[Bette]

The Detroit Lions will wind up more than doubling their victory total from last season.

No matter what happens Sunday in Green Bay, the Lions can say they made significant progress over their three-win total in 2006.

But would it be fair to call this a "building" season?

Despite seven wins in the bank and possibly an eighth (if Green Bay decides to let Brett Favre and other starters stay huddled around the heaters on the sidelines rather than face the Lions), there aren't many players on the Detroit roster who could be called legitimate building blocks for the future.

That's pretty sad for a team that has been piling up high draft picks over the past six years.

Mike Williams, Charles Rogers and Joey Harrington all were monumental busts and some of the later-round draft picks weren't much better.

That put this team in a huge talent hole.

Rod Marinelli has done a decent job of digging through the rubble, but it is just as easy to see the Lions falling back again next season as it is to them taking that next step forward.

What do they have to build around?

Tops on the list has to be linebacker Ernie Sims.

Sometimes he could do a better job of wrapping up tackles, but he's tough, quick and aggressive.

Sims probably would be headed to the Pro Bowl if he were on a better team.

That's about where the list ends when you talk about defensive players the Lions can build around.

They are paying a lot of money to defensive tackles Shaun Rogers and Cory Redding, but both were inconsistent this season.

Defensive end Dewayne White did some nice things, but was hampered by injuries.

The defensive backfield needs a complete overhaul.

On the offensive side, the Lions have one legitimate star in Roy Williams.

Calvin Johnson still might make it to that level, but the rookie season for the highly touted receiver was spotty at best.

Who else can you point to on offense?

Jon Kitna is a 35-year-old quarterback who still seems prone to rookie mistakes.

Kevin Jones just looked like he might be getting back to full speed after last year's injury, then blew out a knee last week. He faces another long rehabilitation process.

The offensive line is as big a mess as the defensive backfield.

I give Marinelli and his staff a lot of credit for milking seven wins out of this group.


And the sad reality for long-suffering Lion fans is that the man responsible for fixing the problems with this squad is still Matt Millen.

Monroenews.com - Informing Monroe County, Michigan, for more than 180 years

[Lefty Noob]

Great article. Really good breakdown of the team.

I understand Kitna's old, and maybe this team should be grooming a younger QB, but I still think his veteran presence helps them out.

Marinelli is a phenomenal coach. He's done a great job with the pieces he has, and I hope they give him an extension.

[azrael492]

If 7 wins with this squad does not warrant an extension, I don't know what would.

I think they need to appoint somebody to be a talent evaluator other than Millen. They have wasted so many picks, and I am not even talking about the top picks they have gotten. I don't know of one late round pick that has amountd to anything. That is where a team is usually built...getting strong value picks in the later rounds.