Lions sign new CB

[RobBase]

Lions signed CB Drayton Florence.

Coming off a surprisingly strong season with the Panthers, Florence is a nice piece of veteran depth for the Lions' thin secondary. He spent 2012 in the Motor City, making eight appearances and three starts. Going on 34, Florence isn't a lock to crack the 53-man roster, but should receive the benefit of the doubt. He'll help out in nickel and dime situations, likely setting in as the No. 4 corner.

BOOM! Great work Mayhew!

 

[RobBase]

Only 34 years old. Solid pick up Martin! I feel good about Saturday.

 

[gandydancer]

Would be funny as hell(not really) if Slay went down and Mathis and Florence were starting..

Holy hell that would be the AARP of CB dous.

 

[tpaulus_2]

Worked out great with Mathis last year, so why not?

For as much as people shit on Mathis about his age, he graded out in the top 30 last year at CB, so in my book I really don't care if he's fucking 47 years old if he plays well.

As for Florence, he was pretty average when he was here a couple of years ago, but played well last year for the Panthers. He's big and can really run, and he's got a lot of experience.

If he takes the spot of Cassius Vaughn then I'm all about him making the 53 man roster, otherwise I hope he's just a camp body.

Regardless we've got better depth at the position than we did yesterday, so that can't hurt. I'll take a proven vet who's been a starter basically his whole career over a scrub who won't even make the practice squad at this point.

Also, it sounds like our back-up safeties have been uninspiring through camp thus far, so perhaps they're considering looking at him as a free safety?

 

[tpaulus_2]

I also love how every move is graded on whether or not said player will be the savior of the franchise... it's all-or-nothing with the "me" generation. Heaven forbid we sign an average veteran at a position of need- should have forced the Cardinals to cut Patrick Peterson and signed him instead!

 

[tpaulus_2]

Mathis looked pretty good out there today, older than ever.

 

[RobBase]

Between this guy and Orlovsky, I feel like almost anyone could return eventually. Nate Burleson a Lion again in 2015? Never say never.

 

[RobBase]

Worked out great with Mathis last year, so why not?

Ya last year worked out great.

 

[Cleaves2000]

What was our record again last yr? Great? Hardly. We let avg QB's shred us apart. Typical lion pickup. An old CB nobody else wanted.

 

[Cleaves2000]

You think we could swing a deal to get terry fair back?

 

[tpaulus_2]

Apparently Florence was ranked as the 19th best CB last year by PFF. That's higher than I would have expected for sure.

 

[tpaulus_2]

What was our record again last yr? Great? Hardly. We let avg QB's shred us apart. Typical lion pickup. An old CB nobody else wanted.

Love the typical babble here- no matter what position we're arguing about, the tired old "team record" argument always seems to apply.

What he's saying here is that we were exactly one Richard Sherman or one Joe Hayden away from winning the Super Bowl, because it was all Mathis's fault that we had the record we did, never mind that he was far from our worst player.

Mayhew hasn't drafted a first round CB yet, so we should promptly cut our best one because he's over 30.

 

[themuzzer]

Love the typical babble here- no matter what position we're arguing about, the tired old "team record" argument always seems to apply.

What he's saying here is that we were exactly one Richard Sherman or one Joe Hayden away from winning the Super Bowl, because it was all Mathis's fault that we had the record we did, never mind that he was far from our worst player.

Mayhew hasn't drafted a first round CB yet, so we should promptly cut our best one because he's over 30.

Slays over 30 already? That was fast.

 

[Cleaves2000]

Love the typical babble here- no matter what position we're arguing about, the tired old "team record" argument always seems to apply.

What he's saying here is that we were exactly one Richard Sherman or one Joe Hayden away from winning the Super Bowl, because it was all Mathis's fault that we had the record we did, never mind that he was far from our worst player.

Mayhew hasn't drafted a first round CB yet, so we should promptly cut our best one because he's over 30.

No just watching average QB's torch our secondary all the time. Only reason we didnt give up more yards passing is because teams got leads and stopped throwing. But yeah whatever. Our secondary was GREAT. Wheres all these STUD DB's we drafted a few yrs back that you were saying ONCE THEY LEARNED would be good? Greenwood? Bentley?

Everyone but the lions brass and some of the cant do know wrong fans on here KNOW the lions secondary has been garbage for years.


MIKE THOMAS!!!

 

[gandydancer]

You think we could swing a deal to get terry fair back?

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

 

[tpaulus_2]

No just watching average QB's torch our secondary all the time. Only reason we didnt give up more yards passing is because teams got leads and stopped throwing. But yeah whatever. Our secondary was GREAT. Wheres all these STUD DB's we drafted a few yrs back that you were saying ONCE THEY LEARNED would be good? Greenwood? Bentley?

Everyone but the lions brass and some of the cant do know wrong fans on here KNOW the lions secondary has been garbage for years.


MIKE THOMAS!!!

Anyone catch what I posted on the other thread about certain people exaggerating the hell out of what I actually post? Case and point.

Try to make the argument that Mathis and Florence played better last year than they're getting credit for due to their age, and one post later I apparently said (or yelled, it seems) that our secondary was GREAT and we have STUD DBs.

I'd love to hear about the fish this guy catches...

 

[gandydancer]

MIKE THOMAS!!!

 

[gandydancer]

I'd love to hear about the fish this guy catches...

This big

 

[gandydancer]

Really it was this big

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

Love the typical babble here- no matter what position we're arguing about, the TIRED old "team record" argument always seems to apply.

Not trying to pile on, but the weakest part of our defense is our secondary and it has been for quite some time.

It isn't just the Lions fans on here saying this -- If you looked at the weaknesses they had listed at the draft -- first on the list was CB. If you read any article regarding team needs prior to any draft over the last 5 years -- CB is always listed.

The one year where everything seemed to go right for our offense and before defenses figured out they can just move the safeties 20+ yards off the line of scrimmage to take away the Lions deep routes -- Our secondary is what absolutely killed the team.

IMO -- I think Mayhew truly believes, he doesn't need to spend high picks on the CB position, because he believes he can evaluate talent much better than other GM's, as he played the position. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out for us yet. It has given us a couple competent fill in CB's (Eric Wright, Chris Houston, Mathis last year), but what it hasn't given us is a #1 CB.

Personally -- I compare the Lions CB's to the Oakland A's. I apologize for the best comparison, but I believe it fits here. Oakland gets by with solid, but not spectacular starting pitchers, but when they face really good teams, they struggle, which is why they have been very successful in the regular season -- yet they have been one and done in the playoffs in 1992, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2013. The only time they have won a playoff series is when they played a team with the same way of thinking -- beating the Twins.

I think Detroit has competent CB's to play good enough against average to poor offenses. When they have to face top offenses or top QB's -- that is where Detroit is in real trouble, as they don't have a #1 CB or the type of player who can take a top WR out of the game. This is what scares me about the Lions defense this year. If the Lions blitz much more often and our CB's are put in man coverage -- What is going to happen if we still aren't getting to the CB?

Sorry about rambling post. I got sidetracked halfway thru and had to come back to finish. Hopefully it makes some sort of sense.