Tired of talking about 2013 and before.....

[LKP]

Stafford could play exactly like 2013 and have much better numbers with the weapons he has at his disposable now. Lower drop rate, more yac, more separation making break ups completions. Huge year for stafford.

 

[kdp80]

Exactly why he is not an upper echelon qb. He needs a stacked offense in order to win games. I could still see this being an 8-8 team this year, new schemes on offense and defense is bound to have some hiccups. Hoping for the best, but honestly don't think this offense or defense is going to click as well as you think it will...this year

 

[tonyballs]

Exactly why he is not an upper echelon qb. He needs a stacked offense in order to win games. I could still see this being an 8-8 team this year, new schemes on offense and defense is bound to have some hiccups. Hoping for the best, but honestly don't think this offense or defense is going to click as well as you think it will...this year

He's a middle of the pack QB that has had pure garbage to throw to besides Calvin. Let's see what he can do with some real weapons at his disposal. He can definitely become a top 10 QB.....

 

[dubbsco]

Other than having Burleson hurt, and Young playing decent, Stafford's "weapons" were about the same this last season vs 2011. Still has the best WR in the game. Still has Pettigrew (2nd leading receiving yards in 2011). Actually had a much stronger running attack last season, with both of those guys being big threats out of the backfield. Oh, and had one of the best protecting lines in the NFL.

Ultimately, the difference is Young vs Durham, and Burleson missing time. He's got enough. He needs to prove that he can make others around him better. You don't need stars at the 2nd and 3rd WR spot. That's why guys drop into those slot roles from obscurity and become decent options, the QB actually gives them a chance instead of gunning it 900 feet over their head.

 

[grandy]

I'm curious to see what Titus Young does next. I think he's entering the prime of his criminal career.

 

[LKP]

Other than having Burleson hurt, and Young playing decent, Stafford's "weapons" were about the same this last season vs 2011. Still has the best WR in the game. Still has Pettigrew (2nd leading receiving yards in 2011). Actually had a much stronger running attack last season, with both of those guys being big threats out of the backfield. Oh, and had one of the best protecting lines in the NFL.

Ultimately, the difference is Young vs Durham, and Burleson missing time. He's got enough. He needs to prove that he can make others around him better. You don't need stars at the 2nd and 3rd WR spot. That's why guys drop into those slot roles from obscurity and become decent options, the QB actually gives them a chance instead of gunning it 900 feet over their head.

Pettigrew regressed and missed 2 games, Calvin hurt and missed 2 games, limited in others, Burleson missed 7 games compared to playing 16 and no good WR 3 compared to 16 of a sane talented Titus Young. And no Scheffler for 10 games though Fauria did well in redzone. Bush for 13.5 instead of Best for 6.

Plus the whole predicatbility of Linehan's offense in 2013 which wasn't there in 2011.

Stafford had it much tougher in 2013.

 

[dubbsco]

Go ahead and take a look at random teams here and there. Philly had Riley Cooper as their 2nd leader in receiving yards. Seattle had Doug Baldwin. New England had Danny Amendola. Colts had some guy I've never heard of until the playoffs, Coby Fleener. KC's leading receiver was a running back.

You don't need a lethal #2. Those guys emerge because the #1s draw so much attention, and/or their QB makes them better.

 

[kdp80]

Go ahead and take a look at random teams here and there. Philly had Riley Cooper as their 2nd leader in receiving yards. Seattle had Doug Baldwin. New England had Danny Amendola. Colts had some guy I've never heard of until the playoffs, Coby Fleener. KC's leading receiver was a running back.

You don't need a lethal #2. Those guys emerge because the #1s draw so much attention, and/or their QB makes them better.

Coby Fleener was a 2nd rounder from Stanford, catching passes from Luck for the last 5-6 years. Had to be on alot of Lions fans radars after Pettigrews worst season

 

[LKP]

Go ahead and take a look at random teams here and there. Philly had Riley Cooper as their 2nd leader in receiving yards. Seattle had Doug Baldwin. New England had Danny Amendola. Colts had some guy I've never heard of until the playoffs, Coby Fleener. KC's leading receiver was a running back.

You don't need a lethal #2. Those guys emerge because the #1s draw so much attention, and/or their QB makes them better.

Burleson got hurt. And so did Broyles and Calvin was hurt so no coverge was drawn elsewhere the two worst games of the year offensively. Durham will never emerge as a solid number 2 and that is who Stafford had to work with. Pettigrew will never be a fast TE that gets separation either.

Fleener is a 2nd round pick (Broyles), Amendola was a solid free agent and Seattle doesn't need to pass to win with all those turnovers and run game. In fact they didn't pass that much. Tate was their leading receiver. Wilson didn't make Baldwin better. Baldwin just happened to be a solid player.

Tate and Ebron are huge upgrades. This will help Detroit and make life easier for Stafford finally.

 

[dubbsco]

Fleener is still a TE. I can excuse a 2nd round pick on a TE. Not a top 10 pick.

Lions already has a top 25 TE taken a few years back that they just signed to a big contract. Hate the guy or not for his drop problems, he was Stafford's 2nd leading receiver in 2011.

What makes the Ebron pick worse, IMO, is that they signed Tate to his deal BEFORE the draft. If you can't win with Calvin, Pettigrew, Tate, two great catching RBs, and a great O-line, then you can't win period.

 

[LKP]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/sea/seattle-seahawks

If Detroit only had 3,300 yards passing they would go 0-16 again.

Seattle doesn't win because of Wilson.

Detroit relied on Stafford to win.

Keep Detroits defense healthy, we could rely on the defense. But too many CB,DE and safety injuries in the past.

 

[kdp80]

Not even talking about where they were picked, or justify where they picked Ebron, just saying Fleener didn't come from nowhere. He was Lucks number 1 target in college, and probably will be in the pros as well. As far as the Ebron pick goes, I'm glad we got him instead of the Packers, cuz Rodgers would have turned him into an immediate elite TE, and made our lives hell when the Lions play the Pack

 

[dubbsco]

Yeah as soon as you told me I remembered his playing days in Stanford, that's my mistake.

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

I'm excited to see Van Noy and Slay. I think Van Noy has a chance at defensive ROtY this year. I don't think he'll dominate any one area specifically, but could really fill up the box score, so to speak.

I'm also cautiously optimistic about Ebron. Just having solid hands will be huge, but if he can legitimately stretch the defense and create mismatches with LBs, the offense could be unstoppable.

As for least excited about, honestly it's whoever plays safety next to Quin. Delmas was always injured, but at least he created some excitement when healthy. Ihedigbo is a band aid on a broken arm. Carey is salt in the wound. We didn't really have the money for anything better, but I expect SS to a point of issue all season.

 

[LKP]

Fleener is still a TE. I can excuse a 2nd round pick on a TE. Not a top 10 pick.

Lions already has a top 25 TE taken a few years back that they just signed to a big contract. Hate the guy or not for his drop problems, he was Stafford's 2nd leading receiver in 2011.

What makes the Ebron pick worse, IMO, is that they signed Tate to his deal BEFORE the draft. If you can't win with Calvin, Pettigrew, Tate, two great catching RBs, and a great O-line, then you can't win period.

Still need a slot and speed TE. Ebron fits both. It's about matchups in this offense too. Ebron provides a nightmare for opponents. Plus the whole depth issue. Tate or Calvin get hurt and we would be back to Durham or Ogletree again.

And with the vet Mathis and Slay Round 2 they were set with starting CBs. Greenwood,Green and Vaughn can actually provide depth unlike Durham. Plus Ebron can be used a ton still as he's obviously more than depth. Both Ebron and Pettigrew will have big roles along with Tate/Calvin and the RBs. 2011 they had 4 good downfield receiving options (5 if you count Scheffler)and Best the first 6 games.

 

[dubbsco]

If any #1 WR got hurt on any team, those teams have to scramble to make it work. That goes with any sport, anywhere.

That is why when the Lions lose one of their "best" guys in their secondary to injury, they are screwed because they do not have the smarts to build up that part of the roster. It's been plug-and-play, hope for the best since day 1.

 

[dubbsco]

You don't need a slot/speed TE. Teams don't have to have 4 different tight ends to do different roles.

I showed you the teams that have won the last 5 superbowls, none of those TEs on the teams are gamebreakers. They are good, solid options.

Calvin, Tate, Pettigrew, great O-line, and two RBs that catch the ball incredibly well is more than enough.

 

[kdp80]

Plus the whole depth issue. Tate or Calvin get hurt and we would be back to Durham or Ogletree again.

Durham....ugh. That would ruin my season of watching football, right there.

 

[kdp80]

Calvin, Tate, Pettigrew, great O-line, and two RBs that catch the ball incredibly well is more than enough.

Possibly 3 rbs that catch the ball extremely well, and 1(Riddick) that could move to the slot for an extended period of time, if need be.

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

If any #1 WR got hurt on any team, those teams have to scramble to make it work. That goes with any sport, anywhere.

That is why when the Lions lose one of their "best" guys in their secondary to injury, they are screwed because they do not have the smarts to build up that part of the roster. It's been plug-and-play, hope for the best since day 1.

To be fair, it's not like there have been obvious modes of improvement available. 2011-2013, there were no great options at CB available (we don't actually know yet on 2014). Either the best CBs were taken well ahead of our pick, or were lower rated players that just happened to hit big. Free agency, at the same time, offered only a handful of impact DBs changing teams, and in most every case the player was given a huge contract. Even if one of those players would have agreed to sign with the Lions (and why would they if another team was offering the same money), we've rarely had much cap space.

It's one thing to say that we're patching things together (which the team definitely is). It's another to say the team hasn't been trying at all. Also, we need to temper some of the built-in hyperbole. Detroit did not have a good defense last year, but they didn't have the worst one, either. 12 teams have up more yards per pass than the Lions. 13 teams gave up a worse passer rating. Everyone is trying to improve at the same time, and there just aren't enough players to go around for every team to have an elite secondary.