Now that all of the NFC North teams have played, I wish to convey some general thoughts and observations I have regarding the Lions and the rest of the NFC North.

1. The statistical lopsidedness of the Lions/Bucs game through the first 3 Qtrs absolutely amazed me. The lions dominated every facet of this game. I am slightly disappointed we let off the gas and didn't go for the throat in the 2nd half, would have been nice to score more points than Chicago. =D
   
2. Stafford was awesome today, I thought he should great resolve, coming back after that pick 6 and play out of his mind, slicing and dicing TB's secondary.
3. Speaking of pick 6, I was not worried about it, I hope no one else is either... it happens to every QB (including the greats), it's all about how you respond. Was it a bad pass? Yes, but 2 inches to the left, Heller never touches it and we wouldn't even be talking about a pick 6.
4. Calvin Johnson is a man amongst boys, nuff said. WOW!
5. The defense made a statement today. There a few statistics that really jumped out at me and frankly I cannot remember when the Lions last displayed similar stats.

• QB Rating - J. Freeman - 78.1 <--- if memory serves me correctly, this was around 50 or less at halftime. When was the last time a QB posted less than a 90 on us? Very awesome! =D
  
• Rushing Yards Allowed. - TB rushed for 56 yards on 16 carries. <--- This is amazing to me, I cannot remember when we ONLY allowed 56 yards on the ground.... WOW
• Also note that L. Blount (The same guys who racked up over 100 yards on us last year was held to 5 carries for 15 yards.... Awesome.
• Time of Possession - This was a thing of beauty, by half time, we had controlled the ball around 22 of 30 minutes, ending with Lions - 36:25 and TB - 23:35
• We only gave up 259 yards passing. This number really doesn't due us justice considering much of this was gathered in the 4th Qtr after switching to a prevent defense. 259 yards isn't bad considering both the Packers and Cardinals gave up over 400 yards in the air and many more teams gave up 300+ yards.
  

The NFC north put forth a pretty compelling argument for being the best division in the league.

GB 42 - NO 34 (Packers are ridiculous, I mean give credit where credit is due, These guys are good)

DET 27 - TB 20 (TB was a 10 win team in 2010, and the lions smacked em around pretty handily)

CHI 30 - ATL 12 (Where the hell did this come from, I mean its cool CHI won, but ATL was 13-3 in 2010, sold the family farm for a WR, and they go out and get dominated by the bears) Like I said, cool and all, congrats bears, but I did not see this coming,

MIN 17 - SD 24  Well we have confirmed the suspected, MIN is now the weak link in the division. This was another game whose final score does not reflect game performance. Statistically, SD beat up and stole the lunch money from MIN. I was expecting a bit more from McNabb but 39 yards passing and 47.9 QB Rating isn't gonna cut it. SD put up 407 yards of offense where MIN only managed 187. Good grief...

So the NFC North had a very good week, each team (minus MIN) displayed a potent passing attack and very stout defenses. It will be interesting to monitor how each team fares in the coming weeks and determine if the NFC North is the class of the NFL.

After reading the comments made in my last mock posting I made some modifications.

Draft #1 revised
1.) Ndamukong SUH DT
2.) Javier Arenas CB/KR
3.) Jermaine Cunningham DE
4.) Brandon Carter OG
5.) John Jerry OG
5.) Mike Tepper    OT
6.) Larry Asante SS
7.) A.J. Wallace CB

Draft #2 revised
1.) Eric Berry SS
2.) Tyson Alualu DT
3.) Kyle Wilson CB
4.) Brandon Carter OG
5.) Lindsey Witten DE
5.) Adam Ulatoski OT
6.) Reggie Stephens OG
7.) A.J. Wallace CB

both mocks include 1 S, 1 DT, 1 DE, 1 OT, 2 OG, 2 CB

3 picks secondary, 3 picks OL, 2 picks DL

I know Schwartz said that he is only comfortable with a few positions on the roster so I am thinking he will likely not spend more than 1 pick on a position, however "a boy can dream can't he?"

Side note: it is very nice to see all the activity on the site these past couple days. I think its the first time I have seen a fanpost with less than 10hrs post time taken off front page. Awesome.

What do you guys think of this article from the freep.com?

Listen I am with most of you regarding the opinion that we draft both OL DL and secondary, however this article was very interesting focusing instead on OL and better #2 #3 receivers and a new RB.

This opinion is based on Schwartz's comments about  not having anything to hang our hat on either offensively or defensively. The author thinks by fixing our offense so that we can do something well (likely pass with staff and cj) it would go along way to making the lions competitive. 

This article makes some valid points, I mean our ineptness on offense has certainly contributed to our defensive woes.

What do you guys think of this approach?

Bottom Line: IMO the lions MUST address secondary, DL and G in first 3 rounds, here is why...

Guard - we need starter ready talent for next season, they have to protect their investment in Stafford and allow him time to utilize our best offensive weapon CJ. With the money the currently have tied up between Cherilus and Backus, I doubt they take a high pick OT. But we have a revolving door at both G spots.

DL - We need both DT and DE. Jason Hunter has been making plays, I am not sold on Avril as our starter. a 2nd year Hill should be able to contribute more (especially another year in NFL weight training program). We need a superior DT that will not be moved on Double Teams which will help the run D because it clogs the middle lane and prevents guards from moving on to block the LBs and improves our pass D because the QB cant step up to avoid pressure (which has been far to easy for them to do this season). We also need a superior edge rusher, one that will not get swallowed up by the premier LTs in the league.

Secondary - we are simply unable to stop the opposing teams secondary. We absolutely need a shutdown corner who can cover the the other teams best WR. Also another S could be used to partner with Delmas and make QBs nervous wondering where the blitz is coming from or who is lurking downfield waiting for the ball.

We have needs everywhere. but by addressing these 3 areas specifically, we should improve and perhaps have a several win season next year. We all know that a weak pass rush exposes the secondary, making them look bad, that is why they cannot pass on getting a dominant force early up front.  Our D has played admirably at times this year, but have been left in the cold because our offense has more often than not, been inept and unable to stay on the field and put some damn points on the board.

Draft #1

1.) Ndamukong SUH DT
2.) MIke Iupati OG or Jon Asamoah OG
3.) Jermaine Cunningham DE
4.) Devin McCourty CB
5.) John Jerry OG
5.) Freddie Barnes WR
6.) LeGarrette Blount RB
7.) A.J. Wallace CB

Draft #2
1.) Eric Berry S
2.) Brandon Graham DE
3.) Kyle Wilson CB
4.) Brandon Carter OG
5.) Freddie Barnes WR
5.) Mike Neal DT
6.) Reggie Stephens OG
7.) A.J. Wallace CB