When a basketball team is down by 10 points with 20 seconds left in the game they usually have their best shooters chuck up 3-point shots, not because it’s the highest percentage shot to take but because they have nothing to lose and they are SUNK if they don’t hit a couple big ones.

Martin Mayhew is this Lions organization’s best shooter and he chucked up some 3-pointers in his own way by selecting a few highly-talented players with red flags hanging off of them.

I for one, do not blame the Detroit Lions general manager for doing so. When you’re rebuilding a team that lacked more talented football players than nearly the entire league for about a decade and finally bottoms out at 0-16 you are not put in the normal position of being able to play it safe.

Martin Mayhew didn’t get this team to 10-6 and the playoffs by playing it safe and making sure that all of his draft picks were boy scouts. He made sure that every player he selected was a superior player in his opinion.

BPA stands for best player available not best person available. Continue reading “You Can’t Fault Mayhew For Choosing Highly-Talented “Risk” Players” »

OK, let me be very clear about this so that I don’t get any crazy comments directed towards me. I’m very happy to have Kellen Moore on the team. He’s the winningest QB in NCAA history, boasting a ri-dic-u-lous 50-3 record over his career. That’s awesome and I think he has all of the potential in the world.

He could be the next Drew Brees for all I know, he could also be the next Koy Detmer as well. Whose to say?

Either way I don’t care, I just would hate for him to become Detroit’s own Tim Tebow as far as hype and unwarranted coverage is concerned.

I’m just getting a little bit concerned for my Lions fan brethren and the local Detroit sports media. An undrafted QB brought in to compete for a spot at no.3 quarterback is not truly THAT exciting. But I’m seeing the beginnings of a Tim Tebow-esque style of coverage coming around the corner and I don’t like it one stinkin’ bit.

REAL training camp hasn’t even started yet and my left eye is already starting to twitch at each unnecessary mention of Kellen Moore. Continue reading “Hoping Not To Get “Tebowed” With Media Coverage Of Kellen Moore” »

If the Detroit Lions had passed on a cornerback in the third round of the draft, Lions fans may have stormed the streets like an angry lynch mob. Fortunately, the Lions did finally address their dire need in the defensive backfield by drafting Louisiana-Lafayette cornerback Dwight Bentley in the 3rd round of the NFL draft(85th overall).

Bentley has a slight build but his fiestiness and willingness to hand-fight with bigger stronger players has been noted in scouting reports. Bentley is listed at 5-foot-10 and 179 pounds and has racked up 232 tackles, 13 for a loss, 1.5 sacks, 7 interceptions and 20 passes broken up in his collegiate career with the Ragin Cajuns.

During the NFL Scouting Combine, Bentley ran the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds. That speed helped Dwight Bentley return two interceptions for touchdowns in his senior year. He also earned All Sun-Belt Conference honors twice during his time at Louisiana-Lafayette. Continue reading “CB Dwight Bentley Picked by Detroit Lions in the 3rd Round of NFL Draft” »

After fully defending the Detroit Lions 1st round pick of Riley Reiff I am having a hard time understanding what the heck they are thinking with their second round draft selection. I’m not going to start throwing around the “MM word” because it’s not fair, but the Detroit Lions have shocked many Lions fans by drafting Oklahoma wide receiver Ryan Broyles with their second-round selection (54th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft.

The Lions could have had C Peter Konz out of Wisconsin, Nebraska LB LaVonte David and various cornerbacks who were available. Evidently the Lions feel that Ryan Broyles is a better football player and they went with him. Continue reading “What?!?! Detroit Lions Draft WR Ryan Broyles In 2nd Round of NFL Draft” »

The Detroit Lions have selected Riley Reiff in the 1st round of the NFL Draft(No.23 overall). The Big Brute that anchored the Iowa Hawkeyes O-line at the left tackle position was projected to be a top-15 selection by many respected pundits.

Reiff, a 6-foot-6 and 313 pound junior, was named a first team All-America by Pro Football Weekly in 2011. Some of Reiff’s other honors include third team All-America by College Football Madness; honorable mention All-America by SI.com; first team all-Big Ten by league coaches and media; fourth team All-America and first team all-Big Ten by Phil Steele as well various other honors.

Riley Reiff is widely considered to be the second-best tackle in the 2012 draft and could eventually replace left tackle Jeff Backus. Continue reading “Detroit Lions Select Riley Reiff at No.23 – Not a “Sexy” Pick But a Smart One” »

It’s been made painfully clear that the Detroit Lions are in bad shape financially as far as the salary cap is concerned.

With so many of the team’s own elite players either being free agents or soon-to-be free agents they are currently in no position to make a huge splash in free agency for the defensive back that they so desperately need in order to take that leap to the next tier of elite NFL football teams.

So the dreams of signing a Courtland Finnegan who is reported to likely be looking for at least 10 million per year or a Brandon Carr who will also likely demand a large salary are likely to go as unfulfilled dreams.

With that it mind, it seems that the NFL draft might be the only way to go for the Lions in order to truly fill this gaping hole on the squad.

I’ve been watching a lot of the NFL combine lately and it’s getting my juices flowing and has me thinking about the next few elite-level players that are soon to be drafted by Martin Mayhew and crew. Cornerbacks ran 40 times and various drills yesterday and today and it made it hard for me to not think about the absolute TOASTINGS the Lions got in their last two games of the year.
Continue reading “Lions Probably Can’t Afford Top FA Cornerbacks – Should They Trade Up In The Draft For One?” »

I’m positively sure that I was part of a large group of Lions fans that were ecstatic about the prospect of having the big bruising back out of Illinois, Mikel Leshoure getting ready to bring his package of power and speed to the Detroit Lions backfield.

I admit that initially the draft pick caught me off guard because I wasn’t expecting the Lions to select a running back in the second round of the NFL draft, but I certainly got over the surprise of it all very quickly. I was and still am super-excited about Mikel Leshoure and what he will bring to the table.

I know he had to be truly disappointed to go down with his Achilles tear, so was I and thousands of other Lions fans. I really, really felt bad for the guy because of his great attitude and bubbly personality. The minute I saw his homemade video of the Lions drafting him I was happy to have him in the D.

To top off his exuberance to be with Detroit he went and got a Lions tattoo on his arm to show it loud and proud, even though I’m not big on tattoos for me, I became an even bigger fan of the guy. I remember when players could hardly hide the fact that they really didn’t want to be here and now guys are getting freakin’ tattoos!

But besides his high likeability factor (Sorry Suh), Mikel is a pure runner and a talented back. The guy has shown in college that he can be both thunder and lightning. He’s not some slow plodding big back, this 6’0″ 233 lb guy can get it in gear! He is just what the Lions needed this year! EXACTLY what they desperately needed.

So the question came to my mind today… Will Mikel Leshoure be fully recovered for the 2012/2013 season or will it take 2 years?

I must admit when I first heard about the type of injury I cringed and cringed hard. You never want to hear about your running back get an injured Achilles or knee, but especially an Achilles. Why? I don’t really know though because there isn’t really much history to go back on concerning RBs with Achilles injuries so it’s not like it’s some proven kiss of death for backs.

I found a couple of interesting and encouraging pieces of information though, firstly, the Mayo Clinic says recovery from an Achilles tear to full activity takes 4-6 months although they are obviously talking about full activity for normal people and not world-class athletes it’s still good news. But the second piece of encouraging news is the recovery that Demaryius Thomas of the Denver Broncos had this year, he looked pretty good on that electrifying 80-yard touchdown scamper in overtime against the Steelers didn’t he?

Demaryius Thomas came back from his torn Achilles in the same year that he tore it, he tore it in February of 2011 and was playing an important role for Tim Tebow and the Tebowites(A.K.A Denver Broncos) by mid-season, he played his first game of the season on October 23rd 2012. But then again who knows, he might have been miraculously healed by touching Tim Tebow’s jersey or something. Mikel can’t count on that.

All jokes aside, as a Lions fan I’m truly hoping to see Mikel healthy for his own sake and for the team he has embraced so graciously, I have a feeling Mikel Leshoure is going to be a big fan favorite in Detroit. He certainly has a fan in me, I’m rooting for the big guy and looking forward to seeing him take the NFL by storm!

 

 Mikel LeShoure Highlights