FanPost

The Post-Mortem Autopsy, Predicted FA Targets, 7 Round Mock Draft

Warning!!! This post contains material which may not be suitable for those with a serious Matthew Stafford mancrush/bromance. Viewers should be advised that if they don't like it, tough luck

Well, here we are again folks. It was a fun ride while it lasted, but many fans could see the one and done playoff scenario like a prediction of John Goodman VS a hot fudge sundae. While the team made strides defensively, the offensive regression doomed this team. They actually put together a much better fight than I expected versus Dallas, and my hopes were briefly raised, but then our 0-17 road warrior found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Anyone who wants to talk about "the flag", please, save it for someone who cares. In my honest opinion the odds were 50/50 that had the Lions been granted the first down, Stafford's next throw would have been a pick 6. Was it a lousy call? Absolutely. Were the Lions guaranteed victory had it gone their way? Not a chance in Hades friends.

Anyhow, without further ado, here goes.

The Lions finished the season with an 11-6 record, bolstered in part through a relatively soft schedule that saw them play the weakest division in football, the NFC South, who they managed to go 3-1 against, losing on the road to eventual division "winner" Carolina who went 8-9-1 on the year, with a playoff victory.

The Lions went 2-2 against the AFC East, and lost to Super Bowl contestant New England, next year the Lions get Seattle, on the road.

The losses, in order of magnitude, were to Green Bay on the road, Dallas on the road, New England on the road, Arizona on the road, Carolina on the road, and Buffalo at home.

The wins included a sweep of the 5-11 Bears, the 7-9 Vikings, a early home win against the Packers, Atlanta on a neutral field, New Orleans, Tampa, New York Giants, Miami, and the 4-12 New York Jets, which represented the Lions only true road win against a team outside of their division.

Next season, outside of the usual division games, the Lions have road games against St. Louis, Seattle, San Diego, and New Orleans, with a neutral field matchup against Kansas City. Home matchups include Arizona, San Francisco, Denver, Philadelphia, and the Raiders (who knows where they'll be?).

If this seems overly critical, let me be clear, I am about as down on Matthew Stafford at the moment as any die hard Lions fan you will ever know. I 100% believe that the Lions were a better team this year than their record indicates, and the reason they are not playing right now is because of #9. Let me delve into my analysis of this right now. For his first three years, I thought he was the second coming of Brett Favre, for the past two, I believed, now I just see an overpaid version of Andy Dalton.

Stafford's level of play - In decline each of the last three seasons after his outstanding 2011 season, the excuses keep piling up, but the numbers don't. This season, surrounded my more offensive weaponry than Poland during WWII, Stafford had his least productive season of the last four. Many people have blamed the offensive coordinator, as they did last year (funny how Linehan doesn't seem to be the problem in Dallas though), but the fault lies with #9. This years running excuse has been the sacks he has taken. Anyone else notice his INT's have gone down? These two things are linked intrinsically in this case. The protection he has this year was on par with last year, he's just holding the ball longer, failing to pull the trigger, and taking coverage sacks more often. Just in case anyone was wondering, there is someone who was sacked more than Stafford this year. It was Ryan Tannehill, who threw for just over 200 yards less, but had 5 more TD,s and a completion percentage 6 points higher. Now, raise your hand if you'd trade Miami's skill players for ours.

Mechanics - He says all the right things, and fails to deliver. There is no one thing that is wrong with Stafford, it's a laundry list, and it all starts with his bullheaded commitment to "multiple throwing platforms". His mechanics are sloppy, and while sometimes it serves him well, more often than not it has led to some extremely errant and drive-killing throws. Going into year 7, we can expect this to be the norm. He isn't improving, he's staying the same. Being shorter than the average NFL QB doesn't help either, as he led the league in passes tipped at the line of scrimmage.

The Road Warrior - Not! Sorry, an 0-17 road record against teams with a winning record, that's not just pathetic, that's a problem. Well, he gets at least four opportunities to prove me wrong next year by my guesstimate. Like I said though, it's year seven, and he's pretty much a finished product.

My opinion is this position needs a strong dose of competition. My prediction is more of the same. Stafford has been coddled since day 1 by Mayhew and company, handed the keys to the city, a new contract, his daughters chastity belt, etc, and still has no playoff victories to earn it.

Don't get me wrong, he is definitely not a horrible QB, but he gets paid like Tarzan and plays like Jane. Not quite to the degree of Jay Cutler, thank god. I don't question his guts, I question what he's delivering for a guy who eats up 12.71% of total cap space. Not a Super Bowl, hey, Tony Romo at least gave Cowboys a big fat playoff win for his new deal, Stafford can't give us a playoff win. Heck, I would even settle for a regular season victory @ Green Bay for that investment.

Ok, I'm done ripping on Stafford. I apologize to those of you who can't be objective, and have a bad case of hero worship, but I call it as I see it. Can't wait for someone to pull out their passive-aggressive "Hater" label, lol.

Next years QB Prediction

Starter - Matthew Stafford

Backup #1 - Luke McCown, FA Signing

Clipboard Boy - Bo Wallace Rookie UDFA

Player of Intrigue - Jake Locker. This signing would be a subtle way of introducing competition. Had he come out as a Junior, Locker was a predicted #1 overall selection. With few weapons, protection, and injury issues, he has fallen out of favor. Still has a drooling amount of natural arm talent.

Running Back - This group had an overall good year. Joique Bell was his usual outstanding self, and was helped in cases by the addition of FB Jed Collins. Reggie Bush didn't have the greatest year, unfortunately I saw a lot of personnel limitations attributable to that on the O-Line, but regardless, I believe he will be a cap casualty. Luckily we have Theo Riddick, who with much of Bush's skillset is primed to take over his duties. George Winn gets first shot at staying on the roster competing with street bodies, UDFA's, and one special player to be named later.

Next years RB Prediction

Starter - Joique Bell

Change of Pace - Theo Riddick

Next Man Up - George Winn

Fullback - Jed Collins

Player of Intrigue - Roy Helu Jr. Has the complementary skillset that would fit in the offense. Low budget type signing that the Lions could afford.

Wide Receivers - Calvin Johnson had an injury riddled season as age is creeping up on him. Wait a second, that's total BS. I guarantee though that someone whose only brush with the football field involved marching with a clarinet will write those words in earnest though. He had a lingering injury, it affected his season, move on, next year he'll still be Calvin Johnson. Golden Tate was a pleasant addition, and offers the Lions their best duo since Moore and Perriman. The rest of this group underperformed, despite having opportunities. That means change is in order.

Next years WR Prediction

Starters - Calvin Johnson & Golden Tate

Backups -

Ty Montgomery, Stanford, 3rd round selection. Returned two punts for TD's.

Titus Davis, Central Michigan, 4th round selection.

Corey Fuller/TJ Jones

Player of Intrigue - Denarius Moore, Raiders. Loads of speed and talent in a bad situation? Or just a mediocre player who had opportunities he would have had nowhere else?

Tight End - We're set here. Ebron will look better moving forward.

Next years TE Prediction

Eric Ebron - Starter

Joseph Fauria - Red Zone dancer

Brandon "Stonehands" Pettigrew - Blocking

Player of Intrigue - Jason Witten, anyone else notice during the playoff games how much Troy Aikman praised him? It's like he thought he was his Jay Novacek, I half expected old Troy to go running on to the field screaming 'You complete me!'

Tackle - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but continuity brings rewards. Reilly Reiff had a decent year, nothing more, nothing less. UDFA Phenom LaAdrian Waddle had a sophomore slump year with injuries. This years UDFA find Cornelius Lucas preformed adequately. I expect these two to duke it out for the starting job next year, with versatile FA signing Jonathan Scott joining the team in an insurance capacity.

Reilly Reiff - Starting LT

LaAdrain Waddle/Cornelius Lucas - Battle for ROT

Jonathan Scott, FA Signing, backup

Player of Intrigue - Doug Free, the forgotten Cowboys lineman is sure to be gone from Dallas. Has a long history of starting experience.

Guard and Center – Time for my Dominic Raiola rant. Had he retired last year, he would have left on a high note, as last year was probably the best year by far of an otherwise mediocre to below average career. Instead he came back, and left us with a final memory of a foot stomp. I am happy that Jim Caldwell is the kind of class act that doesn’t put up with that crap. Raiola will leave me with the memory of being a classless thug, an undersized underachiever who disgraced the Lions and its fans on multiple occasions. Unlike Jeff Backus, also an underachiever who knew when it was time to bow out gracefully, Raiola is going to learn the hard way that no one wants a 36 year old career underachiever with a bad attitude. Good Riddance.

Thanks for the years Rob Sims, you did a great job, but you aren't a fit for the offense anymore. Sims just isn’t quite athletic enough to run the pulling and trapping schemes that Lombardi would like to run, and that would truly spring a Bush type skillset on plays to the outside. Larry Warford battled a mini-Sophmore Slump and injuries, and looks to rebound next year. Look for the Lions to target Clint Boling or James Carpenter in Free Agency to fill the void left by Sims, and make a push for backup Vladimir Ducasse of the Vikings. That is scenario A. Scenario B, the Lions push to sign veteran C Stefen Wisniewski of the Raiders, and kick Swanson over to Guard.

Larry Warford - RG

James Carpenter - LG

Travis Swanson - C

Vladimir Ducasse - G

Andy Gallik - Center, Boston College, 5th Round.

Player of Intrigue – Jonathan Goodwin, if the Lions want to go the cheap route, kicking Swanson to guard and bringing in Goodwin makes a lot of sense. Already intimately familiar with Lombardi’s defense, he made the line calls that allowed Brees to pass for over 4900 yards while surrendering only 29 sacks.

Defense! Defense! Defense!

If it ain't broke, don't fix it right? Unfortunately, that may not be an option.Get ready for change, like it or not. Fact of the matter is, with the money tied up on offense, the chance of resigning Suh are somewhere between slim and none, and Slim is getting ready to wave goodbye. Joining him will be RV Fairly. RV? Like the movie, he’s a big fat turd that keeps rolling along. Finally showing up on the field in a contract year, Fairly is one of those special types of players only motivated by money and cheeseburgers. He has just enough talent to squeak by for a team throttling down and playing on cruise control. Unfortunately, for he and us, his immense talent is likely to go untapped due to laziness. Mayhew will likely try to lure him back on a one year deal, look for him to bolt elsewhere for a multi-year package. Who’s left? Oh yeah, Willie Nelson Mosely, who couldn’t stop smoking dope long enough to play a game in a foreign country. Like Raiola, I don’t see Caldwell him being "high" on Caldwell’s retention list.

Without signing a single free agent, the Lions have around 15 million and change under the current cap going forward to play with. That number is expected, but not guaranteed, to go up by a significant amount. That still puts the team 10th from the bottom in terms of money to play with. Meaning a lot of significant holes to fill on a slim budget.

There’s the situation at DT, and with DE’s George Johnson and Daryl Tapp looking to cash in on good contributing role years, the Lions are at a crossroads on defense. Teryl Austin came to the Lions as a 3-4 guy, and with only 5th round Caruin Reid left in the cupboard, I predict the Lions will look to switch back to the 3-4, which we haven’t seen since the days of Jerry Ball. There will never be a more convenient time, personnel-wise, to make the switch. This is scenario A.

In scenario B, the Lions resign Fairley to a one year deal, and target either Da’Quan Bowers or Nick Hayden to plug in beside him.

In scenario C, the Lions resign Suh and Fairley, and Barry Sanders announces he’s coming back while addressing the media on a Unicorn. Yeah, not likely.

Expect Austin to turn to a familiar face too, as the Lions will target NT Terrence Cody of the Ravens, who is stuck behind Haloti Ngata. Cody will come at a very cheap price, comparatively, and provide the two gap run stuffing the Lions take for granted currently. Similarly, expect the Lions to also target Cardinals NT Dan Williams in free agency. I will run both A and B scenarios for viewer entertainment.

Defensive Tackle –

A Scenario – NT

Terrence Cody – Starter

Dan Williams – Backup

Chris Carter, UDFA, Ohio State

B Scenario –

Nick Fairly – Starter

Nick Hayden – Starter

Michael Bennett, 1st Round Draft Pick, Ohio State

Caruin Reid

JT Surrat, 6th round pick, South Carolina

Joey Mbu. 7th round pick, Houston, Practice Squad

Player of Intrigue – Kenrick Ellis. The mammoth 346 pounder hails from Jamaica, ya mon. No, that’s it, just a bit of trivia for you.

Defensive End, here’s where things get tricky, as you have your 5 techniques, traditional run stuffers, and pass rush specialists. The good news is, experienced help is available, cheap. If the Lions stick with their traditional front, they are pretty well set here as is, but if they go with scenario A, both Ansah(BYU) and Jason Jones(Seattle) have experience in 3-4 fronts, and Larry Webster, kept under wraps all season long as a freak athlete, could make an instant impact as a dedicated pass rusher from either the weakside 5, 6 or 7 spots in a traditional Okie 3-4 front. Nevertheless, if the Lions do indeed go this route, expect them to bring in some affordable mercenary help. A likely target would be Washington DE Jarvis Jenkins, or Miami DE/DT Jared Odrick.

Defensive End –

A Scenario –

Jarvis Jenkins, strongside 5 starter

Cauin Reid strongside 5 backup

Ziggy Ansah – weakside 5 starter on rush, strongside starter on pass

Jason Jones – weakside 5 backup

Devin Taylor/Larry Webster – weakside 5 pass downs

JT Surrat, 6th round pick, South Carolina, Practice Squad

Joey Mbu. 7th round pick, Houston, Practice Squad

B Scenario -

Ziggy Ansah RDE

Jason Jones LDE

Devin Taylor

Larry Webster

Player of Intrigue –Cory Redding, remember when this guy was the Lions Franchise Player? Yeah, I want to forget that too.

Inside Linebacker is set in Scenario A with the expected return of Stephen Tulloch and the emergence of Tahir Whitehead as a viable player. In scenario B, Tulloch still remains as a 3 gap defender, and is joined by 1st round draft pick Shaq Thompson of Washington. Thompson is an exciting player and a dynamic playmaker on offense, defense, and special teams. He is something of a tweener, but what he would bring to a 3-4 Lions D would be immense. Natural coverage instincts make him a good fit to cover the Matt Forte’s of the world, and light tight ends. He is an ace special teams gunner, and in three games as the Huskies starting RB averaged 124 yards per game on a sick 7.5 yard per carry average. The guy is a swiss army knife that makes highlight reel plays, and he doesn’t just do it against Ididn’tknowyouexisted Community College of South Central Eastern Rhode Island either.

A Scenario –

Stephen Tulloch – Mike

Shaq Thompson – Jack and Nickel Linebacker, 1st round selection, Washington

Kyle Van Noy – Jack rushing down linebacker, Mike passing down linebacker

B Scenario –

Stephen Tulloch

Tahir Whitehead

Player of Intrigue – Josh Mauga, the little fireplug rolled up 103 tackles for the Chiefs this year, while making just $645,000

Outside Linebacker, so DeAndre Levy got snubbed for the Oscars again, what’s new. Oh I’m sorry, I meant the Pro Bowl, not that there’s a whole lot of difference these days. Levy is a unique talent they are lucky to have. He has the skillset to play pretty much anywhere, and he is appreciated in Lion Land, which is probably the better award to have. Tahir Whitehead is someone I am pegging on nailing down the other Linebacker spot in Scenario B, although Van Noy could push for time there as well. either way, Lions win in this scenario. A far better day than watching Ashlee Palmer do….well, nothing really. In Scenario A, I expect the Lions to fully take advantage of Larry Webster by inserting him in here as a 7 technique OLB. Pernell McPhee and Jason Worilds would be primary free agent targets for 6 technique spots if they don’t believe in Webster.

DeAndre Levy, starter in either scenario.

Scenario A –

Pernall McPhee SOLB Starter

Larry Webster SOLB

Devin Taylor SOLB

Tahir Whitehead WOLB

Kyle Van Noy WOLB

Marcus Benard, free agent backup, special teams

Scenario B –

Tahir Whitehead/Kyle Van Noy opposite Levy.

Ashlee Palmer

Player of Intrigue – Brian Orakpo, the oft injured sack artist might be had for a bargain during free agency.

Safety is where the Lions are set either way. both Glover Quinn and James Ighedibo came to the Lions from 3-4 systems. Nevertheless, some infusion of youth would be handy here, which is why I snagged Anthony Harris, Safety, Virginia in the second round. The ballhawking safety led the nation in 2013 with eight, and added two last year as well. Harris could ease Ighedibo’s snap count by inserting him in nickel situations, and has the athletic ability to play either safety position.

Either Scenario

Glover Quinn – FS

James Ighedibo – SS

Anthony Harris – S, 2nd round selection, Virginia

Don Carey – S

Player of Intrigue – Louis Delmas, managed to play in thirteen games around injuries this year, shockingly healthy for him. I guess one year deals really are the only way to go for some players.

Cornerback, Rashean Mathis performed admirably, the guy plays with guts and tenacity. I hope the Lions resign him to a one year deal, even if they do though, he needs to be on a snap count. Being a 35 year old NFL corner is not something you trust at a position where shelf life is limited by speed. Slay will hold down the other corner position. Expect the Lions to make a push to sign Chris Culliver from the 49ers. Culliver has flown under a lot of radars, but in his first year starting, showed a lot of promise. He is just entering his prime, and would make a solid and cost-effective signing. Expect both Bentley and Lawson to return to round out this group.

Darius Slay – Starter

Rashean Mathis – limited starter

Chris Culliver – limited starter, dime package

Bill Bentley – Nickle, injury specialist

Nevin Lawson – Nickle for when Bentley goes down.

Quinten Rollins, UDFA, Miami of Ohio, Practice Squad

Player of Intrigue – Antonio Cromartie player this year for the Cardinals on a one year, 3 million dollar deal. Coincidentally, that’s how much more Stafford makes than Tom Brady.

Kicker, for gods sake, just resign Prater please. Let’s not do *that* again. Prater brought sanity to the roulette wheel that was the Lions kicking game. Sign him to a long term deal and give the man a beer.

Player of Intrigue – Matt Prater!

Punter, Shank Martin, crap, I meant Sam. That must’ve slipped. Martin ruined what had been a fine year for him with an infamous, booming, 10 yard punt late in the Dallas game. He’ll be back next year.

Resign Muley too. We already saw what happened when you change things up in the kicking game, let’s not add long snapper to the list of debacles.

There you have it, unless of course, you believe in Scenario C of course. If you do, I have these awesome magic beans I'd be willing to part with for the right price.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.