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With all the new players and with Schwartz saying that players will earn their spots.... what does your depth chart look like?

Offense:
WR Bryant Johnson/Derrick Williams
TE Brandon Pettigrew/Casey FitzSimmons
LT Jeff Backus/Daniel Loper
LG Damion Cook
C Dominic Raiola/Dylan Gandy
RG Stephen Peterman
RT Gosder Cherilus/Lydon Murtha
WR Calvin Johnson/Ronald Curry
QB Daunte Culpepper/Matthew Stafford
FB Terrelle Smith
RB Kevin Smith/Maurice Morris

Defense:
LDE Ikaika Alma-Francis/Jared DeVries
LDT Andre Fluellen/Chuck Darby
RDT Grady Jackson/Sammie Hill
RDE Dewayne White/Cliff Avril
WLB Ernie Sims/DeAndre Levy
MLB Larry Foote/Jordon Dizon
SLB Julian Peterson/Darnell Bing
RCB Phillip Buchanon/Keith Smith
SS Daniel Bullocks
FS Louis Delmas/LaMarcus Hicks
LCB Anthony Henry?

I actually think this is the year Ikaika Alma-Francis and Andre Fluellen earn starting roles over the competition. Sammie Hill is a work in progress, but I do think he'll get time behind Grady Jackson.

I'm wondering where, if any place, players like WR D.J. Boldin, LB Zack Follett and TE Dan Gronkowski are going to fit in.

Still lots of holes. Still some players on the roster that probably shouldn't be. But imo, it's an improvement over last season already on paper.

i honestly love that roster. depending on the coaching staff, we can give some teams fits.

Mayhew has added 15 new players to the defense and 18 new players to the offense. And with Schwartz saying that everyone will earn their spot no matter how long they've been with the team or how long they've been in the NFL... it makes predictions a little murky.

That depth chart looks pretty good....i think Darby will start

Follett and Dizon will impress as the backup LBs as well methinks

Well it's just my educated guess on the chart.... Schwartz said no one was guaranteed anything, but I still think we know certain players will start and certain players will be backups.

They also brought in quite a few undrafted rookies. But only a few undrafted rookies are left listed on the Lions website for their depth chart.

WR Demir Boldin
C Dan Gerberry
DT John Gill
LB Andrew Downey
LB Spenser Smith
K Swayze Waters

I think developing a young kicker under Jason Hanson is a great idea. I don't expect will see him any though.

Swayze Waters?

What a name!

He was born in 1987, me thinks his mother was fond of a certain actor during the 80's LOL

I don't care what anyone thinks, I'm excited for the season again. This could be a very decent team. Maybe even above average! And with a devolping kicking named Swayze, I love the looks of our future too.

Team still has ALOT of question marks, but they've brought in better players (both mentally and talent wise) and brought in good coaches. Let's see how it translates on the field.

I like the wide receiver core & linebacker cores.

The linebacker core is just sick on paper, especially considering what we rolled with last season.

Mayhew has really made some big upgrades on the team. But it's going to take more than a few months to fix the black hole that was Matt Millens imprint.

But I'm willing to give him time to build a good team as long as I see progress along the way.

Liqourish wrote:The linebacker core is just sick on paper, especially considering what we rolled with last season.

Mayhew has really made some big upgrades on the team. But it's going to take more than a few months to fix the black hole that was Matt Millens imprint.

But I'm willing to give him time to build a good team as long as I see progress along the way.

Yeah, we are far from being a contender or anything near that. At this point we wont be an embarrassment on the field, and thats a step! The D is patched up for now, but we still need to get way younger. for such a bad team, we dont have a whole lot of young talent. Subsequent drafts will fix this and i expect another high pick next year

For now i am pleased

Looking at that depth chart I take it Jon Jansen isn't doing well at all? It's a shame, he's a good run blocker, used to be a decent pass blocker and was a great locker room guy.

No, it's just than Jansen signed after I made this thread (May 30th IIRC). I really haven't updated it yet. There are a few injuries and positional battles going on that I want to see how things shake out before I update it.

Updates Depth chart:

*disclaimer* This is MY depth chart, not the teams. there are still injuries and transactions that may not have taken into account. This is just my estimated guess....

Offense:
WR Bryant Johnson/Dennis Northcutt
TE Brandon Pettigrew/Casey FitzSimmons/Carson Butler
LT Jeff Backus/Ephram Salaam
LG Daniel Loper/Toniu Fonoti
C Dominic Raiola/Dylan Gandy
RG Stephen Peterman/Manny Ramirez
RT Gosder Cherilus/Jon Jensen/Lydon Murtha
WR Calvin Johnson/Derrick Williams/D.J. Boldin
QB Daunte Culpepper/Matthew Stafford
FB Terrelle Smith/Jerome Felton
RB Kevin Smith/Maurice Morris

Defense:
LDE Ikaika Alma-Francis/Sean Conover
LDT Grady Jackson/Sammie Lee Hill/Landon Cohen
RDT Chuck Darby/Andre Fluellen/Orien Harris
RDE Dewayne White/Cliff Avril
WLB Ernie Sims/Zach Follett/Spencer Smith
MLB Larry Foote/Cody Spencer/DeAndre Levy
SLB Julian Peterson/Darnell Bing/Jordon Dizon
RCB Phillip Buchanon/Keith Smith
SS Louis Delmas/Kalvin Pearsons
FS Daniel Bullocks/LaMarcus Hicks
LCB Anthony Henry/Eric King

Special teams:
K Jason Hanson
P Nick Harris
KR Aaron Brown
PR Derrick Williams
LS Don Muhlbach
H Nick Harris

Liqourish wrote:Updates Depth chart:

*disclaimer* This is MY depth chart, not the teams. there are still injuries and transactions that may not have taken into account. This is just my estimated guess....

Offense:
WR Bryant Johnson/Dennis Northcutt
TE Brandon Pettigrew/Casey FitzSimmons/Carson Butler
LT Jeff Backus/Ephram Salaam
LG Daniel Loper/Toniu Fonoti
C Dominic Raiola/Dylan Gandy
RG Stephen Peterman/Manny Ramirez
RT Gosder Cherilus/Jon Jensen/Lydon Murtha
WR Calvin Johnson/Derrick Williams/D.J. Boldin
QB Daunte Culpepper/Matthew Stafford
FB Terrelle Smith/Jerome Felton
RB Kevin Smith/Maurice Morris

Defense:
LDE Ikaika Alma-Francis/Sean Conover
LDT Grady Jackson/Sammie Lee Hill/Landon Cohen
RDT Chuck Darby/Andre Fluellen/Orien Harris
RDE Dewayne White/Cliff Avril
WLB Ernie Sims/Zach Follett/Spencer Smith
MLB Larry Foote/Cody Spencer/DeAndre Levy
SLB Julian Peterson/Darnell Bing/Jordon Dizon
RCB Phillip Buchanon/Keith Smith
SS Louis Delmas/Kalvin Pearsons
FS Daniel Bullocks/LaMarcus Hicks
LCB Anthony Henry/Eric King

Special teams:
K Jason Hanson
P Nick Harris
KR Aaron Brown
PR Derrick Williams
LS Don Muhlbach
H Nick Harris

pretty on, though i would like Avril to start with IAF, with White on the bench coming in for both. I think Follett is a MLB as well. Dizon ahead of Bing. otherwise prolly spot on

It's been hard for me to gauge where each linebacker is going to play because Schwartz has been trying everyone at different positions. I'm pretty set on the starters, but the backups could be a game to game decision or even play to play decision if you listen to what the coaches are talking about. I'm not disagreeing with you, I just don't know at this point.

As for Dizon, I've heard that he hasn't been playing as well this summer. Almost like he's taken a step back in development. How it will effect his spot, I'm not sure.

I like Avril as well. If he doesn't start the season as a starter, I think he'll finish the season as the starter.

Cherilus hasn't been too quick this summer either (mentally or physically), but I do think they will start him. Don't ask me why, just a gut feeling.

I know Brandon and Casey are both injured right now, but I don't think it'll keep them out or regular season games, so I am keeping Butler as our third TE.

Updated Chart (My chart today, not predicted chart)

QB
Stanton / Culpepper / Stafford

RB
Smith / Morris / Brown

FB
Smith / Felton

WR
CJ / BJ / DN / DW / Looker

TE
Pettigrew / Heller / Gronk

OT
Backus / Gosder / Jansen / Salaam

OG
Peterman / Loper (C/T) / Ramirez / Brown

C
Raiola

DE
Avril / White / IAF / Hunter

DT
Cohen / Fluellen / Hill / Harris / Smith

LB
JP / Foote / Levy / Sims / Dizon / Follett

CB
Buchanon / Henry / King / James / Smith / Roberson

S
Delmas / Pearson / Manuel / Schweigert

ST
Hanson / Harris / Muhlbach

PS
OT Lydon Murtha
C Dan Gerberry
DE Ryan Kees
LB Darnell Bing
LB Robert Francois
RB Allen Ervin
TE Carson Butler
WR ( any 1 of Standeford / Fowler / Boldin)

TSE wrote:Updated Chart (My chart today, not predicted chart)

QB
Stanton / Culpepper / Stafford

RB
Smith / Morris / Brown

FB
Smith / Felton

WR
CJ / BJ / DN / DW / Looker

TE
Pettigrew / Heller / Gronk

OT
Backus / Gosder / Jansen / Salaam

OG
Peterman / Loper (C/T) / Ramirez / Brown

C
Raiola

DE
Avril / White / IAF / Hunter

DT
Cohen / Fluellen / Hill / Harris / Smith

LB
JP / Foote / Levy / Sims / Dizon / Follett

CB
Buchanon / Henry / King / James / Smith / Roberson

S
Delmas / Pearson / Manuel / Schweigert

ST
Hanson / Harris / Muhlbach

PS
OT Lydon Murtha
C Dan Gerberry
DE Ryan Kees
LB Darnell Bing
LB Robert Francois
RB Allen Ervin
TE Carson Butler
WR ( any 1 of Standeford / Fowler / Boldin)

Stanton? Dude i love Drew but you cannot say he deserves to start after a couple preseason games. You cannot be serious.

ajaX82 wrote:
Stanton? Dude i love Drew but you cannot say he deserves to start after a couple preseason games. You cannot be serious.

Oh I'm very serious, it's the #1 positional battle on this team that is most important to me and that I'm most dead set on praying for that the coaches come around to. And you are making false assumptions, I'm not choosing Stanton over preseason games, I had Stanton highly considered to start early last year as well (Orlovsky would have likely had the job until he lost it if he did, DanO would have had more chances one way or another), it's more logical to have played him. If we did things my way, then there was a chance he could have become a breakout player and we have our QB and don't have a need to draft Stafford.

Not only does he give us the best chance to ascend to a playoff level (if we get lucky and he hits), but it's also for the opportunity to showcase him for a trade, his stock has the opportunity to go up. There's no way in Hell I would ever play Daunte, even though I actually think higher of him than the average Lion's fan. As a rebuilding team, I am forcing the issue to convert my player resources that have high rewards for the risk so that I can find logical investments to profit from to spur my rebirth. You may call me crazy, but I see the Lions as a team that has a foundation of core pieces that can become the greatest team of the 2010-2020 decade if managed correctly and with a couple of fortunate breaks. But the strategy for what I'm looking to do with the franchise has more to it than you might be accounting for.

And this is just my chart today, I might change my mind and put Stafford there, but as of right now he's not ready and I am not going to put him in there when the optimal strategy screams to play Stanton.