Detroit Lions Weblog

Roy Williams, CB’s, Kitna QB Competition, Yeah Right

Rod Marinelli all but ended speculation during a recent press conference that the Lions are considering trading WR Roy Williams, at least for the duration of ‘08. For all of the bluster about a new and improved “balanced” offense, the Lions clearly have put themselves in a position where they are still going to have to pass often to keep both the temperamental Williams, and last year’s first round pick, Calvin Johnson happy.

Williams is easily the most valuable player that they actually have the luxury of considering to possibly trade. I like Williams, and believe he will still be a valuable component of the Lions roster in ‘08, but I wonder exactly how the Lions plan on keeping Williams, Johnson, and a hungry stable of running backs all happy in the long run? Unless of course, they are planning on their defense being poor enough in ‘08 that they will likely being playing from behind early in most games (hee-hee).

The Lions have also publicly expressed an interest in retaining CB’s Stanley Wilson, Keith Smith and Travis Fisher, along with adding two or three more corners in a draft that is going to be quite strong at the position. The Lions have a ton of needs on defense, so on the surface this seems to be a prudent decision. I do believe that the Lions have pressing needs on offense that can’t afford to be ignored, either.

The Lions still seem surprisingly content with their offensive line, for example, given it’s immense struggles. I believe that the Lions need to be honest with themselves. They have a right tackle playing on the left side, and want to sign an underachieving guard to play on their right side. Meanwhile former Lions scout and director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kevin Colbert says that the offensive tackles in the upcoming draft are ” the best group I’ve seen in 24 years collectively”. To me, it’s seems that if they can draft a franchise, 10-yr left tackle in the ‘08 draft, especially after whiffing on a talent like Joe Thomas in ‘07, that would prove infinitely more valuable than any corner eventually would be within the Tampa-2 defensive scheme.

The larger defensive need also remains to be, in my opinion, the Lions desperate need for a consistent edge rusher on the left side of the defense. They seem content to put all of their eggs in an unproven basket, by putting a lot of stake in the continued development of Ikaika “Hawaii Five-O” Alama-Francis. No amount of quality corners will improve the defense if opposing QB’s continue to set up in the pocket unfettered by the Lions front four.

Speaking of QB’s, the Lions are continuing to put on airs about a QB competition entering ‘08. It’s bullshit! If they were at all serious about an open competition, they would bring a veteran to compete with Jon Kitna, along with Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton. There is no way that Stanton and Orlovsky will pose a legitimate threat to Kitna, unless Kitna takes major steps backward.