Rank players importance to success

[gandydancer]

Saw a decent article on Mlive. Rank the players of importance for Lions success this season. I am only doing my top ten.

1 Stafford - It starts with him.

2 Bush- Screen game and underneath threat opens up CJ

3 Nick Fairley- must stay healthy and take advantage of Suh DT's

4 Jason Jones or DE oppisite of Ansah. I feel Ansah and the interior will free up the other side. do they or he exploit it??

5 Riley Reiff- Goes with out saying...

6 #2 WR Broyles/ Burleson Whoever decides to step up and take advantage of the one on one coverage.

7 WLB. Whoever wins needs to step up.

8 Delmas- Health is of importance!! Another injury riddled season and I am calling for early safety draft pick.

9 Slay- Can a rookie play like a three year vet? That what we need from him!

10 This is were I will get slammed. This maybe more a #15 or such. Sam Martin P is huge. The punt game killed them last year. They never pinned teams deep, no directional punting, or could change field position.

My disclaimer
These are just opinions of rail roader. Don't claim to be right. There are many variables that need to happen. These are my top ten.

 

[JDM]

Megatron doesn't make the list?

 

[gandydancer]

Megatron doesn't make the list?

Megatron had 13 TD's with Staff sidelined. He will produce. To me Stafford needs to look other places besides forcing to CJ. The other WR and TE RB combos need to make teams pay for covering his side of field.

In a nut shell he is like Miggy. He is going to get his numbers regardless of who is QB.

JDM you being a Pats fan should get what I am saying. Brady will throw to you if you are open. Lions just seem to not have heartbeats that can catch said throw. SO to me he forces a lot CJ's way. Other need to step up, not CJ.

 

[JDM]

But in terms of importance, if you lose megatron, you're in worse shape than losing most everyone but stafford.

 

[gandydancer]

True! read my disclaimer. I was more looking at as who needs to step up. Guess I worded my question wrong. CJ has relaxed me over his career. He is healthy and produces. Your scenario I would have CJ #3 behind Bush. Run game brings safeties up. Which makes CJ more lethal.

My disclaimer should have also read intoxicated while posting!!

 

[Old Lion]

#1 is O-Line.

Nothing happens on offense if the O-Line cant block. You cant run and you cant pass and your QB gets killed.

Leave Staff at #2, insert Megatron at #3 and move the rest down 1 slot.

 

[themuzzer]

#1 is O-Line.

Nothing happens on offense if the O-Line cant block. You cant run and you cant pass and your QB gets killed.

Leave Staff at #2, insert Megatron at #3 and move the rest down 1 slot.

Gonna agree with Old Lion on this (from a offensive perspective).......


You need a O-line, QB and top notch WR.


How about the defense? MLB isn't what it was 20 years ago. There's a reason Urlacher never got Cutler money.

Both suck but both are supposedly captains......Funny how one Captain makes more then the other Captain.

 

[themuzzer]

FYI, I never bothered to look if Cutler made more then Urlacher. I'm sure someone will tell me otherwise if he did though.

 

[broncosmitty]

Kickalicious and or David Akers worthless ass are of great importance as well. I look at the new defensive backfield starters, GQ and Slay, as possible the biggest make or break aspect of the team. But that's completely due to the fact I see Ansah/Jones and Reif/Warford as upgrades which I'm not concerned about. If GQ can prevent huge plays on his side of the field and Slay can cover at a moderate level, especially on third down, we could see a greatly improved secondary and defense as a whole. Broyles/Burleson also very important. And BP not having butterfingers could be an important aspect of the teams success.

 

[themuzzer]

Kickalicious and or David Akers worthless ass are of great importance as well. I look at the new defensive backfield starters, GQ and Slay, as possible the biggest make or break aspect of the team. But that's completely due to the fact I see Ansah/Jones and Reif/Warford as upgrades which I'm not concerned about. If GQ can prevent huge plays on his side of the field and Slay can cover at a moderate level, especially on third down, we could see a greatly improved secondary and defense as a whole. Broyles/Burleson also very important. And BP not having butterfingers could be an important aspect of the teams success.

I agree with all this, but Way too many "what ifs"

I would prefer kickaliocious over Akers. Simply for the fact everyone knows he sucks and atleast give the Norweigen a chance to suck.


I still have us at 7-9......We could simply screw the pooch or go balls out and finally gain some respect.

The problem I have is were not talking about one maybe problem.....Were talking about our LB core, Place Kicker. O-line, rookie CB, Fox at RT? Just so many what ifs.

Coach? What if the talent was there and the coach was the problem? I don't know......I just know were still the Lions and until they give me reason to believe I will still put them where they have been sub 500.

 

[broncosmitty]

Oh yeah, Fox/Hilliard/some other camp cut, that RT spot, who it is, how they perform, how many holds, false starts, etc, that's an important part of the 2013 season. Probably the only spot I'm actually worried about. Well... Only spot which doesn't involve kicking anyway.

 

[themuzzer]

Oh yeah, Fox/Hilliard/some other camp cut, that RT spot, who it is, how they perform, how many holds, false starts, etc, that's an important part of the 2013 season. Probably the only spot I'm actually worried about. Well... Only spot which doesn't involve kicking anyway.

Is Delmas going to be healthy? I hope so, I like the Guy. But if he isn't then that's two what ifs in the Secondary alone.

 

[gandydancer]

#1 is O-Line.

Nothing happens on offense if the O-Line cant block. You cant run and you cant pass and your QB gets killed.

Leave Staff at #2, insert Megatron at #3 and move the rest down 1 slot.

Now I am sober! I can agree with it starts in the trenches. My big arse was imbedded there for life. I am still going to keep Bush ahead of CJ. The Lions will never be balanced in run/pass. With a resemblance of run game and more balance. It will open the field for CJ and keep safeties honest.

Someone posted here that teams took away the deep threat and forced us to try and run. It worked for opposing defenses. Force defenses to play honest and we might see some 1st half TD's and not 2nd half comeback attempts

 

[Rollingthndr]

Now I am sober! I can agree with it starts in the trenches. My big arse was imbedded there for life. I am still going to keep Bush ahead of CJ.

I was about to say, putting a punter in and leaving CJ off the list. Must of been something heavy, bath salts, I'm guessing.

 

[gandydancer]

I was about to say, putting a punter in and leaving CJ off the list. Must of been something heavy, bath salts, I'm guessing.

I was drunk only... I was under the assumption CJ always produces. Now on to the punter. Not sure it belonged in top ten at all. I did say #15 or so. Special teams killed us last year. That is a glaring need that does have to happen this year. It is a third of the game. Thank God Logan is gone and we have a punter that hopefully can actaully punt.

 

[broncosmitty]

Is Delmas going to be healthy? I hope so, I like the Guy. But if he isn't then that's two what ifs in the Secondary alone.

According to you..... And I might not fart potpourri or piss rainbows, but you're kinda pessimistic when it comes to the Lions muzz.

 

[themuzzer]

According to you..... And I might not fart potpourri or piss rainbows, but you're kinda pessimistic when it comes to the Lions muzz.

No doubt about it. I did predict them to go 7-9......You have them at 19-0 (granted even you don't believe it)

So let's look at the track record.......I would bet my wife (don't have one, don't want one) that 7-9 is closer to reality then 19-0.


Raburn will always suck so we can find some common ground there.

 

[gandydancer]

According to you..... And I might not fart potpourri or piss rainbows, but you're kinda pessimistic when it comes to the Lions muzz.

So would this hold true for some guys here.

I might not fart dragon breath or piss mesocyclone clouds, but you're kinda optimsitic when it comes to the Lions ________ (insert name here)???

No am I not defended Muzz. He is pessimistic, not quite Debbie Downer. Just pointed out the other spectrum of rose colored glasses some wear here.

 

[Dr. Evil-er]

This is were I will get slammed. This maybe more a #15 or such. Sam Martin P is huge. The punt game killed them last year. They never pinned teams deep, no directional punting, or could change field position.

He absolutely belongs at #10 and anyone who slams that doesn't know shit about the game. We were dead last in punting average in 2012, dead last in net average, bottom third for punts downed inside the 20, and our longest punt during the season was also dead last (by 21 yards).

I know there has been some debate about whether selecting a punter in the 5th round was a mistake but if Martin jumps those numbers up to being in the top third of the league then it was one helluva lot better pick than someone who might make the practice squad. He may very well handle kickoff duties as well where we might also improve. IMO he will bet a ton more impactful than some bum competing for the #5 S spot, #6 LB spot, or the #5 T spot because that's exactly what we would have otherwise gotten by drafting someone else. The Lions got the guy they wanted and that makes it a good pick.

 

[Thruthefog]

Most of you mofos are going to find out how important DEs are to a football team. And how utterly crappy ours were last year. And it was a damn shame. A damn shame. Putting those DEs next to our DTs would be like buying a new Corvette and putting one of those cheesy store bought spoilers on it.

The Lions signed two free agent DEs and drafted two more. Our 4th DE will be better than the top guy last year. The defensive line will disrupt the QB, and on top of that will turn into the sack factory. This alone reverses the Lions record from 4-12 to 12-4.

The LBers may be a wash, but it doesn't matter.

The secondary looks better and deeper than it has in years. Drafted Slay in the 2nd round. If he isn't ready we have three 2nd year guys, two have starting experience. Added one starting caliber safety to what we had.

The offensive line? Yeah. There'll be breakdowns. But is there really anyone here who believes this offense won't put points on the board?

Interesting? Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how those of you burning in your cynicism go to crawfishing.