Lions uncaged

So I’m sure folks have been wondering where my exquisitely detailed, play-by-play breakdown of the open practice at Ford Field—the “Lions Uncaged!” event--is.  It is here, at NetRat’s blog.  NetRat has been doing incredible work, watching all of the publicly available practices and taking extensive notes.   However, the annual open practice is supposed to be family-friendly, and so I brought my wife and progeny, not a stopwatch and clipboard.  As such, I have no forensic evidence for you—facts, stats, etc.—but I DO have circumstantial evdience: thoughts, feelings, impressions . . . oh, and pictures.

The drive to Ford Field could be described with a single word: “wet”.  It was an all-day soaker; in the hackneyed world of Ernest Hemingway I shouldn’t have bothered to get out of bed, let alone drive to Detroit in an attempt to have a LEGENDARY DAY OF FUN.  We parked in the structure, and then met some friends in the long, long, LONG line to get inside the stadium.  I should mention that this line was outside, in the rain, and it was raining, and it was outside.  We were all soaked in a matter of moments.

One of my friends had peeled off to go to a different gate, to get a better spot in the line for Matt Stafford.  I stupidly decided to try and take my two eldest kids there, too, but after five minutes of slogging through the downpour, I realized I’d led them the wrong way, so we simply turned around and went back.  When the gates opened, all of the fans who’d been waiting in the parking structure immediately ran across the street and cut in front of all of us poor suckers who’d been waiting in the line for 45 minutes, an hour, or more.  As we got in the door, my wife headed to the Calvin Johnson line, and I tried to hustle the two biggest kids directly to the Stafford line; it was already a doozy by the time we got there.

After about ten minutes, a Lions staffer walked the line, telling us it was already longer than they planned to let get autographs, and we may want to find another line.  After another 15 minutes or so, another person walked up and down the line saying that they’d only planned for about 160 autographs, and the cutoff for 160 was well ahead of us—however, we were welcome to say in line if we liked.  I’d been burned by this before: staff convincing me that I’ve got no chance for an autograph--only to have them extend the session after I give up.  We foolishly stayed, and after another ten minutes they closed the line.  Of course, they closed all the lines at the same time, so now we were out of luck entirely.  My kids were crushed.  We ran to the Calvin Johnson line to see if my wife had made it, but they closed it about ten people ahead of her . . . and that was it.  No autographs.

My oldest, when I explained what had happened, burst into tears.  She said, “You mean, we’re not going to get to meet the players?” I had to swallow hard; I didn’t anticipate this at all.  After hustling to get from Lansing to Detroit in time, after waiting in the rain for ever and ever, and after running through the halls of Ford Field to get in line, a scenario where we didn’t end up with anything simply didn’t enter into my imagination.  Well . . . there we were, so we tried to make the best of it.

Since we’d spent the whole time waiting for autographs, all of the prime close-up seats were taken, so we perched high in the end zone instead.  Now, this robbed me of being able to scout the line play, which was a bummer—but, it opened up a new world in terms of watching the quarterbacks.

We as fans are so used to the “TV angle”, the down-the-line-of-scrimmage-cam, that we lose appreciation for how wide the field is.  It’s 160 feet---that’s fifty three and one-third yards.  That’s right, folks--no matter what Tecmo Bowl taught us, the field of play is over half as wide as it is long.  A “30-yard-out” is really a 40-plus-yard throw, assuming the QB’s standing in the middle of the field.  When people say that arm strength “doesn’t matter”, to an extent, they’re right—the 50-yard sideline bomb is only deployed once or twice a game.  But where arm strength DOES matter is getting the rock to the receiver while he’s still open.  It’s difficult to explain without resorting to video clips I don’t have--but in watching the passing drills live, the differences between Stafford, Culpepper, and Stanton were remarkable.

When the ball leaves Culpepper’s hand, it does so with zip.  He, no doubt, has the arm strength to thread the needle.  In the 7-on-7 drills,  he appeared to have the best grasp of the offense.  I could see his eyes going to his second and third reads.  I could see him whipping through his checkdowns and making decisions.  He makes his reads, pulls the trigger, and does so with velocity--but still, it looks like he’s rushing everything.  I saw a frustratingly consistent lack of accuracy on the short stuff—not missing his receivers necessarily, but not putting it where they can easily catch it.  There were a lot of incomplete passes to open receivers 5-10 yards downfield; not what you want to see.

In the 11-on-11 stuff, he really struggled with the pass rush.  What was inaccuracy in the 7-on-7 work seemed to turn into ineffectiveness when line play was added back into the equation.  There was one play where Culpepper hesitated once, twice, and then Jared Devries beat his man around the corner; he pulled up and tapped Culpepper on the shoulder.  Nobody blew the whistle, though, so Culpepper stepped up and launched a bomb to Megatron, who got under it and hauled it in.  The place exploded--but in real life, this was a loss of eight, not a gain of six.  All in all, I would say that Culpepper was adequate; he never made a big mistake, but he didn’t move the ball that much, either.  He looked like a competent, mediocre veteran quarterback—exactly what the Lions needed him to be last season, instead of a turnover factory.

When Stafford throws the ball, it’s not much faster than Culpepper, but there’s a pop, a tautness that Culpepper’s passes doesn’t have.  The spiral is absolute, every time; it slices through the air.  There’s no Joey-esque duck-spiral-duck-quail-spiral-pheasant nonsense; The Truth’s passes in no way resemble game fowl.  Matt Stafford has an unreal arm, and he uses it effectively on dump-offs, go-routes, and everything in between.  There was one deep pass in the early 7-on-7 stuff where Stafford grooved this deep ball down the sidelines . . . thanks to my vantage point, I can’t tell you exactly how long the pass was, but it was somewhere between 40 and 60 yards.  The point here was that Stafford sailed a perfect, perfect spiral from the middle of the field, down the sidelines, to an open man—and the ball arced beautifully in the air, almost rolled over from the middle of the field to the sideline, like a curveball, and then dropped out of the sky, just inside the sideline.  The wideout wasn’t quite sure where the ball was, and his hesitation in picking it up was the difference between a jawdropping touchdown, and a pass that hit the turf a half a step ahead of the receiver—as it did.

It kind of hit me at that point: that’s what Matt Stafford needs to learn.  Not how to set his feet.  Not how to break down a defense.  Not how to grip the ball.  Not how to look off a safety.  Certainly not how to throw a picture-perfect deep ball.  Matthew Stafford needs to get reps in the offense, hone his timing, and develop a rapport with his receivers.  That’s it.  He can’t do it sitting on a bench, folks; he needs to be on the field.  I know it, Tom Kowalski knows it, and according to him, the Lions' coaches know it, too.  Say hello to your Week 1 starting quarterback.

Oh, for that matter, say hello to Killer (in the TV light):

Stafford’s far from perfect; as I said, he’s not looking at a lot of his third and fourth reads . . . at least, not that I could tell by watching his eyes from the end zone.  Then again, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports reported the other day that Stafford fooled Julian Peterson with a no-look pass, so maybe I’m off in that assessment.  Stafford seemed to have fewer “little mistakes” than Culpepper—when he threw the ball to the right guy at the right time, it was there, quickly, and on-target.  However, Stafford also had more “where was that going?” moments; not many, but a few where the pass was either with a wrong route in mind, or to a receiver who ran the wrong route.  Given that Stafford ran almost entirely with the twos, I can’t be sure.

In terms of overall gameday effectiveness, I’d say that Stafford is roughly Culpepper’s equal.  Given that, I don’t see how anyone can continue to justify calling for Stafford to sit.  He’s at least as good as a guy who’s starting his 11th season in the league—and has been a starter, when healthy, almost that entire time.  That means that he’s already better than Joey ever was, or ever will be.  That means that he’s an average NFL starter, right now.  That means that he’s not a bust, he’s not a flop, and he’s not a waste of seventy million dollars—and, maybe, just maybe, he’ll be worth every penny.

Drew Stanton showed me a little bit of something; he had a great pump fake that lead to a completion, made a couple plays with his legs, and generally executed effectively.  Stanton was the only quarterback to convert in one of the situational drills (10 seconds left, 1 time out, 30-yard line).  However, the difference between his passes and Stanton’s was remarkable.

Stanton’s balls would, you know, get there and everything, but when he’d run the same drills right after Stafford, you could just see it: the difference in zip on the same passes could mean a step, or two, or three for a closing defender—the difference between a receiver turning it upfield for more yardage, and a safety swatting it away before the catch.

The NFL is a world of instants and inches—and if Drew Stanton wants to survive, he will need to develop a Kurt Warner-like holistic understanding of the offense and defense and keys and reads; he will have to learn to throw the ball well before his receiver gets to where they’re going.  Let’s hope for his sake that the Turk spares him one more season, and he can go into 2010 ready to honestly compete for a career backup gig (a la Charlie Batch).

Now, for some quick final impressions . . .

• This guy, Adam Jennings, was everywhere.  Ones, twos, threes, and a favorite target of all three quarterbacks.  I don’t know what his chances are of making the team, but he certainly caught my eye.
• Aaron Brown flashed real explosion working with the twos and threes; in live move-the-ball drills he showed a compact running style, great lateral burst, and bounced off of tacklers.  I know he infuriated The Grandmaster the next day, but if it comes down to Brown or Caseon on the final roster, I really hope it’s Brown—someone might pluck this kid off the practice squad, and we could lose out on a good one.
• I passed Landon Cohen in the halls, and he’s RIPPED.  I mean, the guy is allegedly up around 305, but he can’t be more than five or six percent body fat.  It looked like he was wearing pads—but he wasn’t.  Unreal.
• Grady Jackson, Jon Jansen, Daniel Loper, and Stuart Schweigart all stayed late afterwards to sign autographs.  I brought my two eldest down to the rail:

  

             Schwiegart saw my daughter holding out our football, and gladly signed it.  After he signed a few more balls and shirts, he took off his socks and shoes and wristbands, and called for quiet.  He then started asking trivia questions about himself (“What school am I from?”), and rifling pieces of his gear towards correct answerers.
• Check out the difference in color between my authentic and my kids’s replicas!

  

• We moved towards midfield for the end of the session (live 11-on-11), and I definitely noticed the offensive line getting a LOT of push up the middle; much much more than I have seen in years from a Lions' squad.  Check this out:

  

  The LoS is around the 30, the runner is at the 28, and he’s got a five-yard-wide hole up until around the 32. I don’t know if this is just significant because of the weak DT play, or if the Lions’ OL is really that improved, or a combination thereof.  Note the pressure the RE is getting, though—this was a pattern I saw over and over, the wide-set ends ‘pinching’ or ‘funnelling’ the runner to the middle, just as the defense was designed.   The DTs aren’t holding their ground—but all three LBs are patiently in position.  I think we’ll see this a lot; the defense will give up a lot of three-to-five yard runs up the middle, but the ‘backers will hold them to no more.

In my last post, I mentioned about how I thought the soul of sports is the young fan, sitting in awe and wonder of the spectacle of it all. Despite the filthy, naked greed on display--both by the organization in charging us four bucks for a bottle of water, and by fellow fans by cutting in line--and the awful time we had before, during, and after the ‘family fun’, this is what it’s all about:

A HUGE thanks goes out to my shutterbug wife, her incredible patience and understanding around this endeavor, and the excellent snaps she took without the aid of a zoom lens.

Technorati Tags: nfl,detroit lions,detroit lions jerseys,training camp,lions uncaged,matthew stafford,ford field

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throwing down the gauntlet

Maybe it’s a generational thing.  There are a lot of football fans I know—especially those over 40--who won’t buy or wear jerseys.  The typical line goes something like, “What kind of limp-wristed pansy wears a jersey with another man’s name on the back?”  Others simply don’t like the look, or won’t spend the money.  No matter your age, most put off buying a jersey because they're deathly afraid of being That Guy:sadly mothballing the jersey of the bust/flameout/druggie/woman abuser who looked so good a season or two before.  Or worse, being THAT That Guy, walking around repping the loser anyway, maybe even getting enshrined on Straight Cash Homey.

Fans my age, 27, were growing up when wearing the jersey of your favorite player became legitimately fashionable. The “throwback” craze hit just as my generation was discovering the wonders of summer jobs and disposable income.  It’s only natural that when I, a rabid Lions fan, reached college in 1999, I began my unintentional quest to be The King Of That Guy.

It started with a home Charlie Batch replica--right before Millen came in and changed the jerseys.  Shortly thereafter, I added a Duce Staley (Eagles) home replica.  After both players flamed out and went to the Steelers, I was desperately in need of a new jersey—both to rep a current player, and to get one of the new jersey style.  My fellow Spartan, and acquaintance, Chuck Rogers happened to go #2 overall in the draft to the Lions--the question of who to rep had been answered.  My then-girlfriend (now wife) surprised me on my birthday with an away “C. Rogers” #80 replica.  It's still one of the best gifts I've ever recieved, even if it didn't turn out so hot.  After we married, I picked up a home replica of her favorite Lion, Roy Williams, and a kids-size Kevin Jones home replica for our first daughter.  When my son was born, we picked up a youth Mike Furrey home replica for my daughter, and my son inherited the Jones.

At this point, I desperately needed a new jersey, but wasn’t quite ready to take the plunge on a current Lion.  I’d been planning on going big-time with an Ernie Sims authentic, but it was a pretty big investment on a player who took a pretty big step back after his rookie season.  After winning a fantasy championship partially on the back of Chad Johnson, I went to a Reebok outlet sale and snagged a Bengals “Johnson” #85 home replica on the cheap.  So, to review: as of Friday morning, I myself had four jerseys, my wife had one, and my kids had two.  Of all of these jerseys, only one player has not left their depicted team in disgrace—and that guy HAS SINCE CHANGED HIS LAST NAME.

At the open practice tomorrow, the new-look Lions take their home field for the first time--all decked out with their new uniforms and new logo; I knew I couldn’t trot out the Chuck Rogers, or the peeling-numbered Batch “throwback”.  As the Flamekeeper, the torchbearer, the self-appointed philosopher king of all true diehard Lions fans, I knew there was only one player I could in good conscience come bearing the livery of: Matthew Stafford. As much as I like Megatron, Kevin Smith, Julian Peterson, Cliff Avril, all those guys, Stafford is the franchise.  He’s the quarterback, the field general, the spokesman, and the lynchpin of the entire organization.

Sure, there are a lot of naysayers, a lot of doubters, and a lot of obstacles to his success.  But forget that. I’m throwing down the gauntlet. I’m investing my fandom—and my hard-earned jack--in this wunderkind.  I said before the draft that if he’s the pick, we fans have  got to support him the way we never supported Joey—and I’m not only going to support him, I’m picking up the banner and running.  I hope that people see me, hand-in-hand with my wife and three kids, rocking the authentic Stafford, and think, “Wow, that guy must really believe.”  And, maybe, possibly, then think “maybe I should, too.”

When I had this epiphany, I first obtained the blessing of my incredible (and incredibly understanding, and incredibly forgiving) wife.  Then, I went to a Michigan-based collectibles chain called Legends Sports & Games, calling first to reserve one in my size.  The employee working behind the counter, by appearances in his mid-40s, seemed almost bemused by my eagerness to score this shirt.  He asked if I was a Lions fan, or just thought maybe they’d turn it around this year.  My reply kicked off a nice little conversation about being a Lions fan, my blog, and the proper sizing of an authentic (the shoulders are cut to accept pads; going too big will have an effect not dissimilar to “princess sleeves”).

I asked him if he was a fan too, and he replied that he was--but after all the years of frustration, he was finding it hard to even try anymore.  He looked at me and said, “Just give me something.  Please, tell me these guys are going to do something worth watching this year.”  I didn’t hesitate to reply in the affirmative, specifically that the defense will be incredibly aggressive.  He smiled, said he hoped I was right, and proceeded to cut me a great deal on the jersey.  That put a smile on my face, and—I hope—stoked the little blue flame in his heart.

I likely won’t be posting again this weekend, but I do plan to be Tweeting updates from Ford Field all day long.  So, if you aren’t coming, stay tuned to @lionsinwinter for live firsthand reports.  If you are planning to be there, email me at thelionsinwinter@gmail.com, and maybe I’ll see you there.

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defense wins . . . training camp?

“Defense wins championships”.  It was nice bit of sports wisdom, which became a saying.  Then it became a truism, and then trite, and then a cliché.    It’s been said so often, it’s not even a cliché anymore; it’s seared into the mind of every sports fan.  Listen to NFL analysis long enough, and you’ll start to hear it in your dreams.  Follow football blogs and forums long enough, and you’ll read it so often you’ll see it with your eyes closed.  I wouldn’t be surprised if “defense wins championships” is encoded somewhere in our DNA.

We certainly found out what happens when you have no defense: the 2008 Lions were one of the worst defenses ever to take the field, and, well, 0-16.  I’ve often said that last season, the Lions fielded a 6- or 7-win offense, and a –10 win defense.  It makes sense; the Lions had the most physically dominant wide receiver in football, and a workhorse rookie running back.  With some credible coaching and a similar defense, the Lions well might have had six or seven wins.  Over the offseason, though, the Lions have drastically improved that offense.  They’ve drafted a franchise quarterback, added veteran #2 and #3 wideouts, drafted the most impressive 2-way tight end prospect in years, and added a veteran third-down back to take pressure off the second-year running back.  They’ve added, almost literally, a ton of veteran size and depth along the offensive line.  This 6- or 7-win offense should be more like a 9- or 10-win offense now.  So how come the defense looks better?

That’s right; the early word from training camp is that the defense looks better than the offense.  Early Monday morning, FOXSports.com’s Alex Marvez tweeted that the defense “dominated the offense in pass drills”.  Tom Kowalski confirmed this with an article that went a little bit more in-depth.  On Tuesday, the story was no different—again, Killer provided us with a first-hand account of the defense having the upper hand in red zone 7-on-7 work.  In the same breath, though, Kowalski cautions us not to read to much into this; the defense is attacking and blitzing as they plan to do during the season, and the offense is still being put together.  It takes a lot fewer reps to for a defense to successfully blitz a linebacker than it does for an offense to seamlessly pick him up.

However, I do think there’s significance to this.  The offense is going to be the strength of the team this year—there’s too much more talent and youth for it not to be true.  That offense is going to go up against some very stout, aggressive defenses right away: Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Chicago.  Don’t forget New Orleans, with new DC Gregg Williams, and the Packers under new DC Dom Capers.  This offense needs to get used to feeling the heat from all spots on the field.  They’ll see overloads, jailbreaks, zone blitzes, safety blitzes, 3-4s, and 4-3s.  The earlier, and oftener, the offense is tested with these aggressive looks, the more quickly they’ll adapt and grow.

Most folks’ objection to the Lions starting Matthew Stafford from day one stems from concerns about the offensive line.  Why?  If the line can’t protect Stafford, he’ll spend more time running for his life than running the offense.  Nobody wants to see Matt Stafford become the next David Carr; a can’t-miss prospect who can’t drink water, because it just drains out of all the cleat holes in his torso.  But part of avoiding the blitz is on the quarterback—there’s only so much an offensive line can do! 

Matt Stafford has to learn to protect himself with quick reads, quick decisions, and a willingness to throw the ball away if the play’s not there.  We saw Ben Roethlisberger do that in Pittsburgh last season;  the Steelers’ offensive line was regarded as below average at best--yet Big Ben stayed upright and made plays all year.  How?  He made great reads, made great decisions, and had great pocket awareness.  The only way the game will slow down for Matt Stafford like that is if he gets a lot of reps under pressure from day one.

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Morning view

I've decided to continue with the Three Cups Deep-style quick hits throughout training camp; there's so much info coming out now that I've gotta hustle to skim off the cream of the crop and dollop it in your morning joe.  Monday’s practice sessions didn’t see a lot of new storylines break; rather, we saw a lot of the same storylines develop:

• DT Landon Cohen continued to impress.  According to Tom Kowalski over at Mlive.com, Cohen followed up his jaw-dropping 50-rep performance in the bench press this weekend by making play after play on Monday.  Some folks are already calling him “Cohen the Barbarian”, which I find hilarious—those doing so are likely unaware of the literary allusion they make.  Cohen celebrated his 23rd birthday yesterday, and as he says this is indicative of his “grown-man strength kicking in”.  I should emphasize that there are plenty of rookies drafted in April whose 23rd birthday was a lot further back in time than yesterday.  Cohen, if he can continue to develop like this, could be the surprise gem that saves the Lions’ defense—in a year or two.  Unfortunately, there’s no mention of who these reps came against—and if it was linemen like Damion Cook and Dylan Gandy, we can’t start toasting Cohen’s breakout just yet.  Don’t forget, recent Lions past is full of traning camp rags-to-riches stories that never panned out.  Greg Blue, “Blue” Adams, David Kircus, Scotty Anderson . . .
  
  
• The Detroit News’ John Niyo writes that DT Sammie Hill is getting a lot of special attention from defensive line coach Bob Karmelowicz.  There’s a few great quotes from Schwartz in that story about how scouting Hill reminded him of scouting Leon Lett—and frankly, thoughts about the next Big Cat in Honolulu Blue get me all hot and bothered.  Here’s another difference between Schwartz and Marinelli: instead of the defensive line coach stopping defensive line drills to work with a guy like Hill—the head coach would stop team drills to work with a guy like Hill! Okay, that might be a sight exaggeration, but still—Schwartz is excited to see Hill in practice and watch the game film afterwards; NOT spending big chunks of practice working on fine points of technique with individual players.  Schwartz is coaching the coaches, and letting the coaches coach the players—exactly as it should be.
  
  
• Killer also wrote a nice little piece on that exact point: Schwartz spending time with both the offense and the defense—and how his coaching to “situations” and mentally tying what they’re doing on the practice field to what they do in games so wildly varies from Marinelli’s.
  
  
• Before the first all-roster minicamp, I wrote about ‘key performance indicators”, things that fans should watch for to see if real progress is being made.  One of those was the matchup of the receivers versus the corners; since we know for a fact that Megatron is an elite wideout, how the Lions’ corners fare against him will be a great measuring stick for how they’re doing in general.  So far, the results are looking good; according to the Free Press’s Nick Cotsonika, #1 CB Phillip Buchanon has been holding his own.  Killer reports that former EMU standout Chris Roberson got some reps with the ones when Eric King and Keith Smith both took the morning off with minor injuries—and did extremely well.

As always, stay tuned both here and at my Twitter feed for the latest!

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three cups deep

I find myself waffling between waxing rhapsodic about the hedonistic pleasures of brewing coffee, and writing about the whole weekend’s worth of Detroit Lions training camp action.  I know what you folks have come here for, though, so I’ll get right to the good stuff:

• Though many insist on 100% arabica beans in their espresso, I’ve found that a well-selected robusta bean can add a lot of bite and body to an otherwise . . . oh.  What?   . . . *sigh* . . . fine.
  
  
• It’s no secret that the Lions’ new defensive scheme is going to rely heavily on the play of the tackles to stop the run.  With veteran run-stuffer Grady Jackson likely to miss the first few games of the season—and likely to be on a limited-snap leash after that--the Lions will desperately need at least a couple of the guys behind him on the depth chart to make a big impact.  Saturday’s conditioning tests saw two young defensive tackles make statements, indeed: Sammie Hill failed the conditioning test given to all players prior to the first practice.  We’re assured this doesn’t mean much; Hill passed the test later in the afternoon.  Hill himself blamed it on trying too hard to ‘wow’ with his long shuttle time, and running out of gas before he could finish.  However, this conditioning test was like homework—all of these players passed these tests at the conclusion of minicamp.  Seeing Hill on the sidelines for the first Saturday session because he failed the conditioning test was not a great sign.  Landon Cohen, however, blew everyone away by benching 225 pounds an incredible 50 times.  For perspective, B.J. Raji did 33 reps at the combine;  Sammie Hill did 27.  Cohen’s a very interesting case study.  When I reviewed the Lions’ 2008 defensive tackles in my Old Mother Hubbard series, this is what I said about him:

  “Cohen was a seventh-round draft pick last year from Ohio.  Not the Buckeyes, the Bobcats.  He was a destroyer up the middle, despite his relatively light 6'-4", 278 lb. physique.  Interestingly, Cohen was a 4-year letterman in track at his high school in Spartanburg, SC.  Track!  At Ohio, Cohen played the nose tackle position despite being a little undersized for that, even by MAC standards.  And yet, he was 2nd-team all-conference his senior year, with 59 tackles (27 solo), 12.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks, starting all twelve games.  Despite being a little taller, and notably thinner, than fellow rookie Andre Fluellen, Cohen is listed on the Lions depth chart as a nose tackle.  He saw time against several teams, setting his career high in tackles against the Colts (4).  I didn't get to see much of him, but from what I can find in scouting reports, he has excellent technique and leverage, helping him make up for his lack of beef.  He seems to excel in initial burst and shedding blocks with quick moves, but doesn' t have the range or athleticism to run around making plays on the edge or in space.  According to the info I can find, he's at his best as a one-gap upfield rusher.  Bottom line: Cohen is a true 4-3 one-gap nose tackle who was born a little too small.  If he could add a lot of bulk he could stay at NT--otherwise, he's another 4-3 UT/3-4 DE project.”

  It looks as though Cohen’s doing everything he can to add the bulk and strength he’ll need to stay at DT; this should be a very interesting position battle, indeed.
  
  
• There was a lot of talk about the QB position coming into the weekend.  Though impressions of how each quarterback “looked” seemed to be heavily informed by the observer’s favored starter for the year, there was consensus on one issue: Matt Stafford is the real deal.  Scout.com’s Nate Caminata, the Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski, and—astonishingly—the Grand Rapids Press’s Brian VanOchten all agreed: Stafford carried himself with a veteran’s poise and confidence--even motioning for a PI call after one threaded-needle pass fell incomplete!  He appeared completely comfortable with the playbook and the speed of the game, and has eye-popping physical tools.  All three agreed that while Duante Culpepper looked sharp, he might already be the 1b to Matt Stafford’s 1a.  Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press, however, appealed to caution, imploring the Lions to keep Matt Stafford on the pine, regardless of performance.  I enjoy Rosenberg’s work, but I couldn’t disagree more.  If Stafford’s relaxed, comfortable, confident, and executing better than anyone else, what possible reason could there be to hold him back?  Rod Marinelli held Drew Stanton back in 2008—reportedly, until they got off the schneid.  Stanton’s still waiting for his chance.
  
  
• Speaking of DS, his performance on Saturday left a lot to be desired.  Rumor has it that he threw several ducks, looking far behind Stafford and Culpepper in execution, leading forumgoers to call for his head—or at least his roster spot.  However, I’ve been cautioning against having this knee-jerk reaction.  Stanton simply isn’t the kind of guy who’s going to blow you away in practice.  He’s not a shorts-and-T-shirt passer, he’s a gamer who makes it happen when it counts.  On Sunday, they ran through extremely harsh two-minute drills, and what do you know?  Tom Kowalski went out of his way to praise Stanton’s crisp execution.  Good on you, Drew.  Keep fighting--you deserve it.
  
  
• Finally, Martin Mayhew had a nice little session with reporters, going over all the recent roster changes.  Mayhew said that he’s “happy” with the linebackers and running backs; there’s a good mix of talented, impact veterans, and talented, developing youngsters at both spots.  Beyond that, Mayhew said he was pleased with the amount of raw physical talent at quarterback. However, he refused to go any further than that, declining to say he was done working on any other unit.  Clearly, while he didn’t say a single negative thing about anyone on the roster, he sees holes at every other position group—which is good news, because I see them, too!  Mayhew said the Lions’ brass has “areas of concern”, and efforts to address them are ongoing.

Lots of good stuff from this weekend—and more is coming, because the Lions should be wrapping up the morning session as I write this!

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the bonfire of the fans—and me

As the self-appointed “flamekeeper”, I take it upon myself to tend the blue bonfire that us frozen, weary Lions fans huddle around.    Ever since that frostbitten, breath-freezing  morning back in December--when there was no hope, no chance, and nothing left to cheer for—I’ve been striking silver flints to make blue sparks, guarding the little tendrils of flame from the wind with my hands, packing snow against snow to keep blowing drifts from smothering the fire, and worked tirelessly to keep that blaze alive.

A few kindred souls saw the silver smoke rising, far off on the bleak horizon.  Teeth chattering, they trudged through the snow.  One by one, Lions fans gathered here from all over the world, holding up their hands to the fire, and thawing out a little bit.  The few hardy folks who’ve come back again and again over the interminable, Siberian offseason have been joined by more and more new faces.  Today, on the morning when the Lions’ 2009 football season begins in earnest, I’m pleased to say the lonely little fire now roars; the grim gathering of a few embattled, frostbitten fans is now more like a party.

Amidst a small crowd of Lions fans gathered to talk honestly and intelligently about the team they support, you see me, sporting my furry winter hat.  I’m stoking the flames of fandom.  I’m chopping, splitting, and hauling the wood and kindling.  I’m pulling draughts from casks of hot spiced cider (and splashing in shots of warm spiced rum), and passing the steins around.  I’m shaking hands and slapping backs, glad to see the men and women and boys and girls who’ve come again to share their friendship, and their fandom.

Today, it begins.  The long months of cursing and conjecture, of complaint and celebration, of draft grades and free agent ‘shopping lists’ and trades both blockbuster and lackluster . . . now, metal meets metal.  Plastic meets plastic.  Beef meets beef.  As deeply (and accurately!) as this game can be quantified with a database, slide rule, or graphing calculator, it’s all talk until two tons’ worth of muscle and sinew collide like an angry bull and a slow matador.  For all the many words that have been written—and will be written, here--breaking down the players and coaches and alignments and position battles to come over the next few weeks, all that really matters is what happens on green grass and white lines in Allen Park.  For the first time since I created this space, we as fans will discuss not what has happened in the past, nor what might happen in the future, but what is happening now—your rebuilt, reborn, re-branded Detroit Lions taking the field and playing football.

Take a second, wherever you are, and raise your stein of cider to that.

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