Rookie mini-camps continue, the Tulloch situation has some in Detroit asking what’s going on, more roster moves are being made, a Lions legend has some things to say about the draft class, one of the Lions players wrote a book, and the Detroit Lions PR department really wants us to understand a message. Let’s take a look at the weekend’s Detroit Lions news.
Lions Morning Intel – Time For Your fix
Lomas Brown has a lot more idea of what an incoming rookie offensive tackle has to face with the increased competition level, learning a new offense, and transitioning from right to left tackle. Even with that insight; by far the most interesting thing about this article is that this is the first mention from a Detroit Lions employee that there is a possibility that Larry Warford might not be the starter at right guard. Travis Swanson did a solid job filling in as a rookie, could it be possible that the Lions are looking at moving on from PFF’s 39th ranked guard? Or might I just be reading too much in to a throwaway comment at the end of an article on the team’s site? That 39th ranking was poor enough for PFF to believe that Warford’s play would be easily replaced, and the Lions did bring in a player who ranked higher, Geoff Schwartz was PFF’s 20th ranked guard in 2015. That’s a story line that hasn’t really been floated anywhere in Lions news reporting.
A’Shawn Robinson, being out of Alabama’s football program, looks better immediately than his fellow rookies in drills, likely due to the fact that Alabama’s coaching staff are second to none all in. In an interesting view of rookie minicamp, Tim and Mike again pluck at my conspiracy minded brain by ending the article with a throwaway comment regarding the Lions drafting Michigan players. Jim Harbaugh as Lions coach in 2017? I really hope the team does well enough that this is not even a possibility.
The Lions want you to know that the idea that the guy who started last year will begin as the starter this year, is dead in Allen Park.
Tyrus Thompson out, Darius Johnson in. I’m going to go ahead and theorize that Thompson did not have a good week at rookie mini-camp.
Stephen Tulloch is still a Lion. What are the possible reasons? Injury settlements are not cheap, in fact were an existing injury unlikely to allow Tulloch to continue to play, it is possible that the team could be on the hook for his salary were he to not sign, or to fail a physical, and the Lions doctors be shown to have recommended treatment for the injury that has failed to heal him adequately enough for his career to continue. If the conspiracy nuts are to be believed, and the Lions were to be moving to a 3-4 defense, Tulloch even in his injury and age reduced state, would be a more than adequate two down inside linebacker. In 2014, when Tahir Whitehead was deployed along the line of scrimmage, occasionally coming off the edge, but more often disrupting the tight end and covering running backs out of the back field, he was an extremely effective player as the Sam OLB when the Lions showed 3-4 looks. Curiouser, and curiouser. Another possibility is that when presented with the opportunity for his client to take a pay cut, Tulloch’s agent resisted, the team told them that he would be cut, and Tulloch gave his agent orders to fix that mistake, and the two have just not completed that negotiation. It seems really unlikely that it’s out of spite, or a direct attempt to in some way harm Tulloch.
“I’d rather be the hammer than the nail”, said Miles Killebrew. That’s all I needed to hear to love this kid. His forty time wasn’t really that bad in terms of the strong safeties in the league. Tight ends run that speed too, until the team stops the run it doesn’t really matter if they can stop the pass. It’s like the relation between the cart and the horse.
Geoff Schwartz, in his campaign to be the most interesting man in the world, has co-authored a book with his brother.
That was the most important Lions news that you need to know in order to kick off your week (also, in case you ended up hanging out with your mother or something this weekend). @a5hcrack on twitter, and on /r/detroitlions. Before I depart, I’d like to share some highlights:
