SB Nation User Blog: Steven Ortlieb

Book 'Em, Dan-O!

Steven Ortlieb — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:36:33 -0000

So maybe I just wanted to reference that quote. But putting a little thought into how I would transition the title of the article, I realized that maybe Dan Orlovsky does have something he might need to book in the near future. Plane tickets for a flight out of Detroit.

It seems as though the organization would like to move in a different direction. Drafted in 2005 and left on the bench, it's pretty apparent that Orlovsky has never really been their long-term plan for the starting quarterback role. The only reason he's in now is because something needed to change, and the Lions decided that Jon Kitna could be the temporary scapegoat. I really hope that they aren't pulling another "Kitna" right now, with Orlovsky's injured thumb. To use that as an excuse to get him out of there and replace him with Daunte Culpepper would be pathetic. Mr. Culpepper might not be done with the NFL just yet. Who knows? Perhaps his knee is recovered, and his career did not end as I thought it had in Oakland, the aptly nicknamed "Quarterback Graveyard." Maybe he does have some good games left in his arsenal still. But I digress. This FanPost isn't about Daunte Culpepper. It isn't about the next mistake on the laundry list of blunders that the Detroit Lions have made. This is about me. It's about me, jumping on the Danwagon.

Sure, he's no Tom Brady. He's not a Manning Brother. But, he doesn't need to be. This team is not going to the Super Bowl in the next few seasons, barring a miracle. They have entered what should become a rebuilding stage. I'll admit that I do think that most things about the Lions need to be changed, but there are a few players that deserve to stay. My vote for this team's QB during the rebuilding period goes to Dan-O. Initially, I thought that they should give Stanton more playing time to prepare him for the future. I'm not taking that back, I still think he should see some playing time. But with the progress I've seen from Orlovsky in recent weeks, there's no reason to make a switch. An injury is one thing. Even then, I'm all for Stanton stepping in until Orlovsky is ready to return. I guess by this point, you're probably ready for the reasoning behind my enthusiasm. It really comes down to two main points: Orlovsky's enthusiasm, and the progress he's shown on the football field.

Enthusiasm first. I have not seen someone this happy to be playing for the Detroit Lions, ever. His story already has a "feel-good" air to it--he's been a backup on the losingest team in recent NFL history, who for all intents and purposes appeared to be a career backup. The Lions felt they had to shake things up, and Kitna was placed on IR. This meant that Orlovsky was the interim starter. Many people feel that he's not the long term answer. Dan-O is taking this in stride, simply making the most of his opportunity. I recently read an article on the Detroit Lions website about Dan Orlovsky in which he was speaking on the possibility of Culpepper filling his shoes, Orlovsky had this to say:

"I don't think about it one bit. I'll continue to prepare. I love these guys I'm playing with now. I went up to Dom (center Dominic Raiola) after the game and told him, 'I know we came out on the short end, but I love being out there."

It's quite possible that some Lions fans might find this maddening. Orlovsky, after all, has started 4 games thus far for the Lions and lost all of them. But let's be serious. It's the Lions. They are not going to win right now. Still, he's managed to keep them close these past few weeks. He knows that the only chance he's got for keeping this position is his play on the field. Of his thumb injury, he's said that he has no doubts that it will prevent him from being capable of starting come Sunday. I see a football player hungry to prove himself. That makes one total player on the field come Sundays for the Lions, as far as I can count.

When asked about his success during the first half of last Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears, Orlovsky passed around the credit to everyone else until none of it was left for himself. He gave Calvin Johnson some of it. Some went to Shaun McDonald. Some to Mike Furrey. He said the offensive line was the best he'd seen it since he'd been in Detroit. Some of it even went to Jim Colletto, although the offensive coordinator said he saw some plays run that "he'd never even seen before" after an equipment malfunction apparently left Orlovsky and the coordinator temporarily unable to communicate. One final quote from Orlovsky, the one that made me genuinely happy to have him playing QB for the Lions right now. You can tell he's enjoying every minute. He's really got nothing to lose, when it comes down to it.

"It was fun to be in the fight, to go down, to come back and have it go down to the wire--that was fun. That's why you play football. We get caught up sometimes with Xs and Os and dollars and everything that goes into this business, but being in this stadium, in this city, against this team with its history. It was just fun to be out there today. We came up short, but we'll keep working. I'll keep working. Today I think we made a pretty good step."

Orlovsky seems to be a stand-up guy. He's sort of an underdog player, the kind that I especially like to root for. But it isn't simply his enthusiasm (and mine) that lead me to believe he deserves to remain the starter for this season and the next. It's also his development. He's seemed to improve week to week. I'll admit, his throws are often off-target and he has thrown a few to the opponents. So do most QBs who are seeing their first extended NFL action. And when I watched the game against the Bears yesterday, I was sold. The playing surface was slippery. He threw an interception early, and did not look great. Dan-O recovered nicely though. There was a fake handoff on which he nonchalantly turned his back and took a few steps away from the play. The way he ran it was impressive, with the confidence he displayed in his teammates by completely turning his back on a shaky offensive line that has been known to let defenders right through. Taking his time, he turned back around and fired a pass down the middle of the field for a completion. That one actually did remind me of Tom Brady.

Then there was the touchdown pass to the corner of the endzone, lofted to where only Calvin Johnson could grab it. There were the 8 straight completions. There was the other touchdown pass to Shaun McDonald in the corner of the endzone, as Orlovsky was under pressure. The pass was almost as well-placed as the one to Johnson. He finished the first half 14 for 18.

His play was by no means perfect. He did leave a lot of passes hanging-- there was the broken up pass in the endzone to Calvin Johnson, and a long pass near the end of the game to Johnson on the final drive that could have been a completion had it been thrown better. There was also the interception in the endzone on a pass intended for Johnson, which was a mistake he probably should not have made.

Still, Orlovsky had his team in position to win at the end. The final drive came up short as he tossed a pass into the end zone that was batted down. I turned off my television afterward with the depressing feeling of having spent another Sunday afternoon watching the Lions lose. But there was a difference. This time, I didn't feel as if the time had been wasted. I'd had fun watching Orlovsky. He distributed the ball evenly to different receivers, working the field. The touchdowns were impressive. His mistakes didn't leave me frustrated as Kitna's had, feeling like we had a team that was going nowhere. I am OK with the fact that the Lions are in rebuilding mode. If I, as a fan, am willing to tolerate a few mistakes from a learning QB on an 0-8 ball team, I do not see why ownership needs to bring in another veteran out of his prime in Culpepper to get through the rebuilding time (wait, did Kitna ever have a prime?). Come on guys, show Dan-O some "lov." Let him be the man to lead the team for the next few years. I have a feeling he'll prove to be a pleasant surprise if given the chance.

When Losing Was Fun

Steven Ortlieb — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:06:06 -0000

I can remember a time in Detroit when winning was actually a possibility. My dad and I would sit down in our living room and turn on the tv, ready for a Sunday afternoon of Detroit football. The Lions won sometimes. It sounds weird to say, but it's the truth. Even then they were a franchise headed nowhere fast. When they did manage to crack the playoffs, they did not succeed. But back then, a loss was not taken like it is today. Back then, when our Lions lost, it was cause for anger. It was a game that could have been won; a game that they should have pulled out of with a victory, but we had somehow managed to blow it. Now when they lose, I am not surprised in the least. No anger, no disappointment, no playoff hopes dashed. I simply shrug my shoulders and ask, "by how much?"

The 90's were one of the most successful decades in team history. Wayne Fontes' lovable mediocrity. Barry Sanders running circles around opponents' defenses, always providing a show until he retired abruptly after the 1998 season. The team reached the playoffs six times during the decade. They put up a fight in their division year after year. They could never seem to hang with Brett Favre and those pesky Green Bay Packers, but it was fun. In 1999, the Lions limped into the playoffs by losing four straight and finishing with an 8-8 mark. They lost in the first round to Washington by a score of 27-13, because they are the Lions.

The next season, the Lions found themselves with hope at the end of the season--something not unusual yet for the organization. Bobby Ross had lost his cool and quit after the ninth game of the season. Gary Moeller replaced him and kept the team in contention. I can still remember watching this game. The ability to be competitive was still there. The excitement (I don't know if I speak for everyone here, I was only 13 years old). The playoff hopes. The empty feeling in the pit of my stomach as Paul Edinger's field goal sailed through the goal posts in the waning moments of the 4th quarter. The Lions would finish the season at 9-7, narrowly missing the playoffs. The rest, is history.

After that fateful season, Gary Moeller was fired as head coach, despite being the only Lions coach with a winning career record to his name in the past 30 years. Granted, it was only 4-3. However, what happened next made Moeller look like a God. William Clay Ford hired an unproven GM as President and head of player operations. Former player and television announcer, Matt Millen had arrived.

Thus began the Dark Ages. Mornhinwheg, Mariucci, and Marinelli. The botched draft choices--Charles Rogers, Joey Harrington, Mike Williams. The "Millen Man March," to protest an undeserved contract extension given to Millen by team ownership in 2005. Most importantly, never a winning season. Never a playoff game. With one of the league's worst cumulative records since Millen took over in 2000, the Lions had become a joke. Year of futility after year of futility, road loss after road loss, I continued to watch and hope for a return to the days when they would at least be fun to watch again. It's not that I minded them losing, as long as they were still competing. But weekend after weekend, loss after loss, things just kept getting worse. I still watched as they cycled through quarterbacks. One replaced another, with unfounded dreams of team improvement. I think the point at which I officially stopped caring was when Jon Kitna took over and I finally realized that this organization did not know how to win anymore.

Millen is gone now, and it appears as though Kitna is too. On Injured Reserve for the year, he and the Lions have had a falling-out that has revealed the new direction in which the organization is headed. Under temporary leadership of Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew, things are slowly being repaired. Mayhew orchestrated one of the best trades in recent Lions history when he shipped disgruntled wideout Roy Williams to the Cowboys along with a 7th round draft pick in return for first, third and sixth-round picks. The trade demonstrates that there are obvious intentions of rebuilding. This year is a bust. At 0-6, the Lions should be taking a look at just what it is that they have. Gosder Cherilus and Jordan Dizon therefore should be in the lineup weekly. There should be no pretense here of salvaging the season. Instead, we should be looking to salvage players off of the worst team in the NFL.

Marinelli might be coaching to keep his job, and I can respect that. I will even go as far as to say that I believe he can be a successful coach at the NFL level. This comes with a caveat. It cannot be in Detroit. The same goes for Martin Mayhew and Tom Lewand. While Mayhew did just pull off a great trade, and I think that he does have an extremely bright and prospective career ahead of him as GM someplace in the league, this one needs to be about the fans. Everyone is excited about change. Mayhew and Marinelli are not the only two people around the league with talent in them. I am positive that out there somewhere is someone else who can step in at GM and begin to right the sinking ship (actually, the ship on the bottom of the ocean that is covered in algae and rot) that is the Detroit Lions. It should be a new face, one not associated with the past eight years in the slightest.

A new GM and a new coach. Next April's draft will bring some new talent, hopefully in the form of offensive linemen or defensive players. I will be excited again, at least for the time being. I will be full of hope. And I ask one thing of everyone involved with the Lions for the next couple of years. I'm not looking for a Super Bowl here. A few playoff wins would be nice, but I don't want to get greedy. Just get this thing back where we had it before Millen stepped in and made a complete mess of things. Come on guys, do this for me. Do this for all of the dads out there who look forward to Sunday afternoons, spending time on the couch watching football with their kids. Do this for those of us who have grown up Lions fans, but are starting to forget what having a competitive team to root for feels like. Please, do this for all of us. Make losing fun again.

The Future at QB for the Detroit Lions?

Steven Ortlieb — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:11:23 -0000

The Detroit Lions are going to need a quarterback sooner or later. As I write this, they are 0-5 and staring a number one pick in next April's draft right in the face. Jon Kitna's placement on Injured Reserve for the remainder of the season means that he will not be of much help. Their inability to trade Kitna (it is rumored that the 49ers had some interest) before the deadline means that it is likely he will simply be let go when the time comes. Mayhew maintains that Kitna is under contract next season, so he will be dealt with when the time comes. Regardless, the Lions plans obviously do not involve him.

If not Kitna, then who? The NFL draft should not be used to find a quarterback, at least not the upcoming draft. In the organization's first draft without Millen, they should focus on fixing a horrible defense, or patching up an offensive line that allowed the second most sacks in 2007 with 54, behind the Chiefs and the 49ers who tied for the most. Maybe select a QB in the late rounds, but Stanton serves as their drafted quarterback for now.

So, where does that leave them? The current roster slots are filled with three unproven QBs. Dan Orlovsky is the starter, backed up by Drew Stanton and Drew Henson. Despite the seeming lack of promise, all three of these players should be looked at closely.

Orlovsky is in his fourth NFL season. He was taken by the Lions in the 5th round of the 2005 draft out of the University of Connecticut, and saw his first real action when he started in place of the injured Jon Kitna last week in a 12-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Orlovsky was 12 of 21 with 150 yards and a touchdown. Not a bad stat line for his first career start. Then again, the Youtube video of the play on which Orlovsky dropped back into his own end zone to pass and rolled right out of the back of it (resulting in a safety) currently has 84,890 views and is titled "Dumbest QB Ever!!"

And then we've got Drew Stanton. Taken in round 2 of the 2007 draft from Michigan State University, Stanton has been injured for most of his career, and one has to hope that he will not be derailed by injuries, as was a once promising Charles Rogers who was drafted a few years ahead of Stanton, also out of Michigan State. I use this comparison only based on injuries. Rogers' immaturity was evident during his few years in the NFL with his failed drug tests. Drew Stanton on the other hand has done and said all of the right things so far, and appears to be working hard to improve and set himself up for an opportunity to be the starter.

It does not appear as though Dan Orlovsky is a long-term solution. Stanton, however, was taken in the 2nd round and should be given an opportunity to be the Lions quarterback of the future. This season is already a lost cause for the hopeless Lions, so they should see exactly what it is they've got in him. That's not to say that they should throw him immediately into the fire. This could ruin his confidence, and is not necessary. Stanton and Orlovsky should split playing time the rest of the season, and be re-evaluated at the end of it to see what their future in the organization might hold.

The Lions also have a wild card in Drew Henson. "Drew Number Two" has not had a successful football career since his days of splitting playing time with Tom Brady at the University of Michigan, and becoming the starter once Brady graduated. Henson had the opportunity to be a Heisman Trophy contender his senior year, but instead chose to pursue baseball. He signed a contract with the New York Yankees--switching back to football after only nine at bats and one hit in part of two seasons with New York. After signing with the Dallas Cowboys and being pulled during his first start, Henson's career has gone nowhere fast. He is now riding the Lions bench. Many would argue that Henson does not even belong there as a third-stringer. However, he did come from the University of Michigan, a school who has turned out solid quarterbacks in the past, as a quarterback that could have been in contention to win a Heisman. Give him some playing time this season too. Who knows, maybe Tom Brady rubbed off on him while they were splitting time.

Regardless of whether or not any of the three current quarterbacks pan out, the Lions should bring in an outsider next season. Detroit has not been kind to its quarterbacks in recent years. One can only hope that with the end of Matt Millen's reign, things will start to turn around, and the position will at least become playable. If this is indeed the case, the Lions would be wise to look to Baltimore as a source for their new guy. Out for the season with a torn labrum, Kyle Boller's days in Baltimore appear numbered. Joe Flacco has been named the Ravens' starter for the rest of the year, and while he is not exactly exceeding expectations (he has thrown one touchdown versus seven interceptions this season), it is clear that the Ravens have decided to move on from Boller, a once promising first round pick out of California, the second QB taken in the draft behind only Carson Palmer. Boller has shown flashes throughout his NFL career of what he is capable of. With 45 career touchdowns and 44 interceptions, Boller is not in position to be an offensive savior. Still, I am not convinced that he would be the second-coming of John Kitna. Kitna is a career back-up who for some reason has been given opportunities to start football games. Boller is a once-promising first round pick who is still capable of producing at the top level in the NFL, but his time in Baltimore has not yet revealed what he can be.

One final thing that the Lions would still be missing, though Boller would be a step in the right direction. Orlovsky and Stanton, with Kitna gone, have no veteran presence on which to rely. The perfect candidate for the job? Stick with me on this one: Mark Brunell. Ok, so he's not (and should not) going to start another game in the NFL. But, he's got 15 seasons under his belt, and is a three-time Pro Bowler. He knows what it takes to compete, and his presence could go a long way (with an inexpensive price tag) with Orlovsky and Stanton. Large gain outweighs the relatively little cost here.

Williams Trade a Step in the Right Direction

Steven Ortlieb — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:44:24 -0000

Matt Millen has been gone for less than a month, and the change taking place in the Detroit Lions organization is already noticeable.

Earlier today, the trigger was pulled on a deal that sent wideout Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for 1st, 3rd, and 6th round draft picks. The Lions also gave up a 7th round pick. The trade is quite uncharacteristic of the Detroit Lions. Namely, they somehow managed to get the better end of a deal. Williams was headed into free-agency at the end of this season. While he has said that he will miss being a Detroit Lion, Williams also said "I’m more happy to be a Dallas Cowboy then when I got my first bike." He is a competitive, Pro-Bowl caliber football player that deserved to be moved to a legitimate contender after suffering with the Lions since 2004. The Lions could have tagged him their franchise player next season, but unloading one of their most valuable players was a wise move. The Dallas Cowboys get what they want, Roy Williams gets what he wants, and most importantly, the Lions begin to distance themselves from the Millen era.

Roy Williams will now line up next to Terrell Owens and Jason Witten, and take passes from Tony Romo (once Romo returns to the starting lineup after breaking his pinky). Dallas entered this season an early favorite for Super Bowl contention. So far they have managed to lose some of that hype, but expectations are still high. Dallas owner Jerry Jones adds a missing piece to the puzzle with Roy Williams. With the newly loaded passing game and the Felix Jones/Marion Barber duo on the ground, defenses will have their hands completely full. A dream scenario for Williams, and one of those "too good to be true" scenarios for coach Wade Phillips. Dallas benefits might not be apparent right away. Give Williams some time to get used to the Cowboys' playbook. Once he does, Dallas will be a bona fide playoff team when it counts most.

Now for the Lions, the real winners of this deal. Matt Millen is gone. Left behind is a franchise in ruins, reeling from several losing seasons in a row. Millen was notorious for blowing draft picks on highly touted offensive players. Of six taken in the first round, only Calvin Johnson remains with the team. Joey Harrington, Mike Williams, and Charles Rogers are all unemployed. Kevin Jones is a backup in Chicago. Millen's last selection of offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus was a step in the right direction for the team.

Under new leadership, the Lions need to improve all aspects of the team--not simply bring in an offensive weapon that is largely useless if the larger machine has no cohesion as a whole. With the newly acquired draft picks, Martin Mayhew has the Lions in position to do just that. The extra picks provide opportunity to improve a defense that is the league's worst, and an offensive line that Barry Sanders would be hard-pressed to find a hole in. Were they to use their own 1st round pick (assuming it will be in the top 10, at the very least) on a tackle to take the place of the painfully average Jeff Backus, Cherilus and the newcomer could become building blocks for a Detroit offensive line that has been a joke under Millen. The acquired pick they could use on a defensive player. In fact, the Lions should not draft one offensive "position" player in the upcoming draft. No wide receivers, no running backs, not even a quarterback. These picks from Dallas were acquired for a talented wide receiver in Roy Williams. To draft a replacement would be a mistake. By shipping out Williams, it appears as though the Lions are fully aware of this, and know what needs to be done to build a competitive team. Unlike Matt Millen, it looks like they are actually taking steps to do just that.