Formerly Mi10609848 but now annoying as meiden

Good to see the old gang. This board will work as well as many other options.

I always like when the SB is over (until next year when the Lions play) as it opens the door to the combine, free agency and then the draft. Mayhew and Lewand will really prove if they have the stuff this year.

Question....who thinks that the Lions have finally developed a "system" to serve the pass rushing needs which may help to the point that they can get away with not overpaying DEs and still have a productive pass rush from the front four? In other words...can the Lions let Avril walk if he asks for too much and still get alot out of the next guy just because the system is that conducive for success?

Welcome Mi

I'm not sure what to think about the possibility of Avril leaving. He was a big part of the defense this year and I believe he led the team in sacks? I have been wondering what would happen if the lions moved Suh to the outside? He has enough speed to play DE, and in reality is a bit undersized to play against the really big OG's. He doesn't overpower guys like he did in college. Fairley should play a lot more this next season and has proven he can be a force in the midddle.

Some of the mock drafts I have seen have the lions taking a DE first round. The mocks are all over the place. I saw one that had the Lions taking a RB with their first pick, reasoning being, Best's concussion problem and Leshour's achilles not being healed enough for the 2012 season. I saw another Mock that had the Lions taking the Center from Wisconsin, Another taking OT first pick, reasoning being Backus age and muscle injury. Who knows?

The guy below, Mike Adams of Ohio State was featured as a Lion first pick in one of the Mock Drafts I saw......



Incumbent Lions left tackle Jeff Backus is entering his age-35 season without a contract, and coming off surgery to repair a torn biceps muscle. Right tackle Gosder Cherilus is in the last year of his rookie deal. It's past time G.M. Martin Mayhew began taking offensive line upgrades seriously. While Adams' consistency has come under fire, the 6-foot-7, 323-pound prospect has as high a ceiling as any pass protector in this year's draft. In a best-case scenario, the Lions could get one more season out of Backus and turn to Adams on Matthew Stafford's blind side by 2013.

I thought the Lions needed more depth at DB, Safety (Spievey sucks) and LB, but with Mahew's theory of taking the "best player" available, not a "need" player, who knows what will happen.

BPA is as good a guess as any. i wouldn't be too eager to let avril slip away. cheerios is a horse of a different color. you guys know that i am hoping for defense, defense, and more defense. there will be a quality OL men slipping into the 4th round. the trick is to be smart enough to make the pick. perhaps it's a guy who otherwise would have ranked much higher but for an injury, like fox. they took a beast last season in culbreath and even though he red shirted he's still around and could play a future role.

that I hope Mayhew adjusts even if just to a small degree now that the Lions have fewer spots where an upgrade is desparately needed. My hope is that Mayhew even moreso places a value on need when evaluating BPA. If the difference in ranking is slight between two players he absolutely should go with the guy who fills the greatest need.

I wouldn't be upset for a minute if the Lions went back seven in their first three rounds but neither would I be upset if they took an interior OL or two. I am not one who believes that the Lions have any OT replacements on the team right now but do feel they have a couple of years to play with. The next time Fox is healthy enough to play just five games in a row will be the first time. He didn't even make it through four full games at the end of 2010. This guy is in injury waiting to happen and we still haven't seen if he can handle LT against the better rushers in the NFCN.

Culbreath can't stay clean long enough to even make it through an off-season. Here is a guy who took up football late and now is neary starting over after his toke-fest. If he ever amounts to anything we won't likely know for two or three seasons.

At this point the Lions can't count on either of those two being a solution at either OT position. We can only hope that Backus comes back quickly from injury. If not look for Hilliard to be the stopgap.