No Controversy in the Lions’ Offensive Line

by VoiceoftheLions on Aug 6, 2009 2:56 PM EDT Comment 11 comments

Training camp is under way at Allen Park, and the reports are in.

Matt Stafford is very good. Daunte Culpepper looks as great as his "back in shape" look would suggest.

Even Drew Stanton, a guy who I said less than two weeks ago is a dark horse to get cut in training camp, has "thrown some darts," to use the words of MLive.com’s Tom Kowalski.

The strong performance of each quarterback all but guarantees a swirling, season-long quarterback controversy.

But fear not! For there is one area, very near to the quarterback position, where there is no controversy whatsoever.

Nobody is arguing the fact that the offensive line is bad. The starters are bad, the reserves are aged, and bright spots are hard to find.

In a "pass rush" drill, a basic offensive line vs. defensive line situation, a red punching bag is suspended where a quarterback would be (roughly), and the offensive line’s sole job is to protect it.

Suffice to say, the punching bag took more shots than Jon Kitna with a 28-point deficit.

"Well," you say, "maybe that’s a good thing! Maybe the defensive line is better than advertised!"

Don’t be naive.

Sure, Julian Peterson thinks Cliff Avril can be a top pass rusher. He’s not there yet, so what does that say for when the offensive line actually has to contain a top pass rusher?

Projected starter Grady Jackson wasn’t even in practice while the offensive line was getting pushed around. So who was dominating them? Landon Cohen? Jared DeVries? Ikaika Alama-Francis?

If that’s all it takes to overpower this group, what’s going to happen when they face the Vikings’ Williams Wall twice a year? Albert Haynesworth and the Redskins? The blitzing Steelers?

In a word, "crunch."

The offensive line’s woes add an interesting dynamic to quarterback competition, as well. Lions quarterbacks have looked sharp in camp, but they are participating in seven-on-seven drills that do not involve a pass rush.

Perhaps the winner of the starting job is the one who shows most capable of handling consistent pressure in the pocket.

Worse yet, maybe it will be the one who survives.

Read more from Dean Holden at http://www.nfltouchdown.com/category/detroit-lions/

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride of Detroit's main writer, Sean, or the site in general. FanPosts are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable fans.

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O Line Will Be Fine

PLus Cohen is a beats he did 50 reps at 225…..thats amazing….He will end up a starter at some point

by BennieBladesFan on Aug 6, 2009 3:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

True enough, but...

Cohen is very impressive, but he’s still a second-year player after being a seventh-round pick. The defensive line is unquestionably the weakest area of the team, and it has performed very well against the O-Line.

This would be cause for celebration, except that the offensive line was pretty poor last year, and was the one area that underwent almost no changes in the offseason.

by VoiceoftheLions on Aug 6, 2009 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I said at some point....

….maybe a couple years down the road or so

by BennieBladesFan on Aug 6, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I could care less where he was picked

If the guy can play better than one of the starters, put him on the field, period. Just because he was a 7th rounder doesn’t mean he hasn’t played football before.

Thank you.

by TCLion on Aug 7, 2009 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

O-line will be fine.

If the coaching staff is really adament about everyone being multi-dimensional, why couldn’t the line look like this?

Backus, Loper, Raiola, Jansen, Cherillus

When the LEGAL side-effects of a substance, cause more harm to the person, than the side effect of the substance its self, we have an injustice.
- Jimmy Carter

by BIGWalt2990 on Aug 6, 2009 6:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The O-Line is in desperate need of an upgrade throughout every position (with the possible exception of RT). I will be thoroughly dissapointed if we don’t invest a first day pick next year on the most important part of football. Regardless if the O-Line performs well this year or not, there’s no denying many of them are aged and a youthful injection could do wonders.

We didn't lose the games, we just ran out of time -- Bobby Layne

by detpistons3 on Aug 6, 2009 6:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The changes to the O Line look to be pretty small.

I know, I know, better coaching, Gosder was a rook, Loper and Jansen will be beasts, ….I would not call those significant changes. They could gel and improve, but I would not expect any great changes until we start to work in some young, talented linemen.

Here is a link from Cold Hard Football Facts where they rate the O line play by team. http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/2_1024_Off._Hog_Index.html

The last three years Detroit has been ranked 32nd, 29th, and 32nd by their criteria.

by NorthLeft12 on Aug 7, 2009 9:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We'll see how they go in the pre-season

I’m not gonna judge them too harshly yet.

2009 = The start of the Lions Golden Age (We hope).

by Hyperion Ecta on Aug 7, 2009 10:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Preseason really?

Do you not remember how we fared in preseason last year? 4-0. Where did that get us? 0-16. So let’s not jump all over their dicks if they happen to sweep the preseason again. Let’s wait for them to actually do something over a whole season.

by Lions Rant Artist on Aug 10, 2009 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I agree

I was just saying that I’m not gonna judge their performance based on a few practices.

2009 = The start of the Lions Golden Age (We hope).

by Hyperion Ecta on Aug 10, 2009 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The one fault I see

This year the Lions have potential to break out and do great things. The O-Line is going to be the one problem on this team, which is why they are concentrating on being a more physical team. Jansen and Pettigrew (even though he is a TE) are huge additions. I have faith in the coaching staff and I know that they are tailoring the playbook to this team. i say we win 7 games this year with some close ones in there.

Live and Die by the LIONS

by LionsFan619 on Aug 7, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs