Lions 17th in Peter King's NFL power rankings

NFL pundit Peter King always takes his time to come out with the "silly season" stuff, such as mock drafts and power rankings.

So after digesting the free agency period, he released the thinking man's power rankings today at themmqb.com, and the Detroit Lions are right at the top — of the second division of the rankings.

King has the Lions at No. 17, which makes them eighth among NFC teams but just third in the NFC North (the Green Bay Packers are No. 3, the Minnesota Vikings are No. 6, and the Chicago Bears are No. 23).

"I don't trust that the Lions have done enough to bolster a defense made thin by the loss of its best position group, defensive tackle ..." King writes.

"I think everyone's going to put Ndamukong Suh under the microscope this year, and rightly so, given his humongous contract and the salary-cap risk the Dolphins took in signing him. But it's hard to imagine a transplanted defensive tackle under more pressure to produce this year than Haloti Ngata.

"The Lions waved goodbye to both domineering men in the middle of their defensive front, Suh and Nick Fairley. In comes the 31-year-old Ngata in his 10th season, moving from an occupy-multiple-men position in Baltimore's 3-4 defense to one in which he'll be asked to penetrate more. Big expectations, too.

"I'll be really interested to see how former Princeton defensive lineman Caraun Reid is progressing in training camp. The Lions think he's got a chance to contribute prominently in their defensive-front rotation."

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By the way, King has the Lions ranked right behind Suh's new team, the No. 16 Miami Dolphins, and he's not all that impressed with them, either.

"Dolphins win second in the AFC East, which is an accomplishment," King writes. "But I wonder if Stephen Ross will think 9-7 and being out of the playoffs is really such a swell year?"

Now, for a second opinion: The over/under on Lions wins this season is 8.5, via sportsbook.ag.

Will Brinson of cbssports.com looked at the over/under numbers for all 32 teams and advises betting the over on the Lions. So that's a good thing.

Brinson writes: "It has been a transformative offseason for the Lions, even if it has been a relatively quiet one. They lost Ndamukong Suh but acquired Haloti Ngata on a defense that looks questionable, although doubt Teryl Austin's ability to impact that unit at your own risk.

"The offense appears to be a more run-heavy unit this season. Even with Matthew Stafford andCalvin Johnson on hand, there has been a lot invested into the run game, including a trade to acquire Manny Ramirez and a first-round pick of mauling Duke guard Laken Tomlinson. Oh yeah, and explosive Nebraska back Ameer Abdullah. The Lions even drafted a fullback! It wouldn't stun me if they were this year's Cowboys."

BTW, here are our off-season NFL power rankings, from May:

Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.