My darkhorse prediction for 2010: Lions secondary

Last year, as we all know, the Lions secondary was an absolute disaster. With the exception of Louis Delmas, there was not a single playmaker in the group. None. Zip, zero, zilch. To the tune of La Cucaracha, different players came and went like a carousel through the secondary, all to the same effect, which wasn't effective. But it wasn't as if the coaching staff had a choice. Coming fresh off of an 0-16 season, the talent pool was dry so there was no option but to start players (Anthony Henry, Phillip Buchanon, Will James) who were all past their primes or simply weren't starting caliber material (Marvin White, Kalvin Pearson).

There was no choice. However, late in the season, Jack Williams was waived by the Denver Broncos and Detroit immediately picked him up. Unfortunately, literally on his first play as a Lion, he suffered a severe knee injury that ended his season. I was looking forward to seeing what he could do because from what I have seen, this kid has tons of upside. Fast forward to today, he's been placed on the PUP list which means he will miss the first six weeks of the season at least. I was glad to see the Lions stand by him and give him a chance when he eventually returns from injury. They could have simply cut him, but they decided to keep him and give him a shot with the hopes that he returns ready to go in a few months.

The change in the secondary has been astounding, and I am going to give a big round of applause to the coaching staff for putting faith in a youth movement back there. Jonathan Wade, Chris Houston, Aaron Berry, Amari Spievey, John Wendling, C.C. Brown, Randy Phillips, Jack Williams, Alphonso Smith, and Louis Delmas are all 27 years old and below, and I think that this bodes well for the future for these Lions and the team as a whole. The Lions staff and front office, in my opinion, did an excellent job in searching for guys with unlimited upside. I was also glad to see Paul Pratt and Jonathan Hefney make the practice squad. Both had some impressive plays in the preseason but need a little more work.

Based on past transgressions, the Lions secondary is totally written off for this season according to most people and the 'experts'. However, there are a small majority of people such as myself that think that something special may be in the works here.

-During the preseason, Randy Phillips really was a fascinating player to watch. This kid, who wasn't drafted and wasn't even on the team when the Lions started training camp, rocketed to the top of the depth chart in a matter of days, and played absolutely lights out during the preseason making plays all over the field and in the backfield. I'd love to see him start alongside Delmas, like they did against the Browns. He's one to watch this year.

-Amari Spievey looks much more comfortable and natural at safety, who still retains the ability to play corner in spot or nickel situations. Another one to keep an eye on.

-Aaron Berry, even though he was nursing an injured hamstring most of camp, was very impressive when he did play. Gunther Cunningham, who in all his years of coaching and wisdom, was left in awe after this hit that set up an amazing leaping interception and return by Ashlee Palmer. Now if that's not faith in a young player, I don't know what is.

-Alphonso Smith was a guy that the Lions were very high on coming out in the 2009 draft, but Denver sacrificed a 1st round pick to trade up into the second round to draft him. He was recently Mayhewed (this is what I'm calling Lions trades from now on) from Denver for Dan Gronkowski (in which both players were going to be cut anyway) due to him falling out of favor (really, who hasn't?) with the McDaniels regime. Nothing but upside here.

-Jonathan Wade was brought in during the offseason after a disappointing season in St. Louis, but if he lives true to the coaches claims of him being 'the most consistent corner of the the offseason', then I think that there's some potential here, broken finger notwithstanding. Remember back in  the day when Dre' Bly had that cast on his arm that looked like a club? Well, here we go again.

-Chris Houston is by far the most intriguing pickup of the offseason after he was Mayhewed here from the Atlanta Falcons, since Dunta Robinson's arrival meant Houston was expendable. This kid obviously has the talent, just needs to be consistent. His constant covering of Calvin Johnson, among the best receivers in the game, during the offseason only helped him along. He needs to limit mistakes and start finding the ball. Once he does that, he could be one of the premier corners in the game. Much upside here.

-Louis Delmas is the unquestioned leader of this young secondary. As long as he's healthy and able to play at a high level, he's Pro Bowl bound. Bank on it.

-John Wendling. I didn't know too much about this guy, as did many of you. Mad props goes out to evilsmurf for posting this writeup on Wendling. He apparently is an absolute special teams stud, as well as being able to play safety in a spot or nickel situation. He did have an interception last year. I love how  the Lions went out of their way to upgrade an absolutely laughable special teams into what has the potential to be a very potent unit. Stay tuned.

-C.C. Brown came over as a castoff from the Giants, but all indications are that the Lions are comfortable with him starting at strong safety opposite Delmas. Let's hope he doesn't live up to the 'can't cover' moniker and makes some plays out there. He looked steady and reliable during preseason. Upside.

-Paul Pratt/Jonathan Hefney. Both are young, gritty players who are hard workers, and they worked their way onto the practice squad after a solid showing in the preseason. Hefney played far under the radar, but was steady. Pratt showed flashes, coming up with some big hits and big plays (like his game-sealing 102-yard interception return for touchdown), but also made some mistakes that are correctable with more practice and hard work.

All in all, I have a gut feeling that there's something special brewing in the secondary this year. Our first major test is tomorrow against Da Bears. I'm going out on a limb here with this post, so if Cutler's cannon toasts us for hundreds of yards and some TD's, I won't mind munching on my size 13 shoe. My gut feeling is more often than not correct.

But as of right now, I'm saying that we're going to be much improved over last and previous years. We'll soon find out.