Scott Placed on IR; Woody Moves to Right Tackle

The Lions offensive line sucks.  There are no ands or buts about it, the o-line just absolutely suck.  Jon Kitna has been sacked more than any other quarterback in the league this season, and because of that, the Lions have had trouble getting the offense going.  It doesn't matter how great a passing attack is if the QB doesn't even have time to get a pass off.

The one bright spot on the offensive line this season had been Jonathan Scott, who is a second year-player from Texas.  He had moved into the starting role after George Foster was benched a few weeks ago and played well.  That is, until he suffered a broken finger.  He missed a couple of games due to the finger injury but returned on Thanksgiving against the Packers.  Unfortunately, the return was short-lived, as Scott suffered a severe hamstring injury early on against Green Bay.  The injury was bad enough to end his season, as the Lions put him on the injured reserve.

Needing to find a right tackle, the Lions made two moves to fill the void left by Scott's absence.  The first move is that Damien Woody will has switched positions from guard to right tackle.  This is the first time he will play right tackle since high school, but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Ok, maybe this isn't a desperate measure exactly, but either way I like the decision.  Anybody playing that position other than George Foster is a good thing.

The second move the Lions made to help add depth to the right tackle position is the re-signing of Barry Stokes.  Stokes was cut by the Lions before the season began after starting 11 games for Detroit in 2006.  He is expected to be Woody's backup at RT.

I don't think there's any question in saying that free agency and the 2008 NFL Draft has to be about offensive linemen for the Lions.  The poor o-line play is hampering Detroit's passing game, which should be the offense's strong point.  If Kitna had more time after taking a snap, then he would be able to find receivers without having a 300+ pound lineman about to knock him to the ground.  With that being said, please, Millen, get Kitna some protection.