Training camp chatter

[Icness]

Already Jeff Backus and Dewayne White have thrown down, and from what I understand it was much more than your typical fight--lots of actual punches, lots of genuine venom. Nice to see Backus actually cares about something besides his paycheck.

Kevin Smith has been consistently impressive.

Good battle developing behind Bodden and Kelly for the nickel and dime CB spots.

Dan Orlovsky has "blown past" Drew Stanton for the backup QB gig. From what I've heard Stanton would be in real danger of being cut were he not drafted so high. Thanks for that Millen

[ChronicKerr]

Stanton was at that wedding I went to in E.L. a couple weekends ago. He kept saying all night that we was going to drink "a little" because he was 8 pounds over his weight, and if he didn't lose it by that upcoming Wednesday he was going to get fined $400 per pound he was over, per day he was over. Needless to say, by the end of the night, at the shark, he was getting sh itfaced and pounding drinks from people he didn't know. If that's not a Lions' QB I don't know what is.

Actually, I'm quoting a friend who went to MSU with myself so I didn't actually talk to him but this was his email to me today after I sent him ur training camp update about him losing the backup job to orlovsky

[Icness]

I'm not surprised at that story, not at all.

Tuesday was a great look at how this team is going to perform. The highlights:

Calvin Johnson is simply uncoverable. He beat Kelly, he destroyed Ramzee Robinson, he found the holes in the zone with no effort at all. Try to jam him and he throws you down. Give him a big cushion and he can still toast you deep, and he's got 3-4 inches on even the tallest CBs in the league. Now that he's healthy, the only thing that will keep him from being an absolute star is his QB and the plays called.

Manny Ramirez has improved immeasurably from last year, when he couldn't take more than a half step to either side without looking at his feet. He has clearly worked hard on his lateral agility and his aerobic conditioning and the coaches have noticed. So has Stephen Peterman, who could very well lose his job to Ramirez. Manny was asked what he could bench just as an aside, and he said 3 reps at 550 pounds without blinking an eye. Dude is freaking massive!

Shaun Cody is all business, nice change for him. It looks like he might finally be useful. He flashed good leverage and some giddyup when he lined up at RDE.

The Dewayne White-Jeff Backus feud continues, with Marinelli's blessing. One Lions beatie said aloud to nobody in particular that it almost seems like White was ordered to attack Backus and get him fired up. Looked that way to me too. White looks real good BTW.

Kevin Smith is impressing everyone, from his teammates to the national media there. Pat Kirwin of Sirius NFL radio (former Jets GM) could not believe what he saw in Smith, who he wasn't real impressed with headed here. Kirwin favorably compared him to a young Corey Dillon. Clifton Brown of the Sporting News thought he was watching Clinton Portis. He runs kind of upright but he just absorbs contact and keeps rolling, and if he catches an edge he's gone.

The linebackers sure look like a real problem area. Ernie Sims is out until mid-August, and without him the LBs range from real green (Dizon) to real bad (Teddy Lehman, back for more). The best of the lot was Buster Davis, but he's not very fast and looks like a midget when he's dropping in coverage.

Kitna looked fit and the arm looked live.

[srt4b]

Good stuff, thanks for the post.

Got to get into football mode soon!

[craig01]

As a UCF season ticket holder, I can tell you that Smith is the real deal.

He uses his blockers much in the way that Emmitt Smith did. He does not run as low as ES, but is faster.

He gets every yard he should, and may be one of the best zone blocking RB's in the league already.

If he stays healthy he's gonna pile up a lot of yards.....just keep giving him the ball, he gets A LOT better as the game goes on.

[ajaX82]

Thanks Ice, keep up the updates, i find them very interesting

[ChronicKerr]

It's been two weeks. Any more updates??

[ChronicKerr]

The lions sign Rudi!!!

That seems to be an end all for Tatum. I wonder how the carries are going to shake up between K. Smith and Rudi. I'd except Smith to star thte first few weeks getting the vast majority of the carries but goal line carries seem like they're going to Rudi.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3564050

[Optimus_Steel]

As a UCF alum, I can also vouch that Smith is the real deal. Great instincts and a real tough guy.

[ajaX82]

The lions sign Rudi!!!

That seems to be an end all for Tatum. I wonder how the carries are going to shake up between K. Smith and Rudi. I'd except Smith to star thte first few weeks getting the vast majority of the carries but goal line carries seem like they're going to Rudi.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3564050

Not a bad signing, i just hope Smith still gets a goodly amount of carries. I had Smith in fantasy too, so this sucks for that

[m23uza1hem36]

^^

Smith got more carries then Johnson, Johnson doesn't look in sync yet.