Shaun Rogers: Once and Future Lion?

This is how I like to remember Shaun Rogers. Likely, it’s how you like to remember him too: an impossible combination of size and athleticism. A relentless, disruptive force that demanded—and overwhelmed—double-teams. A goofy, lumbering country boy, simultaneously awkward and balletic, gamboling and galloping, groan-inducing and breathtaking.

Shaun Rogers had some incredible highlights in his seven years as a Lion—and more than a few lowlights, too. For the most part, when the Lions dealt him to Cleveland, fans knew it was simply time to part ways. Of course, it stung when he immediately made an impact there—especially as the 0-16 Lions’ defense was manhandled by opposing offensive lines. As opposing running backs averaged 5.1 yards per carry against the helpless, hapless Lions, we looked south to Cleveland and got all nostalgic. As the Dawg Pound swooned over Rogers’ ability, many of us were bitterly jealous.

But the honeymoon didn’t last long. Thanks to a perceived slight by new coach Eric Mangini, Rogers asked the team to not pay his option bonus, presumably to finagle a quicker trade or release. Eventually, the ice between Rogers and Mangini thawed, or at least partially so. From that Akron Beacon-Journal come successive paragraphs that sum up everything you need to know about Shaun Rogers:

Rogers insists he can still dunk. ''All day,'' he said. Two hands? ''Two hands. All day. Vertical? 360? What you want?'' Rogers said. Two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Joe Thomas said dunking is probably the least of what Rogers can do. ''He tests better than any player on the team when we do testing in the spring,'' Thomas said. ''He's faster than any lineman, offense and defense. He can jump higher. He's got incredible speed. He's probably a 4.6, 4.7 guy.'' Anderson doesn't think a healthy Rogers can be blocked. ''Not when he's going and he's healthy and rested, there's not a human being who can stop him one-on-one,'' Anderson said. ''I've seen him take double-teams with his body and one arm and get through guys. He spins . . . he's a freak.''

. . . and then the flip side:

Former Detroit Lions coach Rod Marinelli told former Tampa Bay Bucs and Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Warren Sapp that Rogers didn't want to be featured in Detroit. ''Rod Marinelli went to Detroit (in 2006), showed Shaun Rogers my tape and said, 'I'm going to get you one on one,' '' Sapp, now on Showtime's Inside the NFL, said last month in New York. ''Shaun Rogers looked at Marinelli and said, 'What if I don't want to be one on one?' ''Gilligan wanted off that island, too, right? That island is a lonely place. Either you want it or you don't. The great ones do.''

Shaun Rogers’ talent, his potential, his upside—it’s intoxicating. It’s addictive. But, to borrow a phrase, he’s a grown-ass man. He’s 31. He’s—if visual evidence is any indication—way over his listed 350, possibly over 400. He’s been unable to stay healthy, getting just 12 starts and 26 games played in the last two seasons—and when he’s played, he’s been less effective; he has just 41 tackles and 4 sacks in that time.

Now, he’s been released--and unlike other free-agents-to-be, he can actually be signed right now. Should the Lions bring him back to Detroit? As a commenter on the Browns blog Dawgs by Nature said:

Shaun had become a part-time part-timer. At his age and given his shape/condition it’s better to get rid of him, rather than overpay him. He’ll sign for a fraction of that amount somewhere. I’d be happy if it were Cleveland, but not at $5mill.

He’s a rotational player who’s struggling to stay healthy. As a 400-pound two-gap tackle, he doesn’t have a clear role in this defense, either. He’d essentially take up Sammie Hill’s role, but Hill is a very young, very raw, developing player whose best football is all in front of him. As amazing as it still is to daydream about a 400-pound man who can run a 4.6 40 and dunk from a standstill, Shaun Rogers is a ten-year veteran. He was Matt Millen’s third-ever draft pick. He is what he is. He’s not going to realize that incredible potential any sooner than Dominic Raiola is grow two inches and add thirty pounds of muscle.

Those of you who say, “But what if he really is motivated to play? What if a change of scenery does him good?” Well, then are a dozen wannabe 3-4 teams out there who need a nose tackle more than the Lions need a fifth DT to rotate—and they’ll certainly be willing to pay more than the Lions will. The case is stronger, and the role is clearer, for Albert Haynesworth—and I’m not all that anxious to get him on the Lions’ roster, either. The Lions’ defensive line, both starters and depth, was the strength of the team in 2010. Players like Sammie Hill and Andre Fluellen made major contributions late in the year, and both of those players haven’t yet hit their primes.

I’d rather the Lions continue to try to win like the Packers, always thinking about the future, than try in vain to recapture the recent—godawful—past.

Technorati Tags: nfl,detroit lions,cleveland browns,shaun rogers

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the watchtower: Lions vs. browns

Wikipedia Commons

Last week, we had the pleasure of deconstructing a team that had already gone under the knife: the Minnesota Vikings. This was both exciting and troubling: a historical analysis that relied heavily on historical data, run twice, should predict the same result—and we all know that two teams playing twice won’t result in the same outcome twice, right?

• I originally concluded that the Gunther Cunningham 4-3 disproportionately disrupts Childress’ conservative flavor of the Bill Walsh offense, and that conclusion was indisputably correct.
• Given a huge talent and execution advantage, but a definite systemic disadvantage, I expect the Vikings will meet or slightly underperform their season averages: scoring 27-30 points, passing for 6.75-7.0 yards per attempt, and rushing for 3.75-4.0 yards per carry. I have very high confidence in this prediction.
• I originally concluded that given lesser talent, Scott Linehan’s balanced offense meets or slightly exceeds expectations against a Dungy-style defense, even while allowing more sacks and/or turnovers. This conclusion was also confirmed by the results of Week 2.
• With lesser talent, and therefore a small-to-zero systemic advantage, the Lions will slightly underperform, or approach, their season averages: 14-17 points scored, 5.0-5.25 YpA, and 3.75-4.0 YpC. I have very high confidence in this prediction.
• The Lions will lose this week, scoring 14-17 points against Minnesota’s 25-30.

Astonishingly, the final score was 27-10—one missed Jason Hanson field goal away from perfectly matching Week 2’s 27-13 final, and almost exactly what I’d projected based on the previous contests.  The rushing and passing numbers, however, threw me for a loop.  The Lions gained 93 yards on 22 carries, for a surprisingly stout 4.23 YpC average, and passed 51 times for 224 yards, netting a surprisingly lame 4.39 YpA.  Once again, the Lions’ defense couldn’t contain the Vikings long enough to really control the ball with that running game . . . and once again, the Vikings’ pass rush simply overwhelmed the Lions’ offensive line.

The Vikings, for their part, did take advantage of the Lions' already-suspect, dropped-like-flies-during-the-game secondary, with an outrageous 11.10 YpA.  That opened things up for the running game, and All Day plowed through the defense for a better-than-Week 2 4.90 YpC average.

Something that’s really interesting to me is that while these breakdowns are proving to be remarkably strong predictors of final score, they’re all over the map when it comes to the rushing and passing per-play effectiveness.  Big plays really swing the per-play passing numbers, and rushing seems to be the inverse of what I expect . . . the historical rushing and passing per-play  averages have value in analyzing the past, I’m just not sure they have predictive value when projecting the future.  Food for thought.

Anyway, postmortem over.  On to the Browns!

Scott Linehan vs. Eric Mangini

Eric Mangini, much like our own Grandmaster, began his career as an unpaid assistant (actually, a ball boy) for the Cleveland Browns--and like Schwartz, was given an assistant gig when the team moved to Baltimore.  Mangini, unlike Schwartz, left the Ravens to rejoin Belichick in New York as a defensive assistant.  Mangini then followed Belichick to New England in 2000, to serve as defensive backs coach.  After winning the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003, and 2004, Pats’ DC Romeo Crennel took the Browns' head coaching job, and Mangini was promoted to replace him.

Here we have our first problem: Mangini has only been a coordinator or head coach for five years.  This is what happens with “hot young assistants”; they have nearly no track record.  On the other hand, Mangini’s coaching-tree influence is incredibly strong: his entire coaching career, from age 23, up until his hiring as the Jets head coach at 35, was under the guiding hand of Bill Belichick.  As a result, I’m including all data from Belichick’s days with the Patriots forward.  As you can see, this nets us some good numbers:

Lin	Man	Ornk	PgG	YpA	YpC	Drk	PpG	DYpA	DYpC	PTS	YpA	INT	YpC	Sack
MIN	NEP	8th	24.4	6.60	5.3	17th	21.6	5.99	4.71	17	5.55	0	6.12	4-8
MIA	NEP	16th	19.9	5.94	3.69	17th	21.1	7.03	3.62	16	7.66	1	3.08	0-0
MIA	NEP	16th	19.9	5.94	3.69	17th	21.1	7.03	3.62	28	6.83	0	3.70	2-9
DET	CLE	26th	15.9	5.08	3.95	27th	25.0	7.40	4.73	10	4.54	1	3.52	0-0

Unfortunately, the 2002 data isn’t very solid.  The Patriots didn’t rely primarily on a 3-4 look until the 2003 season, so schematically there’s reason to doubt the figures.  As SI’s Don Banks points out in that article, Belichick has flexed in and out of 4-3 and 3-4 looks throughout his career—but the switch from a 4-3 with some wrinkles to a 3-4 with some wrinkles was enough of a shift to grab national headlines.  Tellingly, Belichick disciples like Mangini, Crenell, and new Denver HC Josh McDaninels use the 3-4 alignment almost exclusively.

So, knowing this data may not be solid, let’s touch upon it.  Linehan’s Vikings were the 8th-ranked unit in the NFL, averaging 24.4 points a game, 6.60 yards per attempt, and a punishing 5.3 yards per carry.  The Patriots’ scoring defense that year was mediocre; ranked 17th, they allowed 21.6 points per game.  The pass defense was still strong, holding opponents to just 5.99 yards YpA—but the rushing defense struggled, allowing an alarming 4.71 YpC.

Surprisingly, the Pats held the Vikings to well below their scoring norms: only 17 points scored.  This probably had something to do with the 3 lost fumbles, and four sacks, that the Patriots forced.  The YpA and YpC were spot on with expectations, furthering the argument that the Patriots depressed scoring with turnovers and disruption; not by “actually” stopping the Vikings’ superior offense.

In 2005, we have some excellent data.  Not only was Eric Mangini the titular defensive coordinator, but Scott Linehan was calling signals for the Pats’ divisional rivals, the Dolphins.  Yes, that’s right, they played eachh other twice in 2005.  Miami was the median scoring offense that year, ranked 16th and netting 19.9 PpG.  Their passing offense was middling, too, averaging only 5.94 YpA.  Their rushing offense was also solid but nothing to shout about, with 3.69 YpC.

In a strange case of symmetry, the Patriots were the 17th-ranked scoring defense that season, too; allowing 21.1 points per game.  They allowed 7.03 YpA, and 3.62 YpC.  The expectations here would be, well, the averages.  The Fins should’ve scored 20-21 points, gained between 6 and 7 YpA, and exactly 3.6 YpC . . . not so much.

In the first game, the Fins mustered only 16 points.  I’m not quite sure how, as they passed for 7.66 YpA (360 yards on 47 throws!).  Rushing was anemic, only 3.06 YpC, but when you throw that much, and have only two turnovers, that defense is bending, but not breaking.

In the second game, on New Years' Day, the Dolphins came strong with the ground game. Thanks mostly to Ricky Williams, the Fins ran 40 times for 148 yards; only 3.7 YpC but effective nonetheless. Gus Frerottte was much more efficient, completing 22 of 35 passes for a still-solid 6.83 YpA. The result? 28 points hung on the Patriots, and a W for the Dolphins.

This illustrates a point I've made before about divisional rivals: when two teams play twice in the same season, the results of the games are primarily affected by weather and quarterback play.  In Miami in November, they throw 47 times.  In New England on New Year's Day, they run 40 times.  We all know from reading our Watchtowers that Linehan's offense is much more potent when the ground game is working; the effect here was dramatic.  The Fins scored nearly twice as many points, and tasted victory.

We have one more data point: in 2009, Mangini's Browns faced Scott Linehan's Lions. Yes, that's right, it feels like a million years ago, but the Browns played the Lions this preseason.

I'm going to be honest with you, folks: I have no idea what to do with this data.  Part of me says that due to the completely different rosters, rotations, etc. (both teams have benched their “starting” QBs since then, both teams were still on 80-man camp rosters, etc.) it should be completely discounted.  Part of me counters that this should mean it was pure scheme-on-scheme interaction, divorced from talent and execution . . . but then, enumerating and controlling for talent and execution is how I isolate that scheme-0n-scheme effect.

No, I don't think I can include this data in my analysis; there are just too many variables in the rosters, systems, and playcalling to assign significance to these numbers.  Therefore, I'm concluding that given lesser or equal talent, a Belicheck 3-4/4-3 flex defense disproportionately disrupts the scoring of a balanced Scott Linehan offense, even while allowing typical ball movement on a per-play basis.  A 60-minute offensive committment to using an effective running game may neutralize this effect.

I don't anticipate Kevin Smith having a huge day against Shaun Rogers, Robaire Smith, and company--and given the way Linehan's been putting games in Stafford's hands lately, even if Silent Bob brings the fire, they might not stick with him.  Therefore, I’m going to project the Lions will meet or slightly exceed their season averages in passing and rushing, but score fewer-than-typical points, to wit: 12-15 points, 5.50-6.00 YpA, and 3.75-4.00 YpC.

Mitigating/Augmenting Influences:

To add another layer to things, the Lions seem to abandon the run, even when it's working well--but then, they also seem be behind late in a lot of games.  We haven't seen this Lions team play with a lead very often--and when we have, turnovers, mistakes, or just plain failure have quickly ended said lead.  If Kevin Smith finally, finally gets a chance to establish a rhythm, maybe he'll break through in the second half, like Ray Rice did on Monday night.

I'm hearing a lot of talk about the Browns' unstoppable defensive line--but I'll take the Vikings' DL over the Browns' any day, and Silent Bob just ran for 4.58 yards a carry against them . . . essentially, if Cleveland's offense hangs their defense out to dry as badly as they have been, the Lions's offense will have many, many possessions to get into rhythm and build some confidence.

If the Lions offense can play like they did at Seattle, and at Minnesota, they shoudl be able to really get going against Cleveland at home.

Brian Daboll vs. Gunther Cunningham

Brian Daboll, I think, has finally, officially, beaten me.  the 34-year-old Daboll’s coaching resume is even shorter than his boss’s.  He was a grad assistant at my own Michigan State University from 1998-1999, under Nick Saban.  He joined the Patriots’ staff as a defensive assistant from 2000-2001, then got promoted to wide receivers coach, in which role he served from 2002-2006.  In 2007, Eric Mangini took Daboll with him to New York to serve as QB coach under OC Mike Hiemerdinger.  After two seasons on Broadway, Mangini took Daboll with him to Cleveland, and installed him as offensive coordinator.

Unlike Mangini, who spend his entire coaching career as a defensive assistant to a defensive mastermind with a distinct system, Daboll has served on both sides of the ball, for several different coordinators and coaches with dissimilar systems.  I’m done.  That’s it.  I have absolutely no reliable data to go upon . . . except for this:

The 2009 Cleveland Browns have the worst offense ever.

There's simply no getting around this fact.  The Browns are averaging 8.7 points per game, and have failed to score an offensive touchdown in 6 of the 9 games they've played so far.  They’re averaging 3.96 yards per pass attempt, and 3.73 yards per carry.  They have almost no ability to move the ball, no ability to convert on third down, and no ability to score points.

Trent Dilfer was on the Huge Show last night, and he called them the worst offense he’s ever seen—gamely admitting that he has both played on, and been the cause of, a lot of bad offenses.  He noted all the same things I said in my last article: with zero verticality in the passing game, and a slew of poorly drafted, poorly executed screens, the defense’s job is done for them.  Dilfer also said he talked to an active NFL quarterback who claimed that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady would each struggle to crack a 60.0 passer rating in that system, with that surrounding cast.

The upshot of all this is that despite the Lions’ suspect, and decimated, secondary, Gunther Cunningham should have every opportunity to crank up the heat and disrupt the Browns further.  Unfortunately for Cleveland, they simply don’t have the quarterback or wideouts to take advantage of the poor coverage—and the heavy, heavy blitzing will just make it all that much worse.

I don't have any data whatsoever to back this up, but I'm concluding that the Browns are going to meet, or slightly underperform their averages: 6-9 points scored, 4.00-4.50 YpA, and 3.5-4.0 YpC.

Conclusion:

The Lions have absolutely no excuse to not win this game.  As bad as they have looked at times, as difficult as it’s been, and despite having the same record as the Browns, they must prove they are a cut above this Cleveland team.  Cleveland is a disaster in progress; a team in freefall.  They’ve already fired their GM, their coach is the unanimous choice for the next to be fired, and the owner is openly courting a “football czar” to completely take over the on-field product.

The Lions, on the other hand, had their freefall; had their disaster season.  They just made all of those hires, and just drafted “the future”.  The Lions have to prove that they are on the way up from 0-16 by beating a team who’s hitting rock bottom right now.  In a sense, this puts all the pressure on the Lions to produce.  In another sense, the Lions have a chance to really, thoroughly dominate a team, and build some confidence for the stretch run—and for 2010.

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brownpocalypse

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Last night, I watched most of the Monday Night game between the Browns and Ravens.  I’d decided it'd be a good idea to take some notes, effectively TV scouting the Browns.

I’m going to be real for a second here, folks: if the Lions can't beat the Browns in Ford Field, they will not win another game this season.

The Browns' offense is the most anemic, pathetic, limpid, impotent unit in football.  They have absolutely zero confidence in their quarterback.  The Browns’ gameplan for victory last night was to completely remove Brady Quinn from the equation.  I didn’t actually chart the game, but I would venture to guess—without exaggeration—that over eighty percent of the Browns’ offensive snaps were either a run, a screen pass, a TE screen, a WR screen, a bubble screen, or a Wildcat play.

It’s difficult to imagine, but Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll appeared to be petrified by the prospect of Brady Quinn making a read and throwing the football.  On the  few occasions where Quinn dropped back and threw a real pass, he and his receivers almost never agreed on the route to be run.  Five yards ahead, behind, outside, inside; WRs not expecting the ball, WRs expecting the ball and not getting it . . . every conceivable misfire or miscommunication occurred.  I’m going to let the numbers speak for themselves:

13 of 31, 99 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.

Folks, that is miserable.  13 of 31 is 41.3%--and again, he was throwing a large percentage of screen passes.  41.3% should not happen.  You know what else should not happen?  3.13 yards per attempt.  When Brady Quinn drops back to pass, you can expect an average of three yards gained . . . that would be anemic for a running game, but for a passing offense, it’s . . . apalling.

Daboll is trying like crazy, though, to disguise what he’s doing.  He’s using Martzian levels of pre-snap motion: TE from one side to the other, new strong-side slot WR to weak side split end, RB from tailback to offset FB; all on the same play!  However, once that’s all settled down, they’re either running up the middle or running a screen.  I am completely confident in the Lions’ ability to stop these guys.

The one thing that really stuck out to me was the explosive playmaking ability of Josh Cribbs.  They try to run the Wildcat with him, but the total lack of offensive threats around him stops it cold.  When Josh Cribbs fakes a handoff to undrafted free agent rookie James Harrison, is there a linebacker in the world who bites?  Even so, Cribbs often makes hay, even with insufficient daylight.  I’m neither joking nor exaggerating when I say that a full-time Cribbs “Wildcat" would be much more dangerous than their current base offense.

Of course, there is the other side of the ball, and I won't sugarcoat it: the Lions are going to struggle to run the ball against the Browns. Besides the OT-to-OT havoc we all know a motivated Shaun Rogers can wreak, and the constant penetration by former Spartan Robaire Smith, the Browns’ secondary is not afraid to get up and support the run.  CB Eric Wright is a tackling machine, and safety Abram Elam loves to lay the lumber across the middle.

In the end, though, we're talking about a team that simply can't beat anyone.  As I've mentioned in the past, there's a special quality about offense: it can beat itself.  If you can't run block, and can't complete a pass, it doesn't matter which defense is across from you.  Given the state of this Cleveland Browns offense, the Lions probably won’t need to score 10 points to win.

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why did the 400-pound chicken come home to roost? to get whatever he wants!

It puts me in a difficult spot, as a fan.  When a player like Shaun Rogers--an impossible beast who can outrun, outjump, and generally out-athlete men half his size--gets drafted by the Lions and sees immediate success, it's hard not to love him.  When you see this big doofy mug (thanks, Sports Illustrated):

How can you not love him?  When it looks like he's on his way to being one of the best players in the game at his position--maybe even on his side of the field--how can you not love him?  How can you not want to drive to Ford Field, buy a Big Baby jersey and an eight dollar beer, and holler like a Texas country boy every time he blows somebody up?

Here's the problem.

As NFL.com's Adam Schefter points out, that big fat lovable tub of badass carries a lot of baggage--and I am neither referring to Samsonite, nor the keg of flesh behind his doubtlessly-melon-sized belly button.  Rogers plays hard when he is happy, or feels he has something to prove, and that's it.  If he's not happy, doesn't feel like he's under the gun, or just plain doesn't wanna be sweet that day, he goes from being a badass to a lardass, effective purely for his size and nothing else.

We as Lions fans saw plenty of both the unblockable monster, and the wind-sucking goldbricker.  Many have correctly noted that the loss of Rogers put a dagger in the heart of a nearly-moribund defense, and the one INT we got out of Leigh Bodden in the one year he was here, can't possibly make up for the every-down impact Rogers had.  I concede that removing Big Baby from the middle of the defense created a cavernous hole, and our run defense was horrifyingly bad without him.  

However, it was only 'pretty bad' with him--and there were critical times (like the Philly game of 2007) where he was technically present on the field, but got blown off the ball by 100-pounds-lesser men.  Moreover, his play on the field is only part of the picture.  He clearly buys his own hype, and wants to be treated at all times like the lead dog--regardless of recent production or attitude.  Everything I heard while he was here was that the was a literal and physical enormous presence in the locker room, and he more or less ruled it with an iron fist.  He, like most other talented players stuck on the Millen-era Lions, grew completely sick of it all and turned the coaches out.  His influence became entirely negative; his off-field antics grew increasingly unpalatable.  Finally, his on-field play absolutely melted into nothing; he could be counted on nothing more than 20 snaps of 'meh', occasionally punctuated by a big play if the game was still close in the fourth quarter.

The Browns got most of a season of "good" Shaun Rogers, making the Pro Bowl as the rarest and most integral piece of a 3-4 defense: the nose tackle.  Now that they're building around him, Mangini has realized--too late--the importance of handling Big Baby with kid gloves.  He's seeing the problems that come with making Rogers the foundation of your defense.  And he'll find out that Rogers will find the chinks in his armor, and undermine his ability to coach.  Good luck, Mangenius, you'll need it.

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Detroit Lions Coaching Search Rumors and Lies

According to regular poster 'Blog' on the Lions fan forum Lions Red Zone, former New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini spent last night at the Dearborn Ritz-Carlton.  Mangini may well have interviewed with Mayhew/Lewand/Big Willie Style, but I doubt that he is the leading candidate and I doubt that the Lions are his most favored suitor.

To wit: Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the Browns will be interviewing Mangini--this is significant because Mangini not only began his career with the Browns as a ballboy, the Browns are the only team that has been reported to attract reciprocal interest from Patriots VP of Player Personnel Scott Pioli.

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Terry Foster of the Detroit News did an interview with 97.1 FM host Mike Valenti, and said that former Ravens head coach and current Fox broadcaster Brian Billick queried the Lions brass about their interest.  Apparently the Lions wanted to bring Billick into the process immediately, but Billick got cold feet, and the Lions were not going to stall their interview process to wait around for him.  It sounds as though Billick wanted to keep his options open, but the Lions are trying to move on this as soon as possible.

I've thought before that Billick would make a good fit--Jim Colletto was Billick's OL coach, RB coach Sam Gash played under Billick in Baltimore, Billick broadcast several Lions games this year and would practically not shut up about what opportunities the Lions had, what they could do better, his respect for Marinelli, etc. etc. etc.  Still, it looks as though Billick thought he might have a better gig elsewhere if he waited around, and the Lions thought they could do just fine with the candidates they have.

Early on, Billick was my favored candidate--intelligent, has a Super Bowl ring, has won in Minnesota with explosive offense, has won in Baltimore with punishing defense, kind of splits the difference between "pretty boy players coach" Mariucci and "sawed-off field general" Marinelli . . . I figured with a strong veteran GM in place, like Floyd Reese, Billick could be the right personality to get moving in a different direction.  However, with Mayhew and Lewand in place, the Lions' brass is going to be looking for a pure coach, a young fiery guy who'll stick to Xs and Os and speeches--and won't be second-guessing and undercutting them all the time.  Just a case of bad timing?  A missed opportunity?  Or the Lions making the right call in looking for someone they know is thrilled to take the job?  Only time will tell.

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From John Niyo of the Detroit news, comes an interesting quote from cornerback Leigh Bodden.

If it was a coaching staff that really appreciated me and really liked what I did as a player, then, of course.  That's really what I didn't get here, and it's hard to play for somebody like that. If they bring somebody in that respects the way I play -- because I'm one of the best in the league, and if a coaching staff can respect that -- then I'll be happy anywhere.

This jibes neatly with my earlier post--Bodden's a very good cover corner in a system that doesn't really need one.  My guess is that with a strong defensive head coach, preaching the right system, Bodden will come around.

New Lions President Tom Lewand and GM Martin Mayhew held a presser today.  Amongst the more interesting tidbits was a clarification on the power structure: Mayhew will in fact hold "final say" authority over all football matters.  However the Lions are still looking for a third authority figure to serve as an assistant GM to Mayhew.  This 'assistant GM' would almost certainly be a player personnel expert to help Mayhew out with draft and free agent acquisitions.  Tom Kowalski of mlive.com had hinted at this possible arrangement, and floated the name of former Giants GM Ernie Accorsi as the type of candidate they'd be looking at.  If we could get Accorsi in-house to do any kind of personnel work, I would be absolutely ecstatic.

Technorati Tags: nfl,detroit lions,brian billick,martin mayhew,tom lewand,eric mangini,cleveland browns

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