The Lions look to build upon productive draft

By Josh Hirsch
Western Herald

As the NFL minicamp’s approach, the Detroit Lions take the field ranked amongst the lowest teams in the league.

However, the Lions look better this year than in recent years, that is for sure.

Matthew Stafford has a year under his belt, and his chemistry with Calvin Johnson, or ‘Megatron,’ is starting to blossom into a great duo.

The Lions also selected Ndamukong Suh with the second pick in the draft.

He should be a monster on the defensive line.

The line also has another new face on it with the addition of free agent, Kyle Vanden Bosch.

Bosch had a career-low three sacks last season but has recorded two 12-sack seasons.

The defense still has room for improvement though since the Lions traded middle linebacker Ernie Sims to the Philadelphia Eagles.

In return, the Lions received tight end Tony Scheffler, and a seventh-round draft pick.

Scheffler played college ball at Western Michigan University, adding another Bronco to the Detroit Lions.

Scheffler is just one of the many positive things on the Lions’ offense.

Stafford looked very strong last season before he injured his shoulder.

The injury came in an amazing game against the Cleveland Browns. In that game, he threw the game-winning touchdown on the last play of the game.

Running back Kevin Smith might not be ready to go at the start of the season.

The Lions drafted Jahvid Best from the University of California, Berkley to help shoulder some of the workload.

He has the potential to be a candidate for Rookie of the Year.

Best ran a low four-second 40-yard dash at the combine.

He left UC Cal with almost 2,700 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns.

The Lions’ offense also upgraded the receiver position with the addition of Nate Burleson.

In Burleson’s eight-year career he has nearly 3,500 receiving yards and 27 receiving touchdowns.

Playing alongside “Megatron” this year however, we should see Burleson have a solid season.

Another reason to be excited for the Lions this year is that so many rookies from last season played extremely well.

Not only does Stafford have a year under his belt, but also so does tight end Brandon Pettigrew, former WMU safety Louis Delmas, line backer DeAndre Levy, and former Penn State star receiver Derrick Williams.

With these five players playing at a high level their rookie year, look for the Lions to continue improving in the 2010-2011 season. Stafford will only get better, and with the addition of Best and Burleson the offense has more firepower now than last season.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jul 25 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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