Old Mother Hubbard: The Tight Ends

The Lions spent the 20th overall pick of the 2009 draft and, indirectly, the eighth overall pick of the 2006 draft on tight ends. That’s a lot of resources to invest in a position that seems to be going the way of the dodo—but offensive coordinator Scott Linehan loves to deploy his two big targets alongside his wideouts, often to great effect.

Let’s check 2010’s Tight End Old Mother Hubbard for where these players left off:

Will Heller is a good rotational blocker, who’s come up with a few nice catches in his time here. He should have a place on the roster for 2011, at least.

Tony Scheffler was signed to a three-year extension right after his great two-game stretch at the beginning of the season; he’ll likely be here through 2013. The player we saw in September was the same player we saw for years in Denver; I can’t believe that guy’s gone for good. Even if he is, “Diminished Scheffler” is a solid receiving TE, who blocks better than you think.

Brandon Pettigrew is young veteran with a huge frame and amazing tools. He’s already an excellent pass blocker, and a very good run blocker. As a receiver, his awful case of the dropsies hurt both his grades and several key Lions drives. Overall, his many penalties did the same. If he can cut down on the mental mistakes, Pettigrew could be one of the best TEs in the game. If not, he’s still a great blocker, and a target defenses must respect.

This is the order in which their PFF grades shook out, which is the opposite of what we’d expect. What about 2011?

The Lions’ top-rated tight end in 2011 was Tony Scheffler. I again quote from last season's report:

Tony Scheffler led all NFL TEs with 25% or more of their teams’ snaps in target-to-snap ratio. Scheffler was thrown to once every 6.3 snaps he played—meaning if he was on the field, he was a major part of the play. He seems to have a very specific niche in the offense, even if it isn’t what we expected.

This season, the pattern continued: Scheffler was targeted once every 7.73 snaps he played, 4th-most in the NFL. He trailed only Jimmy Graham, Evan Moore, and Kellen Winslow; he had the highest yards-per-catch of that group (9th overall) at 13.3. Scheffler also scored six touchdowns; that’s one every 6.83 targets (3rd-best in the NFL) and 52.8 snaps (1st-best in the NFL).

Just from watching, it seemed as though Scheffler was placed on the field the instant the Lions crossed the opponent’s 35, and instructed to go make a touchdown happen. The stats bear this observation out. Inexplicably, Scheffler’s WPA was not calculated by Advanced NFL Stats. He didn’t have a whole mess of reps, but anyone who scores six touchdowns should have had a significant impact on his team’s chances to win. My suspicion is his WPA would be quite high, especially relative to his EPA.

Bottom Line: Tony Scheffler is a weapon. A walking, talking red zone mismatch with ridiculous dance moves. He has a very specific role in this offense and he executes it very well. Expect nothing to change in 2012.

Brandon Pettigrew, on the whole, improved slightly in the eyes of PFF graders, but not relative to other tight ends. In 2010, Pettigrew was marked at –8.0 overall in a season where the TE average was -3.23. In 2011, he graded out at –7.1, and the average was –1.74. This all sounds like it was more of the same, but in fact Pettigrew’s production was completely different:

This is why I do these things. Look at Pettigrew’s 2010 performance: he was a devastating all-around blocker, much better than average in both the ground and air games. He was also a heavily-penalized butterfingers, and as a result his grade was well below-average. This might be slightly harsh. Pettigrew’s athleticism got him open quite often, drawing a lot of passes his way. Sometimes he got his hands on balls other tight ends wouldn’t have been able to . . . but he dropped a lot of the balls he got his hands on.

In 2011, Pettigrew’s performance in the receiving game improved drastically, nearly matching the NFL average. He caught 70.3% of the passes thrown his way, 23rd-best and above the NFL average of 68.5. His pass protection was even improved over 2010, his +3.5 grade 4th-best in the NFL. Unfortunately, he took a big step back in run blocking: from +0.5 to –7.0. Pettigrew’s run-block grade was ranked 40th of 65; well below the 0.0 average.

Unfortunately, Pettigrew's high penalty rate continued: he was flagged 11 times for 117 yards; both of those marks were the worst in the NFL. This is why Pettigrew’s overall mark keeps getting dragged below average: he takes way too many penalties.

Perspective: there’s nothing average about Pettigrew’s production. He caught 83 passes, 3rd-most in the NFL, out of 117 targets—also 3rd-most in the NFL. Those receptions gained 777 yards and 5 touchdowns. Those targets came once every 9.24 snaps, the 13th-most frequent target rate in the game. Unlike Scheffler, a situational specialist targeted once every 7.73 snaps, Pettigrew played almost every down the Lions’ offense did. With 1,081 snaps played, Pettigrew got more reps than anyone in the NFL save Rob Gronkowski.

Bottom Line: Brandon Pettigrew is an enormous part of the Lions’ offense, and will be for the foreseeable future. He grew phenomenally as a pass catcher from 2010 to 2011, apparently at the expense of his run blocking. Pettigrew remains a devastating two-way player, and a truly rare talent. Last year’s assessment remains correct: If he can cut down on the mental mistakes, Pettigrew could be one of the best TEs in the game.

Will Heller was released to make cap room, and has yet to be re-signed. He, or another blocking specialist with not-stone hands, will need to be required. Oops, I missed his re-signing.

SHOPPING LIST: A Will Heller-type, preferably of the rookie variety. Or maybe Will Heller Possibly a developmental rookie, but otherwise the Lions are set here.

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Calvin Johnson NOT for Madden 13 Cover

It is time for this site to officially weigh in on the greatest controversy of our time: whether, or not, to support Calvin Johnson in EA’s quest for the next victim of the Madden Curse. We hereby advise Detroit Lions faithful to vote NO on Calvin Johnson. The Lions in Winter officially endorses Cam Newton for Madden 13 Cover.

Look, do I believe the player on cover of Madden is doomed to fail? About as much as I believe my opening a Guinness causes the Red Wings to score: for fun, yes totally really it’s completely ironcladly true; for serious no I am not a drooling idiot.

The reality of the Madden cover is the same as the reality of the rest of the NFL Fan/Media hivemind, which is to say it's the same as the Pro Bowl or Fantasy Football or any other award: people think what just happened will keep happening, and what hasn’t happened yet won’t happen. A year ago, Peyton Manning was a "lock" to “shatter” all of Brett Favre’s records, and Titus Young’s drafting was two weeks away from being met with boos.

Calvin Johnson’s proven he’s one of the best players in the NFL, even to the Doubting Crises of the world. There’s no accolade, honor, or award whose bestowment or lack thereof can change that. A Lion making the cover of Madden 13 would mean a dramatic undoing of the Millen Era: a time when no Lion was “hot,” or “cool,” or otherwise hyped by the NFL Fan/Media hivemind . . .

. . . except that this is a fan vote.

The marketing whizzes at EA deciding Megatron, out of all other players in the NFL, would move the most copies of Madden 13, would be one thing. But this is a fan vote. Browns fans got Peyton Hillis on the cover last season, which was super-awesome for them and everything because it’s the only thing Browns fans have left to live for.

The sad truth is, it’s all Madden’s got to live for, too. Why? Because the game that taught my generation how football works has dropped the ball. All the flash and glitz and glamour and play modes and TV presentation and stupid virtual trading card games, what even is that get all the development love, while the gameplay gets faster and faster and stupider and stupider. “Who’s on the cover” is Madden’s primary contribution to the universe.

This year, Cam Newton should be on the cover. He’s the avatar of hope for a team that’s gone through some wretched, hopeless seasons lately. The Panthers are a team on the rise, with a new logo to match their new unis and everything. Let them rejoice in the symbol of their resurrection.

Not long ago, we were as as Panthers fans are. Not long ago, Calvin Johnson on the cover of Madden would have been something I cherished. Savored. Clung to and took succor from. “Golly gosh,” I’d think, “a Detroit Lion won a popularity contest! That had players from other teams in it! The future is now!”

The Lions are a playoff team. I’ll cling to that.

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New Detroit Lions Nike Uniforms: Flawless Victory

The horrible specter of the new Lions NIKE uniforms mortified me beyond rational thought. TLiW readers and Twitter followers alike tried to talk me off the ledge, but I was having none of it. NIKE is wont to make post-modern art school disasters out of uniforms, and the Lions just completed a solid, modern update of a timeless look.

Many pointed out that under NFL policy, the Lions couldn’t make significant changes to their uniforms within five years of their 2009 makeover. But if we’ve learned nothing else this offseason, it’s that the league office has no problem ignoring or rewriting its own rules.

town hall meeting, Lions President Tom Lewand quelled my fears by confirming we “wouldn’t see much difference” visually, and that those of us with brand-new Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh jerseys “are safe.” Sure enough, the big reveal came, and . . .

Meet your 2012 Detroit Lions Nike Football Uniform, same as (or remarkably similar to) your 2011 Detroit Lions Reebok Football Uniform.

The Lions opted to take NIKE up on all of their technological innovations, with advanced fabrics cut to fit snugly, “zoned mesh integration,” an articulated shoulder, and the “flywire” collar that keeps jerseys locked down onto pads.

But in terms of the colors, numbers, stripes, and marks—the things that make the Lions uniform the Lions’ uniform—nothing has changed. Depending on reports, the pants are either “shinier silver” or “duller gray”; clearly lighting and the eye of the beholder come into play there.

There are many out there who were hoping the Lions would eliminate the black piping, revert the numbers to their blockier state, and/or tweak the swoopy wordmark, but nope: the look is identical.

Good.

Some don't understand why I take this so seriously. Branding yourself a “Lions fan” is exactly that: branding. You’re taking the team’s identity and wrapping yourself with it. People have often cynically called sports fandom “cheering for laundry” . . . well, when they change the laundry, that’s a big deal.

When you walk down the street in a Lions jersey, you’re signalling to others that you have invested significant time, money, and emotion in supporting the team.You allow, even invite, others to associate your own personal brand with everything the organization does. Every time the Lions win, we bask in the glory. Every time Ndamukong Suh gets a speeding ticket, friends, family, and total strangers bust our balls and lady balls.

Don the Honolulu Blue when the team is doing well, and it reflects well on you. Sport the gear when the team is doing poorly, and you run the risk of lowering yourself in others’ opinion.

This goes a step further. Amongst fellow Lions and NFL fans, jerseys (and other gear) become a matter of taste and fashion. Two years ago, I saw a fellow Lions fan in a supermarket rocking the eye-bleeding silver alternate jersey from the early Millen Era—only instead of the Charles Rogers model in the only picture of that monstrosity I could find, it was an Az-Zahir Hakim:

At a glance, I could tell several things about this person:

• They were, at best, naïve about football in 2004.
• They were unable to visually differentiate between “awful” and “awesome” in 2004.
• They are profoundly clueless about football now.
• They either remain ignorant of the difference between “awful” and “awesome,” or
• Cannot afford a more respectable jersey, and in either case
• They have absolutely no compunction about looking like an idiot in public.

You don't want to be that person. *I* don't want to be that person. I want to be the person who showed up to the 2009 home opener in a brand-new authentic home Matthew Stafford. I also, as I’ve said before, want this look, this Lions uniform, to be instantly identified with this era of Lions success—especially since, as relatively bold of a departure from the past it is, it’s still instantly identifiable as the Detroit Lions’ uniform.

That shouldn't change, and I'm thrilled it didn't.

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