Detroit Lions Weblog

After Suffering From a “Significant” Injury, Will Ernie Sims be “Wally Pipped” by Rookie DeAndre Levy?

At the NFL trade deadline, with Ernie Sims’ underwhelming performance while injured, and the impressive early performance by rookie LB DeAndre Levy, there has been a growing belief that the Lions would parcel out Sims, since Levy appears to be capable of replacing a player who was once viewed one of the few cherished crown jewels that the organization possessed among the bounty of fools gold that peopled it’s roster.

To Sims’ credit he has played hurt the whole year and will likely miss several weeks after injuring his hamstring in Sunday’s loss to Seattle. Sims was once an unchecked missile on the field, but now seemingly is becoming a fragile, undersized, sorely out of place player on the Lions defense under Jim Schwartz.

Even Eric Edholm of Pro Football Weekly has taken note, after several weeks of rumors. Will Sims getting “Wally Pipped” by Levy, as the Lions continue to reshape their roster. We won’t likely find out until next season, but it is a situation that bears watching as Levy likely receives an extended opportunity to exhibit his worth to the franchise.

One thing is clear, after Sunday’s game, Martin Mayhew’s inaugural draft class, aside from the struggling Matthew Stafford, has made a tremendous positive impression, see Levy’s performance, and I believe that ultimately Stafford will achieve success. It is strange sometimes, how things change so quickly in the NFL. The value of Brandon Pettigrew, Louis Delmas, Sammie Lee Hill and DeAndre Levy appears to be increasing as each week passes. Hopefully, the Lions will continue to inject at least 3-4 quality, productive players per draft, and players like Sims will be pressured to improve or leave, and not earn their positions by default, like so many former Lions have.