SB Nation - Brandon Middleton

Saints @ Lions: Defensive and Special Teams Scouting Report

Saintsational — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:00:07 -0000

Defensive Rankings

Team	Yds / Game	Yds / Play	Rush Yards / Game	Rush Yards / Play	Pass Yards / Game	Pass Yards / Play	Int. Rate	Sacks / Pass Att.	First Downs / Game	Punt Return Avg	Kickoff Return Avg	Field Goals Made	3rd Down Pct	4th Down Pct	Red Zone Pct	Goal to Go%	Avg Time of Poss.	Pts. / Game
DET	389.6	6.22	168.7	4.93	220.9	8.31	1.08%	6.99%	21.3	8.4	22.7	42.44%	75.00%	64.29%	85.71%	31.7	-14.6	-123.8
Rank	31	32	32	31	21	32	32	9	32	11	13	23	29t	30	30t	32	31	32

Rushing Defense

Left End

Left Tackle

Left Guard

Up the Middle

Right Guard

Right Tackle

Right End

Plays: 82

Plays: 72

Plays: 19

Plays: 105

Plays: 22

Plays: 81

Plays: 75

NFL Rank: 1

NFL Rank: 3

NFL Rank: 29

NFL Rank: 16

NFL Rank: 27

NFL Rank: 1

Avg Gain: 5.71

Avg Gain: 5.76

Avg Gain: 3.84

Avg Gain: 6.23

Avg Gain: 3.32

Avg Gain: 4.62

Avg Gain: 4.24

NFL Rank: 22

NFL Rank: 32

NFL Rank: 13

NFL Rank: 32

NFL Rank: 10

NFL Rank: 21

NFL Rank: 10

Passing Defense

Short Left	Short Middle	Short Right	Deep Left	Deep Middle	Deep Right




















Plays: 107	Plays: 65	Plays: 132	Plays: 28	Plays: 15	Plays: 27
NFL Rank: 28	NFL Rank: 30	NFL Rank: 29	NFL Rank: 17	NFL Rank: 29	NFL Rank: 23
Avg Gain: 7.22	Avg Gain: 8.38	Avg Gain: 7.14	Avg Gain: 20.14	Avg Gain: 9.53	Avg Gain: 13.93
NFL Rank: 27	NFL Rank: 30	NFL Rank: 32	NFL Rank: 32	NFL Rank: 4	NFL Rank: 29

Individual Stats

Interceptions	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
R.Nece	1	18	18.0	18	0
L.Bodden	1	2	2.0	2	0
C.Smith	1	0	0.0	0	0
D.White	1	-4	-4.0	-4	0

Punting	No	Yds	Avg	Net	TB	In	Lg	B
N.Harris	79	3503	44.3	38.2	5	22	66	0

Punt Returns	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
S.McDonald	11	8	104	9.5	27	0
M.Furrey	5	5	36	7.2	20	0
A.Cason	3	0	27	9.0	13	0

Kickoff Returns	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
B.Middleton	39	864	22.2	42	0
A.Cason	27	631	23.4	46	0
M.Thomas	4	93	23.3	27	0

Field Goals	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
J.Hanson	0/ 0	3/ 3	4/ 5	6/ 6	8/ 8

Wednesday Notes: Lions Re-Sign Cason, Release Middleton

Sean Yuille — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:14:22 -0000

The Lions released wide receiver Brandon Middleton and re-signed Aveion Cason on Tuesday. Wide receiver John Standeford was also re-signed after fullback Darian Barnes was released. Barnes was on the roster for depth purposes while Jerome Felton was injured. Now that Felton is healthy again, Barnes was no longer needed.
Apparently the Jaguars were making jokes about the Lions during Sunday's game. Kevin Smith tried to defend his team by saying that Jacksonville also sucks, but the Jaguars simply came back by saying, "Well, not as bad as (you)." Smith then agreed with whoever said that since no one sucks as bad as the Lions.
Some Lions players aren't acting like they are on an 0-9 team.
Rod Marinelli shared an interesting metaphor at his press conference earlier this week.

“You’re in this dark tunnel and you’ve got no way out,” he said. “You’re waiting for light, and you see that light, what do you do? What do you do? You start digging and getting out. … I’ve always believed you stay in the tunnel and you keep digging when you expect no light.

“You have the same faith when you expect no light. You have the same belief in what you’re doing when you expect no light. … It’s dark and I’m going to dig through. My shovel is sharp and my pick is sharp and my will is outstanding.”
I was following what Rod was saying initially, but why would you dig your way out of a tunnel? If it's dark and you suddenly see a light, wouldn't you go to it? And if there was something to dig out of, how was the light showing through in the first place? I'm so confused.
Pro Football Talk has the details on how Daunte Culpepper can get his $1 million incentive. He has to participate in 5% of the Lions' offensive plays before anything else, and then he can become eligible to make the incentive.
Speaking of Culpepper, he reportedly weighed 280 pounds at his physical with the Lions.
How desperate were the injury-riddled Denver Broncos for a healthy running back? Well, they signed Tatum Bell on Wednesday. I never thought Bell would play in the NFL again after allegedly stealing Rudi Johnson's bags, but then again, Denver is where he played before he was traded to the Lions in 2007.
The Steelers signed former Lions cornerback Fernando Bryant on Monday.
I was a guest on the Pigskin Podcast last Friday. You can listen to my interview here.

Week 8 Injury Report

Sean Yuille — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:00:04 -0000

DETROIT LIONS
Pos.	Player	Injury	Status
WR	Brandon Middleton	Hamstring	Probable
TE	Michael Gaines	Knee	Questionable
DT	Cory Redding	Knee	Probable
DT	Chuck Darby	Calf	Questionable
DT	Shaun Cody	Elbow	Questionable
LB	Jordon Dizon	Hamstring	Doubtful
LB	Gilbert Gardner	Knee	Probable
S	Dwight Smith	Foot	Out

WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Pos.	Player	Injury	Status
RB	Ladell Betts	Knee	Out
RB	Clinton Portis	Hip	Questionable
WR	Malcolm Kelly	Knee	Out
TE	Todd Yoder	Thigh	Probable
OT	Chris Samuels	Personal	Probable
OG	Pete Kendall	Knee	Probable
DE	Jason Taylor	Calf	Questionable
DT	Cornelius Griffin	Shoulder	Out
CB	Shawn Springs	Calf	Out
CB	Carlos Rogers	Calf	Probable
CB	Fred Smoot	Groin	Probable
S	LaRon Landry	Hamstring	Questionable
S	Chris Horton	Ankle	Probable

NFL INJURY REPORT GUIDE
Status	Definition
Probable	75% chance that the player will play in the game
Questionable	50% chance that the player will play in the game
Doubtful	25% chance that the player will play in the game
Out	0% chance that the player will play in the game

Lions Make Changes to Week 2 Depth Chart

Sean Yuille — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:37:18 -0000

With one game under their belts, Lions coaches now have a better idea of who should be starting. Although the preseason gives coaches a brief chance to get an idea of what the depth chart should be, it can only tell you so much. That is why after only one game there are quite a few changes to the Lions' depth chart.

The official changes that Rod Marinelli has confirmed are that newly signed wide receiver Brandon Middleton will replace Mike Furrey as the team's kick returner, Furrey will return punts instead of Shaun McDonald, and Leigh Bodden will start instead of Travis Fisher at cornerback. Tom Kowalski also reports that Manny Ramirez will replace Stephen Peterman at right guard and Daniel Bullocks will start at free safety instead of Gerald Alexander.

I'm all for the above-mentioned moves as changes did need to be made after how bad things went against Atlanta. Middleton looked good returning kicks in the preseason, and let's be honest, he can't be any worse than Furrey. Similarly, Furrey can't be any worse than McDonald at punt returner, so here's to hoping that part of the Lions' special teams also improves.

As far as Bodden starting instead of Fisher, I wonder why this move didn't happen sooner. Moving to the o-line, Stephen Peterman struggled at right guard last Sunday, so him getting replaced doesn't come as a big surprise. Finally, now that Daniel Bullocks is back to 100% health, he has retaken the starting job at free safety.

One other thing to mention is that Jordon Dizon will play more than he did against Atlanta. This is being done as he played pretty well on Sunday and this move can ease him in gradually. Eventually the hope is that he will be a starter, so the Lions are simply taking it one step at a time right now and are increasing his playing time game-by-game.

If all of the changes previously mentioned do happen, then below is what the Lions' depth chart should look like against Green Bay on Sunday.

OFFENSE
Pos.	First String		Second String		Third String
QB	8	Jon Kitna	6	Dan Orlovsky	5	Drew Stanton
HB	34	Kevin Smith	32	Rudi Johnson	33	Marcus Thomas
FB	45	Jerome Felton
WR	11	Roy Williams	84	Shaun McDonald
WR	81	Calvin Johnson	87	Mike Furrey	10	Brandon Middleton
TE	86	Michael Gaines	82	Casey FitzSimmons	83	John Owens
LT	76	Jeff Backus	74	Damion Cook
LG	64	Edwin Mulitalo
C	51	Dominic Raiola	67	Andy McCollum
RG	63	Manny Ramirez	66	Stephen Peterman
RT	72	George Foster	77	Gosder Cherilus
DEFENSE
Pos.	First String		Second String		Third String
LE	95	Jared DeVries	97	Ikaika Alama-Francis
NT	91	Chuck Darby	75	Shaun Cody	98	Landon Cohen
UT	78	Cory Redding	79	Langston Moore	96	Andre Fluellen
RE	99	Dewayne White	93	Corey Smith	92	Cliff Avril
WLB	50	Ernie Sims	54	Gilbert Gardner
MLB	53	Paris Lenon	57	Jordon Dizon
SLB	59	Alex Lewis	55	Ryan Nece
LCB	25	Brian Kelly	23	Keith Smith	38	Ramzee Robinson
RCB	28	Leigh Bodden	21	Travis Fisher
FS	27	Daniel Bullocks	42	Gerald Alexander	24	Kalvin Pearson
SS	26	Dwight Smith
SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos.	First String		Second String		Third String
K	4	Jason Hanson
P	2	Nick Harris
H	2	Nick Harris
LS	48	Don Muhlbach
PR	87	Mike Furrey
KR	10	Brandon Middleton

Lions Move Dan Campbell to IR, Sign Brandon Middleton

Sean Yuille — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:40:39 -0000

The Lions unsurprisingly placed tight end Dan Campbell on the injured reserve today. Campbell has been bothered by a lingering hamstring injury that just never seemed to get better. He missed all of the preseason and was limited in practice when he was healthy enough to return.

In Sunday's game, Campbell re-injured his hamstring injury on the only catch he made. As soon as the play was over Campbell limped off the field, and the feeling yesterday was that he probably was going to be out for an extended period of time. Knowing that, the Lions decided to put him on the IR for the second straight season.

To replace Campbell on the roster, the Lions signed wide receiver Brandon Middleton. Middleton had a solid finish to the preseason and would have been the Lions' fifth receiver if they kept that many. They didn't, though, and decided to carry an extra tight end instead, so Middleton was cut. However, now that Campbell is gone, the Lions will have five receivers on the active roster, meaning Middleton is back with the team.

Losing Campbell hurts, but it isn't a devastating injury by any means. The Lions have solid depth at tight end anyways, and the addition of Middleton will hopefully help Detroit's special teams as he is likely going to return kicks this week. Mike Furrey didn't do much of anything on kick returns against Atlanta, so hopefully Middleton will some success against Green Bay.

Lions Release 20, Place 2 on IR to Trim Roster to 53 Players

Sean Yuille — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:39:01 -0000

The Lions announced their 53-man roster today after releasing 20 players and placing 2 on the injured reserve. The two players placed on the IR were running backs Brian Calhoun and Aveion Cason. With both Calhoun and Cason done for the year, you would have thought that Artose Pinner would make the team, but he didn't. That means the Lions will carry only two running backs going into the regular season.

Here is the full list of the players released today by Detroit:

QB Drew Henson
RB Artose Pinner
WR Ron Bellamy
WR Devale Ellis
WR Brandon Middleton
WR Kenneth Moore
WR John Standeford
TE Clark Harris
OT Jonathan Scott
OG Frank Davis
OG Corey Hulsey
DE Victor DeGrate
DE Rudolph Hardie
LB Darnell Bing
LB Buster Davis
LB Leon Joe
CB Dovonte Edwards
CB Kiwaukee Thomas
S Greg Blue
S LaMarcus Hicks

I'll post a full analysis of what all of this means tomorrow.