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Detroit Lions guard Larry Warford (75) felt he tried to do too many new things last season, which led to a sluggish start to his sophomore campaign.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

ALLEN PARK -- Larry Warford forgot who he was last season. By the time he remembered, it was too late. Don't expect him to make the same mistake this year.

Warford was outstanding as a rookie in 2013. A third-round draft pick out of Kentucky, the 330-pound guard brought stability to right side side of the Detroit Lions' offensive line with consistently dominant outings.

Eager to build on his first-year performance, Warford started tinkering with every aspect of his game during the offseason. By the time the regular season rolled around, he'd drifted far enough away from his fundamental base that he struggled to find it again through an uncharacteristically inconsistent first half.

"Last offseason, my whole theme was, how am I going to get better, what am I going to change to improve?" Warford said. "It got to a point where I was trying so many new things out that I lost my core values, my core technique."

Things didn't start to get back on track for Warford until midseason. He says everything finally clicked when the team traveled to London to play the Atlanta Falcons in Week 8. According to Pro Football Focus, it was his best run-blocking performance of the year, to that point.

Warford's confidence was brimming coming out of the bye week, but just eight offensive snaps into Detroit's next contest, he suffered a knee injury that would sideline him nearly a month.

"Oh man, against Miami, the way I started that game, I was so mad," he said. "It was about to be one of those games and then I got hurt."

But the physical setback wasn't enough to stem Warford's momentum. He returned Week 14 against Tampa Bay and was dominant. He had another strong showing the following week vs. Minnesota. And in Green Bay, for the regular-season finale, he felt as if he was firing on all cylinders before a second knee injury ended his season.

Despite the frustrating year, Warford learned a valuable lesson -- don't try to be someone you're not. This offseason, instead of trying a multitude of new things, he's focused on perfecting his strengths.

"I don't have to do all these other things," he said. "People don't expect me to do certain things, they expect consistency. It sounds silly, but everybody has their thing and mine is consistency."

During the early stages of this year's offseason program, Warford feels like he has a head start. He's not leaning on instincts to carry him like he did as a rookie. He's not trying to re-shape his identity like he did last summer. He remembers exactly what was working for him as the end of last season and is ready to apply those techniques going forward.

"Coming in, I can feel everything that I did last year -- my body position, my set, my punch, how I come off the ball," he said.

Warford now knows exactly who he is, and if he performs like he did down the stretch last season, opposing defensive linemen will wish they didn't.

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