Puzzle The Together Piecing

Howdy to all of you outstanding human beings who are the ever Lions faithful,

Yes I know my headline is backwards but I did that on purpose to sound witty and clever. Did it work? Well let’s snap that ball. For starters Brett Favre has officially or should I say filed the paperwork to retire from the NFL. What this could mean for the Lions is this. The New York Jets quarterback situation is at a cross roads. With the Jets having the 17th overall pick in the draft they might be interested in obtaining Georgia QB Matthew Stafford. Would they be willing to take the number 1 pick in exchange for their first round pick and us surrendering either a 3rd or 5th rounder? Or maybe the Kansas City Chiefs having the 3rd overall pick in the first round might be interested in a QB and we can simply switch places with them in the draft order.

I have no doubt that the Lions organization will try to shop that first round pick. The first round is very exciting to have but that guaranteed money for the first overall is more of a burden than a help. If we could swap places with one of the other teams in the top 5 for the first round in the draft that would me a present wrapped up with a giant ribbon around it.

The Lions coaching staff has been fully assembled. Here is the story from MLive that you all can check out

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/02/lions_complete_coaching_staff.html

I am glad that Stan Kwan the Special Teams coach, Shawn Jefferson Wide Receivers coach and Sam Gash the Running Backs coach are staying on. Those men are good coaches who deserve a better shot under a new head coach and a system that produces. Coach Jim Schwartz has assembled a dynamic team of coaches that is night and day difference from the crop of incompetents we had this past season. You all know that I am the eternal optimist when it comes to the Lions but you all have to admit things are moving in a positive direction that gives us hope for this franchises’ future. With this crew of veteran coaches we will see better production from the players on special teams down to our dead last ranked defense.

Oh by the way a co-worker (thank you Jeff) mentioned something I failed to note in my last blog about the Pro Bowl having meaning. Another thing they can do with it is make it a skills test like the MLB has the home run derby and the NBA slam dunk contests. In the NFL have QBs throw Hail Mary’s, longest field goals kicked, etc. That would be something worth seeing.

So with the coaching staff put together, the next phase before the scouting combine is the roster cuts. There are still a lot of players that will not be back next season since some of them are Free Agents not worth re-signing with the exception of Kicker Jason Hanson. In September when they announce the final 53-man roster it will be very interesting to see who is left after these purges.

They say a team builds through the draft and the Lions will have plenty of opportunity to do so. FYI our draft picks are as follows: Two First Round Picks, One Second Round Pick, Two Third Round Picks, One Fifth Round Pick, and Two Sixth Round Picks. We had surrendered our Fourth and Seventh Round picks to Dallas which gives us 8 total draft picks plus a possible compensatory pick to be determined. 9 picks will give this team a huge face lift depending on what happens on draft day as far as moving up and down. Say I am open to suggestions to see who would be interested in having a draft day party on Saturday April 25th.

These are the positions I believe they should draft 2 OGs, TE, DT, 2 LBs and 2 CBs. We can meet all of those needs in this draft and in the 2010 draft target these positions QB, WR, RB, DE, TE and 2 LBs

Last but certainly not least GM Martin Mayhew has hired James ‘Shack’ Harris as Senior Personnel Executive. Here is the story from the Lions web site

http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=481774

I like what Martin Mayhew is doing. He has been working really hard in trying to move this team forward from the disappointments of the past. He has over 22 years of experience as a scout and a player. His experience with the Jacksonville Jaguars will be a great help to us. I believe Martin Mayhew realizes that he cannot do this by himself and his seeking a voice to help guide him.

Well I have rambled enough. I am going to e-mail this link since some of you have requested that I do so. I hope to have another post by this Presidents Day weekend to discuss the upcoming scouting combine, more thoughts on the draft, free agency and roster cuts.

Until then GO LIONS!