Detroit Lions Weblog

Cliff Avril Surprisingly Candid About ‘09 Performance

Cliff Avril recently posted some surprisingly candid comments about his 2009 performance for the Lions on his blog.

Entering this season, Avril’s performance marked one of the team’s few bright spots, and gave many Lions fans considerable hope that he would continue to develop and thrive as a pass rusher this season.

Cliff Avril Is Not Happy With His Performance This Season

Upon his draft selection, Avril was viewed as a 3-4/4-3 “tweener”, it was debatable whether he should be a linebacker or defensive end. Avril came out of the gates last season looking like a draft day steal, even if he was seemingly one-dimensional, as a pass rushing specialist.

Avril had a surprising 5 sacks in 15 games (in four starts) last season. He also had 4 forced fumbles, to go along with 17 tackles (5 assists). This season, Avril has 3.5 sacks in 10 games, one forced fumble and 20 tackles (8 assists). He has yet to start a game this season.

Here is Avril’s assessment:

December 18, 2009

I really feel like I’m not having that good of a season, and I have no one to blame it on but myself. I’m not being as productive as I expected I would. I don’t have as many sacks as last year but I still have three games left and I want to go out with a bang this season.

I don’t feel like the team gave up against Baltimore but I haven’t seen the film yet. Coach was real mad at us and gave us the day off today and yesterday. I really doubt that anyone gave up, I think we just got beat bad.

It’s been a frustrating year, for me personally because it’s been an up and down season. I’ve had to deal with a lot of different things, injuries, a new coaching staff, getting used to how things are run and just expecting to win and not winning.

Have You Seen This Ghost?

The most convenient analogy is to compare Avril’s demise to that of the once-promising, but seemingly indifferent, career of Kalimba “The Ghost” Edwards.

Edwards possessed a similar kind of skill set to the one that Avril possesses, and had a tantalizing amount of potential, early in his career. In Edwards’ six years as a Lion, his development as a pass rushing terror seemed to be perennially, just one off-season around the corner.

Unfortunately for Avril, he and Edwards’ first two seasons are eerily similar. They each have suffered from stunted career development due to their “tween-ness” as players, and both have had to endure too many coaching and schematic changes to not struggle, given their relative lack of football I.Q.

Unlike Ernie Sims, who has a tremendous desire for the game of football, to the point of being undisciplined, in Sims’ case, Avril seems to be lacking a “killer instinct”, much like his disappointing predecessor, Edwards.

It remains to be seen if Avril’s career will continue upon it’s current disappointing track, or if the addition of quality defensive players along the defensive front, (Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy, Please!?!)with some much needed organizational continuity, will allow Avril to overcome his sophomore slump.

As a Lions fatalist, I figure that Avril will wash out, like so many before him. Given the fact that Avril is cognizant of his shortcomings this season, hopefully, I will be proven wrong.

Avril Still Might Develop Into a Force