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Detroit Lions (Last Year: 10-6)

2012 NFL Season Preview:

Quarterbacks Offensive Line Secondary Running Backs Defensive Line Special Teams Receivers Linebackers Coaching

*** 2012 NFL DRAFT GRADES, OFFSEASON NEEDS BELOW COMMENT BOARD ***

2012 NFL Draft Grade: A

2012 NFL Draft Individual Grades:

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Season Summary:

Offseason Moves:

Lions sign SS Sean Jones

Lions re-sign DT Sammie Lee Hill

Lions re-sign OT Corey Hilliard

Patriots sign OLB Bobby Carpenter

Lions re-sign RB Kevin Smith

Lions sign DE Everette Brown

Lions re-sign TE Will Heller

Lions re-sign ILB Stephen Tulloch

Lions re-sign OLB Ashlee Palmer

Lions re-sign DT Andre Fluellen

Lions sign CB Jacob Lacey

Lions re-sign OT Jeff Backus

Lions re-sign QB Shaun Hill

Lions re-sign S Erik Coleman

Buccaneers sign CB Eric Wright

Lions cut TE Will Heller

CB Jacob Lacey, SS Sean Jones.OT Riley Reiff, WR Ryan Broyles, CB Dwight Bentley, DE/OLB Ronnell Lewis.QB Drew Stanton, OLB Bobby Carpenter, CB Eric Wright, S Chris Harris.Football fans finally discovered what Detroit's offense is capable of if Matthew Stafford could stay healthy for 16 games. The results were even better than expected. He threw for 5,038 yards, 41 touchdowns and only 16 interceptions. More would have been made about his 5,000-plus yards, but Drew Brees and Tom Brady both broke Dan Marino's single-season yardage record.The massively armed Stafford has the potential to match, or even exceed those numbers in 2012, but there are two potential things that could derail him. The first is his own health. Stafford started every game last year, but missed 19 contests the two seasons prior. Keeping him upright is paramount, so Detroit fans must have been relieved when the front office finally addressed the offensive line in the NFL Draft. General manager Martin Mayhew spent the No. 23 pick this past April on left tackle Riley Reiff. The Iowa lineman, once considered a top-10 prospect, fell because of his mildly short arms, but should develop into a quality blind-side protector for Stafford.It must be noted that Reiff won't have to play that position right away; Jeff Backus will hold down the fort for a while. Backus is good at opening up running lanes, but was guilty of seven sacks and 11 penalties last year. In other words, it won't be long until Reiff is the new left tackle. In the meantime, Reiff is expected to challenge Gosder Cherilus (nine sacks allowed) at right tackle. The rookie should win that job pretty easily.The interior of Detroit's offensive front is pretty stout. Rob Sims and Stephen Peterman are both very solid guards. Center Dominic Raiola isn't nearly as good; turning 34 in December, Raiola is a poor run blocker and isn't much better in pass protection. He'll have to be replaced soon.As mentioned earlier, there are two potential things that could prevent Stafford from either matching or beating his 2011 figures. The second is Calvin Johnson - because of theCurse. Players who have graced thecover have a dubious history of underachieving the following season. But how could the league's most talented receiver succumb to it? Well, because it's not really a curse.cover boys often have to do plenty of photo shoots and attend promotional events for the game, which takes away from their training time. So, instead of working out in full force, Megatron, like the otherCurse victims, is maybe doing 80 percent of his normal routine. That 20 percent may not seem like much, but in such a fast game like professional football, it could mean an injury or slight regression. Cleveland fans scoffed at the prospect of their beloved Peyton Hillis enduring theCurse last year, and everyone saw what happened.Coming off his best season yet, Megatron caught 96 balls for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. Those numbers will fall this year, so Stafford's other targets will have to pick up the slack. The two favorites to do so are Titus Young and Brandon Pettigrew. The former is a second-year, lightning-quick receiver who finished his rookie campaign on a strong note. Young caught 19 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns in the final five weeks. He punched teammate Louis Delmas in OTAs and was kicked out of practice for a while, but he has since returned and everything seems to be resolved.Pettigrew, meanwhile, caught 83 balls for 777 yards and five touchdowns. Like Young, the big tight end finished well, catching 27 balls for 302 yards and two scores in the final four weeks of the regular season. Elsewhere, Nate Burleson will continue to serve as a reliable safety valve, while second-round rookie Ryan Broyles won't be able to play right away because he's coming off a torn ACL.Detroit's offense was potent last year, but one thing it couldn't do was sustain a consistent rushing attack. The main reason for this was all of the injuries the running backs incurred. Jahvid Best suffered multiple concussions, which was terrible news for a small, but electrifying runner who dealt with this issue at Cal. Mikel LeShoure missed the entire 2011 campaign because of a torn Achilles. He was then arrested for marijuana possession this offseason. Kevin Smith took over in November and looked impressive - until he too went down with a malady. All three of these backs are talented, but are extremely brittle. They're all expected to miss time in 2012.The Lions built their defense by focusing on the defensive line, and that unit did not disappoint in 2011. The team finished 10th in sacks, racking up 44 of them. Leading the charge was Cliff Avril, who notched 11 sacks. Kyle Vanden Bosch, meanwhile, collected eight sacks of his own. Of course, the two defensive ends were aided by Ndamkukong Suh's presence. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle was a force in the interior. He accumulated only four sacks, but pressured the quarterback very often, which allowed the ends to collapse the pocket.Avril, Vanden Bosch and Suh all had issues containing the run, however. That, along with Detroit's wide-nine formation, contributed to the team's 26th ranking versus ground attacks (4.89 YPC). Avril and Suh also had issues with penalties; the two combined for 20 of them. Of course, Suh's most egregious infraction was kicking a Packer lineman on the ground on Thanksgiving, which resulted in a suspension. However, penalties were a season-long problem for the Lions, who would often self-destruct. The team needs to be much more disciplined if it wants to advance deep into the playoffs.The rest of the defensive front is stout. Detroit has a deep defensive line rotation. Defensive tackles Corey Williams and Sammie Lee Hill are both strong run-stuffers, while second-year Nick Fairley has all the potential in the world. He just needs to get his head on straight and stop being arrested twice per offseason. Meanwhile, reserve ends Lawrence Jackson and Willie Young rushed the passer very effectively.Given how much pressure Detroit generates, one would assume that the team contains aerial attacks pretty well. That assumption is incorrect, however, as the Lions surrendered a mind-boggling 1,612 passing yards in their final four games of the season, including the playoff loss to the Saints in which Drew Brees threw for 466 yards. The secondary absolutely had to improve this offseason. It'll be a bit better than it was this past January.The Lions lost the oft-torched Eric Wright to the Buccaneers and replaced him with the duo of third-round rookie Dwight Bentley and free agent Jacob Lacey. It's unclear how the former will play, while the latter isn't bad, but isn't anything to write home about either. The two will provide depth at the very least, and one of them could challenge Aaron Berry for the right to start across from Chris Houston, who surrendered a solid 52.9 completion percentage in 2011.So, why will Detroit's secondary be better than it was in January? Because stud free safety Louis Delmas will actually be healthy, assuming Titus Young doesn't punch him several more times. Delmas was knocked out with a knee injury on Thanksgiving and didn't play again until the aforementioned battle against the Saints. It was very clear that Delmas wasn't healthy, as Brees quickly discovered this and exposed the hobbled safety. A 100-percent Delmas is huge because strong safety Amari Spievey stinks.The linebacking corps, meanwhile, received a huge boost when the team re-signed Stephen Tulloch. The Lions weren't in the best cap position, so retaining both Avril and Tulloch didn't seem possible entering the offseason. However, there wasn't much of a market for inside linebackers, even for players as talented as Tulloch, so Detroit was able to keep him at a very cheap price (5 years, $25.5 million).There is some concern with Tulloch, however, because he's developed knee tendinitis. He insisits it's nothing major, but he may not be able to practice until training camp. If he's OK, the linebacking corps will look pretty good. Justin Durant, manning the strong side, is a good two-down run-defender. Weakside linebacker DeAndre Levy struggled last year, but perhaps he'll be able to rebound; he was solid the prior season.The Lions, historically, have one of the worst home-field advantages in the NFL, owning a horrendous 58-70 record since 1996. But that's nothing compared to their 27-102 road mark during that span. Things have turned around, however, as Detroit was 5-3 as a host and 5-4 as a visitor in 2011. The team needs to play better at Ford Field.In the five years prior to 2010, the Lions didn't have a single real special-teams touchdown (the only one was a fluke score by Casey Fitzsimmons off an onsides kick). Even worse, they had given up NINE returns. Well, the latter figure is now up to 13 (two in 2011). Stefan Logan was decent on kick returns, but was outgained on 4.5 yards on punts.Jason Hanson just turned 42 in June. Despite this, he drilled 24-of-29 attempts last year, including 5-of-7 from 50-plus. It's amazing how he's been able to kick this well for so long.Ryan Donahue was one of the league's worst punters last year, averaging 42.7 yards per boot with 13-of-49 attempts pinned inside the 20.The Lions have so many easy games on their slate. This includes: Rams (home), Titans (road), Vikings (twice), Seahawks (home), Jaguars (road), Colts (home) and Cardinals (road). This makes up for having to deal with the Packers and Bears twice.The Lions have one of the most talented rosters in the league. They now have to play up to that talent level. They must avoid stupid penalties and mistakes that resulted in losses last year. They also have to stop getting into legal trouble. If they can do all that, and if Calvin Johnson can elude the dreadedCurse, there's no telling how far this team can go.11-5 (Tied 2nd in NFC North)The Lions believe in drafting the best player available. If they were to focus on certain positions, however, they would undoubtedly fix their atrocious secondary. If you watched New Orleans score at will against Detroit in the playoffs, you know why this area needs to be addressed. Meanwhile, a franchise left tackle is something that has eluded the Lions for years.I've been saying for years that the Lions had to find a blind-side protector for Matthew Stafford. Well, they finally were able to do just that while sticking with their "best player available" strategy. Riley Reiff, once considered a top-10 prospect, was a major steal at No. 23. He shouldn't have gotten past the teens.The Lions, as usual, did a great job of adding talent to their roster. The secondary was addressed with Dwight Bentley and Chris Greenwood, both of whom were good values where they were chosen. Two linebackers, Ronnell Lewis and Travis Lewis, were steals. Ryan Broyles, meanwhile, didn't fill a need, but he should be a dynamic weapon for Ser Stafford.Detroit once again walked away from Draft Weekend as one of the big winners. Martin Mayhew has done a phenomenal job of completely turning this franchise around.History repeats itself. Two years ago, Iowa tackle Bryan Bulaga was a top-10 prospect who dropped to the 20s. That pick worked out really well, and I'll be shocked if the Lions don't have similar success with Riley Reiff. Detroit really needed a tackle to protect Matthew Stafford, and Reiff was the best player on the board. Great move.Hmm... maybe the Vikings should have drafted Morris Claiborne after all. This is crazy. If Ryan Broyles pans out, how are teams going to stop their offense? Broyles, if healthy, should be a good player for Matthew Stafford, who will need someone to throw to once Calvin Johnson suffers from the Madden Curse. I have to wonder though, why not improve the defense? I feel like there were better prospects available, but I don't have a problem with this selection.The Lions do what they do most of the time - they select the best player available. Dwight Bentley could have possibly been selected at the very end of Round 2, so Detroit is getting really good value with him. He obviously fills a need as well; it's been well-documented how anemic the Lions' secondary is.I'm not sure how the hell Ronnell Lewis fell into Round 4 (let alone Round 3). The Lions are getting a major steal. They don't need a linebacker in terms of a starter, but Lewis is way too good to pass up at this juncture.I thought the Lions took the best player available? Tahir Whitehead was a seventh-round prospect. I also don't see how he fits into Detroit's defense. He should have been drafted by a team to be a 3-4 rush linebacker.No surprise that the Lions selected a second cornerback. They really needed help at the position. Chris Greenwood has good upside and fits the range in the middle of Round 5.Detroit really wants to fix the cornerback position. I don't think many people had Jonte Green as a draftable prospect, however.Another Oklahoma linebacker. Another steal. Another A+. This new Lions regime knows how to draft. The only question is, why didn't they fire Matt Millen sooner?Finally. Lion fans endured a decade of horrible players, Matt Millen madness and zero postseason appearances, but at long last, their team finally reached the playoffs. Just getting there won't be enough next year, however. Detroit will be expected to contend for the Super Bowl.