Team Needs

[tsmith7559]

per Walters...

Two Defensive Ends: Only one defensive end will be needed if the Lions can retain Cliff Avril. They'll have to upgrade Kyle Vanden Bosch, who struggled in every aspect of the game this past season. He's done.


Two Safeties: Louis Delmas is an impending free agent, but he barely played because he was always injured. Detroit had nothing outside of Delmas at the safety position, so the front office will need to find two upgrades there if the Western Michigan product isn't brought back.


Cornerback: It wouldn't be an offseason if the Lions didn't need a cornerback. Chris Houston is a free agent, while Dwight "Bullet Bill" Bentley did not look good in three starts - even for a third-round rookie.


Two Outside Linebackers: Justin Durant and DeAndre Levy are a couple of other free agents that Detroit will have to re-sign. Perhaps Travis Lewis will get a chance if one of them leaves, but he was just a seventh-round rookie in 2012 who barely saw the field.


Wide Receiver: It's Calvin Johnson, and that's it. Ryan Broyles, who looked promising, tore yet another ACL. Titus Young, meanwhile, actually tried to sabotage a potential Detroit victory by intentionally lining up in the wrong spots. Matthew Stafford won't win many games throwing to Mike Thomas, Kris Durham and Brian Robiskie.


Right Guard: Stephen Peterman might have been Detroit's worst offensive lineman when it came to pass protection this year, which is saying a lot. He'll have to be upgraded. Someone like Barrett Jones or Dallas Thomas would make sense this April.


Offensive Tackle: If Gosder Cherilus leaves via free agency, that'll leave an aging Jeff Backus and an inexperienced Riley Reiff as the team's only legitimate tackles.


Running Back: It's a shame, but Jahvid Best may never play again. If that's the case, the Lions are stuck with Big Ten plodder Mikel Leshoure and Joique Bell, whom they don't completely trust to carry the ball because of fumbling issues.


Punter: Nick Harris had the seventh-worst net average among starting punters.


Kicker: Assuming he doesn't retire, Jason Hanson needs to be re-signed.

yikes....

 

[cheeno]

Now you can see where the few realists on this board get their pessimism. The team is built with Stafford, CJ and a bunch of paper m?ch? and masking tape. A poor job by a GM who has had a full shake to implement his "Best" Player Available strategy.

 

[Mitchrapp]

I agree with every bit of this.

 

[kdp80]

At this point I think its a must that the Lions draft one of the top corners or safeties in the draft(Milliner,Banks,Elam). Really sucks that we didnt get to see much of Bentley and Greenwood last year. And its the only reason Im leaning more towards Elam right now.

 

[tsmith7559]

At this point I think its a must that the Lions draft one of the top corners or safeties in the draft(Milliner,Banks,Elam). Really sucks that we didnt get to see much of Bentley and Greenwood last year. And its the only reason Im leaning more towards Elam right now.

having someone similar to Harrison Smith would be a huge upgrade...they guy is a stud

 

[LKP]

Get Houston, Delmas and one OLB back. Palmer/Lewis/Whitehead can be the other OLB. Draft a DE and a stud safety. Draft a guard in Round 3 to replace Peterman. Or you have Bill Nagy.

Any DE in this league besides KVB is an upgrade over KVB. Get it in free agency(maybe an Idonije cheap) to pair with the top 5 rookie and Willie Young.

Wr is not as big a need as people think. Calvin is Calvin. Broyles will be back people and if Burleson is willing to take a pay cut you are good to go in the slot between Broyles and Burleson. Pettigrew will be back too and more productive. All that's missing is the speed deep threat WR once they cut or trade Young. However, I think they would have done it already unless they are just waiting for a trade for like a 7th round pick or something for Young. Mayhew was quick to talk about his success in 2011 with Young. I don't agree with keeping Young but dont' be suprised.

Houston,Bartell,Bentley,Greenwood,Green can grow at CB. With Delmas and a Round 2 safety behind and a better pass rush should be good to go in the back 7.

Tackle is fine with the Reiff pick. Either Backus retires and use that money for Gosder or someone equivalent or you go Reiff/Backus for one year.

Speed RB and speed WR are the only thing not addressed.

 

[tomdalton22]

I think the Lions are screwed. These huge salaries given to Stafford, Calvin and Sue will hamstring this franchise. I doubt this group ever becomes part of an elite NFL team. The Lions picking at the top of the draft in the years just prior to the new collective bargaining agreement will be their doom. Bad teams will get better and pass the Lions in the near future. I don't think the near future is very bright for the Lions

 

[Mitchrapp]

You and your salaries. When do NFL teams not sign guys because of lack of money, for the most part you restructure. Don't you know that by now?

 

[tomdalton22]

You and your salaries. When do NFL teams not sign guys because of lack of money, for the most part you restructure. Don't you know that by now?

yes...keep restructuring...you have to pay some time. In a salary cap league you have to worry about salary.

 

[kingofdetroit57]

It's still way too early to settle on picks, but this team will need a ton of help. I'm thinking I'd be looking at a stud LT (Joekel or Lewan maybe?) or a stud DE (Werner or Moore maybe?) in the 1st round. After that, we need to try to do BPA on positions of need, ideally starting with the secondary. If we go LT in the 1st, I'd push one of Reiff or Backus inside to guard and maybe look at lining Suh and Fairley up outside at DE more often if we can't find a good DE in round 2. If we go DE in the 1st, we're gonna have to draft an interior OL in one of the earlier rounds, which might be easier if it's a guard. Still gonna need tackle depth and a new center soon though.

I'd let Goz, Delmas, Avril and KVB walk. I'd work to resign Houston, Durant, and Levy. I wouldn't worry about a punter until after the draft unless we maybe have the guy from LSU fall to us in the last round. We're pretty much screwed at WR and need to hope that we can get Broyles healthy, Young to pull his head out of his ass, and/or Burleson healthy and signed up dirt cheap. Maybe Best returns and can become a slot type guy or use him how we did out of the backfield previously, but I've got little hope on that.

This team is gonna be a mess again for a while.

 

[LKP]

Everybody says they are a mess. But if Stafford plays better in the redzone and they fix their additional 9 fumbles lost they had this year (16 compared to 7 in 2011), they could easily be .500, especially this past year. Turnovers were killers. Even just getting lucky recovering more of their lost fumbles. Plus I don't see 4 special teams returned allowed happening again since it's been fixed since the bye.

Forcing turnovers with better DE pressure and secondary play, stopping the run and running the ball will put us in the playoff mix. That will be up to two rookies though at DE and safety and alot of unknowns at RB/run blocking Oline and run defense.

 

[mhughes0021]

Now you can see where the few realists on this board get their pessimism. The team is built with Stafford, CJ and a bunch of paper m?ch? and masking tape. A poor job by a GM who has had a full shake to implement his "Best" Player Available strategy.

8 defensive starters need to be signed, resigned or drafted. 8! And by the way for all the optimists that praise Mayhew for all his trades the result was we traded away half our drafts for the last 3 years and now all those guys are free agents or making way too much money for their own good. Burleslon, KVB, CW, Houston.....Houston is the only one we need back. So for someone who Is supposedly making moves for our FUTURE all the time....the future of the lions looks bleak once again. Were thin everywhere which is why our special teams blows. We have 1 playmaker on defense and he gets doubled the entire game in Suh. 1! The offense is about as balanced as a crazy person in a mental institute. We cant run the ball worth a lick. Our pass pro is supposedly good but for some reason no one can get open except CJ. The team just simply lacks talent.

 

[manchild98]

There were 7 punters in the league who were worse then ours????

 

[wheels002]

This really will be a difficult but important off season. They have to decide who is worth keeping and who needs to go. I would start the departures with Avril and Logan. I know some of you will want to keep Avril but he is a one trick pony who can be replaced. I hope we can keep SLH and Corey Williams. As well as Houston if his demands are not outrages. I expected more from Willie Young and LoJack this year so I am not sure if they should be considered for news deals. Delmas I love when he plays but sadly he just doesnt play very much. I am also not sure on Levy. he plays great at times then seems lost at times. If there is any year that has to be draft defense its this one. I dont think we will though. Mayhew has said they still plan on going with the best player available crap because it has worked oh so well for us the past few years.

 

[cheeno]

There were 7 punters in the league who were worse then ours????

 

[Mitchrapp]

Some of the bad ST plays we had are directly related to our Punter. And mostly due to his lack of height on his punts. I'm sick of those 45 yard line drives.

 

[manchild98]

Everybody says they are a mess. But if Stafford plays better in the redzone and they fix their additional 9 fumbles lost they had this year (16 compared to 7 in 2011), they could easily be .500, especially this past year. Turnovers were killers. Even just getting lucky recovering more of their lost fumbles. Plus I don't see 4 special teams returned allowed happening again since it's been fixed since the bye.

Forcing turnovers with better DE pressure and secondary play, stopping the run and running the ball will put us in the playoff mix. That will be up to two rookies though at DE and safety and alot of unknowns at RB/run blocking Oline and run defense.

I agree. I'm not as concerned about the offense. Honestly I don't think they could play any worse. It's like everyone had a down year. We really couldn't catch 1 single break this year. Everything that could have went wrong pretty much did. We just couldn't make a play when we had to do so. We have to fix the defense.

And not to be optimistic at all because I am clearly aware of all of our problems...and none of this coulda shoulda woulda stuff matters when you are 4-12....but we did beat Seattle, and we absolutely should have won the Indy game, the GB game and the Houston games at home. I don't know if we are a 10-6 team but we sure as hell are not a 4-12 team either.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Maybe not a complete mess but our defense needs a new make over. We need two DE, CB and S for sure, for 2013. Starters. Most likely a OLB as well. And depth.

 

[Mitchrapp]

On offense, we need 2 new OL for 2013. The right side of the line is brutal. Not to mention crayola and Backus a year older. Speed back and a WR. We need lots of help.

 

[LKP]

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/01/07/2013-pff-free-agency-tracker/

List of all free agents with some grades. I like Idonije, Michael Bennett or Michael Johnson at DE all over Avril.

OLB I like Daryl Smith over both Durant. I think we could get Durant back pretty cheap given his poor coverage skills.

Lots of good safeties out there with Goldson, William Moore, Kenny Phillips and Delmas of course. That market and Delmas injuries makes him cheaper to retain.

Speed back looks like just Reggie Bush and Justin Forsett. Others like Felix Jones or Bernard Scott would be interesting

Worried about losing Chris Houston though