Armchair GMs...check this out.

[gandydancer]

Im a stafford lover and admit hes still nowhere near his potential. At the same time though many stafford haters are not taking into consideration how difficult it is to develop into a stud qb. Staff is still young and imo made very necessary strides last season with one of the worst offensive lines in football coupled with a new offensive coordinator. He has definitely showed flashes of eliteness (is that a word) so I can see how frustrating it is as a fan.

Yes Laker I agree and that is most of my frustrations. I see those glimpses and not sure they become habit. He gets no benefit of the doubt with me... Just like any other player.

 

[gvsulaker82]

Or maybe its just an indication caldwell wants to play super conservatively with one of the worst running games in the league. Im not ready to place the blame solely on one person because it is pretty clear there were many failures on the offensive side of the ball last year.

 

[gvsulaker82]

Frustrating for me as well gandolf. I am hoping caldwells recent comments are twofold, one theyindicate the team plans to pursue offensive line seriously to help the running game and two to help relieve any pressure staff may be feeling to carry the offense. The lions offense would be amazing if they had any sort of running game, currently defenses can completely key in on pass defense and that makes it extraordinarily difficult for any offense when they are so one dimensional.

 

[gandydancer]

suh definitely transformed that defense into a stud unit. Clearly the mvp of defense and probably the team last year. One could argue golden tate. Most of the stafford lovers would argue the lions could do no wrong which is why they are all trying to minimize now how important suh was to the defense.

I agree he was the glue and MVP... Without guys like Quinn, Digs, Ansah, Levy, the defense does not shine when Suh is his dominate force. Then how important are the rotational guys like Whitehead and Mosley when they step in and the unit does not suffer much when Suh does what he does. You remember the talent on the roster in 2008??? Not sure two Suh's improve that putrid squad.

Team sport Laker. Guys have to have talent for Suh to make them better.

 

[gandydancer]

Gandolf....funny shit.

Agree again Laker. Look how much better Romo looked with a rushing attack. I imagine Stafford would also. Can't guarantee it. I did not believe it in Romo until he proved it. Matty will too.

Glad to see a Stafford lover admit he has faults. The line sucked balls, yes. Lombardi did too. That does excuse poor play by Stafford.

 

[gvsulaker82]

Yeah its a team sport those guys were huge contributors but the defense will be greatly impacted by the loss of their mvp. He made the defense so much better.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

suh definitely transformed that defense into a stud unit. Clearly the mvp of defense and probably the team last year. One could argue golden tate. Most of the stafford lovers would argue the lions could do no wrong which is why they are all trying to minimize now how important suh was to the defense.

While I agree Suh was the best player on the defense, I'd say Teryl Austin is the guy who transformed the defense into a stud unit. The progression of Darius Slay, teamed with one of best pair of safeties, also helped transform the defense. Same with the play of Levy and Tulloch, and Whitehead when Tulloch was injured.

One player does not transform a defense. If that were the case -- Houston would have been the #1 defense instead of 15th. A defense is only as good as the talent around them.

 

[Microwahevo]

suh definitely transformed that defense into a stud unit. Clearly the mvp of defense and probably the team last year. One could argue golden tate. Most of the stafford lovers would argue the lions could do no wrong which is why they are all trying to minimize now how important suh was to the defense.

2010: #21 total defense (5,497 yds/game, 23.1 pts/game) & #24 rushing defense
2011: #23 total defense (5,881 yds/game, 24.2 pts/game) & #23 rushing defense
2012: #13 total defense (5,458 yds/game, 27.3 pts/game) & #16 rushing defense
2013: #16 total defense (5,546 yds/game, 23.5 pts/game) & #16 rushing defense
2014: #2 total defense (4,815 yds/game, 17.6 pts/game) & #1 rushing defense

Did Suh FINALLY put it all together during year 5 in the NFL to make our defense one of the tops in the league? If he was always so badass, why didn't it happen earlier? I mean, according to some, he can make any defense the best in the league.

I put these numbers up just to show that with Suh in his first 4 years, our D was either near the bottom of the barrel or middle of the road. Year 5, the year it just so happens we get a new D-coordinator, we become the #2 defense in the league.

My question remains, was it Suh finally putting it all together, or did Austin get this D to gel together and use his skills to create a much better D?

As much as I love Suh, and think he is a great player, I have a hard time believing he suddenly, after 5 years, made this D into one of the best in the league. My money remains on Austin, his scheme, and his getting the most out of all of his players. Time will tell as now we will have proof as to how good Austin is without Suh, as well as how much of a defensive leader Suh is. Will he suddenly vault Miami from one of the bottom defenses to the top?

And for the record, I have never minimized how important Suh was to the D. But that one man didn't make our D one of the best last year. It was an entire team/coaching effort.

 

[Microwahevo]

Yeah its a team sport those guys were huge contributors but the defense will be greatly impacted by the loss of their mvp. He made the defense so much better.

I don't think they will be impacted that much. The LBs remain the same, and get back a "healthy" Tulloch. The secondary remains the same, and hopefully have a young talented corner or two to add to the mix. The D-line lost an absolute stud but added a former all-pro, but still has some depth issues imo.

Suh didn't make the defense much better last year, Austin did.

 

[LPinSLC]

Nobody wanted to lose Suh. Not everybody was on board with the money it would taken to retain his services.

 

[Old Lion]

I don't think they will be impacted that much. The LBs remain the same, and get back a "healthy" Tulloch. The secondary remains the same, and hopefully have a young talented corner or two to add to the mix. The D-line lost an absolute stud but added a former all-pro, but still has some depth issues imo.

Suh didn't make the defense much better last year, Austin did.

 

[RobBase]

Suh didn't make the defense much better last year, Austin did.

Suh leads all DTs in all major categories over the past 5 years. Suh has always been elite.

Austin is a great DC that helped the rest of the D improve around Suh.

But don't expect the same defense without him just because Austin is coaching it. He's not some mega genius who holds the key to some magical defense nobody can figure out. He lost his best player and one of the best in the NFL. You're going to notice it.

 

[RobBase]

If this were true he'd be an NFL HC right now.

NFL owners and GM's "Fuck Suh. Austin makes that D go! Plug Fluellen in there!"

Yet he's back w the Lions?

C'mon now fellas.

 

[RobBase]

Nobody wanted to lose Suh. Not everybody was on board with the money it would taken to retain his services.

That's because most fans think (thought) the Lions would take that money and "go get 3 or 4 great players for the price of one Suh!"

Most fans were wrong.

 

[LPinSLC]

That's because most fans think (thought) the Lions would take that money and "go get 3 or 4 great players for the price of one Suh!"

Most fans were wrong.

If fans thought they were getting those 3-4 players immediately, they were wrong. The money they would have had to pay him will surely be enough to pay 3-4 players. Probably existing players, draft picks and future free agency.

 

[RobBase]

If fans thought they were getting those 3-4 players immediately, they were wrong. The money they would have had to pay him will surely be enough to pay 3-4 players. Probably existing players, draft picks and future free agency.

Just lost a top 3 pick
Just lost top 12 pick
Top 10 TE huge failure so far
They're giving up on their first round LT
Titus, Leshoure, Best, Broyles all early picks all gone...
No one left from 10 or 11 draft
Just signed no one in FA
Etc etc etc

Rather have Suh than a bunch of money to screw up with.

 

[TwoCents22]

2010: #21 total defense (5,497 yds/game, 23.1 pts/game) & #24 rushing defense
2011: #23 total defense (5,881 yds/game, 24.2 pts/game) & #23 rushing defense
2012: #13 total defense (5,458 yds/game, 27.3 pts/game) & #16 rushing defense
2013: #16 total defense (5,546 yds/game, 23.5 pts/game) & #16 rushing defense
2014: #2 total defense (4,815 yds/game, 17.6 pts/game) & #1 rushing defense

Great stats, bro. Show us the 3 years before Suh.

 

[Microwahevo]

Great stats, bro. Show us the 3 years before Suh.

I don't need to. You can go look them up.

I never said Suh didn't help our D. Just that the year Austin arrived, our D got TREMENDOUSLY better. Suh also had his best career year in Austin's D. Coincidence? Probably not.

 

[TrustMeIamRight]

That's because most fans think (thought) the Lions would take that money and "go get 3 or 4 great players for the price of one Suh!"

Most fans were wrong.

Detroit will have cap space to sign multiple players -- just not in 2015. They added 8.5 million with Ngata and already have 9 million on the books from Suh's last contract.

If Detroit was able to get Suh to re-sign in Detroit -- they would have had to restructure contracts and possible lose a few starters to fit everything in under the cap for the upcoming year.

Now if Detroit does nothing next year in FA -- I would be asking questions why they aren't. The Suh money is off the books, which will free up 9 million right off the bat.

 

[Microwahevo]

Suh leads all DTs in all major categories over the past 5 years. Suh has always been elite.

Austin is a great DC that helped the rest of the D improve around Suh.

But don't expect the same defense without him just because Austin is coaching it. He's not some mega genius who holds the key to some magical defense nobody can figure out. He lost his best player and one of the best in the NFL. You're going to notice it.

Cool story. Never said he wasn't ever elite. But he thrived more in Austin's D than he ever did in Schwartz'/Gunther's. The entire D got better once Austin arrived.

Also,I don't expect the same D, hence why I said our D-line depth is a concern. But the D won't be bottom of the barrel like you think.