Ndamukong Suh's First Day of Camp Reminds Us To Temper Expectations

Here comes the stuff nobody wants to hear.

But that's okay, because somebody has to say it.

The first real day of training camp has passed now. Ndamukong Suh is there, and all is right with the world.

Well, except that Suh now has to actually go through training camp, and start living up to those sky-high expectations we've been heaping on him since three months prior to the draft.

Uh-oh, you see where this is going.

Well, no. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Ndamukong Suh isn't going to be all you dreamed he would be. Indeed, everything about him has "superstar" written all over it, from his size, to his build, to his work ethic, to his raw talent and explosiveness.

I won't take that away from him. I couldn't if I tried.

What I want, fellow Lions fans, is not to detract anything from Detroit's favorite 300-pound 23-year-old.

What I want to do is preach patience with him, for his own good.

"Why," you ask, "after all the optimism in the offseason, do you bring this up now that Suh's finally made it to camp?"

The answer is, because something happened in his first padded practice that is likely to be a microcosm of his first season or two.

Suh found himself lined up across from Steven Peterman for much of the practice, and the two basically fought one another to a draw.

On one play, Suh barreled right over Peterman, introducing his backside to the turf. On the following play, Peterman got leverage, and drove Suh several yards back from the line.

And there you have it—inconsistency.

Look, I know it's one practice. Hell, I based that analysis on two reps in a single practice, but that's why I called it a microcosm.

I know it's Suh's first padded practice at the professional level, and I urge you not to read too much into it. I'm not calling "bust" here just because Peterman beat him on one play in a training camp practice. Give me a little more credit than that.

But it reminds us of something important—football is hard. For all the complaints we have about how much money professional athletes make, it's easy to lose sight of why. It's because these guys are the best of the best, athletes in top physical form. These are the guys who made your high school's big star look like a grade-schooler.

So while Suh is immensely gifted and talented...so is everybody else in the NFL. That's why they're in the NFL. If superstar physical ability at the college level was enough to carry over into the NFL, Reggie Bush would already be pushing rushing records.

I'm not saying Suh isn't special. He is. He's a 300-pound man with no gut. That alone is an anomaly.

More importantly, what Suh has is immense talent and potential. What he does not yet have is skill. Skill is acquired with experience and good coaching, which is why Suh's rookie season may disappoint you.

His strength and explosiveness will help, but professional offensive linemen know tricks to help them handle raw physical power. Dominic Raiola has made a decade-long career out of using craftiness to beat guys who are bigger, stronger, and faster than him.

Suh does not yet know the tricks to help him counter those skills. Because of that, it is unreasonable to expect Suh to come in and set the league on fire when he has so much to learn.

So expect big things from Suh. But expect them gradually, eventually.

Expect his developing skills to bind themselves to his physical prowess, and grow him rapidly as a player. Expect his play at the end of this season to be considerably more polished than it is right now. Expect bigger things from him next season than this season.

But, don't expect him to notch 16 sacks this season. He's not going to be an even-tempered Albert Haynesworth right out of the box.

And if you do expect those types of things from them, and he brings only a decent rookie season, don't be disappointed. Don't turn on him if he falls short of nearly impossible expectations.

Don't say you wouldn't do that. Some of you were ready to run him out of town because he held out for half a week.

The point is, we all like Suh (at least, we do now that he's signed a contract). We all expect him to be a star. But nobody expects him to take a natural rookie progression to stardom, and that's not fair to the kid.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Suh breaks all kinds of rookie records this year. Maybe he's a quick learner who figures out in half a season what takes other people years.

If he does, that's fantastic. Nobody will be more thrilled than me.

But until that happens, let's all remember he's a 23-year-old defensive tackle who was a Nebraska Cornhusker last year. He needs to make an immediate impact, for sure.

But he also needs time to grow into his role. And we fans need to remember to give him that time.

This photo and others from training camp are available at MLive.com, courtesy of Philip Zaroo.

EDIT: Speaking of MLive, it would appear that Tom "Killer" Kowalski has been reading me.