Humbled by, and happy with, lions front office

by Turkeygecko on Dec 27, 2011 1:01 AM EST

Remember when the Lions drafted Stafford first overall? Remember the boo-birds around the city that accompanied that selection? I do. I was one of them. I was buying into the idea that LB Curry was the safest, most sure talent in the draft. I don't remember ever being so happy about being so wrong.

Remember in the preseason when all the "experts" declared they would rather have Josh Freeman as their starting QB than Stafford? I wasn't so on board with that train of thought, but I did doubt that Stafford was the franchise. Boy, am I happy that Schwartz, Lewend, and Mayhew pulled the trigger (instead of me.)

For any Lions fan out there that was not convinced the Lions front office was the real deal, I hope you've been silenced and thrilled with the fact that you've been proven wrong. I am thrilled about being wrong.

No matter what the Lions do in the playoffs this year, the transformation that has begun, and continues to take place, leaves little opportunity for qualms regarding the trajectory of the franchise and the talent of the Lions personnel with the nuclear codes.

And finally, F Mark Sanchez.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride of Detroit or its writers. FanPosts are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable fans.

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When they picked Stafford I was unsure,

I thought they had to draft a QB to have something to build around, and Stafford was the best QB coming out, but I didn’t know if he was a guy they could build a franchise around. He seemed to have quite a bit of talent on his Georgia team, but when I watched their games I was never that impressed, and I, like many others questioned his accuracy and ability to make throws in tight windows at the NFL level. However, there were no other choices, you could get a good player on defense, but they needed a guy to build a franchise around and this is a QB league. He was definitely better than Sanchez (F him) and Freeman in my mind, and who else would you select on offense? There was no LT worthy of a #1 pick, you don’t draft interior lineman that high, and you can’t add more skill position players without someone to get the ball to them. So, I thought they were “stuck” with Stafford, so I just had to hope that I was wrong about him.

Well, call me wrong; he has already exceeded my expectations from the time of that draft. I am so thrilled with the way he has played this season, and he will only continue to get better. Even if we only were to get about 5 seasons out of him playing the way he is this year I would be more than happy with his career, but there is a good possibility for much more than that (both more seasons and for him to play at an even higher level than he is right now).

In addition the front office has done a great job adding talent to this team since acquiring Stafford, and I think they will continue to do so. Now the challenge is how to minimize the remaining holes in the roster and to stockpile more talent while still dealing with the cap. I am confident that Mayhew and company will find a way, but it will be a change from the last three years in how to build the roster.

by Adam Keith on Dec 27, 2011 11:21 AM EST reply actions

I didn't want Stafford

I wanted them to trade down. I wanted a killer DT, a linebacker and some road graders for the o-line. I thought that a QB would just get killed. It actually looked like this was going to come true with the beating that Staff was taking. This, however, is a tough kid. He almost seems like a throwback.

There’s this theory that QB’s have to be eased into the league so their confidence won’t get destroyed. I don’t think you can dent Staff’s confidence and that’s what I really like about him. There have been many great QB talents that have come into the league but they didn’t have the head for it. Staff, first and foremost, has the head and heart to play this game. I certainly didn’t anticipate that when he was drafted.

So I was way wrong and I’m glad I was.

by rekar on Dec 27, 2011 1:37 PM EST reply actions

My understanding

was always that he was drafted based on his skill set plus his mental abilities. He has amazing recall and this makes it much easier to teach the pro style offenses and defenses.

by rproulx on Dec 28, 2011 1:24 PM EST reply actions