Another week of OTAs, another week of Morning Intel. This week we have had an avalanche of activities in Lionland (a mythical football related theme park I dreamed about once when I was a kid but was sure was real when I woke up) and most of it is right here if you’d like to take a look at the videos yourself rather than read articles about them.
Here are five things that Jim Bob Cooter and various players have said about the offense. The specifics are as clear as mud but I like the things I am hearing; for example that the offense will be built around what the players are good at, and what they like doing on offense, rather than a rigid system forcing square pegs in to round holes. Words like flexible and adaptable are the sort of words I want to hear.
The headline of this article is about Matthew Stafford moving on from Calvin Johnson, but the more important part is Ngata talking about the defensive tackle spot. If you want to look at a culprit for the team’s struggles early in the year, the inability to do anything constructive in the middle of the field on either side of the ball ranks highly among the contenders.
A recap of the events witnessed by Justin Rogers at OTAs. I would summarize it here in Morning Intel but it’s a completely unrelated set of pieces of information. Just go read it.
Corey Fuller had surgery on his foot. This could not be worse timing for Fuller to have an injury that keeps him out of the coaching staff’s sight. One thing that always amazes me is that people talk about the fifth player at any position as though what they bring to the table at their offensive/defensive position has any bearing on whether or not they make the team. Corey Fuller needs to beat the world on special teams, if he’s struggling there he won’t make the first cut down.
Miles Killebrew strikes me as the player that will define whether this was a good draft or not four years from now. He is a throwback player in the truest sense, and fifteen years ago I really believe he would have been a late first, early second round pick. His athletic profile is that of a box safety or coverage linebacker, and which of those two positions he would be drafted to play entirely depends on the defensive scheme he was drafted to play in. For the Lions he will be the former, and if that works out; getting a player that contributes early and often at a high level as a fourth round pick will be a boon to the franchise that it seems all good franchises get once in a while, and the Lions have always struggled to find.
Wallace Gilberry is a player you should be rooting for. As a situational pass rusher his history is very good, having netted 14 sacks in two years with the Bengals in 2012-13. As a starter at defensive end, he did not shine, and last season was utilized, according to profootballfocus.com (take that for it’s worth, but there are few reliable sources of where a player actually stood on the field – if you have a better one please send it to me), as an interior pass rusher which doesn’t lend itself to a player posting gaudy numbers. He could be a sneaky good signing for the Lions, and fill the gap left by the departure of Jason Jones, as much as it is really a gap; Devin Taylor was better than Jones last season overall.
And for Case’s weekly Zach Zenner fix: apparently he’s looking better as OTAs roll on. it wouldn’t be a real Morning Intel column without a Zach Zenner article.
I like promoting the charitable endeavors of the Lions players in the morning intel column, and the lasting legacy of one of the all time greats occurred this week in the Charlie Sanders Foundation Golf Outing. Members of the Lions front office, coaching staff and players all made it out this year. The foundation is working to raise awareness for the necessity of screening young people for heart defects if you want to donate, you can do so here.
That’s your weekly fix of Morning Intel. I’m off continent for the next few weeks, so if you see me posting or commenting at odd times, or it takes me six hours to respond to you, don’t be surprised, I am without my precious data plan, and am sleeping between the hours of 4 pm and 2 am or so most nights. See you in the tubes at /r/detroitlions kiddos.
