Willie Young: 2012 Starting Left Defensive End?

I have to say that I’m more and more impressed with ol Willie. I’m still not convinced he’s full on starter material tho. I believe it would be better for us to move LoJack back to his preferred position. That said, I think Young is indeed a helluva find and will be great rotational player for us.

Now would I want Young in as the starter next year? If Avril prices himself out of a job here, sure. Otherwise tho obviously I’d rather have Avril tho.

while Willie was solid in a back up role, his productivity dropped towards the end of the season. Just by looking at a small stat sample( is what you have with Young), one could make the case for Fluellen to be a DE starter. I believe he ranked #14 as a DE in Pro Football Focus’ PRP Rating system.

But he’s no Avril they are a perfect compliment to one another. I think it’s great to have a guy like Young to spell Cliff. No way am I ready to just hand him the starting job. Where was he at the end of the season when Cliff was still balling out ? When you find out out let me know.

But at this present time the Lions are using him perfectly. I think he definitely deserves more snaps [say +500 or so] in 2012 and I would be very surprised if he does not get at least that many.

Then we will be talking about whether Lawrence or Willie deserve KVB’s starting spot.

I agree with TP. Willie had some injury issues, missed a couple of games and did not play as well as he had earlier in the year. Hopefully he gets stronger, but I still like Cliff Avril as the starter a lot more.

i am one of those fans but at the same time not if the price isnt right. We all have seen what Mayhew is capiable of some question the contracts of KVB and Nate but that was an 0-16 team hungry for talent. The tables have turn d in Motown and hopefully guys like Cliff Jeff Stephen and Eric are more focus d on a ring with a team they help d make better and not just a payout. Cliff Stephen and Eric are still young and could do a 3 yr contract giving us a break in hopes for a ring in exchange. I have to believe Jeff will be back if Jim and Martin want him. He is at the end of his career a career that has took place all Michigan. (H.S Col and Pro)

good write up

I have to say I voted that he’s still more of a development rotational player right now. He is good when he comes in but I also feel that he’s still a bit undersized for the left side. I believe if Avril isnt in Detroit they will go w/ Jackson over Young first for that starting position.

Something tells me that keeping Avril will be where and how the sacrifice happens. If he is re signed I see some movements happening and some unexpected twists. I also believe that he will no longer be a Lion (pending what he’s asking as they dont have a lot of wiggle room even w/ restructures )and we ll be seeing more Jackson Young and Suh rotating that side especially if Fairley turns out to be that DT they hoped he would be.

I love KVB, and LoJack is an exciting player, but KVB is trending down for his career, and Lojack is seemingly always hurt, moving the two of them to the backup role and putting both Young and Avril on the line at the same time could be a drastic improvement.

I think LoJack and Willie will both fill in just fine with the loss of Avril if that were the case. The fact is that Suh and Williams demand so much attention on the inside that it gives a lot of 1 on 1 match ups with the DE’s and the RT/LT’s. Most teams don’t have 4 solid starters plus 3-4 solid back ups like we do on the DLine and teams are prepared to double team the better player while trusting that the weaker dude won’t produce 1 on 1. Perfect expample is when the production of Cory Redding dramatically dropped after we lost Shaun Rogers… I don’t even remember who the hell we had on the line after that but we had absolutely no Defensive presure. Granted Avril did stand out as a rookie on our 0-16 teams D-Line but it was very little to talk about.

Willie is on his way but he is still raw and LoJack will get the nod.

Some players just have a knack for it, and Avril is one of those players. It may be premature to say this, but I think Avril could be labeled a “game changer”, which is not something easy to come by. Young is a very good DE, but still has a lot to prove, imo.

is that Young is actually older than Cliff.

I am happy to hear that we have young guys that are developing well and ca challenge for playing time. While I really like Cliff Avril, he is in a difficult position with the Lions if he expects to make big money. The Lions have the horses to replace Cliff if push comes to shove. I am just happy that if Cliff jumps ship, we have a clear plan to replace him.