harrington and Rogers, the hiring of Steve Mariucci, and the aborted West Coast Offense can be placed firmly to rest. This team is going to be rebuilt in the image of it’s new head coach, Rod Marinelli, whether we like it or not. Frankly, I am glad the disappointments from that era are finished. I just hope that more imminent ones aren’t soon awaiting.