Yes… I am a closet Detroit Lions fan. Irrespective of that, the Lions had a solid 1st round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Here’s my video blog recap.
NFL Draft – Detroit Lions Preview
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There’s not a lot that Detroit doesn’t need to work on in the 2010 NFL Draft, but they have been active in free agency and have brought in help at a number of the glaring spots on the roster. To me this draft needs to be about reaching back to the black and blue division roots, for Detroit. The defense was atrocious – simply atrocious. Defense starts and ends up front and the Lions defensive front was a disaster the past two seasons. They also have not protected their defense very well for a number of seasons and need to be able to control the ball on offense better by converting and making first downs by having a better running game to put them in position for better success on 2nd and 3rd downs. After that, Detroit needs to invest in better athletes at the cornerback and safety positions to help in defending the pass.
Everyone seems to think Ndamukong Suh will be available at the #2 spot and I would hope the Lions would take Suh to make what would seem to be an immediate impact on the defensive front in the way of controlling the line of scrimmage. That’s my pick, anyway.
In the second round, I would hope the Lions find a decent running back to help make some yardage on the ground. Detroit is looking for Smith to come back from injury quickly, but in reality I don’t think they have a heck of a lot in Smith as a featured runner anyway. They need to upgrade this position… the question would be, of course, can you do that in the second round? Keep in mind that Smith was a second rounder, too. If they can’t upgrade the RB position, then another pick on defense would make more sense … a cornerback, safety or even an athletic linebacker who can play in space.
With the third round pick, I think you simply address whatever didn’t get addressed in round two or you take whatever the best value is on the board with any other position that could stand a piece of young talent to be added. Of those not already mentioned, offensive linemen and a craft receiver for the middle of the field would be nice options.
Once they get to the 4th round pick, their last until they pick 4 times in the 7th round, it’s again about value and/or taking guys that have questions sitting out there about them. But there’s often some good potential in offensive linemen in the 4th round, but anyone you take is a project. Looking for a great motor and someone very raw, in the 4th round, if you’re looking to improve your roster in the short term. Otherwise the pick is simply for depth.
Enough! Fed-up Browns fans planning protest
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Enough! Fed-up Browns fans planning protest
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I pick on Cleveland Browns fans a lot – and for justifiable reasons – but one thing you have to give them credit for is a true passion and the willingness to get the lead out when it makes sense to. This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen from a fan base, in recent memory. And, while I think they could do better, I applaud them for doing something. Fans spend a lot of money (seriously, often a stupid amount of money) on this type of entertainment… get mobile and take action when your money is being wasted; make the organization hear you any way you can that is constructive.
The way the NFL franchises have weaseled into our hearts and structured everything, it is extremely difficult to talk to an organization in the language they understand the best – with your money. Sure you can avoid buying a shirt or some of the food that you normally would at the game, but as long as the PSL (license to buy the ticket) and the tickets are sold the organization has nothing in front of them that demands attention. Rich NFL owners, unfortunately, often like to play with their money in this environment and, when things don’t work out, throw their hands up in the air saying, “Look, I tried!” as if that is enough. Financially, If they lose a little, break even or make a small amount of money, then the prestige of owning an NFL franchise and truly being the ultimate “fan” balances out the equation in their favor – in their minds. But if an NFL owner were to only make money when their team did well, and more importantly lost a good deal of money when the team was not good, NFL owners would take immediate notice and would quickly do whatever it took to ensure the gain and prevent the loss. (Yes, that’s a tough argument with many angles one could play, I know… but this is coming from a fan’s point of view, here).
With the way the NFL shares revenue and TV money, a franchise can post a marginal loss and still come out ahead when all the checks are passed out. This makes it even hard to get the message across to the NFL owner who is at the wheel of a floundering NFL franchise. What it means is that, in order to “hit ‘em between the eyes”, the fans have to stoop to a level most would frown upon in other situations – belittling and embarrassing the organization publicly. That way the guys holding the purse strings no longer get to sit back and be looked at as prestigious as they once were, which eliminates that aspect of the balanced equation.
In reality, this works out pretty well for the NFL fan. After all, not too many fans are going to want to give up their seats on a long term basis to get short term improvements in the quality of the team – I think most fans would agree that’s a bit much to be expected. But if there’s one thing fans like it is to be heard and seen, and with the internet age it is so easy to be heard and seen that this just encourages even more along that line of thought.
Now the Cleveland Browns fans are getting creative. They have a home game, next Monday (how the hell do the Browns keep getting onto Monday Night Football anyway?), against Baltimore (a.k.a. the organization that ran off with their team years ago) and some of the fans are planning this protest where they will leave the seats empty at the beginning of the game for all the TV cameras to see. This is great and will be talked about throughout the NFL and the media, putting Browns owner Randy Lerner in a plainly uncomfortable position that he cannot himself counterfeit by waiting to evaluate the season until that time when he looks at a year-end balance sheet.
The last time anyone saw this type of action it was not caught on camera as vividly as what might happen on next Monday night. You might recall this: Detroit Lions fans running through sections during a game holding up “Fire Millen” signs in voicing their displeasure with then GM, Matt Millen. Thus, even though the fans getting exercise while running away from security was highly entertaining, it was not made into a national spectacle and, in fact, only made the news because the Lions and Ford Field felt the need to publicize it by releasing a notice that all signs of similar ilk would be confiscated by security. Even people in Detroit didn’t know about it until they heard of the release or if fans at the game had mentioned it. On Monday, assuming the fans follow through with their threat of protest AND if the producers of the CBS TV coverage at the game allow all the bright orange empty seats in the stadium to be included in what viewers see, this protest will carry a bit more visibility.
What this threat of protest lacks, though, is teeth – the teeth being the money issue again. If all goes “well” with the protest it will serve as embarrassing to Randy Lerner and the Browns, but unless ownership and leadership can connect that with some kind of threat of loss of income it will be only that. If the Browns fans want something immediate to happen, they need to figure out how to add some teeth to this – so that, when Randy Lerner looks at his balance sheet at the end of the year and sees that he’s doing “okay”, he’ll remember that he’s far from doing okay. And the clearest reminder of that would be if he looks at that balance sheet and sees something ugly starring back.
Couple Of Detroit Lions Updates
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Posted on 13th July 2010 by Ben Krasner in Sports Commentary
Detroit Lions, Javhid Best, Kevin Smith, Shaun Hill, Zach Follett
Here’s some Detroit Lions news I came across yesterday: