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This week’s focus: FOCUS. On-the-field leaders wanted! Here’s my question for @sbnation: http://t.co/DP2hjWd7xN #GMCPlaybook
— Marshall Faulk (@marshallfaulk) September 16, 2014
Instead of having a set group of captains this season, Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell took a different approach. He is rotating the Lions' three captains, allowing different players from the offense, defense and special teams to serve in those roles each week. So far, the following players have gotten to be captains for the Lions this year:
Preseason
Week 1: Matthew Stafford, Stephen Tulloch and Montell Owens
Week 2: Dominic Raiola, Ndamukong Suh and Don Muhlbach
Week 3: Calvin Johnson, Brandon Pettigrew and Rashean Mathis
Week 4: Riley Reiff, DeAndre Levy and Glover Quin
Regular season
Week 1: Matthew Stafford, Stephen Tulloch and Montell Owens
Week 2: Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh and Don Muhlbach
Although the Lions don't have permanent captains, there's clearly a known group of leaders on this team, as evidenced by the names listed above. Marshall Faulk wants to know who the biggest leader is for the Lions, but it's really tough to say since there are different types of leaders in this group. Some lead more by example than anything, whereas others are more vocal in their leadership. Calvin Johnson is known more for letting his actions do the talking, for example, whereas someone like Dominic Raiola is more apt to speak his mind and be more vocal than anything.
I suppose the answer to Faulk's question really comes down to what you consider a leader to be. Nate Burleson remains the person I think of simply because he was quite vocal and always led the Lions' pre-game huddles, but he's obviously no longer on the team. For the 2014 Lions, Johnson, Raiola, Matthew Stafford, Stephen Tulloch and Rashean Mathis come to mind when I think about the Lions' main leaders. It's tough to pick just one as the biggest, but when you hear the word "leader," who immediately comes to mind for the Lions?
Join the #GMCPlaybook discussion at sbnation.com/sponsored-gmc-playbook and on Twitter by following @thisisgmc & @marshallfaulk.