Detroit Lions Weblog

Lions End Pre-Season 4-0, So Damn What!,Roster Cuts

The Lions ended their pre-season Thursday against the Buffalo Bills.   In an ugly game, both teams rested a majority of their first team players, and allowed the players who were fighting for final roster spots to battle it out.

The Lions do appear to be a more physical, faster team on defense.  How much of the team’s pre-season performance will actually carry-over on Sunday’s remains to be seen.  I do believe that the ultimate challenge for this organization is a consistent, sustained level of performance over 16 games, and not the maddening rollercoaster ride of highs and lows that they normally subject us to.

The Lions made their final 53-man roster cuts yesterday as the regular season approaches.  Some of the more surprising players to be released were: DE Rudolph Hardie, S Greg Blue, LB Buster Davis, RB Artose Pinner, WR John Standeford, WR DeVale Ellis, and WR Brandon Middleton.

I would expect that the Lions might attempt to put players like Rudolph Hardie, John Standeford, Drew Henson and Kenneth Moore onto their practice squad.   It remains to be seen if Buster Davis, Frank Davis and Jonathan Scott are eligible to return to the practice squad, or not.

This is one of the few seasons in recent memory where the Lions have released players who could have easily regained roster spots due to their familiarity with the organization and potential upside, is this a sign of the team taking steps forward in roster quality and depth?

The Lions kept 11 defensive linemen, 4 tight ends, 2 running backs, and have only 2 healthy quarterbacks on their current roster.  RB’s Brian Calhoun and Aveion Cason were placed on the injured reserve, which makes running back easily one of the more perplexing playing groups on the entire roster.

Do the Lions think that they will make it long with just Kevin Smith and Tatum Bell at running back.  Is Jerome Felton going to fill their short-yardage, goal-line and third-down back role? Are the Lions planning on trolling the waiver wire for additional help in their backfield?

Will the Lions lack of depth at receiver, they only kept four, along with the added responsibility of returning kicks by Mike Furrey and Shaun McDonald have an impact on their performance as a group?  In some situations, will Casey FitzSimmons be used as another wide receiver, ala Dallas Clark for the Colts?

Ultimately, a lot of  this will be sorted out as the season progresses, or devolves, depending upon your perspective.   I am not certain of the prudence of retaining Tatum Bell, after his poor pre-season performance, and keeping only two healthy running backs on the team’s 53-man roster given the supposed added emphasis on the running attack this season.