Detroit Lions Weblog

Only Certainty for 2007 Lions is Complete Uncertainty

As the 2006 seasons continues to evolve into one of the ugliest in Lions team history, it is only natural to begin to look forward.   Many observers believe that the Lions should retain Team President Matt Millen for one more season in order to allow Head Coach Rod Marinelli another chance to deliver some positive results with the team under his guidance.  After Sunday’s loss, I think this position should be reconsidered.

Rod Marinelli “wegged” himself on Sunday.   For those of you who have read my entries for awhile, you may remember me applying the derisive suffix of “-weg” to Lions head coaches, since they have all seemed to eventually bumble and stumble their way to infamy.   By choosing to run on their first two plays on the Viking one-yard line Sunday, along with choosing to try for a touchdown on fourth down rather than take the guaranteed three points when the team would eventually need two scores to tie the game, Lions Head Coach Marinelli, by proxy of a decision likely made by Off. Coordinator Mike Martz, became Rod Marinelli-weg.   He essentially “took the wind” (ala Marty Mornihnweg) and by defying logic, handed the game back to the Vikings, when the Vikings had been so generous as to allow the Lions the opportunity to get back into the game.

I really wanted to by into Marinelliweg’s program, just like his predecessor’s before him, he seemed to be offering the panacea du jour necessary to alter the course of this perennially moribund franchise.   Both he and Matt Millen are consummate football men who, it has become increasingly apparent, are incredibly ill-qualified for their current positions.  Marinelliweg possesses many of the necessary elements to be a successful NFL coach, I just think that turning around the Lions, considering their current situation, is a much more daunting task than he is capable of handling at this point.

The Lions are going to be rebuilding from the ground up in 2007.   They have an aging, journeymen QB in Jon Kitna and unproven backups.   Their only bonafide franchise player, RB Kevin Jones, will likely miss most of, if not all, the 2007 season.   Their offensive line has been dogged by injuries and never has been given full opportunity to gel into a cohesive unit.  They have been short a receiver to compliment Roy Williams and Mike Furrey, a player who they may also lose next season, all year.   Their defensive line also has been completely decimated by injuries.   Their secondary doesn’t have the type of personnel necessary for their cover-2 zone scheme to operate effectively.

Among projected Lions free agents, DT/DE Cory Redding, WR Mike Furrey, and possibly S Terrence Holt are the only players worthy of consideration for return to the 2007 roster.  In fact, I would let all of their other free agents leave and would also liquidate disappointing players like G Damien Woody, CB Fernando Bryant, CB Dre Bly, DE Kalimba Edwards and DT Shaun Rogers.  I would first attempt to trade these players for draft picks and then, depending upon each players salary cap ramifications, release each one of them I am unable to trade.

Here is a short list of players I think that the Lions are likely to retain: K Jason Hanson, P Nick Harris, RS/WR Eddie Drummond, WR Roy Williams, WR Mike Furrey (if resigned), DT/DE Cory Redding, LT Jeff Backus, C Dominic Raiola, TE Dan Campbell, LB Ernie Sims, T Jonathan Scott, G Frank Davis, RB Brian Calhoun, DE James Hall, DE Jared DeVries, LB Alex Lewis, LB Donte Curry, LB Anthony Cannon, S Daniel Bullocks, S Terrence Holt and CB Stanley Wilson, Jr. are the only players I am relatively certain will return.  That is 20 players out of a 53 man roster. 

Do Matt Millen and Rod Marinelli-weg deserve a chance to undertake a complete rebuild of this team, one they are highly unlikely to see to it’s finish?   It is becoming increasingly clearer to me, that a team that will eventually end this season 23-73, or just one loss short of the “Creamsicle” Buccaneers 74 losses in six seasons, needs to start anew in hopes that it will not remain in the same condition that it currently has found itself in.