leading a team in interceptions one year to barely playing

[kellmellus50]

i do not understand lions management ?

If I had an answer for you, man, maybe I could tell you," Alphonso Smith said.

It has been that kind of puzzling, frustrating season for Smith, the third-year Lions cornerback who had five interceptions in 12 games last year and has just five tackles this season.

Acquired in a cut-day trade with the Broncos in September 2010, Smith made an immediate impact in the Lions secondary. He had interceptions in three of his first five games, returned one 42 yards for a touchdown and did his best Carlton Banks impression when he scored.


http://www.freep.com/article/20111202/S ... -last-year

[Lionlifer]

Not too sure whats going on there, but I'd imagine something happens during practice that leads the coaching staff to think they have better options at CB on the roster.

I admit I'd like to see him in the game more, he was solid up until the Pats game last year, but who knows whats really going on. I always thought CB was the hardest position to play, and requires insane amounts of swagger to brush off a play and keep going, maybe he lost his confidence?

[kellmellus50]

Looking at the positives of his situation, Smith said the lack of playing time has kept his body fresh and he feels like he’s ready to contribute.

It’s not like Smith lost the skills that made him a starter and playmaker for the Lions last season, he just the lost the opportunity to make those plays.

http://www.detroitlions.com/news/lions- ... 135af33a40

[Piston Pete]

My take on it was that he was injured for most/all of training camp and missed the preseason enitrely, right?

He's likely just getting back around to being in football shape. At least that's my guess.

Maybe 'Iceness' will have some inside info for us...'

[TSE]

My take on it is that anybody can get lucky with an INT, and a piece of the populate will get inordinately lucky, so INT stats can be misleading. If you look at the top 50 INT-getters, well a portion of them got them through luck, but you can't tell that just from looking at stats.

To me, INTs should be measured 2 ways, skill INTs and luck INTs, so anytime a INT falls in somebody's lap where the player wasn't doing anything unusual or special, that should not get credited to him as a bonus. INTs are EXTREMELY valuable in this sport, and I look for guys that can get SKILL INTs, which is the product of having a high football IQ and the player demonstrating a mental prowess in choosing to be in the right position in conjunction with his skill to make the play.

A great team with great coaches should be able to improve and increase the football IQ of ALL DEF players on the team, and I believe that our DC Gunther as well as other supporting coaches are doing a HORRIBLE job of teaching the players how to behave with high IQ. So I don't understand why he's complaining. I would tell Alphonso to talk to the HC and/or the owner of the team about replacing the coaches that are not properly managing and training him if he wants to get more INTs for himself. If that's not something he is prepared to do and if he can't figure it out himself, then he shouldn't complain or worry about it, cause it is what it is if we aren't going to manage that part of the game intelligently.

And if he's worried about playtime, then he should be going to the HC and the owner and showing them that he understands the INT game, and how to make those plays, and if he doesn't know how to prove and present that case then that's his shortcoming, so don't whine about it or find a team that does cater to helping guys develop high IQ and allows them the play time to get those chances. He picked this team and these coaches, so this is all on him now. Next time research your DC and don't sign on if you aren't confident that the DC knows what he is doing and that you will like the fit. If I was a CB then I would never play for a guy like Gunther, cause I would understand him to be counterproductive to my INT-based type of logic.