Its official the Lions have their 53 man rooster. We will see how long it lasts but here is the list and my thoughts on it.
Quarterback
Matthew Stafford, Shaun Hill, Drew Stanton
Nothing exciting here, just the same as last year. I would like to see Shaun and Drew play all of one play during the this upcoming season.
Running Back
Jahvid Best, Maurice Morris, Aaron Brown, Stefan Logan, Jerome Harrison
Placed on IR: Mikel Leshoure
Nothing here to discuss frankly. AB did a good job and shows he can be solid back up to JB. MM is our power back and JH seems to be in the same vane in the little bit I saw of him. SL is a solid returner and when he is end in the backfield you never know what will happen.
Fullback
We are keeping none on the rooster as Heller has shown he can fill in when needed. Plus we do have Suh that can help out in Goal line situations.
Wide Receiver
Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson, Titus Young, Maurice Stovall, Rashied Davis
I like our top 5 and this happens to be what I predicted would occur, give me a pat on the back. BTW I think we have good group here and I see no changes here unless one gets hurt.
Tight End
Brandon Pettigrew, Tony Scheffler, Will Heller
Heller has proved to be very versitile during the preseason now he needs to do it during the regular season. Overall all though we have best TE trio in the league IMHO.
Offensive Tackle
Jeff Backus, Gosder Cherilus, Jason Fox, Corey Hilliard
Placed on IR: Johnny Culbreath
Not surprised by this grouping. Culbreath is going to be taking a year off and getting some bulk to run for a position next year. BTW JB is in his final contract year so I would expect him to be dominant this year.
Offensive Guard
I am a little suprised by us not keeping 3 but Sims is a solid player and Peterman provided he is not hurt plays decent. I would say with the same 5 for another year this OL can only get better.
Center
Dominic Raiola, Dylan Gandy, Chris Morris
I think having 3 listed is a little odd but with Gandy being able to play Guard as well I think it will work out.
Defensive Tackle
Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams, Nick Fairley, Sammie Hill, Andre Fluellen
Again I called this one but I think just about everybody could have called this and the DE. All I am going to say is that the NFL teams we face better have all 3 QBs on the active rooster when we play them and not short themselves a QB.
Defensive End
Kyle Vanden Bosch, Cliff Avril, Lawrence Jackson, Willie Young
This is the same as above with the DTs. I like this grouping.
Linebacker
DeAndre Levy, Stephen Tulloch, Justin Durant, Bobby Carpenter, Doug Hogue, Ashlee Palmer, Isaiah Ekejiuba
I was a little surprised by keeping 7 but we just have too much talent not to cut one and add a lower talent CB.
Cornerback
Chris Houston, Eric Wright, Alphonso Smith, Aaron Berry, Brandon McDonald
I was taken a back by not keeping 6 corners but the 5 we have are the best on the team. Heck they only have to hold their man coverage for 4 to 5 seconds at most. That should be doable.
Safety
Louis Delmas, Amari Spievey, Erik Coleman, John Wendling
Not much to say here but I called it after many people lately were saying lets cut JW or EC. The cap has a big impact into what players will be kept and that is why Vasher was let go above, his base is over a million for essentially a dime or worse CB is not worth it. That is why they did not cut JW, cutting him would mean eating half a million
Special Teams
Keep (3): Jason Hanson, Ryan Donahue, Don Muhlbach
I was a little surprised by the cut of Nick the simple fact is he shanked a punt and that bodes badly for making the team. We need players that can deal with a bad situation like what happened and still preform. Your job in the NFL is to play the best all the time and not let somebody else problems affect you..