Detroit Lions Weblog

Questions Entering Thursday’s 1st Pre-Season Game?

William Clay Ford will roll out the 2007 model of his rich man’s folly on Thursday.  The Lions, much like Ford’s ailing automobile company, have languished of late, but many prognosticators believe that the Lions could potentially emerge as one of the surprise teams of the NFL this season.  

With that in mind, I believe that the Lions are still lacking clarity at a number of important roster positions.   Thursday will be many Lions fan’s first opportunity to see who will be involved in the Lions attempt to address these important roster issues.

1) Will the Lions have a consistent pass rush?  Among DeWayne White and Kalimba”The Ghost” Edwards, a consistent pass rush has to develop for the Lions this season.

2) Linebackers outside of WLB Ernie Sims.   Boss Bailey, Teddy “China Doll” Lehman,  and Alex Lewis all have had checkered injury histories.   Will Paris Lenon really be the answer in the middle? Can Anthony Cannon Or Johnny Baldwin help out at all.

3) The Secondary:  Trading Dre Bly will either appear brilliant, or will be regarded as a first rate disaster.  With injury-prone Fernando Bryant and Travis Fisher, coupled with inexperienced players like Keith Smith, Stanley Wilson, Jr., A.J. Davis and Ramzee Robinson, the Lions could be headed for a difficult season at cornerback.  Will Daniel Bulllocks prove he was worthy of a second round draft pick in ‘06?

4) Offensive Line:  This unit looks a lot better on paper, than last year’s O-Line.  It really couldn’t be worse, though.  The Lions O-Line needs to at least halve the 63 sacks it allowed last season, if Jon Kitna is going to flourish in Mike Martz’s offense this season.  Will Edwin Mulitalo and George Foster emerge as a solid, dependable players or will they play ineptly like such memorable recent also-rans as Brendan Stai, Ross Verba , and Rich DeMulling, all big disappointments, that we consistently have been subjected to throughout recent team history.

5) Calvin Johnson has come to Detroit with a near-flawless pedigree.  Expectations will be incredibly high, and Lions fans will become petulant if he struggles at all.  If he begins to resemble colossal busts like Charles Rogers or Mike Williams, the whole state of Michigan might be permanently placed on suicide watch. 

6) Tight End:  Dan Campbell had an impressive season last year.   Beyond Campbell, the Lions are still searching for a player who can make his catches, block like a linemen and be versatile enough to play a hybrid role which includes playing FB and H-Back.  Darnell Sanders has been impressive early.

7) Backup Qb: With Drew Stanton on injured reserve, the Lions will resist the urge to replace Kitna if the team falters.   That being said, if Kitna were injured, neither Dan Orlovsky or J.T. O’Sullivan provides the team with much proven experience.    Kitna, who was already one of the more valuable members of the team, becomes exponentially more valuable due to the lack of experience that the Lions backups posess.

My favorite aspect of the pre-season is finding those few underdog players who are impressive enough during the pre-season that they develop a cult following among Lions fans, who are often impressed by the pluck and effort exhibited by a player who emerges from nowhere with solid performance.