2013 Detroit Lions

**gnome** · March-16-13, 11:32 AM

With needs on the o-line, d-line and ... Can't believe I am writing this ... Wide receiver, I would heartily disagree with spending any draft choices on the Corners. We still have Chris Greenwood who is an unknown commodity because he was hurt for all of last year.

We need Trench Warriors badly. We need a wideout less badly with the hoped for recovery of Nate and Broyles... But if they go down or Calvin gets dinged, we are hurting.

**Big Dog** · March-20-13, 09:30 PM

If the new helmet rule, that passed, by the owners today, Soon the NFL, will be playing Flag Football.

**gnome** · March-21-13, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by Big Dog

If the new helmet rule, that passed, by the owners today, Soon the NFL, will be playing Flag Football.

The player can no longer use his head as a ram. ... Geeze, that is going to be difficult to untrain. Players have been using their heads to ram opponents since forever.

i would be more infavor of a completely redesigned helmet. Something with exploding plates attached that would remove a cranium sounds photo worthy.

or another version of the famed Great Yazhoo helmet from the '80s.

**gnome** · March-21-13, 02:38 PM

Great gazoo ... Sorry, I f'd up my flintstones trivial.

**gnome** · March-22-13, 02:36 PM

I even messed up the word, 'trivia' by making it trivial.

shoot, urlacher is no longer a Bear. He could come here, but he is too old to count on as a piece of the puzzle. do like him though.

**Thruster315** · April-04-13, 04:32 PM

Damn, it's gonna be strange not seeing Jason Hanson doing kickoffs, booting point afters, and the long three pointers. It had to happen sooner or later. As much as we'd like to think of him being a constant- he was going to retire sooner rather than later.

Seriously, he's been a touch of class and a consistent glimmer of what being a professional football player should be [[despite being surrounded by some less than competent people). Now some will argue that he shouldn't make it into the Hall of Fame but maybe it's the homer in me, but I think he's deserving for his many years of service and accuracy. One shouldn't be penalized for being on a crappy team.

**Downriviera** · April-04-13, 09:36 PM

Wow, I'm a bit shocked and this definately caught me off guard. I knew the end was near but I thought for sure he would play one more year. He's been the one constant shining light in many years of darkness. I'll miss him. I hope he enjoys retirement. Just don't kick the family dog.

**Downriviera** · April-06-13, 02:56 PM

So it turns out he only retired because they didn't offer enough money. He wanted to play another year. And now we have Akers. Are you kidding me? I bet when he falters they'll go crying back to Hanson.

**gnome** · April-07-13, 08:17 AM

Yeah, I heard the same thing. Mayhew has lost a hall-of-fame kicker, who kicked almost a half-dozen 50+ yard field goals last year and now we get a question mark in place of exclamation point.

wtf is Mayhew thinking?

somebody is going to come along and dangle 2 mill in front of Hanson and he is going to take it for a few months work. He might not be as good as hew was, but he'll be better than 90% of the other guys.

**Downriviera** · April-07-13, 05:53 PM

Also, Hanson has been our best open field tackler for years.

**smogboy** · April-07-13, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by gnome

Yeah, I heard the same thing. Mayhew has lost a hall-of-fame kicker, who kicked almost a half-dozen 50+ yard field goals last year and now we get a question mark in place of exclamation point.

wtf is Mayhew thinking?

somebody is going to come along and dangle 2 mill in front of Hanson and he is going to take it for a few months work. He might not be as good as hew was, but he'll be better than 90% of the other guys.

From what I had heard Jason Hanson talk about his retirement it seemed to have more to do with a few of his nagging injuries than money. I'm sure that after all of these years it has to catch up to him. We've been blessed to have had him this long. Most teams don't have kickers with this sort of longevity or accuracy.

From what I gathered, Hanson spoke with his family- took inventory of his body and called it a day. I vaguely remember that he said it wasn't a financial situation- he was going to settle that aspect of the contract with the Lions, but when it came to his body, it just wasn't cooperating with him like it did 20+ years ago.

I have all sorts of admiration for the guy and wish him the very best in his retirement from the game.

Now if he "magically" heals up in a few months and signs with another team like you say he could, then that would tarnish some of the respect he's earned with this fan.

**GOAT** · April-14-13, 10:08 AM

Hey we signed that youtube "sensation"!

Why do the Lions always try to be smarter than the other organizations by picking up players who are questionable? If they had a track record of signing players no one else thought of I would be ok with it. But the dumb bastards can't even get good draft picks of their #1 pick!

Please will someone drop an anvil on Mayhew? Then when Schwartz comes along we can drop the piano on him.

**Thruster315** · April-17-13, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by GOAT

Hey we signed that youtube "sensation"!

Why do the Lions always try to be smarter than the other organizations by picking up players who are questionable? If they had a track record of signing players no one else thought of I would be ok with it. But the dumb bastards can't even get good draft picks of their #1 pick!

Please will someone drop an anvil on Mayhew? Then when Schwartz comes along we can drop the piano on him.

Seriously?

The only reason Havard Rugland is even on anyone's radar is because of viewers like you who look on Youtube; you guys made him a sensation. He's only brought in for a try-out. This guy's in competition with a veteran kicker in David Akers. I don't have any issues with bringing this guy in.

And if this guy somehow works out, what has Mayhew lost?? If he flames out, he goes back to Norway. No harm no foul.

Want to bitch about the Charles Rogers, Andre Wares, Joey Harringtons, Mike Williams, Chris Claibornes, Terry Fairs, and Chuck Longs of this team? We get it. That's legit. This kicker's just another walk-in off the streets as far as I'm concerned.

Hell, if friend gnome can boot 60 yarders with his third leg, I'd bring him in for a shot too.

**Thruster315** · April-17-13, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by Downriviera

Also, Hanson has been our best open field tackler for years.

Anyone want to sign Eddie Murray?

It's hard to believe that between Murray and Hanson, they've been the only two kickers I can seriously remember for this team. Prior to that, it was Benny Ricardo [[who?) and Rich Karlis [[double who?).

And God rest Pat Summerall too. He booted one game for the Lions eons ago as well as being probably one of the best NFL commentators.

**gnome** · April-17-13, 01:57 PM

Don't forget Errol Mann.

**smogboy** · April-25-13, 12:33 AM

Draft Day- not exactly much discussion here, but then this very well could be one of those ho-hum sort of drafts too.

Most Lions fans really aren't going to care one way or another who we draft for the team as long as it's an impact player. Also being a relatively high draft pick, my opinion is that the player needs to be an immediate contributor/ starter. Looking back at the previous Draft, I wouldn't call it bust but it seemed as though Martin Mayhew took the path of it being a luxury draft. I believed in the Mayhew magic up until last year when hardly any of the picks contributed in a substantial way to the team being better. It seemed as though Martin Mayhew took too many swigs of the previous season's near miracle successes and thought we could just supplement as opposed to looking at the obvious holes in this roster and lack of depth all around.

But enough of lambasting last year's draft. We can't change it.

Let's focus on who we think this team will draft this year. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Not that I expect the Lions' Draft Board to be scoping out the forum here but as loyal Lions' fans, we all have opinions.

After scouring many a mock draft opinions were leaning towards the Lions landing a top notch left tackle in Fisher, Joeckel, or Johnson. Early on it was for Dee Milliner, but it might look as though the offensive line guys are going to go early and Milliner's stock has dropped considerably because of previous injuries. Ziggy Ansah seems as though he might be the guy for the Lions but he has red flags all over him too because he's not that experienced.

The one guy who I think might seriously make an impact on the field might be Tavon Austin, but if this team drafts a wide receiver that early- Lions Nation will implode. There have been talks about the Lions trading the pick too- up or down. I can't see them trading up just because they need to preserve as many picks as they can. I can see them [[and secretly hope) trading down and acquiring some more picks- but then the Mayhew curse of not having any lower draft picks panning out could come into play.

Whether it's openly said or not, the Lions do want to surround Matthew Stafford with as many offensive weapons as possible. The off season addition of Reggie Bush will help but I can also see them adding some more offensive fire power in the later rounds too. We can only hope that one will pan out and we can eventually find a diamond in the rough.

We shall see.

**Thruster315** · April-25-13, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by smogboy

Draft Day- not exactly much discussion here, but then this very well could be one of those ho-hum sort of drafts too.

As always you nailed it.

A draft where some of the top players are offensive linemen just doesn't make for sexy. It's a great year for a value pick but that really doesn't excite the fans. The top picks, if they live up to their hype, will be in the NFL for years to come anchoring their lines. These big slabs of mobile beef will protect their respective QBs from being turned into tent pegs.

Necessary? Damn straight, but as far as evocative of long winded discussion? Even as I listen to the Mel Kypers of the world, they're just ridiculously shaking things up to make things interesting [[The Lions trading up to the #1 pick? C'mon, Mel- you're drinking your own hair tonic.).

The Lions have far too many holes where they can draft just about anybody [[except QB) and they'd fill a need.

**Thruster315** · April-25-13, 06:38 PM

Sticking my scrawny neck out on the line and thinking it's going to be Lane Johnson for the Lions.

I might as well test out the psychic powers now before gnome gets his Miss Cleo turban back from the cleaners this season.

**Thruster315** · April-25-13, 08:16 PM

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Oh great. We signed Ziggy. So much for my proud prediction.

**gnome** · April-25-13, 10:20 PM

Pick a project number phucking one. A project. A don't know what he is project. A pig-in-a-poke. A who-knows-what question mark. Number one.

Steve Owens was number one. Barry Sanders was number one. And now we get a man with three years of being exposed to football. 9 games starting.

is there something I do not underfuckingstand?

**Thruster315** · April-26-13, 01:17 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

Pick a project number phucking one. A project. A don't know what he is project. A pig-in-a-poke. A who-knows-what question mark. Number one.

Steve Owens was number one. Barry Sanders was number one. And now we get a man with three years of being exposed to football. 9 games starting.

is there something I do not underfuckingstand?

Supposedly he's been on the Team Schwartz' Drool List since he saw him first hand at the Senior Bowl. I dunno, gnome. I just dunno. They claim he's not going to be a project but I can surely see this kid being schooled by some savvy offensive linemen. They're either going to bait him, taunt him, and just muck with him. He very well could be an Offsides Machine waiting to happen.

But then given the heat Mayhew's under, I'm sure he's either got to swing for the fences or flop miserably.

I'm still waiting to see what the later rounds will dole out for this team. Mayhew's later round picks have been harder on us fans than Oprah on a trampoline.

**Thruster315** · April-26-13, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by smogboy

Ziggy Ansah seems as though he might be the guy for the Lions but he has red flags all over him too because he's not that experienced.

Way to be the First Round Prognosticator! Red flags and all...

**Thruster315** · April-26-13, 01:24 AM

Damn. Second round picks now and I'm spent.

As long as we don't pick Geno Smith or Manti Te'o, I think I can live with whatever. Expectations are mighty guarded here now.

**firstandten** · April-26-13, 09:25 AM

If Ziggy doesn't see significant playing time and the Lions don't at least factor into a playoff spot. Schwartz and Mayhew should be fired the next day after the Super Bowl. You figure if they are with this guy for a whole week for the Senior Bowl and can't evaluate talent then we have the wrong people in charge. However I will reserve judgment and see how this season plays out.

**smogboy** · April-26-13, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by firstandten

If Ziggy doesn't see significant playing time and the Lions don't at least factor into a playoff spot. Schwartz and Mayhew should be fired the next day after the Super Bowl. You figure if they are with this guy for a whole week for the Senior Bowl and can't evaluate talent then we have the wrong people in charge. However I will reserve judgment and see how this season plays out.

I think all of the Lions fans are in the same reserved boat. While some of the national pundits are raving about the Ansah pick, we're a little more guarded nowadays. No knock against last year's draft but we didn't see our team improve significantly after that pick- those players were used sparingly and the record showed it.

I think all of us here would love it if Ansah were to develop into the next great All Pro caliber defensive lineman, but that could take a few years. What worries me is the lack of veterans on that line to help him along. Jason Jones is our most experienced guy up front now. A lot is going to be placed on the shoulders of the defensive line coach Kris Kocurek now. Yes, we get that Ansah is a measured gifted elite athlete, but the intangibles between the ears are going to be put to the test soon when he lines up opposite a battle tested offensive lineman. I fear that he's going to be the next Kalimba Edwards and quietly hope he's going to be an upgrade of Cliff Avril.