Lions Making Moves

[defiantgiant]

So the Bears are the biggest players in free agency, for sure, but they aren't the only ones. The Lions are making some aggressive moves of their own: so far, they've inked Nate Burleson from the Seahawks and Kyle Vanden Bosch from the Titans, plus they traded to get Corey Williams from the Browns. None of those are blockbuster moves like the Peppers signing, but they're all pretty smart, I think.

 

Burleson isn't a great #1 receiver, but as a #2 paired with Calvin Johnson, he's miles better than Bryant Johnson or anybody else on Detroit's roster. I think he could be a credible complementary receiver, which they haven't had in a while. As for KVB and Williams, I think those could end up being very, very shrewd moves. KVB's not a sack machine any more, but he'll be a solid base end and he's a great leader. Williams couldn't make the switch to a 3-4 DE, but the last time he was allowed to play his natural 3-technique spot, he racked up 14 sacks in 2 seasons. He should still be at least a league-average starter at the 3, which is huge for a team that didn't even have a real 3-tech on the roster last season.

 

If the Lions draft Suh like everybody's predicting, Cliff Avril's going to be the only returning starter on the line, and he's the only one from last year who really deserves to come back. In one offseason, they'll have taken one of the worst d-lines in the league and made it into at least an average group, maybe a pretty good one if Suh makes an impact right away. Combined with the linebacker corps they put together last offseason, that's a credible front seven. Assuming they draft Suh, they're like a corner and a strong safety away from a real defense.

 

I know they're division rivals, but I'm excited to see the Lions start to become competitive again. It's way more satisfying to beat a real rival, instead of a punching bag like Detroit has been the past few years. If the new regime over there keeps going the way it has been, it's going to be fun to watch the NFC North turn into a four-team division again.

[nfoligno]

Agreed all around. I don't think the moves they have made are great, but they are the sort that could help a team form a solid base. Also agreed that, while they are a divisional team, I prefer to have all in the division respected, rather than one team being so bad is tanks the rep of the whole division. Then again, it has been so long since Det was any good that it doesn't mean as much to me. If we were talking about GB or Minny, I would not have a problem w/ them being horrible, even if it hurt the rep of the division.

 

 

 

So the Bears are the biggest players in free agency, for sure, but they aren't the only ones. The Lions are making some aggressive moves of their own: so far, they've inked Nate Burleson from the Seahawks and Kyle Vanden Bosch from the Titans, plus they traded to get Corey Williams from the Browns. None of those are blockbuster moves like the Peppers signing, but they're all pretty smart, I think.

 

Burleson isn't a great #1 receiver, but as a #2 paired with Calvin Johnson, he's miles better than Bryant Johnson or anybody else on Detroit's roster. I think he could be a credible complementary receiver, which they haven't had in a while. As for KVB and Williams, I think those could end up being very, very shrewd moves. KVB's not a sack machine any more, but he'll be a solid base end and he's a great leader. Williams couldn't make the switch to a 3-4 DE, but the last time he was allowed to play his natural 3-technique spot, he racked up 14 sacks in 2 seasons. He should still be at least a league-average starter at the 3, which is huge for a team that didn't even have a real 3-tech on the roster last season.

 

If the Lions draft Suh like everybody's predicting, Cliff Avril's going to be the only returning starter on the line, and he's the only one from last year who really deserves to come back. In one offseason, they'll have taken one of the worst d-lines in the league and made it into at least an average group, maybe a pretty good one if Suh makes an impact right away. Combined with the linebacker corps they put together last offseason, that's a credible front seven. Assuming they draft Suh, they're like a corner and a strong safety away from a real defense.

 

I know they're division rivals, but I'm excited to see the Lions start to become competitive again. It's way more satisfying to beat a real rival, instead of a punching bag like Detroit has been the past few years. If the new regime over there keeps going the way it has been, it's going to be fun to watch the NFC North turn into a four-team division again.

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Lions are continuing to improve and Schwartz seems like a good hire. I like what they are doing (wish they weren't doing it though). The NFC North is going to be one tough ass division.

[Guest TerraTor]

Lions are continuing to improve and Schwartz seems like a good hire. I like what they are doing (wish they weren't doing it though). The NFC North is going to be one tough ass division.

 

all the "great" signings the made last season are gone. Burleson scares me bout as much as a poodle and vandenbosh is basically washed up. They will never be good?....... Ha

[defiantgiant]

all the "great" signings the made last season are gone. Burleson scares me bout as much as a poodle and vandenbosh is basically washed up. They will never be good?....... Ha

What great signings? Schwartz himself said that last season was all about getting 20 one-million-dollar guys, not one 20-million-dollar guy. They just needed bodies at most positions, and that's what they went out and got. Foote and Peterson were OK, Philip Buchanon was all right, but none of those guys were expected to be spectacular. Like nfo said, they're building a base.

[GrizzlyBear]

I disagree Terra, Vandenbosch still has a good motor and great leadership. But Burleson I have to agree with ya, but he can catch and with johnson getting duble teams he will be open, If Stafford can unload the ball his way he will make a fool out of a secondary.

[defiantgiant]

I disagree Terra, Vandenbosch still has a good motor and great leadership. But Burleson I have to agree with ya, but he can catch and with johnson getting duble teams he will be open, If Stafford can unload the ball his way he will make a fool out of a secondary.

When Scott Linehan was talking about how bad they needed a complementary receiver, he said that teams were actually triple-teaming Calvin Johnson this year. Like, they'd put their #1 corner on him and roll both safeties to his side, or they'd bracket him with a corner and a nickel plus a safety over the top. That's just crazy. I don't care what Burleson's problems are...any receiver's going to look good when the other guy is drawing 3 defenders out of the secondary.

[Bears4Ever_34]

Eventually after being as bad as they have been over the past decade you will get enough high draft picks to make your team better.

[nfoligno]

You mean, eventually, after drafting WR after WR, one was bound to be as great as expected.

 

Also helped getting rid of a staff that just didn't work. Scary part is, we seem to be trying to hire them all, but at least we didn't get the guy who drives around naked.

 

Eventually after being as bad as they have been over the past decade you will get enough high draft picks to make your team better.

 

[defiantgiant]

More moves from Detroit. Apparently they weren't done after getting Nate Burleson and Rob Sims from the Seahawks...they just announced a three-way trade with the Eagles and Broncos:

 

Detroit sends Ernie Sims to Philadelphia

Philadelphia sends its 5th-round pick to Denver

Denver sends Tony Scheffler and its 7th-round pick to Detroit

 

...looks like their coaching staff was really serious about drawing attention away from Calvin Johnson. Between Burleson and Scheffler, Stafford will definitely have some other options in the passing game.

 

I know it's the Lions, but this can't bode well for our secondary: they have a hard enough time covering Johnson as is. Stafford proved he could light our guys up (to the tune of 296 yards and a 67% completion rate) even when he had nobody but Johnson to throw to and his line was getting him sacked constantly. If they couldn't handle CJ by himself, how're they going to deal with him plus two other decent receiving threats? If anything, Angelo better be looking even harder for a new free safety this offseason. I don't want to see Scheffler matched up on Kevin Payne.

[nfoligno]

This move really surprises me.

 

Det just used a 1st round pick (20th overall) on a TE (Pettigrew) who I thought they were pretty pleased with. I am surprised that one year after using a 1st round pick on a TE, trade for another. Further, Sims was a top 10 draft pick, and I was under the impression that Sims was considered a very solid LB for Det.

 

Adding Scheffler improves their offense, yet at the same time, it takes away from their defense, which was not good to begin with.

 

Scheffler is a solid, young TE, but lets not make too big of an issue of this. Everyone talks about how disappointing Olsen is. Well, Olsen's 60 catches are 20 more than Scheffler's best season. His Scheffler had one season with 645 yards, but that was only a bit more than Olsen's 612 this past year, and Scheffler had that many only one season, two years ago. Finally, Scheffler's best TD total was 5, compared to Olsen's most recent 8.

 

Point is, while Scheffler is a good TE, I am not sure he is as great as some make him out to be. Last year, Scheffler had barely better stats than Det's rookie TE (Pettigrew) had this year. Sure, you can argue he improves their team, but I question by how much, and would further state they downgraded their defense in doing so.

 

More moves from Detroit. Apparently they weren't done after getting Nate Burleson and Rob Sims from the Seahawks...they just announced a three-way trade with the Eagles and Broncos:

 

Detroit sends Ernie Sims to Philadelphia

Philadelphia sends its 5th-round pick to Denver

Denver sends Tony Scheffler and its 7th-round pick to Detroit

 

...looks like their coaching staff was really serious about drawing attention away from Calvin Johnson. Between Burleson and Scheffler, Stafford will definitely have some other options in the passing game.

 

I know it's the Lions, but this can't bode well for our secondary: they have a hard enough time covering Johnson as is. Stafford proved he could light our guys up (to the tune of 296 yards and a 67% completion rate) even when he had nobody but Johnson to throw to and his line was getting him sacked constantly. If they couldn't handle CJ by himself, how're they going to deal with him plus two other decent receiving threats? If anything, Angelo better be looking even harder for a new free safety this offseason. I don't want to see Scheffler matched up on Kevin Payne.

 

[defiantgiant]

Yeah, I agree that Scheffler's not as good as Olsen: he's even more of a one-dimensional player, basically just a big wide receiver. I do think that Olsen and Scheffler have the same basic skillset, though, which is very different from Pettigrew's. Pettigrew's a big bulldozing TE who happens to be able to catch, but he's never going to have a good speed matchup on linebackers and safeties. Getting a speedy move TE as a complement to Pettigrew makes sense - with Scheffler on board, they can install a legit 2-TE package. Also, the Lions have two good wideouts in Johnson-Burleson, but everybody behind those two is awful: if it were me, I'd much rather use Scheffler as a pseudo-slot-receiver than put Dennis Northcutt or Bryant Johnson on the field. If they're planning to use Scheffler as basically a big slot receiver, the move makes a lot more sense.

 

Also, as for Scheffler's stats, it's important to remember that he hardly ever saw the rock last season. 31 catches for 416 yards isn't that impressive until you realize that they only threw it to him 50 times. For comparison, Olsen got 108 passes thrown his way last season. Even in Scheffler's best season (2008) he only got 61 passes, but he turned those into 40 receptions for 645 yards and 3 TDs. I think he could go right back to 650-750 yards a season in an offense that looked his way more often.

 

I agree with you on Sims - I always thought he was a good player. He's very undersized, though, and I think the new regime in Detroit wants their linebackers to be bigger. They never seemed that thrilled with Sims, even when he was healthy. It does leave them with another hole in the defense, though: they must be pretty confident that they can have another good defensive draft this year.

[clnr]

I read speculations that the Lions might go with a 2 TE set as their base package in order to protect Stafford better. Indicates that they'll go for Suh/McCoy rather than Okung with their first round pick.

[defiantgiant]

I read speculations that the Lions might go with a 2 TE set as their base package in order to protect Stafford better. Indicates that they'll go for Suh/McCoy rather than Okung with their first round pick.

 

Makes sense, especially for a team that's just trying to increase their talent across the board right now. Suh is the kind of player that doesn't come around that often, and I imagine it'd be hard to pass up on him for Okung at #2. Okung's a good left tackle, but Suh could turn their d-line into a major strong point. I don't know if this has been posted here yet, but check this out:

 

1: 98 tackles, 23.5 TFL, 9.5 sacks, 20 QB hits, 5 passes broken up, 0 Int, 1 FF, 3 Blk

2: 112 tackles, 33 TFL, 14 sacks, 48 QB hits, 5 passes broken up, 0 Int, 1 FF, 0 Blk

3: 116 tackles, 25.5 TFL, 15.5 sacks, 10 QB hits, 7 passes broken up, 0 Int, 2 FF, 0 Blk

4: 82 tackles, 23 TFL, 12 sacks, 24 QB hits, 10 passes broken up, 1 Int, 1 FF, 3 Blk

 

#1 = Alabama DL

#2 = Florida DL

#3 = Texas DL

#4 = Ndamukong Suh. By himself.

 

...I really don't want to see that guy matched up on Frank Omiyale twice a season.

[madlithuanian]

Yep. Solid moves. They are going to get better. Couldn't get much worse, as John Lennon once sang.

 

Agreed all around. I don't think the moves they have made are great, but they are the sort that could help a team form a solid base. Also agreed that, while they are a divisional team, I prefer to have all in the division respected, rather than one team being so bad is tanks the rep of the whole division. Then again, it has been so long since Det was any good that it doesn't mean as much to me. If we were talking about GB or Minny, I would not have a problem w/ them being horrible, even if it hurt the rep of the division.

 

[madlithuanian]

Agreed. Seems an odd move. I thought more of Sims. Maybe I don't recall correctly.

 

Not to mention Scheffler's a bit injury prone.

 

Good pick up all else being equal.... The 7th round pick is just free dessert with the meal.

 

This move really surprises me.

 

Det just used a 1st round pick (20th overall) on a TE (Pettigrew) who I thought they were pretty pleased with. I am surprised that one year after using a 1st round pick on a TE, trade for another. Further, Sims was a top 10 draft pick, and I was under the impression that Sims was considered a very solid LB for Det.

 

Adding Scheffler improves their offense, yet at the same time, it takes away from their defense, which was not good to begin with.

 

Scheffler is a solid, young TE, but lets not make too big of an issue of this. Everyone talks about how disappointing Olsen is. Well, Olsen's 60 catches are 20 more than Scheffler's best season. His Scheffler had one season with 645 yards, but that was only a bit more than Olsen's 612 this past year, and Scheffler had that many only one season, two years ago. Finally, Scheffler's best TD total was 5, compared to Olsen's most recent 8.

 

Point is, while Scheffler is a good TE, I am not sure he is as great as some make him out to be. Last year, Scheffler had barely better stats than Det's rookie TE (Pettigrew) had this year. Sure, you can argue he improves their team, but I question by how much, and would further state they downgraded their defense in doing so.

 

[Pixote]

Scheffler, Burleson, and CJ have all three been injury prone. If they are all healthy and on the field together they may see an upgrade, but that is a BIG IF.

[bradjock]

Have all these teams gone retarded???

 

Detroit: Before '09, Sims put up stats comparable to Lance Briggs. A #9 draft pick, never missed a game and he's 25. They give him up for Sheffler? Is Millen back?

 

Philly: They got a freaking steal but they're retarded by trading McNabb. All they did was win with McNabb. Now they'll see him twice a year.

 

Denver: The plan is to blow the damn thing up and let McDaniels pick winners. I thought a 5th was weak for Sheffler. Denver could quickly become the new Detroit.

[defiantgiant]

Detroit: Before '09, Sims put up stats comparable to Lance Briggs. A #9 draft pick, never missed a game and he's 25. They give him up for Sheffler? Is Millen back?

Sims can't stay healthy and doesn't fit Schwartz's scheme. I would have thought they could get more for him than Scheffler and a 7th-rounder, but I can see why they dealt him while he still had value.