Detroit Lions off-season thread

[Matt 1,049]

Huard sucks.

Mike O'Hara says in today's News that the Lions are hoping to get a 4th-5th rounder for him. Makes no mention of the 7th that KC reportedly offered.

Foster also dropped this bomb: That the Vikings are mulling over offering a 3rd for Harrington, maybe on Monday. WTF?

There are a score of teams that could use a (renegotiated) Harrington: Oakland, KC, Minnesota, Seattle, Baltimore, etc., etc...

He should fetch something higher than what the Jets got Ramsey for (6th).

[Lou_Siffer 1]

I'd be happy with a 4th rd pick...thrilled with a 3rd. I really hope Minnesota gets involved, just to see him make the return to Detroit every year. The Detroit crowd never disappoints in providing entertainment.

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Anyone read the Kolowski article on how Joey was acting like a jerk at a football camp to just to make Martz mad? Thats low IMO

[timothy1997 0]

Harrington "not with us" according to head coach.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=Aj5V...ov=ap&type=lgns

[gowingsgo 3]

At least he lasted longer than Cryin' Leaf, Joey is officially a bust. Time for the Lions to move on

[timothy1997 0]

At least he lasted longer than Cryin' Leaf, Joey is officially a bust. Time for the Lions to move on

his career with the lions is a bust. with the right system, joey could be a pro bowler still IMO

[Heaton 1]

At least he lasted longer than Cryin' Leaf, Joey is officially a bust. Time for the Lions to move on

Roethlisberger would've been a bust on the Lions as well, guaranteed.

[BlakChamber 8]

Jesus Christ himself would be a bust on the Lions.

I wish Joey the best of luck wherever he ends up. And, I hope he comes back to play against the Lions, and lights up Dre Bly.

Edited March 20, 2006 by BlakChamber

[betterREDthandead 58]

Jesus Christ himself would be a bust on the Lions.

I wish Joey the best of luck wherever he ends up. And, I hope he comes back to play against the Lions, and lights up Dre Bly.

And loses 38-35.

[gowingsgo 3]

Roethlisberger would've been a bust on the Lions as well, guaranteed.

Thats debateable but the Pittsburgh FO didnt waste 3 first round draft picks on WR's and a 2nd (?) on a great RB to put around Joey and try to bring some game out of him. The Lions FO has really effed up on the players they bring in.

Pittsburgh may or may not have had more offensive pieces in place for Ben, but Roethlisberger is a born winner.

When we drafted Ben the only first round picks we had at playmaker positions were Plaxico Burress (bust) and Jerome Bettis (who was a backup to Duce Staley). Hines Ward is a 3rd round pick and Randle El I think was a 2nd. Our O-line has Faneca and Simmons as former first rounders, I cant speak for Hartings, Marvel Smith or Oliver Ross who were the other starters on the O-line. We got Hartings from Detroit UFA....come to think of it, we got Kevin Colbert our GM from Detroit as well....not everything that touches the Lions is bad.

Some QBs just never progress from college to the NFL. I think Joey fits the bill here.

[dallas27 7]

I wonder if he made any progress playing the piano...I'm sorry that was low but I thought it was rather funny.

[timothy1997 0]

Thats debateable but the Pittsburgh FO didnt waste 3 first round draft picks on WR's and a 2nd (?) on a great RB to put around Joey and try to bring some game out of him. The Lions FO has really effed up on the players they bring in.

Pittsburgh may or may not have had more offensive pieces in place for Ben, but Roethlisberger is a born winner.

When we drafted Ben the only first round picks we had at playmaker positions were Plaxico Burress (bust) and Jerome Bettis (who was a backup to Duce Staley). Hines Ward is a 3rd round pick and Randle El I think was a 2nd. Our O-line has Faneca and Simmons as former first rounders, I cant speak for Hartings, Marvel Smith or Oliver Ross who were the other starters on the O-line. We got Hartings from Detroit UFA....come to think of it, we got Kevin Colbert our GM from Detroit as well....not everything that touches the Lions is bad.

Some QBs just never progress from college to the NFL. I think Joey fits the bill here.

the steelers made the XFL MVP a pro bowler. Joey would be a superstar if he was in the pittsburgh system.

[gowingsgo 3]

Thats debateable but the Pittsburgh FO didnt waste 3 first round draft picks on WR's and a 2nd (?) on a great RB to put around Joey and try to bring some game out of him. The Lions FO has really effed up on the players they bring in.

Pittsburgh may or may not have had more offensive pieces in place for Ben, but Roethlisberger is a born winner.

When we drafted Ben the only first round picks we had at playmaker positions were Plaxico Burress (bust) and Jerome Bettis (who was a backup to Duce Staley). Hines Ward is a 3rd round pick and Randle El I think was a 2nd. Our O-line has Faneca and Simmons as former first rounders, I cant speak for Hartings, Marvel Smith or Oliver Ross who were the other starters on the O-line. We got Hartings from Detroit UFA....come to think of it, we got Kevin Colbert our GM from Detroit as well....not everything that touches the Lions is bad.

Some QBs just never progress from college to the NFL. I think Joey fits the bill here.

the steelers made the XFL MVP a pro bowler. Joey would be a superstar if he was in the pittsburgh system.

I dont remember Tommy Maddox making the Pro Bowl???

I do remember him going 6-10 in 03' giving us the 11th pick in the 04' draft. The rest is still history in the making!

In fairness to Tommy, he was a gunner like Favre but without the mobility until he got knocked senseless in Tennessee. Not saying he was on the same level like Favre, but he would throw a pass into any type of coverage. Ever since then, he hasnt been the same guy on the field. To further that, ever since he got his elbow rocked at Baltimore in 04' and allowed Ben to get game action, Tommy hasn't been the same.

If I had to choose between Joey and Kordell, I would have picked Kordell. And Kordell ruined many a great Steeler season in the playoffs. It pains me greatly to type this paragraph because the Kordell years need to be erased from memory...probably in the same fashion the Joey years need erased for you as well.

[Heaton 1]

Thats debateable

No it isn't, all of the reasons you listed after posting this is why.

Roethlisberger was a rookie on a team with a run first mentality, they had the O-Line, they had the running game, they just needed a QB to step in and not making any mistakes for the 18-20 times he threw the ball a game.

Harrington wouldn't be considered a bust if he were in a system like that, not saying he would've had the success like Ben has had, but he wouldn't have been boo'd out of town either.

Edited March 21, 2006 by Heaton

[gowingsgo 3]

No it isn't, all of the reasons you listed after posting this is why.

Roethlisberger was a rookie on a team with a run first mentality, they had the O-Line, they had the running game, they just needed a QB to step in and not making any mistakes for the 18-20 times he threw the ball a game.

Harrington wouldn't be considered a bust if he were in a system like that, not saying he would've had the success like Ben has had, but he wouldn't have been boo'd out of town either.

Its too hard to compare the different systems. Harrington was in a west coast system where the offense relies on short high percentage passes to move the ball. With the weapons they put in place on offense for him, there is no reason other than his inability to make plays that he didnt succeed there. Ben doesn't have anywhere near the type of offensive weapons that Harrington had.

As much as people like to point to the fact that Pittsburgh is a running team, it was the arm of Big Ben that got us to the Super Bowl. He played a crappy game in the actual Super Bowl. Our defense, Fast Willie and a little trickeration bailed us out.

Ben had some great games his rookie year that he won with his arm, 4th quarter comebacks at Jacksonville, at Dallas, blowout wins v New England and Philly in consecutive weeks and at San Diego this past season.

Pittsburgh usually tries to get a lead before it switches over to the run, run, run mentality. You saw it in the Super Bowl or in the AFC title game. If we get a 10 point lead we will run the ball down the opponents throat. It chews up a ton of clock and it wears out a defense, not to mention keeps the opposing offensive unit off the field.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Pittsburgh may or may not have had more offensive pieces in place for Ben, but Roethlisberger is a born winner.

THAT IS NOT DEBATEABLE!!! Pittsburgh without a doubt had more pieces on offense. The Steelers O-line is one of the best in the league, whereas Detroit's has been one of the worst year in year out. Im sure you realize how important an O-line is right? The combo of Willie Parker and the Bus wouldnt do SQUAT if they were on the Lions and running behind our line. Jones has to fight for every 3 yards a carry he gets. Also obviously with a better line comes much better pass protection. It got to the point where Joey was so afraid of getting sacked every time that he'd have "happy feet" even on the plays where he actually had time! Which led to more innaccuracy. Then you have the WR position. Hines Ward is a top flight veteran reciever, Randle El had also been a round a little while. Over here we had a bunch of youngsters...BIG difference. Ben was put in a much better situation to succeed, I think he wouldve done better than Joey here...but not by much. And it has absolutely nothing to do with Ben being a "proven winner".

[timothy1997 0]

if Ben was such a proven winner, why during his rookie year, when he was inserted in as the QB...that the offensive line was displeased with the move. They should have been happy. Ben was a "proven winner".

[gowingsgo 3]

if Ben was such a proven winner, why during his rookie year, when he was inserted in as the QB...that the offensive line was displeased with the move. They should have been happy. Ben was a "proven winner".

The comment you are referring to was made by Alan Faneca and he has since eaten and retracted those words many times over since he made the comment.

The 03' Steelers had a horrible year rushing the ball. That was the year we handed the starting job to Amos Zeroue (Zero) and he went on to do squat. We couldnt run the ball on anybody in 03' and finished 6-10. It wasnt until 04' when the line came together and Duce Staley came in as the starter that the team got back to Steeler football. Duce and Bettis both almost rushed for 1,000 yards a piece.

The year prior we abandoned our run first philosophy and went with Tommy Gunn as our starter finishing 10-5-1. That was the year both Plax and Hines had over 1,000 yards receiving each.

If Randle El was so damn good why did Pittsburgh let him go UFA? He is a glorified punt returner (a damned good one) and runs a few trick plays each year. ARE dropped many an easy catch for us. Second year in a row we've let our #2 WR go UFA.

I dont know what Detroit's offense looked like when Joey was drafted but the Pittsburgh offense wasn't anything to brag about when Ben came to town. The core of our team is on defense. I'd put our defense against any offense anytime, go ask Cincy, Indy, Denver and Seattle for a reference.

[johnogrodnickfanclub 0]

pitt had one of the top offensive lines in the NFL...their rushing attack was at or near the top of the NFL...hines ward had already quietly become a top 5 reciever in the NFL...in combination with burress and randel el, they had arguable the best group of recievers in the NFL. the offensive line, running game, and recievers with known proven top notch all star commodities. and they had good coaches. qb success was not hard to come by on that team.

contrast that with the lions...terrible coaching and front office...among the worst offensive lines in the league...among the worst rushing attacks in the league...unproven, overrated, rookie/inexperienced wide recievers. qb success was almost impossible...

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Anyone read the Kowlaski article talking about how many Lions players are already complaining about how hard Marineli's practices are? He didn't list names, but IMO it looked like he was hinting at Rogers, and Mike Williams...who by the way showed up to camp weighing way to much.....

[Lou_Siffer 1]

All I know is they better focus on that offensive line during the draft...what, is Rex Tucker supposed to be the big improvement???

[timothy1997 0]

2006 schedule released. Not sure what I think about it yet. Definately a hard first game for the lions. Miami on turkey day should be a good game.

DETROIT LIONS

-------------

SEP. 10 SEATTLE 1:00

SEP. 17 at Chicago 1:00

SEP. 24 GREEN BAY 1:00

OCT. 1 at St Louis 4:05

OCT. 8 at Minnesota 1:00

OCT. 15 BUFFALO 1:00

OCT. 22 at Ny Jets 1:00

OCT. 29 Bye

NOV. 5 ATLANTA 1:00

NOV. 12 SAN FRANCISCO 1:00

NOV. 19 at Arizona 4:05

NOV. 23 MIAMI 12:30 (Thu.)

DEC. 3 at New England 1:00

DEC. 10 MINNESOTA 1:00

DEC. 17 at Green Bay 1:00

DEC. 24 CHICAGO 1:00

DEC. 31 at Dallas 1:00

[gowingsgo 3]

8-8

[Heaton 1]

8-8

5-11.

[gowingsgo 3]

5-11.

ouch

I think you are cutting your new coaching staff and new QB(s) short.