Detroit Lions Weblog

Zach Follett Garners Rave Reviews From Fox.com,

The perennial search for the “next Chris Spielman” likely has to be an eminent organizational priority, among the near endless laundry list of Lions personnel undertakings that need to be addressed as they attempt to build a strong, marketable franchise year-in and year-out. Lions fans still warmly embrace Spielman’s tenacity and work ethic to this day. In some ways, Spielman’s legend has only grown with time, in proportion to the team’s many failings.

The team has enlisted a number of surrogates (see Lehman, Teddy, Boyd, Stephen, Dizon, Jordan) who have never been quite able to fill the bill in the same manner. Fox Sports.com’s Ed Thompson adds Lions 7th-rounder Zach Follett to that list:

If you’ve seen him play, Follett is a fiery, old-school style linebacker, who loves to put the biggest hit he possibly can on the poor sap running with the football. And the energy level you see on the field isn’t that far off from what you’d experience if you talked to him face-to-face off the field.

Thompson’s superlatives, bestowed upon a 7th-rounder, are both generous and likely ill-advised, but why let the fun stop?

NFL rookies are expected to contribute right away on special teams if they want to earn a roster spot. And Zack Follett is a player who will strike some fear into his opponents as he flies down the field with kamikaze-like abandon, ready to do whatever it takes to find the ball carrier and drop him in his tracks.

Detroit Lions fans are going to love watching this guy in training camp. He gets my vote as the seventh-round pick who is most likely to make his team’s 53-man roster this September.

Follett, who also makes “Fathead”-style word carvings of his teammates and himself, has discovered a cure for the “swine flu”, single-handedly fomented peace in the Middle East, and has also been engrossed in serious talks with the leaders in Pyongyang, can seemingly do no wrong in Thompson’s view. That being said, shouldn’t this assessment provide at least some cautious cause for excitement and anticipation, inevitable Spielman comparisons be damned?

Recently, another Pacific Ten player, DE Bill Swancutt, who also was selected by the Lions late in the draft, generated some advanced publicity for his unlimited work ethic and performance (actual production) over tools (athleticism) scouting evaluation. Swancutt’s Detroit career was brief and unremarkable. Let’s hope that Follett distinguishes himself, even if his contribution is a mere fraction of what Thompson intimates it could become.