Tinderbox: Housekeeping, and Jerome FElton

A couple quick housekeeping items:

In a long-overdue move, I updated the Links tab up there under the header graphic.  Some Lions folks have switched primary sites, some have shiny new digs, and unfortunately some have stopped writing entirely.  This page has been sadly out of date for quite some time, and I’m glad to get it straightened out.

If you’re interested in seeing how the sausage gets made, keep an eye on http://tliwindraft.blogspot.com.  That’s where I tinker with new layouts, designs, etc.  I’m toying with Blogger’s site designer, so drop me a line if you dig—or despise—what’s up there. 

If you want even more proof that the Lions are becoming a plain-old regular football team, instead of the collective avatar of failure and disappointment in sport, check out the Freep’s article on Jerome Felton complaining about his role:

"I want to be involved, period," he said. "Whether that's here or somewhere else, the next few months will decide that."

Back in the preseason, I did a Gameday Preview post with The Steelers N'At, and answered one of their questions like so:

4. Any sleeper players that might be surprises in the game?

Third-year FB Jerome Felton has been a very impressive athlete through his first two years, but is developing into a dangerous two-way threat. Lions fans haven't seen a dynamic, multi-faceted fullback in a long time--but rumor has it Felton's quietly blossoming into the kind of Kleinsassery weapon that Scott Linehan has had so much success with.

Indeed, Felton got two carries and a reception in that game, and if memory serves they were all consecutive.  The Lions seemed to have a “Felton drive” in each of the first three preseason games, where they’d just feed him and feed him until he stopped moving the chains.  He also got a lot of looks early in the season, but his problems with fumbles made the coaching staff shy to deploy him down the stretch.  Further, the effectiveness of the 2-TE set limited the number of snaps that Felton could be out there. Even further, the evolution of Will Heller into an H-back-type-thing made Felton almost completely redundant.

This is exactly the kind of thing you’ll see throughout this offseason: good players, who have contributed to the Lions’ success, who can still contribute elsewhere, getting squeezed out by the better players the Lions are acquiring.  Nothing against Jerome Felton, but the Lions’ starting lineup is going to be a tough one to crack in 2011—and if he is looking for 40+ carries a season, he’ll likely have to look elsewhere.  He deserves a chance to play somwhere, though; best of luck to him.