Lessons Learned About the Detroit Lions in 2009

Wait! Hold on to that cyanide, Detroit Lions fans, don't drop it into your morning coffee just yet.

Look, I know. Really, I KNOW. Another disappointing season rife with disappointing losses.

Another year the Lions spend as the greatest innovators of losing, seemingly inventing new methods each week.

When does it end? When do we get a break?

I don't have those answers, and I won't tell you it's going to be next season. Maybe even with our luck, we'll be ready to turn it around the season the NFL gets locked out.

But I digress. What I bring you are lessons from this season and just maybe, some things to look forward to.

Because even though a 2-14 season is a poor season by any standards, the Lions still had an infinity percent increase in winning percentage over last year.

So looking forward to next year, here's what I know about what's coming, and what I learned about what happened.

I Was Wrong About Matthew Stafford, and I'm Sorry

But only partially.

My fear about drafting Stafford was not that he wouldn't be good. It was never about his skill set, which I had no doubt of.

No, it was about the guys in front of him. I didn't want the kid getting hurt and ruining his potential or wrecking his confidence.

Now, someone remind me where Stafford finished the season. As I recall, it was not Ford Field against the Bears, but on injured reserve, in Dr. James Andrews' office.

So in a sense I was right about that, but I was wrong about not wanting to draft him, and I was wrong to think that coddling a rookie talent on the bench was the best way to get him acclimated to the NFL.

Frankly, Stafford is not the type of guy to have his confidence shaken by something trivial like a multi-interception game, a separated shoulder, or dislocated kneecap.

That will mean good things and bad in the future, but what it doesn't mean is Joey Blue Skies: Redux.

Jim Schwartz Has the Right Attitude

How easy would it have been for Jim Schwartz to allow the Detroit media to anoint him after defeating the Washington Redskins in Week Three?

Schwartz delivered a win, and there was much rejoicing. And as we all smiled and posted overly optimistic expectations for the rest of the season, Schwartz went back to work.

Thirteen weeks later, in a game that meant nothing to anyone other than a slight alteration in draft position, Jim Schwartz blew his top at the referees over a bad spot.

Childish? Perhaps. But Schwartz wasn't mailing this season in, regardless of how trivial the difference between 2-14 and 3-13 is.

That's what we need in Detroit. A hard-nosed coach who wants to win, regardless of whether it means anything.

Many took the Baltimore game as a sign that the Lions had given up for the season, with their franchise quarterback out for the year and nothing left to play for.

Then the Lions came out and made legitimate runs at two more wins. They fell short, but they fought.

The players, the organization, the city, and the fans all respect Schwartz, and vice-versa, and that's a great start for a rookie head coach who decided to take on perhaps the toughest job in the NFL last year.

Martin Mayhew Is Not Matt Millen

The extent to which Mayhew is responsible for the 2009 draft is arguable.

Who ever really knows if a draft pick is more the GM or the coach?

What I do know is that I (as I'm sure you all do as well) blame Millen for every draft pick from 2001-2008, and so it's only fair to allow some credit to flow to Martin Mayhew for what appears to be a highly successful 2009 draft.

You can argue that Brandon Pettigrew was the wrong pick at 20, or that Derrick Williams was a bust (though it's too early to say that) after an ineffective rookie campaign.

I'll counter you with Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Louis Delmas, the only player in NFL history to return both an interception and fumble for a touchdown, and notch a safety in his rookie season.

Or third-rounder DeAndre Levy, who at different points this season filled in for an injured Larry Foote and Ernie Sims, playing both roles with no significant drop in production.

Or the late rounds of the draft, where the Lions got a starter, a change-of-pace running back, and a special teams star in the fourth, sixth, and seventh rounds.

When is the last time the Lions got anything of value from the third round on?

Given a season to evaluate and assuming that proper player development is in place and these players continue to get better, I have to assume the Lions will finally join the rest of the NFL in that they will actually get better through the draft.

Much talk has been made of Ndamakong Suh and the merits he would bring to the Lions' defensive line. But frankly, I'm more excited this year to see who the Lions draft in the third and fourth round.

This is the first time in a long time I've been able to look forward to starter quality from those picks.

Which is good, since the Lions need a bunch of solid starters from this draft (like 2009) to fill holes, rather than one great superstar and a bunch of busts (like 2007).

Which brings me to my next point.

Rome Wasn't Built, Burned, Demolished, and Rebuilt in a Day

Look, I'm not going to keep on with the Matt Millen thing for long. He's been gone a season and a half now, and the statute of limitations on Lions fans being able to blame him for team misfortune is running out.

But the fact is, there was greater quality out of last year's draft than the eight before it combined.

In other words, the Lions' roster was completely depleted of any discernible talent. To an extent, it still is. There are 53 players on a football team and only seven rounds in the draft, so you can't replace all of them in just one year.

Jim Schwartz was able to replace about two-thirds of the Millen holdovers, but most of those moves were lateral, from guys who hadn't performed in Detroit to guys needing a second chance after not performing elsewhere.

So a 2-14 season is a wake-up call to anyone calling for a playoff run this year. You know who you are.

And if you're still calling for a playoff run in 2010, you will prove that you have learned nothing at all.

Assuming another quality draft, an 8-8 record is a lofty goal for the Lions in 2010. No playoffs, unless all hell breaks loose in the NFC and 8-8 gets somebody the last wildcard spot.

Right now, the Lions are trying to build a new foundation on the still-smoldering remains of the previous one, and you can't talk about how great the house is when they're still pouring cement.

What you can do is look long and hard at the foundation, and if you like what you see, you can get excited. But don't expect your anxiousness to get that house built any faster.

It's going to take time, whether you're optimistic or not, and if it's going to get built the right way, you'd better hope you're not looking at a finished product in 2010, but rather a frame.

Next year is the year the Lions will establish an identity. Things will take shape, and we will begin to see a skeleton of what the finished product is going to look like.

Tendencies, go-to players, clutch performers, team leaders—all will emerge for the Lions next season.

If we think about the rebuilding process in stages like this, it's easier to see where the progress is.

It's even easier to get excited for more.