:toast:Hello C-Gold...
Here's an interesting article on the subject I found on Scout.com, hope you enjoy the read...Have a Merry Christmas!!
Take care and be well my friend
Dirtydog
:wink:
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Rebuilding the Lions from a head coach/general manager perspective:
#1) Defense wins championships. Let's start there. To begin, throw out the tampa-2. It's a great scheme when you've got Bob Sanders, Brian Urlacher, Dwight Freeney, etc...
...but that kind of talent is rare, and without it, well, we all know what you get. The 3-4 is the most cost-efficient way to play defense in the NFL these days, plain and simple. So, here's a look at what we'd have coming back next season in that scheme. (I include only players that aren't FA's after the season and the year's remaining on their contracts in parentheseis).
FS: Alexander(2), Smith(1)
SS: Bullocks(2), Pearson(2)
CB: Bodden(5), Fischer(2), Robinson(1)
CB: Kelly(2), Smith(1)
WOLB: Nece(1), Lewis(1)
SOLB: Avril(2)
WILB: Sims(2)
SILB: Dizon(3)
RE: White(3), Devries(2)
LE: Redding(5), Alama-Francis(2), Cohen(2)
NT: Darby(2), Fluellen(2), Cody(1)
The 3-4 defense starts up front, so I'll begin there. The most critical element of this defense is a dominant run-stuffing NT (like Shaun Rogers, ironically). Clearly, we don't have anyone fitting that description and would need to address it immediately.
To date, there aren't really any 3-4 studs that are going to be in the draft, but someone like Boston College's B.J. Raji might be worth a look in the second. Albert Haynesworth would be worth the cost, but I doubt he's going to hit the market, and unfortunately there won't be much else there at NT.
At defensive end, however, we don't look so bad. Cory Redding could probably step up at one spot and immediately become one of the best 3-4 DE's in the league. Then on the other side we've got a number of intriguing prospects who could fit the bill. 276lb DeWayne White? 272lb Jared Devries? 280lb 2nd rd pick Akaika Alama-Francis? I could certainly live with one of those guys.
The LB'ing core would need a SERIOUS revamping after the tampa-2 expriment. In all honesty, the only guy I really think would even have a chance is Cliff Avril at SOLB. Ernie Sims, Jordon Dizon, Alex Lewis and Ryan Nece are just too small.
Fortunately though, I think we could get at least a 1st or 2nd rd. pick for Ernie Sims, and a 3rd or 4th rd. pick for Jordon Dizon. As ALWAYS there are going to be TONS of "tweeners" throughout the first few rounds of the draft who could help us out in this scheme.
As far as free agency goes, at OLB there's Terrell Suggs, Bertrand Berry and Willie McGinest; and at ILB theres Eric Barton, Karlos Dansby, Ray Lewis (no chance), Bart Scott and James Farrior. Seing as we're probably going to be needing at least 3-4 new LB's, I think it would be wise to sign at least two solid vets.
Tampa-2 DBs and 3-4 DBs aren't all that different, but ours are just horrible in any scheme. It's going to be next to impossible to get rid of Leigh Bodden's monster contract, so unless we want to outright release him and take the major cap hit we're stuck with him as at least our #2 CB.
Brian Kelly and Travis Fischer could provide decent depth, but neither should be starting. So, we're probably going to need to invest in a shut-down corner. I don't think this is our top priority by any means (the best 3-4 teams...pats, steelers, etc...rarely spend big bucks on cbs), but we should attempt to address it if we can.
There's obviously going to be a lot of CB talent throughout the draft and in the market we've got some nice options as well like Nnamdi Asomugha, Chris Gamble, Dunta Robinson, etc. I'd list more, but there are A LOT.
At safety, I think there's some hope. I've always really liked 2nd rd. picks Daniel Bullocks and Gerald Alexander. I think it'd be wise to give them at least a year with the new staff before doing anything drastic back there. That being said though, if you see a Troy Polumalu-type out there (Taylor Mays?) you take him because a stud safety can make all the difference in this defense.
#2) Build an OLINE! There are two ways of scoring points in this league:
You can set up the run with the pass, or you can set up the pass with the run. But there is absolutely no way you can do either without an oline. That being said, here's a look at what we've got coming back next season:
QB: Kitna(1), Culpepper(1), Stanton(2)
HB: Johnson(1), Smith(2)
FB: Felton(2)
WR: Johnson(4)
WR: Furrey(1)
TE: Gaines(3)
C: Raiola(1)
LG: Mulitalo(1)
RG: Ramirez(1)
LT: Backus(3)
RT: Cherilus(4)
Starting up front again - Drafting Gosder Cherilus last year was a step in the right direction. He may never be a stud, but he's going to be an above average RT for yrs to come.
Now, I'm the biggest Jeff Backus supporter in the land, but even I now realize that he's just never going to be good enough to cut it as a LT in the NFL. He's going to be impossible to trade with that contract, so I wish him the best of luck inside, but we need to draft a stud LT with our first overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft.
Fortunately, there are going to be a lot of studs on the board - Andre Smith, Michael Oher, Eugene Monroe. I think we should probably draft an interior lineman in the 1st two rds as well. Now, Raiola, I guess he's solid. He's better than whatever we could get back in a trade at least. He seems to be great in some schemes, and below average in others. I guess we'll just have to see what we've got in him. But guard, we DEFINITELY need at least one real talented guy in there. I'd say two, but I want to give Backus/Manny a chance.
To the skill positions - To begin with, I don't care who we have at QB next year, because we probably aren't going to be all that good. There isn't going to be much on the market, and he's looked alright, so lets go with Daunte.
Lets get an actual infastructure put in place before we waste another top 5 pick on a QB. Let's get an O-line that can establish a ground game, and pass protect, recievers that can catch, and backs that can grind.
Let's wait a while there. And really, with that being said, I think we should consider trading Calvin Johnson. I know I know, he may be a hall-of-famer. But if we could get a 1st and 2nd rd pick for him, I'd be all for it. He may be a once in a decade talent, but this team's got a lot of other problems it must first address before we think about stud recievers. Furrey would be all we'd have coming back, so we'd obviously need to do something, but I'm really quite alright with stop-gaps at the skill positions until we get an O-line and Defense built.
Draft: I'm not going to get into the hypotheticals of the second day, but imagine all the major holes we could fill on the first day with this plan!!
First Day-
1st- OT!
1st-Calvin- NT!
1st-Roy- CB!
1st-Ernie- LB!
2nd- OG!
2nd-Calvin- LB!
Second Day-
3rd-
3rd-Roy-
3rd/4th-Dizon-
4th-
5th-
6th-
7th-
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