Rush Linebacker/defensive end
South Florida
6-3 252
40 time: 4.89
Draft board overall prospect rank: #215
Draft board rush linebacker rank: #19
Overall rating: 52*
3/1/10: I didn’t think his stock could drop anymore. After an amazing 14.5 sacks in 2007 as a sophomore, he has had only 9 in the two years past. He looked awful all year and in the Senior Bowl, not giving any effort, and sucking against the run. Now, he has run an awful 40 time with a 4.89. He sucks against the run, doesn’t give any effort on the field, hasn’t had a good year in a long time, and now his future as a pass rush specialist looks in doubt after an awful 40 time.
1/30/10: He got destroyed by big blockers on run plays and made an ugly bite on a misdirection which went for a big gain. He also failed to make a fairly routine tackle. He’s not big enough to play in the trenches in the NFL and he didn’t show that he has the hustle or skills to be an elite pass rusher either.
10/2/09: George Selvie is in danger of being written off as a one year wonder. He was amazing with 14.5 sacks in a BCS conference in 2007. However, teams made adjustments to him and he has 7.5 sacks in the 1 plus years since. He only has 2 this year and he’s on pace to be as bad as he was last year when he had 5.5 sacks. He needs to get to the quarterback more because, he doesn’t do much else well. He’s too small to be an every down defense end. He’s fast and quick and athletic, but at 250 pounds, he’ll get destroyed on in the trenches. He projects as a rush linebacker or a nickel end and those players specialize in getting to the quarterback, so if he is struggling with double teams to get to the quarterback, his stock is going to fall. He has high upside, but his 40 time is not actually that good for his size. A mid 4.6 at 250 pounds is not jumping off the charts. His one trick in pass rushing in lining up outside and accelerating and using his quickness to get to the quarterback. He does draw double teams and that makes things easier for his teammates. He has a good motor, but he’s getting a reputation as an underachiever. He possesses an amazing initial burst and good closing speed. He has long arms and stronger than you would think. He has a good push off of blockers with his long arms, but he’ll still get knocked down far too often in the NFL trenches. He gets knocked off the line on clear running plays where he has to lineup inside in college so I expect the same thing will happen in the NFL. He needs to get his act together soon because he still has 1st round potential, but he could very well fall into the 2nd or 3rd round if he doesn’t.
NFL Comparison: Jarvis Moss
*=For a breakdown of what this means, click here
Holy Folk
It was right there almost a year ago. It was the same stadium. It was in the same month. It was against the same team. It was against the future Hall of Fame quarterback. And, now, after another regular season ended, the Jets were back to face the Colts.
That eleven point lead in the first half still haunts me like does the ten point lead we had in 1998 against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. This may not be the Championship Game but it is still Mr. Manning standing in the way of the Jets mission of winning the Super Bowl.
Rex Ryan has been telling us since he was hired that we are going to win the Super Bowl. We fell 32 minutes short last year but are back in the hunt again and he still believes we are going to win the Super Bowl. But, first we must seek revenge on that same team that ended the dream last year.
It’s been a crazy season so far. Twelve of the Jets 16 games have come down to the last five minutes with the Jets winning many of them including some comebacks that us Jets fans will remember forever. And, after this first round match-up to start the postseason, another miracle comeback gets added to the Sanchize resume.
Yes, Mark Sanchez is starting to become the next generations’ Mr. Comeback with his 53 second drive, on the road, to beat the Colts by a point after things were looking bleak.
Let me back up a little bit. The Jets had the ball and a two point lead and basically needed two first downs to end the game. It was third and 5 and we had been driving the ball nicely with a combination of short passes and some ground and pound running. You would think that Schottenheimer would call a short pass for a sure first down. Instead, Sanchez overthrows the ball deep for an incompletion. Thus, the clock stops and we have to put the ball back to the Colts. At the time, this was an utter disaster getting the ball back in Manning’s hands.
And, in true Peyton Manning form, he drove the Colts down to field goal position with the Jets finally stopping them on 3rd down. However, Mr. Clutch, Adam V, was coming into the game as confident as ever to boot a 50 yard field goal to give the Colts a one point edge.
Could Mark Sanchez, the 2nd year wonder, lead the Jets down the field with two time outs, on the road, again as he’s done so many times this year? The Colts kick off the ball with 53 seconds left and we have Cromartie doing the returns with Brad Smith slightly injured and this was a great move to put Cromartie in as he showed a nice burst of speed on his prior return. And, Antoino took the kick about 40 yards to put the Jets in great field goal position.
The Jets ran a few plays and a call came in that Sanchez and Braylon Edwards waved off. Braylon said he could get open and Sanchez voiced that to Schottenheimer who then basically said, “Go for it” and Sanchez hit him. YES. The Jets were in field goal position.
Now, kicking game winning field goals makes me extremely ill. We all remember the Doug Brien game, whom I still do NOT blame as no one would ever make that kick in Pittsburgh, but the kicker still always gets blamed.
And here was Nick Folk who had had a decent year replacing Jay Feely after a rough few game patch a few weeks ago. He confidently enters the field with three seconds left and boots a 32 yard field goal to win the game. The Jets Win. The Jets Win. The Jets Win.
Rex Ryan had beaten a Peyton Manning team. The Jets win ANOTHER road playoff game. We came back. We beat a good team. The Super Bowl chances are still alive.
There were a few things that I loved. We returned to our roots with the running game. LT and Shonn Green were looking great and you could tell that last week’s rest paid off as they both had their legs.
I loved the play of Darrelle Revis. Hell, he just gave up one yard to one of the BEST receivers in the game and basically made him non-existent. I guess it sucks to get banished to Revis Island.
The Defense was amazing in general. The Colts could barely generate a running game and Peyton didn’t have a ton of open players for his throwing game. You can’t complain holding a Peyton Manning team to just 16 points.
Sanchez was a bit rusty in the first half throwing high many of his targets and killed us with his interception in the end zone in the end part of the second quarter. I know he was trying to do too much but we can’t afford those kinds of mistakes as the interception negated a field goal attempt.
Cromartie getting burned on a long touchdown was one of the low points of the game and he heard it from Rex Ryan. He looked much better after that.
And the game almost changed on the first punt with Santiono Holmes letting a ball go through his legs that almost grazed him which would have been a fumble and that could have destroyed the entire game. Luckily, the Colts reviewed and it never grazed him but Santonio…stay the F**K away from the ball next time!
So, it’s back to New England where the Jets suffered one of the worst loses in team history. Can we stop Tom Brady? Can we out coach Bill Belicheck? I know Rex Ryan doesn’t want to kiss another of his rings so let’s hope we can figure out the Patriots mystique by next Sunday. For now, I’m gonna enjoy this game for a few more days before I start getting nervous all over again for this next huge hurdle.
http://khbirdmantalkingjets.blogspot.com/
Go back to Jets Fan Spot
James Anderson Panthers
With all the injuries the Panthers had at linebacker last year, Anderson was forced into a larger role. He responded with 130 tackles, 101 of which were solo tackles. And yet the Panthers were able to resign him for 7 million over 5 years less than the 29 million over 5 the Buccaneers gave Quincy Black. This is a great, cost effective move for the Carolina Panthers.
Grade: A
Jermon Bushrod Saints
Jermon Bushrod is not an elite left tackle or anything, but he’s solid at his position and guys like that don’t grow on trees. I have no idea how the Saints were able to resign this guy for 9.8 million over 2 years.
Grade: A
Jimmy Raye Fired
Change may not always be a good thing, but when your team is 0-3 and you’re the one staring down the barrel of a gun, the decision to make change may come a little easier.
49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye was fired by Mike Singletary early Monday.
“I came back here and basically spent the night here looking at film,” Singletary said. “And just kind of looked at an overall view of where we are, and looking at where we need to go, and felt that I needed to make the change.”
Although Singletary continued to show support even after the 31-10 loss to Kansas City, it’s hard to ignore the numbers.
The 49ers have scored a lowly 38 points this season—their lowest total for the first three games in 33 years. In Raye’s 19 games as offensive coordinator, the 49ers have failed to surpass 300 total yards 12 of the 19 times. And the running team that the 49ers have entitled themselves to be has only run for 78 yards per game, half of what the league leading rushing teams have accounted for so far.
Singletary chose Raye in 2009 and hired him because of the hard-nose run game they both had imagined. Confidence is a good thing but you can be too confident.
The 49ers let the league know what kind of team they would be and they advertised that they would run the ball down team’s throats. But you’ve got two problems. One, you can’t run the ball consistently if the ball can’t be moved through the air, and two, you drafted (and started) two rookie lineman to shape your future offensive line. Another change may be in order if Singletary doesn’t fix the motionless ways of the 49ers offense.
Some new ideas may be needed if Singletary wants to be a part of the change and not the reason for change.
Quarterbacks coach, Mike Johnson, will be stepping in as offensive coordinator. Johnson, 43, has been an assistant for 10-years in the NFL, coaching in Atlanta, Baltimore, San Diego and now the 49ers. Even though he may not be as experienced as Raye (or as old, however you want to put it) the players respect him and look forward to playing under him.
“I think Mike will help,” backup quarterback David Carr said. “He’s young. He’s got a lot of energy. He’s got some great ideas. I think just him being our quarterbacks coach, I think that we’ve got a pretty close relationship as far as him with the quarterbacks. So I think he knows how we feel about our offense and about how our personnel can be used. And he’s got some great ideas himself. So I think it’s only a positive.”
http://michaeljmorris.wordpress.com/
June 29th Update
WR Donald Driver DOWN
Driver had two knee surgeries in the offseason and is still not practicing. This might not be a big deal if he was 25, but he’s 35. Driver already started to drop off in production late last season and now he’s pretty badly hurt, not practicing, and won’t heal like he used to. I can see him being pretty ineffective this year. He still is, presumably, a starter in Green Bay’s high powered offense, which gives him some fantasy value, but chances are, he’ll be overdrafted.
WR James Jones UP
It’s a stretch, but if Driver misses any time with injury, or gets benched because of ineffectiveness, Jones would be the guy to step into the lineup, which obviously gives him fantasy value, as Green Bay’s offense in one of the best in the league.
RB Cedric Benson DOWN
Cedric Benson is officially a true Bengal. Benson was arrested on charges of assault in Texas. As someone who thought he had his life back on track, this was a major facepalm moment for me. However, this is not a good sign for his fantasy prospects. Roger Goddell does not look kindly on repeat offenders so a suspension could very well be looming and, if history is any indication, it’ll be about 4 games. If you draft this guy in the first or second round and he gets suspended for 4 games, that’s about 1/3 of your fantasy regular season that you’ll be missing him for. That’s a good way to lose your league. Wait for someone else to snatch him early until this situation gets sorted out.
RB Bernard Scott UP
If Benson gets suspended, Scott looks like the go to back. He’s very talented and can put up numbers for you. Scott was already a fantasy sleeper of mine because of Benson’s history of injuries and arrestes, but now he becomes even more of a fantasy sleeper as Benson’s history rears it’s head again.
WR Torry Holt DOWN
Brandon Tate is getting the first team looks in New England. This is nothing official, but if Holt doesn’t win a starting job, he’s fantasy worthless. I might still draft him in the really late rounds because he has some upside, but I’m not too excited about him.
WR Brandon Tate UP
Tate looks to have the advantage to be the starter in New England, which gives him a ton of fantasy value, especially if Welker stays hurt. He’s worth a late round flier.
WR Steve Smith DOWN
Smith broke his left arm recently. He is expected to return for the regular season, but he’ll miss valuable training time with two quarterbacks, Matt Moore and Jimmy Clausen, who he doesn’t have an extensive history with. He also may not be 100% come regular season. He may be out of shape. His recovery may also run long and he could miss a game or two. I’m knocking him down just a bit.
WR Brandon LaFell UP
If anyone is going to benefit from Smith’s injury, it’s LaFell. LaFell hasn’t been seeing a lot of time with the first time in practice, but that’s because Carolina coach John Fox always gives veterans the first shot at winning a starting job and LaFell is a 3rd round pick rookie. 4th year receiver Dwayne Jarrett has been getting all the first team reps in camp opposite Smith, but with Smith out, Fox really has no choice but to give LaFell more work. If he impresses with the first team, he could take the job from Jarrett. There’s no question in my mind that LaFell is more talented than Jarrett, even as a rookie. Jarrett has been horrible in his first 3 years since being drafted in the 2nd out of USC. He has, on many occasions, looked completely lost on the football field. If LaFell takes the starting job from him, he could have some fantasy value, especially if Smith doesn’t come back 100% opposite him. I’m not ready to make him a sleeper yet, but keep your eye on him.
Kroy Biermann Falcons
Kroy Biermann had an underrated season as a situational player in 2010. Though he had just 3 sacks, he had 35 pressures on just 630 snaps. ProFootballFocus actually ranked him 18th in pass rushing among 4-3 defensive ends. He played fewer snaps in 2011 with Ray Edwards coming with 3 sacks and 16 pressures on 536 snaps. However, with John Abraham gone and Ray Edwards struggling, they almost had to resign Biermann, who can be a worst case scenario starter for them at defensive end. I just feel like they could have gotten him cheaper than 3 years, 12 million (3 million of which is through incentives), with 3 million guaranteed.
Grade: C
Lions Depth Chart
By Dean Holden
Quarterbacks
A very large percentage of Lions fans disapproved of the selection of Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick in 2009.
A very large percentage of that percentage changed their tune in Week 11 against the Cleveland Browns, when Stafford led his team to a victory from a double-digit deficit, shattering a number of rookie passing records and his left shoulder in the process.
This year, Stafford enters the season as the undisputed first-string quarterback, in the eyes of the coaches, the media, and even the fans. It has been a long time since the Lions were able to say that everyone agrees on who the starting quarterback should be.
Stafford has looked exceptional in the preseason, and it seems he needs only to stay healthy this year in order to make a huge leap forward in his progression.
Of course, if he doesn’t, the Lions have Shaun Hill, who was the starter for half the season last year in San Francisco. Hill met with moderate success, but his play style is really more compatible to that of the “just don’t screw it up” game-managing backup.
And still, Hill showed more promise in the preseason than most quarterbacks have in years. Last year, when Stafford was shut down for the year with injury, my heart sank as Daunte Culpepper took the field.
This year, while I of course have no desire to see Stafford start anything less than 16 games, I feel confident that the Lions field a backup of more than adequate quality.
Then there’s Drew Stanton, who is pretty much just playing out the string. At one point, I thought he was getting screwed, not ever getting to see the field. Then he turned in an atrocious preseason, and I realized it’s because he’s made no progression.
He continues to let guys cycle in and out of the depth chart ahead of him, with no notable increase in production or effort. This is his contract year, and I fully expect it to be his last year in professional football.
Given his record, Martin Mayhew is likely to find a project QB in the seventh round of next year’s draft who shows more promise in his first year than Stanton did in his career.
Running Backs
Jahvid Best has quite a task before him.
It is entirely possible that Best has managed to pull higher expectations onto himself than either Ndamukong Suh or Matthew Stafford.
50-yard runs against first-string defenses in the preseason will do that.
But more than just that, the rest of Detroit’s running backs seem to have waned (or maybe they just pale in comparison?) thus far.
Kevin Smith is clearly not 100 percent healthy, and it remains to be seen if he will actually be good when he is.
Maurice Morris is consistent, but no better than average. At 30, he is the Lions’ oldest running back by far.
Aaron Brown had a good preseason, but is the exact same type of back as Best, so he provides no change of pace. His primary value is as a kick returner.
Jerome Felton made the squad because he provides the only thing resembling a power running game. But he actually looks better in the open field than he does in short-yardage situations. He will have trouble moving a pileup at the line of scrimmage consistently.
In other words, a huge percentage of the Lions’ ground game success is going to ride on Best meeting and exceeding the lofty expectations set for him. He can do it, but for a back whose primary concern is durability, you have to wonder if it’s a good idea for him to try shouldering the load himself.
Wide Receivers
The Detroit Lions would be thrilled with the knowledge that they have upgraded their wide receiver corps from one major target and a bunch of overmatched scrubs to two major targets and a bunch of slightly less overmatched scrubs.
Honestly, that’s the best-case scenario.
We know Calvin Johnson will perform. The biggest question is Nate Burleson.
So far in the preseason, Burleson looks like a legitimate possession receiver. Problem is, he says he’s a deep threat. Certainly, if Burleson can prove himself to be the same home run threat that Johnson is, Johnson will have a much easier go of things (like consistent double teams, instead of triples).
However, I have yet to see any sign of it. Possibly, the Lions are holding his big play ability back for the regular season to take teams by surprise, but that might be too wishful of thinking.
Regardless of how, the Lions need Burleson to be productive this year, because the rest of the roster includes the decidedly mediocre Bryant Johnson, the mistake-prone Derrick Williams, and waiver wire return specialist Stefan Logan.
Of that trio, Bryant Johnson is the only one likely to compile any notable stats in the regular season. He was overmatched as a second option, but may fall into his comfort zone as a third.
Williams has been disappointing as both a receiver and a return specialist (which is primarily what he was drafted for), and is only being kept around in case he decides to show some upside.
Logan is a question mark, but shouldn’t factor in beyond being a candidate to run some punts back.
Tight End
Every tight end on the Detroit Lions’ current roster could be a starter somewhere in the NFL. It’s an odd position to have that kind of depth, but that’s what we’re looking at.
Brandon Pettigrew, the 20th overall pick of the 2009 Draft, started showing real signs of progression last year before tearing his ACL on Thanksgiving. He appears to have made a full recovery, and sits firmly atop the Lions’ depth chart. His blocking skills are already top-notch, and his receiving ability is coming along nicely, though he may never be a threat to stretch the field.
Tony Scheffler will carry high expectations into the season, given that the Lions gave up former first-round pick Ernie Sims to get him, leaving a Zack Follett-sized hole at weakside linebacker. Scheffler has looked strong in the preseason, and should be targeted quite a bit on intermediate routes.
Will Heller is still a good, well-rounded tight end, but will no doubt lose some reps on account of the talent in front of him. Still, his presence allows Jim Schwartz to run double tight end sets all day, and still have the freedom to spell Scheffler or Pettigrew without a huge drop in production.
If this bunch can produce good numbers on the receiving side, it will take a lot of pressure off the Lions’ paper-thin group at wide receiver, and give Stafford a number of large targets to fire at for first downs.
Offensive Line
The Lions’ much-maligned offensive line returns four of five starters from 2009. This, to most, sounds like bad news. But here’s the breakdown.
Gosder Cherlius is playing more consistently at right tackle.
Stephen Peterman is sorely underrated.
Dominic Raiola is still smaller than he needs to be, but he’s been a starter for nearly a decade, and is the vocal leader of the line, if not the entire offense.
Jeff Backus looks more confident and less mistake-prone, and there’s a very good reason why.
That reason is the new guy in town, Rob Sims. Sims takes up the left guard position next to Backus, and provides Backus with a reliable partner in shoring up the left side of the offensive line.
Last year, Sims’ position was filled, seemingly, by a different player each week. Backus had neither chemistry nor trust with whoever that man turned out to be, and both players’ performance suffered because of it.
In the preseason, the offensive line has actually looked like a strong point. Holes have opened up in the run game, and quarterbacks have been hardly touched.
On the second string, the key word is versatility.
Backup center Dylan Gandy would be a capable replacement for Raiola if the man ever missed a game, and adds to his value by also filling in at guard.
Corey Hilliard displaced veteran Jon Jansen with his strong preseason play and his ability to play at either tackle position.
Rookie project Jason Fox has a long way to go, but could also make a name for himself at either left or right tackle.
Manny Ramirez could play either guard position if needed, but hopefully won’t have to. He is assuredly the least-talented lineman the Lions have. Which is impressive, considering he was once a consistent starter.
Special Teams
This one’s easy.
Jason Hanson returns as all-purpose placekicker, Nick Harris returns as punter, and all is right with the world.
Both are among the top 10 at their positions, and while it’s true that Hanson is aging, since when did that matter for a kicker? At the rate he’s going, he has another five quality years in the tank. If he has another down year, I’ll be a little worried, but don’t bank on it.
Since nobody knows the name of their team’s long-snapper until he makes a mistake, let me come right out and say that it’s Don Muhlbach, and he rarely makes mistakes.
The Lions will go with Aaron Brown as kick returner, who showed good speed and decent vision at the position in the preseason. He had a couple of runbacks where one more cut would have broken him loose, so maybe he’ll learn where those are in the future. He’s at least much better than Derrick Williams, who just runs in a straight line until he gets laid out.
At punt returner, things get a bit muddled. Derrick Williams would have been the favorite in the role, but he was awful in the preseason. Dennis Northcutt was by far the Lions’ best punt returner statistically, but he’s now unemployed. Stefan Logan was picked up off waivers, presumably for this role, but he hasn’t done anything yet.
Expect punt return duties to be “by committee” until someone stands out.
Defensive Line
If nothing else, this group is going to be fun to watch. So much potential, peppered with seasoned veterans. Almost looks like a top-caliber squad.
Okay, maybe not yet, but very soon. Maybe by the end of this season.
Double team-drawing specialist Ndamukong Suh is the highest-profile player on the line, and so far it appears that the consensus among opposing offensive lines is to put two bodies on him, all day, every day. That’s good, as it will help his fellow linemen produce, and give him some valuable lessons about beating those doubles in the future.
Corey Williams fills the other starting role, and while he has performed adequately, he is getting a strong run for his money by 2009 draftee Sammie Hill. Hill has blown the Lions’ coaches away with his rapid development, and could be looking at a starting job as soon as mid-season (again), if he continues at his current rate.
Andre Fluellen fills out the roster at defensive tackle, which seems to indicate that the Lions have finally determined whether he plays tackle or end. Fluellen beat out the more productive but less disciplined Landon Cohen for the spot, but is miles from the other three in terms of talent.
Starters at end will be wild man Kyle Vanden Bosch, whose work ethic is well documented and will therefore not be mentioned in this space, and Cliff Avril, who is primed to either have a breakout season or bust completely.
But some of the most interesting stories here lie in the backup defensive ends. Turk McBride is not one of them, aside from some bemused surprise that he actually made the final roster.
But Willie Young and Lawrence Jackson? There’s some intrigue.
Young, a seventh-round pick this year, is a 250-pound defensive end who has shown Dwight Freeney-like ability to run around seemingly club-footed right tackles to get to the quarterback.
Jackson, on the other hand, is a former first-round pick brought in cheap. Pete Carroll was cleaning house in Seattle and decided to ship Jackson off because he didn’t fit his system.
He’s currently on the bottom rung of the depth chart in Detroit, mostly due to a lack of field time. But he’s only two years removed from being a first-round pick, so there has to be something there. It will be interesting to see what that is.
Linebackers
I’m guessing the Lions expected their linebacker position to work out a little differently when they traded Ernie Sims and allowed Larry Foote to walk away.
Since then, the linebacker position has consisted of injuries, setbacks, and Julian Peterson.
DeAndre Levy was drafted to fill the middle linebacker position. He stepped in on the weakside to fill in for an injured Ernie Sims, and shocked everyone by being quite good. So the Lions let Foote go back to Pittsburgh, and commissioned Levy to fill the middle linebacker position, as they intended. Jordon Dizon was to back him up in that role.
Only Levy is now battling a groin injury, and Dizon is lost for the season.
This leaves us with the very real possibility that the Detroit Lions will open the 2010 season with Isaiah Ekejiuba as the starting middle linebacker.
And you thought we might have been in trouble with Levy.
Zack Follett, for all our love of his hitting ability and quirky web videos, would have a difficult time covering Orlando Pace as an eligible receiver. Which makes him a fairly poor fit as starting weakside linebacker.
So who’s behind him on the depth chart? Landon Johnson, or possibly Ashlee Palmer. Either might actually be an upgrade in the coverage game. We at least know Palmer can make a wicked one-handed grab.
Julian Peterson is a bright spot here. The revival of the Lions’ offensive line has freed Peterson up to be the playmaker he is, and the gutting of the rest of the linebackers has made him far and away the strongest player of the bunch. And remember, the Lions got him from the Seahawks for a fifth-round pick and one Cory Bartholomew Redding.
Seriously. Bartholomew. Don’t tell me you don’t think that’s awesome, because you are a liar.
Cornerbacks
If there is a spot with more question marks surrounding it than linebacker, it’s right here.
The cornerback position has been one of the weakest the Lions have had ever since they lost Dre’ Bly. The Lions attempted to fix that partially by actually re-signing Dre’ Bly, but he ended up cut.
So the Lions’ current cornerback situation entails Chris Houston and Jonathan Wade as starters. Both are young, neither has looked fantastic. Wade looked better in camp, but he wasn’t covering Calvin Johnson, and he was injured for most of the preseason contests.
Houston is fast and agile, but mistake-prone. Even if he plays his receiver perfectly, his spotty ball skills could result in a lot of passes being caught right over his shoulder. Or pass interference calls. Maybe both.
Aaron Berry has recently been announced as the Lions’ new nickel back, taking the role over from Eric King, who is no longer with the team.
The Lions are still classifying Amari Spievey as a cornerback, despite playing him the second half of the season at safety (and to great effect), so he’s in there, too.
At this point, though, the focus has to be on Alphonso Smith, who was acquired from the Denver Broncos for Dan Gronkowski in a trade of two guys who were about to get cut. Smith was the 37th overall pick of the 2009 Draft, and could end up anywhere on the Lions’ depth chart, considering its tenuous nature.
One year is too soon to give up on any draft pick, much less a second-round cornerback. If the Lions can succeed in developing Smith where the Broncos failed, they will have walked away from this with an absolute steal, and a greatly improved defense.
Safeties
Where’s your O.J. Atogwe now?
In only a few short months, safety has gone from one of the Lions’ biggest holes to perhaps the area with the greatest potential.
From the start, Louis Delmas was starter No. 1. Period. No exceptions. But the spot next to him was a big dark silhouette with a giant question mark on it.
Who would it be? Marquand Manuel? Ko Simpson? Daniel Bullocks?
Who had Randy Phillips? Yeah, me neither.
And in fact, Phillips would have been the wrong answer, too. C.C. Brown is slated to start the season across from Delmas, but don’t expect that to last. Phillips is closing on the position fast.
Phillips might be the story of the preseason for the Lions. An undrafted free agent out of Miami, Phillips missed the combine and failed two physicals with an injury, before signing with the Lions and doing nothing but make plays in the preseason. He’s a bit inconsistent in pass coverage, but he can blitz and he is a beast of a run-stopper. That weakness in pass coverage is likely what’s keeping Brown in the starting role for now.
Granted that the sample size is only a couple games, Amari Spievey’s future appears to be at safety as well. He struggled at cornerback in his preseason games, even getting an earful of Gunther Cunningham after getting burned for a deep touchdown.
Then he played a couple games at safety and appeared to perform much better. Spievey’s strengths are zone coverage and tackling, so a move to safety seems natural, if eventual.
Then we have mystery man John Wendling, brought in after being cut by the Buffalo Bills. Wendling played safety at Wyoming, and like many in the Lions’ secondary, has fantastic athleticism and suspect ball skills.
But more importantly, he dispels some very prevalent stereotypes about white people.
http://bleacherreport.com/users/64307-dean-holden
Mark Clayton Rams
By Vince Vitale
With the 2010 NFL season only 6 days away the St. Louis Rams have traded for Mark Clayton from the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for “late round” considerations. Mark Clayton was selected 22nd overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, and has caught 234 passes for 3,116 yards and 12 touchdowns in his NFL career. This is a great pickup for the St. Louis Rams who have the least experienced group of receivers in the NFL. Mark Clayton has 64 more receptions than the entire group of St. Louis Rams receivers currently on the roster. Earlier the Baltimore Ravens picked up T.J. Housmanzadah which made Clayton expendable. The Rams will look to get the Oklahoma connection of Bradford to Clayton out on the field together as soon as possible. Mark Clayton should replace Donnie Avery on the outside. Mark Clayton is a pure speed burner with 4.45 speed, he has averaged 13.3 yards per catch in the NFL. While at Oklahoma Clayton set the record for career receiving yards with 3,241, many of those coming after the catch. This is a huge pickup for the Rams and at just the right time. The St. Louis Rams need to continue to surround Sam Bradford with more and more weapons.
Michael Floyd Scout
Wide receiver
Notre Dame
6-3 220
Draft board overall prospect rank: #10
Draft board overall wide receiver rank: #2
Overall rating: 89 (Solid 1st round pick)
40 time: 4.47
Games watched: Notre Dame/Michigan, Notre Dame/Wake Forest
Positives
· Great size (6-3 220)
· Excellent 40 for his size (4.47)
· Experienced 4 year starter
· Incredibly productive college player who improved every season (48/719/7, 44/795/5, 79/1025/12, 100/1147/9)
· Excellent body control
· End zone threat
· Wide catch radius
· Big bodied possession receiver
· Produced in spite of inconsistent quarterbacking
· Tough to tackle in the open field
· Makes tough catches against tough coverage
· Big, reliable hands
· Pro-Style experience
· Great route runner
· Intelligent player
· In excellent shape
· Hard working player who turned his life around
· Physical and beats jams at the line of scrimmage
Negatives
· Not as fast as his 40 time
· Struggles to separate at times
· Not much of a deep threat
· Might not be fast enough to be a #1 receiver at the next level
· Past legal troubles
· Past issues with durability, though he’s been healthy for 2 years
NFL Comparison: Dwayne Bowe
As a prospect, I compare Michael Floyd to Dwayne Bowe. Bowe was a first round pick in 2007, but there were questions about whether or not he had the speed and deep ability to be a legitimate #1 receiver. There were some of those questions with Floyd too, but he answered some of those questions with a solid 40 time at The Combine, but that doesn’t erase that he looks like a 4.5 or 4.6 player on tape.
He makes up for that with great size (6-3 220) and physicality. He goes over the middle and uses his body well to post up defenders like a power forward. He’s got vertical leaping ability and is also an end zone threat. He’s incredibly smart and productive in his college career, despite working with an inconsistent batch of quarterbacks. He’s also tough to tackle in the open field and a great blocker. In this way, he’s a lot like Dwayne Bowe. Bowe doesn’t have top level speed, but he’s still emerged as a solid #1 wide receiver.
There are some concerns about Michael Floyd’s off the field activity. He’s had 3 alcohol related arrests at his time in Notre Dame and was temporarily kicked off the team last spring. However, those aren’t a major concern for me. Notre Dame isn’t the type of school that just lets you back on the football team just because you’re talented. He had to earn his way back onto the football field and he did so by cleaning up his life, changing his diet, his activities, and getting in great shape. That proves his love of football and he responded by having the best season of his career. If I were an NFL team, I would not worry about the character stuff with him unless something startling came out in an interview.
Compared to Justin Blackmon, Floyd has better size and strength, but Blackmon has more speed. The best way to describe it is to say that Floyd has elite size and strength and average speed and Blackmon has above average size and speed. Neither are going to be elite wide receiver at the next level, but both should be solid to low end #1 wide receivers. They’re not Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, etc, but rather Steve Johnson (Blackmon) and Dwayne Bowe (Floyd). They’ll probably be top 15 at their positions, but not top 5 or anything.
Both are borderline top 10 prospects. I have Blackmon rated as 90 and Floyd as 89, meaning they’re both on the cusp of being top 10 prospects. In reality, Blackmon will almost definitely come off the board first. Floyd’s stock starts as soon as Blackmon is off the board. He should come off the board anywhere from 7 on. Miami and Buffalo at 8 and 10 will both give him long looks, as will Arizona at 13. The Jets at 16 seems like the bottom of his stock and a team might trade up for him before then.
Football Fan Spot 