Ok so I used his name for a headline but my point is, lets be honest.

I wanted to write up a thought a long time ago about a flaw of the F.O. ( YES, a flaw of our Front Office ).

Why would I, simply put, I believe in Mayhew although we should still notice his faults. In my personnel opinion, there is a estranged indifference in value with our current F.O. That being said, how did I come to this.

Fox- Should have been a 1st rounder but his leg injury dropped him multiple rounds. Many thought he would be the heir apprentice to Backus. Maybe he will but his history so far says other wise.

Best- injuries have set him on the side more so then production. We all know, what he is capable on the field. One of the many, if he could just stay healthy or in the game and out of trouble guys.

Fairley - Now I know he dropped. He is an elite talent. But did he not have a injury coming out of college as well as personnel conduct type problems ? Point being, there is a reason he dropped in the draft and again, we drafted a talent who was rated much higher then we drafted. We took a chance again.

Young- He got into it with a player and I will say contributed to a lose. That is the way he played by making those mistakes. All fine and dandy until he did what he did in practice so short ago.

Culbreath - Not sure if he ever had a problem before the draft, I thought he did but I am not sure. Still he got in trouble but I am proud of him for keeping his nose clean since. I will note he was injured a majority this season.

Leshoure - I believe but am not 100% that he had problems as well. I believe this is why he was such a talent and still available. Also he was injured before preseason even happened and had multiple arrests.

Broyles - Should have been drafted higher but his MAJOR injury had him pegged later then where we drafted him.

There is a growing concern on value here IMHO. I hope to be wrong, I am not jumping ship and I am trying to not jump to conclusions here either.

Is it me, or is our F.O. missing why some of these players slipped from time to time. That maybe they stay too true to value and take the risk too early or when they should not or so on and so forth ?I just wanted to say IF there is a weakness of our F.O. it MAYBE this. I know it is still early but I wanted to take a step outside our own view and make one with objections if possible.

If I am wrong then fine, just hopping for a little more then your overreacting and some validity to why I maybe wrong.

Ok I wanted to ask POD on a poll.

This is based off the current contract situation of Avril. If Avril is not moving on his asking price of 10.5 MIL a season and over half his contract guaranteed, ( assuming this report is true ). Some think he is worth it. Some think his production is because of Suh and others on the D-line.

So lets go with this report as true. There are a few fine points that we know to be true. We need O-Line development with some players getting long in the tooth. Our DB position is in dire need. Delmas will be a FA next year, our depth and talent back their other then Houston and maybe Berry is horrible. That being said would it be wise to trade Avril ?

First I will go with the, under the circumstances.

He will not move from the current asking price and the report is correct. Of course with Mayhew working his stuff we would get at least FAIR value for Avril. I know this has been asked before. Much has changed since then and I wanted to get a new standing on what POD thinks of his current standing.

So I am not arguing that we should, just a idea as I believe we can never count out Mayhew with wheeling and dealing.

I will cut to the fat of it all. DE is still a position of need. KVB is getting old and Avril MIGHT only be under contract for a year. So what does the POD nation think about trading Avril for Osi ?

I know he is older. But, he has 3 or more very good years ahead of him. Obviously things would have to fall into place. Osi had 9 sacks in 9 games. I will say this, Avril has usually missed a few games a season other then last year. Osi is actually worth the money asked by Avril and a better talent. Leadership comes with this player, 2 time SB winner. A 3 year contract would not be that bad. Better then simply loosing Avril with no replacement. He could start and we could turn our heads to replacing KVB, a 3 yr gap before Osi's contract ending. Of course I would ask for a pick involved with this, say a 3rd or 4th rounder as well as a older player for a younger one. Just a idea if Osi's contract blows up and he becomes a must trade by NY, value by Mayhew.

This is better then a Decastro argument !! LOL

This is how we know that favoritism lays with other teams and not our Lions.

Brees, Brady and Marino, to my knowledge are the only QBs to ever reach 5,000 passing yards. To be mentioned with these guys is pretty good company. They are either Hall of Famers or will be when they hang it up. Now I might be wrong but I believe they are the only 3 to ever reach 5k in passing yards. Can anyone confirm this for me. If I am correct then WTF !! How come EVERYONE is on Brees and Bradys dick about passing 5k. Not one article not one person in any light has mentioned that Stafford as well passed 5k !! I had hopes for him passing it but about 2 weeks ago I gave up hope as well as hoping Megatron would take the #1 spot for yards as a WR and I was shown too be wrong. Just like they came back in so many games this year, they shattered records in a big way. I think everyone on pod should hit up twitter and ask them what the hell, why no love for Stafford passing 5k !!

Please rec this so we can start getting people to yell at espn or whoever you like to give Stafford and CJ there props they deserve !

UPDATE:

I tweeted M. Silver and he said, I have yet to write my article. It would be not worthy of our guys but bottom line is our starters wasted a great opportunity against backups.

Ok so Nick Barnett is visiting the Lions today. I say we show him some love and try to get him overly excited for his meeting. I am sure during his meeting he will have his phone turned off and since no one really knows what time that meeting is, we should start early and often. The rest is words to just get this posted.

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Just saw that Jordan Dizon was released per Jason LaCanfora on twitter.

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Just something I was thinking about but was not sure how to address untill I knew what the new salary cap would be. Now that it is in place, you can look to the Jets as foresight on a possible future problem. Mark Sanchez said he was willing to take a pay cut to get his FA's under contract on his team. That being said, did we draft high at the wrong time ? Getting the # 1 and 2 overall pick in the draft, over two years may hurt us going forward. Sanchez actually said he was willing to cut his pay and mentioned how he would expect others like Revis to do the same for the team. Would Suh and Stafford be willing to do that with the giant hit the new, lower cap takes ? I know we are not in huge trouble now. But with CJ needing a new contract, future draft picks and still plenty of positions that will need to be replaced or just plain filled in our back seven as well as 0-Line, we might just be in trouble cap wise in a year our two. I know there is plenty of fat to be trimmed, especially at WR on our team. That still does not make up for probley 5 starters that we actually need on our team. Just wanted to hear your thoughts.

I know. Trying to predict a draft day trade is almost pointless. But alas, with no FA or anything else, I thought this would be fun to talk about anyway. Yes I know, none of us can guess where players will go and all. So lets not try to shoot to many holes in my idea please, lets just enjoy a, this would be great or hey this could be interesting if we could for a moment ....a few more weeks and we won't have to do this anymore. We will soon all be enjoying polls of how many wins our Lions will have this coming year AND what round of the playoffs we think our team will make it too !

So I know the Lions brought in some players that have been expected to go in the late 1st round. Players who some would say would have to drop for us to get with our 2nd round. So I was wondering, what IF the Lions were to trade down, how far would they go and who we might get out of it. I was trying to come up with something that would fit our needs for the team, players that seem to be the type of guy that our FO go for. I also took into thought that Mayhew has traded players for picks and moved up. I kind of think of him as a active GM like the Pats. So in even if it is a small move, I am willing to bet our GM moves at least 1 pick or player in some way, shape or form.

I could really see us trading with the 49ers.

Think of this, the Niners need a CB and QB very bad. They luck out and get Peterson at 7 in the 1st. They trade up to the 13th because of wispers of someone taking Mallet who they might believe is their guy. They trade to us their 2nd, 3rd and some other picks that = our # 13 overall. They get a huge boost in talent in the places they need. Taking a possible franchise QB with the 13th also saves on cap, overall cost and if he busts he does not kill you like the # 1 overall pick can.

Lions could possibly get Martez Wilson and Brandon Harris. Even if they would have to move up slightly with one of these two 2nd rounders, they would have the ammo to do so. They would still have two 3rd rounders and a handful of 4th and 5th rounders as well. They may also use a 5th rounder to trade down so they have at least 1 pick in every round. This could easily produce a RB and WR with the 3rd rounders. A OG and developmental OLB with say 4th rounders. Brings available the idea of drafting Matthews in the 4th with Levy and Wilson as our OLBs. This gives us a TON of flex space based off of team needs and BPA drafting if we do this trade.

There is even a thought of trading up, we could give up our 1st and 3rd so that the Niners get their QB and we get Peterson. A draft and trade type of deal. Just thought of this as interesting since everyone is talking about trading back. This was a idea in which I could actually see a win, win for both teams that was actually possible in some way given all of the unknowns with the draft.

Feel free to tear this apart !

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AsuxIeJHa.qiW0VtfeqidjxDubYF?slug=pfw-20110320_raiders_determined_to_keep_rb_bush

Not sure I copied that correctly. Bottom line is it said Rex Ryan has been at many pro days for D-Lineman. I stated that Aldon Smith and Corey Liuget would be great fits for the Jets system and Ryan has been at both pro days. Now this is just a thought but both players very well could be off the board before the Jets pick at 30, especially Smith. Walterfootball has Smith going at 14. So just a thought, maybe they will be looking to trade up to us to get him. Additionally, would make more sense of why the Lions looked at T. Smith, WR and Pouncey, OG/C. Just a interesting way of looking at things. I do think both Smith and Pouncey will be off the board by 30 as will A. Smith and Liuget. I know this is a long shot but I have a feeling the FO will be dealing this pick unless our fav. CB drops to our laps.

Any thoughts on this ? If it happened who would you like to see us pick up at 30 ?

So I do not know much about the guy as far as tape but from what I have heard in mocks, scouting and reports from the Senior Bowl, he is a beast. He is listed at DE but thought to be able to play DT as well and will be moved around quite a bit on the D-Line for whoever drafts him. Most drafts have him being taken after pick 10. We all know someone will fall to us and I am starting to think it may be him. Would this be a bad pick ? This would give us a lot of flexability and looks like a possible, BPA approach if he is available. We could trade one of our back up DE or Corey Williams to get more picks in this draft to improve our team. Trade no one and have KVBs replacement. He is Schwartz and CO. like players who they can move around and play multiple positions. By no means am I trying to say other players SHOULD be traded....just that it is a option at this point if we pick him, given he is available at 13.

So POD, what says you on C. Jordan. I have not heard his name brought up much. He may be the more sure bet if available as well as BPA. Ayers has major potential but it is potential. In my eyes none of the LT are sticking out. They all seem to have a chance to be very good or even average at best. A CB, might be a stretch....just food for thought. I like the pick better then Ingrem or Jones if they fall.

Just a running question by NFL fans. If the NFL gets locked out and it effects the season, should we the fans, " lock out the NFL " ? If the rich wanna bla bla bla and use our tax dollars for a mediator then should we not say whatever ? I say, if they go to the point that the NFL, makes it to the point that games are missed and there is no Super Bowl, then we should cut them off. This is messed up that our tax dollars are going to this B.S. and that rich people are arguing over money when the U.S. is where it is.

I for one will drop football if this happens and I hope the NFL gets the point. This way, everyone will get to see our pain. A lock out will kill the NFL just as it has killed other sports. Just wanted to hear your thoughts POD ?

I am sure most saw on yahoo news that Champ sold his house and negotiations look bad. It said they offered 30 million for 6 years and he said no. It also stated that this offer would be higher then what he would recieve in FA.

My question to you is do you think 6 million a year for Champ sounds fair and would be worth it for that cost. Regaurdless of, our Lions will not make major splashes in FA or he would not come here. Just wanted to know if POD thinks he is worth that much ?

Just wanted to kind of play fantasy football with our team, just for fun. I wanted to get some ideas of who POD would like to trade, willing to part ways with to better the team or players they like in the draft. If you don't like my ideas that is fine. I am just bored and wanted to play some, what if, ideas with the team. I know FA is up in the air and everyone is going off current projections of rankings by draft order. So lets not be to ruff on each other. Just sick of who for SURE we should draft and wanted to hear more about the direction of the team. Certin players to me have not been bad but are not worth what we are paying them, getting older and will need a replacement ...so on and so forth.

Trade 2011

Would love to see BJ, D. Williams, K. Smith, Aaron Brown traded as well as if we can swing it, JP.

Willing to part ways with for the right reasons

Corey Williams is getting old and I believe making 3.5 a year. He is mostly a pass rusher and not the best against the run. If we don't move him this offseason, we will need to in the future. Look, I really like CW but I believe he is at the end of his career and has 1 year at best before we see a major drop off. I would rather get real value and save on the cap now then have a bigger problem next year...if this is possible. I know I did not name anyone to replace him, just a thought.

Houston...He was the best CB this year for us. That being said we have great depth and a couple of young players who may only end up being depth or average players. I would rather us focus this draft on CB and look for LB help in FA with 1 big splash and a couple of mid level pick ups for the other OLB side. Greenway would be my major offseason pick up with maybe a few smaller ones. Basically I am sick of average at best and want to make a real effort to picking players who may need a year but actually have a chance to become a shut down corner or above average CB. Houston to me does not fit more then average at CB and will test FA and get into a bidding war.

M Morris for a 3rd rounder if possible. Look, I love this guy ! He is everything I think someone wants in a player. He too falls into the getting to old and we will need a replacement. That being said, it would only be for a draft pick and a good price or else I would not want to get rid of him at all.

Gos.. He has really improved and I am thankfull for that. I am not thankfull for his salary compaired to his performance. Regaurdless if MM signed him, he still signed his name on that contract and he has not played anywhere near what he is being payed which I saw once was over 10M a season. Maybe I am wrong but that is something I am looking at.  Also he seems to have knee problems that keep nagging him and I am starting to wonder on that one.

Re-sign

Avril, McBride and L. Johnson

Draft

1st round...Would love to see us move down in this draft and try to get Harris at say 19th or somewhere around there and pick up an additional 3rd rounder.

I would trade Gos for a shot at Carimi. He seems like a bulldog and I would like to see that in our line. At best he might also be able to replace Buckas but at worst I believe would be better and cheeper then Gos. If need be we could add a 4th rounder for Carimi or something of that nature. We would at this point have 2 1st round picks as well as a 2nd 3rd rounder.

2nd round...C. Brown, I would love to see us with both these CB to load up for the future.

Being that we traded Corey W. as well as a lot of lower round picks, I think we could get into the 2nd round again. Most likely late round. I would here think about John Moffit or Bruce Carter. If we went with one of these two with a 1st 2nd rounder then we could get B Burton with this pick.

3rd round - Down.... What we would have left is depending on what we traded up to get. If we traded all of the above players and traded down with our 1st rounder we should have picked up multiple 3rd rounders. That being said we also should have a lot of lower round picks due to the first few I mentioned on trading. Players from 3rd round down I like would be...Jurrell Casey, Greg Jones, Austin Pettis,Chris O' Dowd, Casey Mathews, Deandrew McDaniels, Bilal Powel ( RB), Ahmad Black, Mark Herzlich.  These names would all depend on what picks we have left and where in the draft they are. Also if the player is available as well as who we take in the earlyer rounds.

FA

I think we have to REALLY go after AND GET, Chad Greenway. If we get him and a couple of later round OLB, we will be fine at LB. Add in someone like C. Brown and Harris in the draft and the potential is there. Saving the money from JP and Houston, we should be much lower then we are on the cap. Plenty of room to get Greenway. We would also save plenty of cash on DT and RT due to the C.W and Gos trade. That would give us room for Greenway and a older CB who could teach our young CBs and eventually move in next to Delmas much like a Charles Woodson type. These are just general ideas and wanted to know peoples thoughts.

Have fun telling me I need to be locked up and go beer !! :)  

Just wanted to hear PODs thoughts on this. Would anyone be for us going after the Bears O-Line coach. That guy, IMHO, did one of the best jobs coaching overall I think all year. Not sure what all goes into our scheme vs. his scheme that he runs. I like our coaching overall but would not mind having him on our team, thats for sure.

Well debate please, someone fill me on why this is a good or bad idea.

Has anyone heard any results on the NFL taking a pick away from us for our supposed tampering BS ? Just wondering what the ruling is on this or if there has been one. Maybe I somehow missed the final answer on this one. If no one has heard anything, could Sean look into it or someone tell me WHEN there is estimated to be a answer on it ?

Thanks and GO LIONS !!

Ahhhhh, Tried to make drag this question out in the effort I would not have to type bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla  

So I just wanted to hear peoples thoughts on our offseason. I had some thoughts to throw around on POD and wanted to hear some thoughts.

Has anyone thought about the effects Nnamdi might have on the Lions if he is not picked up by us. Could be actual good or horrible for us. If the Cowgirls pick him up, Prince might actually fall to us. Greenbay and we face him twice a year.

Haynsowrth has been tossed around for coming to the Lions. I do not see it and would not want that problem on our team. That said, anyone think now after how Shanny has treated his RB, QB and DT that maybe not everything was all his fault ? He did play well under Schwartz and was kept in check during that period as far as his additude. IF the FO decides to bring him in, do we trade Corey Williams ???  They make about the same after Big Al has collected hig big bonus. I think their would be some motivation for Big Al regaurdless of where he goes that he can still play and make out to be it was Shanny causing all the problems regaurdless of where he goes. If we did trade, not saying any of this should happen, JUST KICKING THE IDEA. We could get maybe a 3rd rounder for C. Williams.

I would love to see us double down in the 1st or even 3-4 times if possible. The way I look at it, LB, CB and O-Line is where we need to draft. The late 1st and 2nd rounds are where those players are unless Prince or Peterson fall to us at 13. This may be the last year of the expensive draft picks. That being said I would love to trade down to get multiple 2nd and/or 3rd rounders to help round out our team. Getting plenty of O-Line to help replace some of our over payed and rated players.

FA- This to me will be the year to go after FA. After this season a rookie cap will most likely be in place. FA will for then on become very expensive as players will look for their 1st big pay day. Even the Vet player minimum will go up. That being said I say shop heavy in FA this year and trade down this year in the draft. Just some of my thoughts on the process we should go about this offseason.

Can anyone explain to me why we can't get 2 high end and maybe 3 solid role or slightly above average players this year in FA ? If we are at about $95 million on pay role and say team salary cap is at or around $ 125 million. That means we have like 1/3 of our cap space available, not that we want to max it just a point. I would imagine that we will be cutting, trading or in some way getting rid of, DW, BJ, JP K SMOOTH and A. Brown at the least. That should drop us by around 12 million in my guess, taking us too $83 million. That should leave us plenty of space to go after some players like or of at least this quality and position. Greenway, J. Joseph, Breston, M. Bush.

If we get this 4 postition addressed in FA and trade down for multiple picks, we should be very well balanced next year. We would be able to easily get players in the draft at LB, C, R-OG, OT, CB.

This is just very general and think in my mind very possible. Please don't slam me on the Big - Al thing. I am approaching it as if the Lions made the move, regaurdless of what we the fans think. Your thoughts ???

I know alot of people do not like talking about draft and FA this early. But a few things got me thinking more so on how we could end the season with a few more wins then some thought. With all the talk of trade CJ and so on, I got to thinking about some things that I have not heard anyone talk about that might or could actually happen. I will list below some FA pick ups and a short mock and let me know what you think.

FA pick ups.

Champ, CB This would give us a sold CB who could teach our younger guys and be a bridge to our future picks at CB untill they draft the CBs they need.

Mangold, C. As most know, we can not run up the middle or RG. This would change all of that at C at least.

Hawthorne LB This to me fills a obvious need.

Draft

Round 1 A.J Green -

 People keep talking about trading CJ but what about pairing him with Green ? The truth is with us winning that last game and possibly being able to win 2 more with Farve out for the season we might not be able to draft Prince or Peterson. If Green is their we team him with CJ and move Nate to the slot. This would keep Defenses honest and not bring a safety up in the box. Also keeping Stafford more up right while helping the run. If CJ leaves then we have his replacement.

Round 2  Either Burton CB or Carter/ Jones LB.

By going LB we would have our front 7 in place, Champ and Delmas in place as well. I would hope Berry, Palmer, Spivey or Phonze would step up to REALLY fill in another spot back their. This is of course if Houston does not stay with the team. Either way we don't look horrible in the back 4 and with the front 7 much improved, it will benefit our back 4. If LB is not available the I like Burton from Utah to bolster the back 4 if Houston leaves.

Round 3 Moffit for RG

Again this helps protect Stafford as well as improve our run Offense as well as limit the Penalties ....I hope.

Everything else could be BPA

Do this and one could argue in the future their would be very little needed to add to our team, some additions to the back 4, LT and maybe a change of pace RB in the future  and we would have a VERY solid team. We would be able to score at a high rate with a D that I would guess, be at least 10th in the league. That being said we should limit the other teams scoring below their season average while ours fires off points and at the end, we just need to score more then the other guys.

Tell me what you all think, thanks !

Well I just had some stuff rolling around in my head. I live in Texas as many of you know and almost never get to see a game, have anyone to talk with about the Lions or really get to see and grade our talent on the team. I had some questions/ thoughts and just wanted to leave a place for everyone to ramble so here goes.

I am sick of the talk of Schwartz being fired. I know it is only by few but regaurdless of what we the fans think, he will be here next year so lets just let it rest till this time next year and we can talk about it then.

Avril really stepped up this last game and I was very impressed and happy to see him have a big game.

Sorry Staton, I thought you would stink it up very bad vs. the Bears even tho I was cheering you on to make me eat my words. You did and I hope you just continue to make me eat my words in the rest of the games you play this year. Regaurdless if you stay a Lion, good luck to you next year and thanks for the hard work.

Anyone think since KVB is having neck surgery that we may take a DE in the 1st round next year instead of Peterson the CB ? Would love to hear peoples thoughts on this.

Who should the Lions take with their 2nd round pick. I have heard Greg Jones mostly. He is a MLB tho and we have Levy. What does everyone think of Bruce Carter ? If both players are available, who would you take if going for a LB. Should we even go for LB with this pick and is their any other player we should pick instead.

Calvin - Wow this is not a suprise to me that he would think about leaving due to the lack of wins. But to me you keep that in house, especially when the season is not over yet. He just brought a bunch of negative light to the team and upset the fan base which was not needed and uncalled for. Do I understand and feel what he was saying, yes. But that should be addressed to the FO behind closed doors.

If he does not want to sign a contract extention before next season, I think the Lions should at least consider trading him to what they could get. I love Calvin as a Lion but if the feeling is he will not sign, I sure would hate to loose him and get nothing for only 1 more yr of service. A.J. Green would make a nice replacement if the FO really thinks this is a trade that needs to be made. I am leaving it to them to make this call. I am simply saying that through the FO and Calvin talking and things don't look good they should trade him. This is something that us the fans will never know what is being said behind those doors so I leave that discision to the FO. Some will blast me for that but like I said, IF IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE WE WILL BE RETAINING HIS SERVICES OTHER THEN NEXT YEAR. I would rather get something then just let him walk. Hope he stays tho bottom line.

Love to hear your responses !

Well another tough loss ....it leaves most of us speechless, frustrated, angry and asking ourselfs what might have been.

I still have high hopes for this team, people have blasted the team, players and the coaching staff this season. I will tell you I really think we just need one more year although most expected, and rightfully so, more wins this season. At this point, the season has left me with these thoughts. When we have our D-Line, the most complete group on our team missing our starting DE at least 3 games this season it hurts. We have lost our starting QB for most the season as well as our 2nd string QB for a bit and not playing in many games at 100% with a broken arm. Starting OLB and speacial teams ace out for the season. Starting MLB out for half the season. Starting Safety hurt early in the season and slightly hampered by a groin injury. Berry really seemed like something special, half a game and he had a pick, 2 PD and 2 tackles and he was lost for the season. Our O-Line has not missed many games but has been beat up a bit and missed many practices with injuries as well.

At the start of the season, many expected at least 6 wins from our team. We said, if they could stay healthy. With the amount of injuries to this team, even tho we have high expectations it is easy to see why we have came to where we are. Schwartz saying one more play on Offense and Special teams and one more stop on Defense really = 1 more player on those squads. Drafting Peterson will shore up our secondary and make that extra play we need. It might not be in the end of the game, maybe in the 2nd or 3rd quarter. That will be the diffrence. Many do not talk about his return abilities, that will convert some punts into field goals and field goals into TDs. Look at how much we are losing by on average and with those players healthy and add in Peterson...that in itself may very well change.

I would love to see a RG and OLB added in FA.....if we fix that we could take another OLB in the 2nd round and a C in the 3rd round or even move our 3rd rounder up to get one in the 2nd round. Replacing our OLBs, RG, C and a CB who is also an amazing return man....Watch out for this team. We have to remember that the man whos name I will not mention, as horrible as he was. It took him 8 years to leave our team virtually empty of talent. Do we really believe that in simply 2 years of drafting and FA that this team will be fixed.

People sometimes forget how many holes this team still has and knock the coaching staff. Yes we do great in the 1st half and crumple in the 2nd. Could it be that they other team sees those holes and make adjustments ? Yes I know, we need to make them too. The problem is we still do not have enough talent to do that, cover our weak spots or the depth to play through injuries. People talk about how many mistakes our players make and it reflects on our coaches. I would say normally yes. But it is not like Schwartzs has an option to bench Peterman and let some great young draft pick to replace him. The old saying that you cant fix stupid kind of applys to this. You can only coach so much, the player has to have the talent and take that coaching as well and turn it into production at some point and time.

I remember the Patriots making a call that last season that some people were like what are you doing ??? Hine sight is 20/20. Schwartz is a young coach, I think sometimes he trys to instill confidence in his team. When he says things like, our D has been playing well so I gave them a chance and so on. At some point you have to start believing in your team. I think he has given them chances to prove themselfs. Remember when Eli Manning started and looked horrible after being drafted. He lost his first 7 games. Sometimes with a young/ bad not fully replaced team you have to start believing in your young players and give them a chance. Once you do that, you can't really turn back because it shows lack of trust. We have a young team and I think they have made the decision to say look, you can loose all you want but you will play and it is up to you. You can make mistakes and suck all you want but your staying in. That would point to why the Phonze stayed in the game so long.

Just some other thoughts on where our team is at and MAYBE why things are happening. I believe if we add those type of picks and 2 FA, and we have no serious injuries carry over from last year to this year. Knock on wood...Stafford and all major players are healthy for next year then we will sky rocket next season and win 8 games at the least. I live in Texas and remember a few years back when Romo first started being the starting QB of their team. They lost about 4 games on field goals because they had virtually no kicker. It just goes to show how a complete team is needed with at least average talent on all positions. We still have people on this team starting that would not be on anybody elses team in the NFL. Once that is fixed, we will see a huge chance. Another thought...yes this is only the 1st time we have had the same head coach, O and D coach stay for 2 seasons in a row. Remember tho, both last year and this years team have had the roster up ended and for many this is their 1st year in our system. When we finally get enough talent and stop up ending the roster. We will again be a winner.

Sorry for it being so long, GO LIONS !!

Just a little thought that I have not heard anyone bring up. Should we trade Corey Williams ?

I am not trying to play fantasy football and sometime I think it fun just to spark a debate. I am not really against CW but I will say this. I believe if I remember correctly that he is set to make 3.5 mill next year and is the last year we have on his contract. I would imagine that since he is currently 30, we may not sign him to a long term contract. Moving forward to a younger team since we are rebuilding seems like a smart move. I do not get to EVER see games since I live in TX so I seem to live off stats and POD. From what I understand he is active on the line and good at pass rushing but not a run stuffer.

 My replacment idea was simple. If we get a 4th rounder or so for CW we could try to get Jared Crick who played next to Suh at Nebraska. He is listed as the top pick in the 3rd round on multiple sites. I am sure Detroit could use some lower round pick and what they get for CW to move up to get him or a number of combinations to get the pick. I guess bottom line, how would everyone feel about picking up Crick and trading CW.  I would rather see him traded then loose him in a year anyway. But most of all I would like to keep him if he is willing to take a pay cut since he does not seem to be the best at the run. If I am off on this, like I said I do not get to see the games so please let me know what you all think.

On yahoo home page headlines their is a article about Stafford. It says in there that Smith will be having surgery on his thumb and will not be on the roster for the Dallas game bottom line. My guess is this happened just today in practice in a freak accident. Hope he gets better soon and this really sucks given our lack of running game we already have. Regaurdless I hope he gets better soon. Also, I wanted to ask POD if anyone thinks we need to add a bruiser for a back. Be it in a late round draft choice, free agent or how ever. I still think we need one. I know most of our problems are on the O-Line but we could use some meat in the back field. Morris is not doing anything and to old for a re-building team, Smith still recovering, Beat is too small, Brown is just not the talent we need IMHO.

OK I know it is still early in the season but with only 2 wins, no playoff chances and Stafford out for the season. I have lost faith in being positive for any kind of real development or a chance to get back into the race for the North. That being said we will be granted a high draft pick again. I took a quick peak at what they have Detroit listed as taking and it has Da' Quan Bowers DE of Clemson.

I wanted to not argue about who we should take or what place we will be drafting due to the season still having so many games to play and that could have an effect on draft order or who is available. I do want to put a disclaimer that I have not been able to watch many games since I live in Texas. I also am not trying to play fantasy football or anything here. I am looking at pure stats, not what I am missing in the game play. This is where I hope some of you will tell me, ( in a nice way ) if this would be a bad idea.

If we have a high pick at DE, should we not try to trade Avril ? He has kind of been the same stat wise this year as last. I expected a higher production from him this year since the line is much improved from last year. He has been injured for a game earlyer and we seem to have a lot of depth produces very close to how he does. If we can get a 2nd rounder out of him we could really use it improve the team vs Avril riding the pine behind this guy. It was just a thought, I am not looking to replace him, but if the talant in the draft says take this guy at this pick and he is much better then Avril. We could use a 2nd rounder to pick up a new O-line player. Our other 2nd rounder on a LB. IMO that would make sense.

All of this would be of course if this is where we draft and our FO believes in the guy and drafts him. Then Avril would be kind of expendable at that point. Again, not looking to trade him but if we get Bowers then he is not really a need for the team and could be traded to fill an actual need for the team. Just wanted to see what everyone thought. It seems that if they were to draft Bowers that high that the wrighting on the wall would say Avril may be gone.  Thanks for your input guys.

Hey I know it is WAY EARLY...but just some what if's here. Lets say Stafford goes on IR and needs surgery. Lets say that with him out and Hill not looking like returning soon we finish with 3 wins. We would most likely be in the top 5 picks. Or even say Stafford misses the next 3 games or so and like I said we finsih with 3 wins and Stafford is able to look good and finish the season on what seems to be healthy. Would any of you think that Stafford, for the right price would be worth trading away with the QB's that will be comming out this year and us having a top 5 pick. Could even be a draft day trade to ensure we get teh QB we want. So say for example the Raiders have to many wins to get the QB they want. We trade Stafford for this years 1st and 3rd round picks as well as next years 1st rounder. Take someone like Luck with our 5th overall pick and then we have multiple draft picks to work with this year and next.

1.) I would say, for the right price then yes. Bottom line to me, is even if he comes back healthy and never becomes injured after this injury. He will more then likely have a shorter career due to hurting both shoulders and knee twice.

2.) Also we would get the new QB for a cheeper price at say 5th overall.

3.) I  have not looked to hard at the QBs this year since we have Stafford but if Mayhew and Schwartz see a QB at # 5 that is just as good as Stafford and maybe even better.

I guess the question I have is if the 3 above things were possible, would you be O.K. with the idea of making a trade at QB.

I am not trying to jump on the whole, Stafford is injury prone thing. Just moving forward I think the length of his career will for sure be shortened and I don't want a really good QB for 8 years. I am sure some will say having what is a good QB when healthy for 8 years is better then an unknow in a draft. Just realize, if Stafford gets healthy for this year and we suddenly have a playoff team or even say Super Bowl caliber team and Stafford goes down again...we will not be in a position to draft as high more then likely so this is more or less just a kick the tires idea. I see alot of people think he is injury prone and want to see what everyones thoughts actually are. Regaurdless, get well soon Staff. we need you.

Cowboys just released him. Anyone think he maybe a interesting pick up. He runs a 4.49 40 and is 6'1 244lbs. That is around the size that Shwartz seems to like at LB. He is also very young and we could hope for a Phonze like performance after a change of team. It would not cost us a draft pick so I say heck yeah since we lost Follet. I did read he has played fairly well on Speacial Teams but has not caught on to the Cowboys 3-4 Defense. I believe he played 4-3 in college but I am not sure. Here is some info on his college years.

Williams then attended Western Illinois University where he majored in Exercise science and was a member of Delta Upsilon Fraternity. As a true freshman in 2004 he redshirt. In 2005, he played in 10 of 11 games and recorded 23 tackles (14 solo). He also started the final two games of the season at strong safety. As a sophomore in 2006, he started all 11 games at linebacker, the only one to do so that season. He recorded 92 tackles, three sacks, three forced fumbles, one interception. He also earned All-Gateway Conference honorable mention and earned the team’s Green Beret award for his significant contributions to the kicking game.

As a junior in 2007, Williams recorded 107 tackles, eight sacks and five forced fumbles, all of which led the Gateway Conference. The five forced fumbles tied a school record, while ranking fifth in the nation. He was also named to the AFCA All-America Team, the Associated Press All-America Second-team and The Sports Network All-America Second-team, as well as being a First-team All-Gateway selection, while ranking among the nation’s top 50 defensive players in tackles for loss, total tackles and sacks. He was also a runner-up for the Gateway Defensive Player of the Year Award. He was also named the team’s defensive MVP at the teams annual awards banquet.

As a senior in 2008, Williams was named to Lindy's pre-season All-America First-team and the Consensus Draft Services All-America Second-team. He was also one of three linebacks named to The Sporting News' pre-season FCS All-America team. He was also named to Phil Steele's pre-season All-America First-team. For the season, Williams recorded 67 tackles (39 solo), 14.5 tackles-for-losses and led the nation with a school-record six forced fumbles. He finished fourth in the Buck Buchanan award voting. He was also named to the Associated Press All-America First-team, the Sports Network All-America First-team and the College Sporting News All-Ameerica team. He also became the first player in school history to earn repeated AFCA All-America honors, he was also named the team's Defensive MVP and played in the East-West Shrine Game.

Williams ended his career by setting a FCS record and tied the NCAA all-division record of 14 career forced fumbles. While at Western Illinois, he recorded a career total of 289 tackles, 15.0 sacks, 45 tackles-for-loss, 14 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 12 pass breakups, one interception and a blocked kick while starting 35-of-43 games.

Anyones thoughts or know anything more about this guy ?