The main moves of Free Agency have taken place and after them the Lions appear a stronger team than before them. The key additions were Reggie Bush at Running Back, Glover Quin at Safety and D-Lineman Jason Jones while the headline losses were that of O-Lineman Gosder Cherilus to the Colts, Defensive End Cliff Avril to the Seahawks, Linebacker Justin Durant to the Cowboys and Defensive Tackle Sammie Lee Hill to the Titans. It doesn't seem as if the Lions were too fussed about losing Durant, Cherilus or Avril and were resigned to losing Hill as he sought more playing time. There was also the retirement of long time starting Left Tackle Jeff Backus to add to the earlier departures of Titus Young Snr, Kyle Vanden Bosch and Stephen Peterman. The most significant Free Agents they retained were all on the defensive side of the ball with former 3rd round pick Linebacker DeAndre Levy returning along with Secondary stars Chris Houston at Cornerback and Louis Delmas at Safety. Of the Free Agents yet to find a home only Lawrence Jackson remains as a possibility to return.
The Lions offensive regression in 2012 was explained by failing to find a replacement for Jahvid Best and the negative impact Titus Young Snr had on the locker room. Well that at least appears to be what the team would like us to believe. Personally I have my doubts and am concerned that Reggie Bush is not the answer that everyone seems to think Jahvid Best was. Yes I am in total agreement that the Lions lack of run game meant opposing teams were able to 'cheat' on Calvin Johnson but where I disagree is on why the Lions believe that to be the case. The Lions believe that the reason our run game failed to spark is due to a lack of 'big' plays from the run and the threat of the runner becoming another receiving threat for Stafford. Firstly I think there should be some allowance for the obviousness of Lions rushing plays. I don't care how good an offense you are if you practically get the PA announcer to inform the stadium you are about to run the ball I think the opposing defense will be ready for you. Now, unless you have an offensive line that blows great big holes for you to run through you will need your running back to be able to break tackles if he is to 'run away' from the opposition as the Lions envisage their backs doing. This though does not take into account the fact a team playing the Lions generally has it's Secondary playing deep wary of the downfield threat of Johnson so if a running back does break through the line of scrimmage he is likely to be met by either a linebacker or safety rushing up from his deeper position. Most of us agreed that we would have liked to have seen more of Joique Bell last season and that is probably due to him doing a better job of shedding tacklers than the guy who got the majority of the carries managed. LeShoure appeared to almost seek out someone to run in to rather than find the gap to run through. It's possible that he was still hampered by injury and so it will be interesting to see how he fares in 2013.
With the exception of the home game against the Bears, oddly for both his two seasons playing, Jahvid Best didn't perform as spectacularly as we are now led to believe. Worryingly Reggie Bush is not that good at gaining yards after contact just as Jahvid Best wasn't. So we are now to expect that Reggie Bush is going to start breaking through tackles at the line of scrimmage to race away into the end zone. The only way I can see Bush doing this is if our revamped offensive line is able to open up holes better than the previous incarnation managed. Rather than focus on the 'big play' which we seem intent on doing I would argue the opposition is more likely to be forced to plan differently for an offense that consistently gained sufficient yards on the ground rather than one which occasionally breaks the big one. Joique Bell averaged 5 yards per carry last season and by my calculations that means he would average a first down every two carries. Now I know that in reality it's not quite that simple but the principle can be seen. Consistently gaining first downs on the ground not only wears down the opposition defense it will eventually force them to stop it and they can't do this and cover Johnson as they have been. Coach Schwartz has said he sees the Lions using Reggie Bush in much the same way the Saints did which suggests he'll be catching a lot of Matt Stafford dump off passes which also suggests side winder interceptions. Another receiving threat is not likely to have opposing teams change their defensive game plan just as an occasional game breaking run won't. I therefore struggle to see how the Lions run game improves dramatically unless Bell is given more opportunity to do what he showed he can do last season and LeShoure is able to match the kind of productivity Bell managed.
Rather than focus on the worrying notion that a 2nd year pro could have such a detrimental impact on a locker room of experienced NFL players I think we need to look at what we want from our receiving corps. The slot receiver spot has Burleson and Broyles with Johnson often picking up carries here too. Our Tight Ends can mix it down the middle even if they have a propensity for failing to make the catch when it really matters. The Young spot is the alternative deep threat to Johnson and in theory should be manned by someone of similar build to Johnson, this was something Young definitely was not, although he did have reasonable pace. He also had an ego, something not uncommon among the receiving fraternity, and the status of being a second round draft pick. The type of play that should be open to the receiver playing in the Young spot is the TD he scored at Denver in 2011, all alone in the end zone waiting for Stafford to throw him the ball. This type of play does not require a high round draft pick nor does it require a high priced free agent. It requires a reasonably big bodied speedster happy to play a secondary role to Johnson knowing they will rarely face more than single coverage and that if they are able to beat their defender at the line of scrimmage and run away from him there is a strong chance an easy touchdown is coming their way. I see recently released Raider and former first round pick Darius Heyward-Bey as ideal for the role and am pleased to see he will be visiting the Lions. If they don't agree terms with Heyward-Bey or a similar free agent then I hope the Lions don't spend a high draft pick on such a receiver and instead look to use a late round pick on a good sized player with pace. They need not be that great in coverage as more often than not they won't be that well covered.
So at this early stage it appears that the same coaching staff are going to be trotting out the same offensive game plan. They will believe they have better personnel to carry out that plan when the season starts and if that is the case then we should expect better results than 2012. If Bush is to have the impact he's expected then it would seem prudent to find a similar player to back him up lest he get injured as Best did and the offensive house of cards come crashing down again. They also need to ensure the receiver they select to fill the alternative deep threat role is happy in an obviously subordinate role as well as being able to provide the required alternative option for Stafford. At this stage and judging by what's been said as well as the playing history of the players I don't think the Lions opponents will be approaching us any differently than they did in 2012. Sadly I can't see the outcome being that much different either.
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