[QUOTE=Harborwolf]
It doesn’t matter how thick the playbook is if the quarterback doesn’t have time to do anything with the ball. The offense put up some numbers, but just enough to get us second pick in the draft. If we don’t have an offensive line that can protect the quarterback, then we have to run the ball. That makes it easy for the opposing defense to shut the Lions down.
Boblibdem, what you do is trade your pick for multiple lower picks. Detroit management needs to stop acting like they are one player away from a super bowl and start rebuilding from the ground up. Trade picks and players to build a reliable offensive and defensive line, then start looking for superstars to complete the picture.
[/QUOTE]
I’d have been fine for trading for multiple picks BUT the Lions haven’t had a good track record of using any picks they’ve ever stockpiled. Their hits in the late first-early second rounds are almost nil. Kitna got sacked a shit ton, for a very large reason, because there was virtually no ground game.
Besides, the problem isn’t the offense, it’s the defense. So why is Calvin Johnson such a good pick? Because he was the best on the board at the time and there’s nobody defensively that warranted the number two pick. Look at how the draft panned out. The top 10 was heavily skewed towards offense. If there was a Julius Peppers type of player to take at 2, the Lions would have certainly grabbed him. Gaines Adams is a good pass rusher, but he’s dreadful against the run.
For the offseason, the Lions have quietly revamped their offensive line. They HAVE addressed that need. Because of injuries last year, they played a lot of defensive players that wouldn’t have normally had as much burn. The Lions found out that with Dewayne White (free agent from Tampa Bay, a Marinelli guy), Cory Redding, Shaun Rogers, Jered DeVries, and Shaun Cody, the Lions front line is a very good and young unit. Then again, the problems with the defense have never been with the defensive line. My problem with the Lions is that they didn’t address the secondary as much as I thought they would. I thought they’d overpay a little bit for Nick Harper and draft a cornerback a little earlier. Instead we got Travis Fisher, who may end up being a solid corner.
The Lions know they’re not one player away from a Super Bowl. They’re year two under a new head coach. There will be improvement. Print this out and email it to me every day when the Lions have the first overall pick next year. Let’s give them another week before we start blasting the Lions roster, shall we? The Monday after the draft is always a busy time when it comes to free agents.