The Detroit Lions do have two Pro Bowl starters on their roster this season. This is no surprise for their fan base since they have thoroughly dominated their positions this season. Calvin Johnson has accumulated over eleven hundred yards this season averaging more than fourteen yards per catch.
He is the first wide receiver in thirteen years to receive the honor for Detroit. His twelve touchdowns are not only important for those who have him in their fantasy leagues, but also for the organization. The turf toe injury to Jahvid Best has made the team less dynamic from the running back position. One has to wonder just how effective Johnson could be if he had Matthew Stafford as his quarterback for an entire season. It’s not to say that Drew Stanton and Shaun Hill haven’t filled in admirably, but neither has the raw talent that Stafford possesses.
By Patrick Herbert
Ndamukong Suh has been an extremely dominating fixture at the defensive tackle position this season. His nine sacks are the most for any NFL rookie. He is also the first defensive rookie to go to the Pro Bowl for the Lions in thirty-one years. The one hundred and twenty tackles that he has made is a good sign for the defense because then the offensive ball carrier is not making it into the secondary.
The beginning of this blog sounded like a retrospective, but the good news is that they have a chance to add to these statistics in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Entering the game as a favorite is not a traditional position for the franchise. This is a testament to picking the right players recently and the developmental abilities of Jim Schwartz. What follows is a comparison of the high profile draft picks around Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh.
Sam Bradford was the only player taken ahead of Sun in 2010 NFL Draft. It is safe to say that was also a very smart move. Both players have major impacts on opposite sides of the ball. Bradford has surprisingly put his team in position to possibly make the playoffs out of the NFC West this season. Part of that is due to his solid play, while the remainder of the credit should go to the ineptness of the other teams in the division. Mike Singletary paid for unmet expectations with his job earlier in the holiday season. The surprise pick in the first round was Tim Tebow by the Denver Broncos. The only thing that he has led the league in this season is jersey sales, but in fairness to him, he hasn’t had that many opportunities to throw the ball because Kyle Orton was effective in front of him.
Detroit fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief that the brass didn’t select JaMarcus Russell with their first round pick in the 2007 draft. This could have been due to expertise, or because he was already gone to the Raiders. Either way, Russell followed in Ryan Leaf’s footsteps into obscurity. Hopefully that purple drank tastes good because he has plenty of time to enjoy it now. The other notable bust among the top ten that season is Ted Ginn Jr. at the ninth position. Sometimes players rise due to their team’s success and he seems to have fallen under that umbrella.