CHARLES ROGERS MAY HAVE A NEW JOB

Hey Draft Bust. Good luck with your new team, the Montreal Alouettes. But don’t get busted by the mounties when you’re lighting the tree up as you cross the Ambassador Bridge. Wait until a mile or two after you cross over. They have tasers.  By the way, the first question you need to learn in French when you get into Montreal is..

“Bonjour. Tu veux acheter de l’herbe?”

2008 NFL DRAFT IS OVER - NOT BAD, MILLEN

I may be in the minority, or I may not be. Out of all the previous drafts in the Millen regime, this one is one of his best. This year’s draft wasn’t inundated with great, sexy names, like previous years. In previous years, taking the “best player available” was something Millen couldn’t resist. He HAD to pick a sexy name. Well, the sexy names were gone at 15. I believe Millen didn’t have the temptation there, thus making him finally do what we’ve been asking of him through his many years of drafting: ADDRESS NEEDS. And dare I write this, Millen recognized his style of drafting (Best Player Available) was not working anymore. If Millen can continue his new style of drafting each year of addressing needs, perhaps he may finally see light at the end of the Tunnel of G.M. Mediocrity. (*cough* B.S. *cough*)

The Lions needed a Right Tackle, Millen drafts a Right Tackle, the Lions needed a Linebacker, Millen drafts a Linebacker. The Lions needed a runningback, Millen drafts a runningback. And so on, and so on. Now, who knows whether or not Gosder Cherilus, Jordon Dizon, Andre Fluellen, Kevin Smith (etc…) will pan out or not.  All we can do is hope they do pan out.  If you look at NFL.com’s draft list, out of 5 positions they listed as needs for the Lions, the Lions filled 4. Cornerback was the only position they didn’t address. If Brian Kelly still has legs, and if Leigh Bodden pans out, perhaps it won’t be such a need this year.

The Lions picks were relatively boring picks with not-so-”sexy” names. People around town wanted Rashard Mendenhall, and rightfully so. I’m don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting a player whoever the Lions passed on, they may turn out to be great players on other teams. The only thing I will disagree on is taking a runningback in the first round. You’d have to wonder what Rashard Mendenhall could do behind the worst offensive line in the entire NFL. Don’t discount Kevin Smith, though. I feel he’s very underrated. The guy has a chip on his shoulder, and is going to come in blazing to try to prove many wrong.

To sum it up…they addressed their needs.  And now, all we can do is do what we do best: Hope, like we’ve been hoping for the past 50+ years.  If anything this year’s draft may make for an easier to watch upcoming 5-11 season.

PFT: BUCS DEFENDER MIGHT WANT A TRADE

What are the odds Millen trades a draft pick for Defensive End Greg White? It’s inevitable. Greg White will be a Lion very soon.

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/04/24/bucs-defender-might-want-a-trade/

Would you trade Roy Williams?

Ahh, the rumors just continue on and on about Roy Williams possibly being traded away. If you were Lions GM, would you trade Roy Williams?

Personally, I don’t care either way. He hasn’t stood out to me as a GREAT wide receiver (yet). He’s good, but not yet great. But he’s still very young and I still feel he shows a lot of promise. It’s all just a gamble, anyways, if you think about it. If you trade Roy away, you still have 2 serviceable wide receivers in Mike Furrey and Shawn McDonald, as well as a potential great in Calvin Johnson. But if you were to keep Roy, he is not only another threat to defenses all around the league, but a nice insurance policy in case (God forbid) one of the other three receivers become injured this upcoming season. And we know the Lions curse of the injury. Anything is possible.

The scenario is 1 first round pick at least. But we all know who gets to make that first round pick. The moustache himself: Matthew George Millen. So there’s already a 90-95% chance of failure right there. But what about that 5-10% chance he could make a good pick, thus filling a hole the Lions have?

Now, I know you can’t run a team and make moves based on chances and what-ifs. But again, we’re talking Matt Millen here. I guarantee the “What if Roy doesn’t want to re-sign after the end of the season?” thought is circling through his empty head. Would he dare to slap the Franchise tag on a player who’s possibly a bomb waiting to explode in the Lions locker room?

What would you do? Keep him? Trade him to get value for him? What about wait and trade him before the deadline during the upcoming season?

Calvin’s Back is Still Bothering Him

The Killer (Tom Kowalski) reported Calvin Johnson needed Vicodin to play last season, but Mike Martz pressured 81 to keep playing. Johnson says his back is still bothering him, but should be 100% by training camp.

I don’t know about you, but this injury scares me just a bit. Receivers fall on their back a LOT in the NFL…even some cases being tackled from behind by a secondary. Will this back injury from last year turn out to be a permanent problem for Calvin? I sure hope not. As much as we ridiculed the moustache for drafting a 4th receiver in the first round, this guy was a COULD NOT PASS guy. I sure hope this is nothing more than just a one season fluke injry, and this doesn’t hinder him throughout the rest of his career. The Lions, even though they made their own bed by drafting so many receivers, need a 2nd break. Roy Williams was their 1st break from the busts in Rogers and Mike Williams, but Calvin Johnson needs to be their other break for them as well. ESPECIALLY if you’re one of those who believe the Lions won’t be able to sign Roy Williams at the end of the season, or after a season of being Franchise tagged.

Change of Preseason Schedule

There’s been a change of preseason scheduling. The Lions will host the GIANTS instead of the COLTS the first preseason game.

Lions release their official 2008 Schedule…

The Lions officially released their 2008 Regular Season schedule today. Their home opener will be September 14, 2008 against the Packers. They will end AT Green Bay on December 28.  The undeserving nationally televised Thanksgiving day game has the Titans coming to Fraud Field on November 27.

Mendenhall not JUST Lions interest (obviously)…

Several mock drafts have him going to the Lions in the 15th pick…however, there’s a chance the BEARS could select him at #14.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting Mendenhall met with the Bengals, Jets, Cowboys and Panthers.  This story could be just a ploy to get Mendenhall some more exposure to the rest of the league to try to make him the 2nd runningback to be drafted after Darren McFadden, who’s likely a Top 10 grab.  In all likelihood, he will be, anyways.

Martz Says the Lions “Were Not Good” (duhhhh)

It appears Captain Obvious was in full force this week, as Mike Martz was in Tahoe, Nevada, sharing some thoughts about the Lions not being good.

C’mon Mike. Now why would you say something like that? How could you tell the Lions weren’t good? Did the fact he who signed your check was either the GM or Owner of the Lions? I’m sure that must’ve tipped you off to some extent.

You can find the article reported by ProFootballTalk.com here.

Crime in the NFL

This isn’t a post about the Lions. This is a post about the NFL. There have been a few incidents involving players and the law over the past few weeks. Bengals WR Chris Henry, Steelers LB James Harrison (charges have been dropped) and the latest being Browns DB Kenny Wright, who was released today following his actions.

The rule “3 Strikes and out” proposed last year is a good rule…however, is 3 strikes just too many? What I don’t understand is these players make more money in one year than many of us in our lifetimes. Yet, they continuously find ways to get themselves in trouble, by breaking the law. I don’t know about you, but if I were rich, the last place I would want to be is behind bars, and not being able to use and spend any of that incredibly large sum of money.

Perhaps it should be “1 Strike and out”? Or there needs to be more accountability programs. I don’t know what it’s like on teams, I’m not a football player. Players should not only be held accountable for their actions on the field to the coaches, but to each other as a football. This is true in most cases. But accountability should go beyond two or more players on the field, but off the field as well. The only problem faced in this solution, is we can’t expect players on teams to become friends if they don’t want to. Also there’s the fact that players come and go more frequently on every team, every year. So, we can’t expect a player to form a bond with someone else on the team if he was friends with a recently cut, retired or traded.

There are probably programs in the NFL to help eliminate these things, obviously there are programs for rookies and those in the NFL Draft…but perhaps ALL players need to be required to attend these types of programs annually.

Roger Goodell is doing a remarkable job punishing those that go above the law. The teams have also had to cut their own troublemakers. However, the key factor behind my post isn’t trying to find discipline after the incident, that’s already being done. The actual prevention altogether of the incident should be the main goal of the NFL.

Just my two cents. I’ll get off my soapbox now.