Next Year!

[dukeknicksirish]

How good will this team be with the defensive line that the young lions will present??

Nick Fairley, Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams, Sammie Lee Hill, Andre Fluellen and Rob Callaway are you kidding me?? This young line will be able to develop over the years with eachother because they are all young and very talented....

There is no team that will be able to run on the Detroit Lions this coming year (if there is one)

[Liqourish]

Rob Callaway won't sniff the team unless we have major injuries and even then, I doubt he sees any action. I'd be shocked if kept Andre Fluellen around all season long (if team is healthy).

[ajaX82]

Yeah I could care less about Callaway or Fluellen but the main 3 of Suh, Fairley and Williams is unreal. SLH is pretty decent too, just not on their level. I'm very, very excited to see our D-line do work next season.

[TSE]

We have 4 young DEs too if you count Willie Young. I wouldn't mind trading KVB and CW for some LBs after we sign a couple good CBs, or draft pick upgrades next year so we can get more material to then work a trade for LT Kalil.

[Icness]

The depth is great but I worry that Fairley will not handle not being "the man" very well. And we still have complete goat excrement at OLB. It's like those 80s Raiders teams once Ted Hendricks retired; dominant/nasty front 4 but the LBs stunk and they couldn't get off the field despite some pretty strong sack and TFL numbers. Hopefully somebody (Carpenter, Palmer) steps up with an unexpected career year and we avoid that fate.

[Lionlifer]

The depth is great but I worry that Fairley will not handle not being "the man" very well. And we still have complete goat excrement at OLB. It's like those 80s Raiders teams once Ted Hendricks retired; dominant/nasty front 4 but the LBs stunk and they couldn't get off the field despite some pretty strong sack and TFL numbers. Hopefully somebody (Carpenter, Palmer) steps up with an unexpected career year and we avoid that fate.

You really think that would be a problem with Fairley? He wasn't really the man at Auburn, I think those honors belong with Mr. Newton. But on the defensive side, he was no doubt the man.

My hope is that the rest of the DL puts him in his place if he tries to act out, which I think he will do a bit his first season.

[Icness]

The depth is great but I worry that Fairley will not handle not being "the man" very well. And we still have complete goat excrement at OLB. It's like those 80s Raiders teams once Ted Hendricks retired; dominant/nasty front 4 but the LBs stunk and they couldn't get off the field despite some pretty strong sack and TFL numbers. Hopefully somebody (Carpenter, Palmer) steps up with an unexpected career year and we avoid that fate.

You really think that would be a problem with Fairley? He wasn't really the man at Auburn, I think those honors belong with Mr. Newton. But on the defensive side, he was no doubt the man.

My hope is that the rest of the DL puts him in his place if he tries to act out, which I think he will do a bit his first season.

I'm not that concerned because KVDB is a fantastic leader and I think Suh will help keep him in line. Plus the Lions have an outstanding DL coach in Chris Kocurek who will not tolerate that kind of BS. But IMO it's more of a concern than most people think it is. He's got a similar in-game personality to Andrew Bynum, where if he's not getting his he just shuts it down and loses his head.

FWIW I don't think Fairley is going to play a lot. I think Williams (if still around) and SL Hill will play 1st and 2nd downs and Fairley comes in for nickel packages as an interior rusher, with maybe some snaps at LDE in the base package if he shows he can handle it. I predict he only gets maybe 30-40% of the defensive snaps as a rookie. He's not going to help the primary weakness of the Lions, which is when the RB finds a block and gets past the line; according to Football Outsiders the Lions ranked 29th in that category despite being a top 8 DL in every other facet. If anything, his get-up-the-field style will only make that worse. Hill was the only Lions DL to rank in the top 50 (Suh was 62nd, KVDB 68th) in that metric and he's the guy that figures to lose the most reps to Fairley. That's why I'm going to keep harping on the massive hole at LB and why I think the Lions are at best a 8-8 team, they did not address their primary defensive issues at all. Maybe if Stafford plays 14 games and the OL run blocking (also 29th in 2010) improves we can seize the final WC spot, but I'm not holding my breath for either to happen.

[TSE]

LB is improved still. The only thing we lost was JP who was a liability, and we have gained Carpenter as a darkhorse, plus Dizon could be healthy for once, maybe Follet, plus we drafted Hogue and Ashlee Palmer could be developing into a decent player. And we still haven't hit FA, they could still get an additional upgrade beyond that, and our biggest defensive liability is CB presently, and that would have been addressed if it weren't for the FA portion being delayed. This team should easily project to +500 and anything less would be a terrible achievement in execution.

[Lionlifer]

Man I hope he plays more than 30% of the snaps, I want this kid to be a every down destroyer, not a situational player...

[TSE]

Oh I'm sure he will get plenty of playing time after we trade away a DT like I was screaming about previously. You'll see.

[Icness]

Oh I'm sure he will get plenty of playing time after we trade away a DT like I was screaming about previously. You'll see.

Every day that goes by with the lockout makes any trade less likely. I do think the Lions will shop SL Hill and Williams and see what they can get, but they're not going to just give them away for late-round picks.