Friday, July 31, 2009

Holdouts = Zero

July 31st, 2009 | by detfan1979 |

With the last-second signing of Brandon Pettigrew, all of the Lions’ draft picks will be strapping on the pads for the first practice Saturday at Allen Park. What is more amazing when you consider this: As of this writing, only 15 of the 32 first round draft picks have signed — and two of them are on the Lions. Kudos to Mayhew and Lewand for getting things done effectively!

Thanks for all of your entries on the “30 Lock” roster picks. Feel free to post your own up if you have not yet — this is all for fun, after all. (Spenser Smith was the last cut to get to the 80 man camp roster limit. See the current depth chart here.) The poll taken over the last couple of weeks on this site indicated that about 30% percent of us felt there would be one or two holdouts, while a full 70% felt that all would be in camp on time. It is nice to see the Lions beating expectations for a change!

I’m looking forward to camp, and seeing how some of these position battles begin playing out.

Go Lions!!! Great start with no holdouts!!

Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)
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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Staffordization

July 30th, 2009 | by detfan1979 |

Got a good shot to the knee at Taekwondo tonight (on accident) and need a little extra shut-eye. Only a couple guys left unsigned with Delmas and Hill being added to the fold. It only leaves Pettigrew and Williams to sign. I can understand that Pettigrew, being a blocker and receiver is going to take a bit of doing for incentives on his contract.

Derek Williams not signed yet makes no sense. He hasn’t done anything yet in OTA’s, and despite draft slot could be fighting for a roster spot. He needs to come in fast, and strong. I”m still confident that Lewand will have everyone signed before the first practice Saturday.

Speaking of training camp practices, JReffy is going to try to give us some more great pictures and a write up after he visits camp during one of the open practices — just like last year. I am also going to attempt to get down there as well — the Pink Lions think it would be neat, so we’ll see if it all falls right.

Finally, Ty at the Lions in Winter did an amazing article on Matthew Stafford– if you haven’t given it a read, please go do so. It is well thought out, well researched, and gives some new insight into the pick and the player.

Rating: 10.0/10 (2 votes cast)

30 Lock Roster Picks

July 30th, 2009 | by detfan1979 |

A little while back I set forth some rules on my blog for choosing the 53 man roster — before training camp.

Since everyone knows Hanson, Harris, and Mulbach are safe, that leaves 50 roster spots for everyone else. The goal is to break the roster into the following categories:

  1. 30 “Locks” – the guys will 100% be on the team come game one.
  2. 10 “Probables” - It’s a really good chance these guys will be with the Lions, but you never know.
  3. 10 “Maybes” – Who knows. Considering the waiver wire, half of these ten may be on other teams right now — but it is fun to guess anyways.

I will copy these picks into the 30 Lock Roster Picks comments on DetFan1979.com. If you haven’t already done so youself, you still have time — camp doesn’t really open til Saturday morning. (even after that, feel free to give a crack at it) I will compile our results against the roster as it is on Detroitlions.com just before the open of the season to see how we did.

My 30 “Locks”

  • QB: 1. Daunte Culpepper, 2. Matthew Stafford, 3. Drew Stanton
  • O-Line: 4. Jeff Backus, 5. Daniel Loper, 6. Dominic Raiola, 7. Stephen Peterman, 8. Gosder Cherilus
  • RB: 9. Kevin Smith, 10. Maurice Morris
  • WR: 11. Calvin Johnson, 12. Bryant Johnson
  • TE: 13. Will Heller, 14. Brandon Pettigrew
  • D-Line: 15. Grady Jackson, 16. DeWayne White, 17. Cliff Avril, 18. Sam Hill, 19. Jared Devries
  • LB: 20. Julian Peterson, 21. Ernie Sims, 22. Larry Foote, 23. DeAndre Levy,
  • CB: 24. Philip Buchanon, 25. Keith Smith, 26. Anthony Henry
  • S: 27. Louis Delmas, 28. Kalvin Pearson,
  • FB: 29. Terelle Smith, 30. Jerome Felton

My 10 “Probables”

My 10 “Who Knows?”

  • WR: 1. John Standeford
  • O-Line: 2. Ephraim Salaam, 3. Manny Ramierez
  • DT/DE: 4. Andre Fluellen, 5. Jason Hunter
  • LB: 6. Cody Spencer, 7. Zack Follett
  • CB: 8. Ramzee Robinson
  • S: 9. Daniel Bullocks
  • RB: 10. Allen Ervin
Rating: 7.5/10 (6 votes cast)
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5 Responses to “30 Lock Roster Picks”

  1. By Lopper on Jul 30, 2009

    So you don’t think IAF will make the team? I’ve still got hope that he will be an effective DT for us this year. Other than Avril, IAF is one of the best athletes that we have on the d-line. I was surprised to see him missing from your list.

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  2. By chiefger139 on Jul 30, 2009

    hey you finally got yours in-guess i could submit another but why bother-if I remember right I kept having trouble because id have the same guy down twice so then id move one up then , move up another then have to pick one for the final group-think im all set and see the guy I just added I already had on one of the earlier 2 groups-suddenly im faced with guys i never even heard of,or worst ones I knew who arent any good and of course knowing i already got to many offensivelineman-not enough runningbacks etc. finally said the hell with it just pick the guys I want regardless of position-not all i pick will make it anyhow. And ill be darned if im going through all that again-like I said to much work and im on this blog purely for fun and entertainment-not work-I do that 10 hrs a day as it is-keep up the good work-signed the wize chief!!

    Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)
  3. By detfan1979 on Jul 30, 2009

    It was a tough call on the line, but I felt like fluellen was more of a tweener DT/DE — and Peterson will be a DE at times on rushing downs. I like IAF, but in the end I essentially flipped a coing, and decided on Hunter. Also, I won’t rule out Harris either (the DT they just picked up). I think Darby (who was on many lists, but absent mine) is a goner if any of the young guys or new roster additions step up.

    I also have a feeling that Grady could end up on the chopping block, depending on how quick Hill and Gill progress — not likely, but at this point I’m expecting anything!

    Thanks as always for the comments and keep em coming!!

    Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)
  4. By Lopper on Jul 31, 2009

    Thanks for the reply. That’s a good thought that you have about Grady being on the chopping block. I wouldn’t mind seeing Hill get a ton of playing time even if he isn’t quite ready. The best place for him to learn will be on the field, and our horrible D-line provides a perfect opportunity to get him some experience and film of himself to watch.
    I do hope that you’re wrong about Alama-Francis. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve got a huge man crush for that guy. It seems like he’s got the frame and athleticism to put on some weight and be a good DT. I’ll just keep on hoping.

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)
  5. By detfan1979 on Aug 2, 2009

    After seeing practice today, I think I’d have to revise IAF to the 30 lock status. He has really bulked up, and appeared to be running with the first team DTs — and he was was fitting in well there.

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)