

I was able to attend todays Lions Organized Training Activity today, they had a day for season ticket holders to watch. I went despite being really sick, so it took me a while to start this recap, I needed a nap first.

The weather today was perfect! We were allowed to watch, but not take any pictures til the meet and greet at the end. On arrival, they let us walk thru the indoor training facilty, which is really impressive. Same turf that is at Ford Field, and really just a huge warehouse. I got a place to stand on the 42 yard line, great spot. seemed like about 1500 people were there today. I noticed today that 5 players were not in uniform, Joique Bell, Ryan Broyles, Haloti Ngata, Jason Jones, and LaAdrian Waddle. Bell and Waddle were both there though, I did not see the others. They spent about the first 30 minutes on special teams, mostly kickoffs. There was a moderate breeze at his back, but Matt Prater kicked every single kickoff thru the endzone, so they would just give the returner a different ball to run the return with. I think Prater took every kickoff. Three guys were returning, Abdullah, TJ Jones, and Quandre Diggs. Ross did not do a single return. AA and Jones seemed by far the better 2 guys. While ST practice was going QBs were warming up in the far distance, but I found it interesting that 6 DBs were set aside and did not participate in ST drills, they were doing their own drills. The 6 were Quin, Ihedibo, Slay, Mathis, Bentley, and Lawson. It almost seemed like these 6 were considered the top 6 in practice, but I was surprised that Lawson and Bentley were in there. Lawson especially, played ST last year, but maybe he is mostly on punt returns. These 6 were right in front of me, and both Lawson and Bentley looked completely healthy. Both went full out all day in drills.

After ST drills, they broke up into postion groups for about a half hour. The CBs and LBs were closest to me, so I watched them the most. I was very impressed with the 2 rookies, Diggs and Carter. Both are very obviously outstanding athletes. Diggs is really quick. One of the most interesting things to watch for in these practices is the pecking order, all drill the guys go in a specific order, starters first, rookies last. But Josh Wilson was in front of every CB except the starters. I also thought that, just from watching today, that our 4 veteran safeties, Ihedigbo, Quin, IAQ, and Carey, were way ahead of the 4 other guys. I would suspect that those 4 will make the team, and one of the other 4 will be on the practice squad. The battle at CB is much closer. Seisay is very impressive in person, and maybe the biggest CB we have. I thought he looked impressive today.

The LBs were just over to the side, and I watched a lot of their drills too. With no tackling, it is hard to judge linemen and LBs at these practices. Tulloch looked great, no knee brace, and he practices hard. He is an obvious leader of the group, and iys great that he is back. I was also impressed with Whitehead, who looks in tremendous shape. A rock!

After the position drills, they started doing 7 on 7 drills, and then 11 on 11. This is by far the most fun to watch. One remark I want to say about the practice, the best Lions players, Stafford, Calvin, Tulloch, Tate, Slay, all prctice really hard. When the top players put out big effort, it permeates thru the whole team, and this is very noticeable. The entire practice was crisp, quick, and very organized. This practices are very different from the previous regime. The Lions are doing things the right way right now.

I will go over the rest of the position groups as I write about the last hour of practice. Defensive line and Oline are very hard to judge in these no contact drills. Defensive line 2 things I really noticed. First, our new DT Walker is kind of out of shape, looks like a young Nick Fairley. A bit of a pot belly. And I think that Devin Taylor has gotten taller, he was always the tallest guy but it seems like he might have grown. Program says he is 6 7", but he is taller than that.

Offensive line is the other tough to rate position, but a couple of things were very noticeable. Mike Williams is a converted TE, been on thge PS last year, and I think has promise but I wondered if he would be able to get big enough. No worry, he is a mountain! He carries it well too. He was the 2nd team LT all practice, and he looks good. I will be stunned if he doesnt make the team, I think he might end up as our best tackle someday. He was standing next to Waddle and Lucas right in front of me, and he has bigger arms and legs that either of them. He was very impressive. Waddle did not practice, but walked around fine, without any braces on his legs. Tomlinson looks a lot like Warford, but Warford is bigger. But Tomlinson is still young and will get bigger. There is a big difference between our main linemen and our other guys size wise, all of our backup interior linemen all much smaller than the starters, except for Proctor, who is a pretty big guy..

Watching the Qbs, it is so obvious that Stafford has the most talent. He is so imprssive throwing the ball. Moore seems to have improved his arm strength. Orlovsky looked awful again today. I think the Lions may end up with just 2 Qbs this year. The 4th stringer was not very good today, but he did get in. Last year, they never let the 4th guy take any snaps in practice.

The RBs are also a little tough to judge, because there is no tackling. But AA is really quick. There was one play where it was going right and he turned it back left, it wouldve been a TD. He will be very fun to watch, I guarantee it. Of the rest of the backs, the guy who stood out in Zack Zenner. I have read the hype on here, and actually was very scepticle. He is not very tall, but he is really big. He has the biggest calves on the team, really powerful lower half. And he can catch the ball. You have to wonder if he could play FB also. Rookie FB Burton I was not impressed with. I would not think he is a lock for the team at all, but they will probably keep him. He seemed out of place, and he is not very big.

This leaves the receivers. Broyles was not there, which was disappointing. I dont knoiw why. Calvin was his usual spectacular self today, dominating. He is so good, and he and Tate practice hard. Both were sensational, caught everything, and getting open. But the unexpected star of the practice today was Lance Moore. He must've caught 10 passes in practice. He is not only going to make the team, he will start as our slot receiver. He was running with the first string, and he was open all day, made nice catches, knows where to go. We should've signed him last year. Corey Fuller also had a nice practice. Fuller. Moore, Calvin, and Tate are our first 4 receivers, the rest are battleing for 1 or 2 spots. Ross did not see a target all day that I remember. Greg Salas had a couple nice plays, but he also had a horrible drop. The WR who always impresses me is Andrew Peacock, who I think could play in the NFL. He caught one that would've been a TD, had about 3 more nice plays. Orlovsky throws to him a lot. I think he is better than TJ Jones right now, but Jones is still learning. #19 Jarrad Haggins had a couple nice plays also.

Fauria also did not practice, Pettigrew had a horrible drop on the first play of 7 on 7 drills, but after that he played OK and caught a few. I criticize BP a lot, but I want to compliment something here. At the end of practice, the players all walk by the entire crowd and shake our hands. Pettigrew was BY FAR the most personable guy on the team, stopping for pics and even autographs, which were not supposed to be allowed. He really made a few young fans happy today, and I commend him for it. Ebron made some nice plays, but had 1 awful drop and ran the wrong route once that obviously ticked off Stafford. He is still learning.

I tried to notice a little about every player today, if there is something or someone you want to know about just ask, I'm sure I will elaborate more as I remeber more plays. I wish they would open practice to me every day, I would go to every one. Love it!