Kevin Smith

I like the signing, hoped he would get 2 years but 1 is better than none. Kevin Smith is to the running game what KVB is to the DL. There will be no shortcuts taken during training or practice. He gives it his all, 100% of the time and that's a good presence to have in the locker room.

And he is all you say Boar...good, good guy and teammate. Still, we need someone that has real talent and can stay healthy. I'm just concerned that while Best and (reportedly) Leshoure both have great talent and Smith is at least average (maybe better), none of the three can stay healthy if their lives depended on it.

Mayhew will have to keep a keen eye on the waiver wire as our fellas start dropping like flies in the backfield. But if by some miracle they stay healthy all season...the offense just might be enough to make up for a less than average defense and poor back 7.

the offense just might be enough to make up for a less than average defense and poor back 7.

I'm guessing they take care of the back 7 in the draft, though I'd go with the O-line. Barron is about the only defensive player I'd get.

The Lions can take care of the back seven with a draft that doesn't start until #23. I see them getting one rookie who can reasonsbly start and a second rookie who will play but likely not beat out a vet. The best thing that can be said for the rest is that they could be backups for a couple of years or better yet used as trade bait to get a vet.

What is likely is that two of Spievey, Lacey/Berry, or Levy will start the year again. That is unfortunate because even the rookie who does win a starting job will take some time to get his sea legs and unfortunately this defense will suffer. Tulloch, Durant, Delmas and Houston are bona fide starters but certainly not pushing anyone for Pro Bowl honors. Those four are servicable but not big time playmakers. The other three are liabilities and need to be upgraded or the defense will again struggle against the better teams.

The D played pretty damn good in the first half of the year. I expect them to start off there and I'm hoping a healthy Fairly will put some more bite into the front 4, helping everyone behind it do a better job. I'd love to get a thumper of a safety on the team and let Spivey be depth. I like Delmas but really, I'm thinkig that he gets injured and that's hurting his game, he's a good "second best" safety on the team.

Dawildboar wrote:The D played pretty damn good in the first half of the year. I expect them to start off there and I'm hoping a healthy Fairly will put some more bite into the front 4, helping everyone behind it do a better job. I'd love to get a thumper of a safety on the team and let Spivey be depth. I like Delmas but really, I'm thinkig that he gets injured and that's hurting his game, he's a good "second best" safety on the team.

Boar...Two things...

1. The defense played OK but look who they played... The Bucs were the 21 best offense in the league, KC 27, MN 18, Chicago 24, SF 26, and Denver 23. Look at the only offenses in the top half of the league that they they played in the first 9 games (injuries started in the 10th game). Dallas was 11 and hung 30 points and 434 yards on this defense and Carolina put up 35 points and 409 yards. So you see...I'm not sure how strong the defense was. We may start that way but only if we play against bottom half offenses. This defense was not "pretty damn good" they just played against some pretty damn poor offenses.

2. The Lions need a heck of a lot more than a good thumper in terms of a safety. This team absolutely does need a good all around safety better than Delmas. Unfortunately they also need a good all around CB better than Houston. Another HUGE thing of need is an upgrade to Levy. The LB is so much more important on this team given the wide 9 scheme. Because the DEs are spread so wide the LB has to cover more space. Levy has proven he simply does not have the vision or tackling ability to be a solid OLB in this scheme. He is fine as a backup in nickel situations but the Lions really need an upgrade. Now give me one of the three and I see some improvement. Give me two of three and I'm happy and the defense should look a lot better even against better offenses.

Bottom line is that when push comes to shove the Lions need enough defense to stop the Pack, Saints or even teams like the Giants when it counts. The makeup of this defense so far won't do that even when "healthy". Mayhew needs to make a trade or hit some miracle in the draft that can upgrade two spots on the defense or another 10 win season is far from assured.

Mi, I'm not saying the Lions D is in the same league as the Ravens or Steelers but they are better than 20 other teams out there and if you look at the ints and the TDs off of the ints, that secondary isn't chopped liver. If Fairly can help get them 5 more sacks, they're a top 5 sack team as well and that helps everything else improve.

A couple interior offensive linemen to help the running game get those tough 2 yards to keep a drive going and ther time of possession goes from 18th in the league up to something a little more respectful and that gives the D more time to recover and go get a 3 and out.

====================

Boar, I'm not worried about sacks and turnovers. They were OK in those numbers and even if there is a little dropoff they still should be good. The DL helps in those numbers by rushing the QB into mistakes and the wide 9 helps get the DE to the QB and BEHIND him for access to the ball during the throwing motion to encourage fumbles. That part is all good. What is not is EVERYTHING ELSE about the defense. When they don't get a turnover or a sack they can't get off the field. YPC, YPA, total rushing yards, total passing yards, missed tackles, third down conversion rate...all bad. Interestingly red zone defense is OK but maybe that is because the DL comes into play much more in the short areas.

Still, with all the decent pressure they go on opposing QBs the defense was really bad against solid offenses. Adding more sacks by Fairly might help but only marginally. I'm on record for saying that if they can't upgrade at least one of the three poor starters (Spievey, Berry or Levy) this defense again gives up close to 30 ppg to the better offenses in the league. That would put them just about where they were last year...no improvement.

I just don't see how a minute or two of TOP which would've left them ranked at last year would improve the defense. This was a deep rotating DL and it's not like the LBs or DBs were out of shape in that all of an extra 5 or 6 plays off would matter. According to the link below the Lions were ranked 21 at 29:35 per game. Should they add 2 minutes they move to 6th at 31:35 which is all of about 6 plays (or 3 plays per minute). I just don't see how that helps all that much.

I think it is players and talent. The back seven has to be one of the least talented in the league and certainly in the bottom 10.

i agree that the focus has to be on the back seven, again. and of the back seven, the back 4 can not measure up when playing against the elite QBs. no contest. the 10 win season notwithstanding the leos must go early for a secondary player or two.

the OL, always a point of debate at this time, has had it's share of players added although they are depth players at this time.

even without a running game, the lions weren't weak offensively due to the fine work of stafford/CJ and company.

defense was another story. they were blown out due to the lack of depth, primarily at CB. when you have to rely on barry to start, you have a serious problem. of the 22 starters, he was number 22 easily. i find myself looking at available players and who might be there at 23 and forget to look at the lion roster where there are some pretty massive holes.

on offense peterman needs to be replaced and we have no one to run the ball. the smith signing helps as its going to be RB by committee again. I am interested in seeing the big back from wayne state get a chance. there are areas that would be nice to upgrade.

on defense the needs are more extreme.