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Lions notes: Special teams rankings, Calvin Johnson, more

Lions notes looks at special teams rankings for the 2014 season, Calvin Johnson and much more.

By Sean Yuille
Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
  • The Detroit Lions came in 15th in Rick Gosselin's annual special teams rankings, which are based on 22 different categories. I'm honestly surprised they finished that high on the list considering how many missed field goals they had and considering how little their return units gave them in 2014.

  • Joe Lombardi admitted that having a player like Calvin Johnson at his disposal meant there were "added layers of complexity" in creating game plans. Why? Because what you see from opponents on film and what you see on game day are often quite different since teams have to play Johnson so much differently than other wide receivers.

  • ESPN ranked all 32 NFL teams based on the "best 25-and-under talent," and the Lions came in 20th. Ziggy Ansah, Larry Warford, Darius Slay, Eric Ebron and Theo Riddick were highlighted as the Lions' top 25-and-under players.

  • This piece from The MMQB about Pro Football Focus is extremely interesting, especially the part about how Lions senior coaching assistant Gunther Cunningham uses the service.

  • Awful Announcing put together an in-depth piece on how television coverage of NFL games has evolved over the last 50 years.

  • This was certainly a wild idea:
  • SB Nation's latest 2015 NFL mock draft has the Lions taking Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams.

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