Detroit Lions Preseason Wrap-Up: Winners and Losers, Week 4

I know what the scoreboard said, but make no mistake, the Detroit Lions lost their preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills Thursday night.

The first half of the game could hardly have gone any worse, and the only reason it ended with the Lions on top is because "Mr. August," Drew Stanton came in and started making plays. Oh, and then some guy the Bills are going to cut threw a bad pass in the end zone to some guy the Lions are going to cut (Paul Pratt), who took it the other way for a touchdown.

Matthew Stafford threw one of the most errant balls of his professional career for six easy Buffalo points early, the defense couldn't stop anybody until they got to field goal range (and a competent offense wouldn't have stopped there), and the special teams looked... well, typical of recent Lions special teams.

And I don't care.

I don't care about any of it. The pick, the weak showing of the first team, none of it. Preseason doesn't matter, right? Well, if there's one game in the preseason that matters less than all the others, it's the fourth.

If the NFL preseason is the Winter Olympics (games nobody cares about except for when they're actually on, and then they're immediately forgotten about), then Week Four is the preliminary heat of a cross-country skiing marathon: Hard to watch, harder to get excited about, and irrelevant to everyone except the people in it.

That being said, final roster cuts are upon us, so the game actually did mean something to, say, the 53rd and 54th guy on the Lions' roster.

Analyzing the performance of those bubble players against the Bills is difficult, since nobody really had an exclusively good or bad game. But the Lions coaches have to do it, so I may as well give it a shot, too.

Winners

DeDe Dorsey

I've been holding judgment on Dorsey for a while. He has run well for most of the preseason, but any speed back like Dorsey can impress in a game or two under the right conditions.

The Buffalo game made me a believer.

Like he has in every preseason game, Dorsey ran well. But seeing him take a pass on a play where he was a hot read for Drew Stanton, then shake loose, blow by any nearby defenders, then lower the shoulder to break a tackle and get into the end zone? That's when I realized Dorsey could not only be roster-worthy, but possibly even something special.

Even it was third stringers and scrubs he was blowing by, that would seem to indicate that Dorsey is better than third stringers and scrubs, wouldn't it? And if that's the case, doesn't it make him worthy of a roster spot?

If Dorsey doesn't lock up a spot, ball security will be the culprit. Dorsey has fumbled twice in the preseason, and that's on limited touches. Most good running backs don't fumble twice in an entire season, much less four games against third-string defenses.

Still, coaches can forgive some ball security issues if they're offset by speed and potential big gains (see: Adrian Peterson, Vikings). Dorsey fits that mold, as someone who has been both the Lions' most prolific rusher and receiver, and has very possibly shown the Lions' coaching staff that he deserves to stick around.

Dennis Northcutt

I know, I know. Look, I'm not any happier about this than you are.  Going by last season, Northcutt is worthless and should be cut. He should have been cut before the end of last season.

And if we go by his value as a receiver, that's very much still true.

But consider: Who is going to return punts for the Lions? Northcutt fielded only two punts in the preseason, and took them for 15 and 16 yards. Small sample size, sure. But Tim Toone fielded four punts for an average of just over seven yards, and even managed to lose yardage on one.

And Derrick Williams? Well, he didn't get to return any punts, but he did fair catch one on the three-yard-line.

Ultimately, who earns the (likely) final receiving slot after the Johnsons (Bryant and Calvin) and Nate Burleson will have more to do with special teams than receiving ability. With an increasingly talented stable of running backs and tight ends, sets with four wide receivers will be incredibly rare in Detroit this year.

Most likely, the spot is between Northcutt, Toone, and Williams. None are likely to notch more than a catch a game, at most. Northcutt appears to be the strongest punt returner at the moment.

Therefore, if the spot doesn't belong to him, it's because the Lions coaches are betting on the potential of the young guys over the performance of the veteran.

Amari Spievey

Okay, first things first. Spievey was drafted as a cornerback, as we all know.

Why? Because the Lions desperately needed a cornerback. They still do, because Spievey isn't it.

But I would be making a grave mistake if I didn't give Jim Schwartz, Gunther Cunningham, and Tim Walton a great deal of credit for seeing where Spievey's  strengths and weaknesses are, and promptly moving him to safety, where he seems to be thriving.

Spievey has shown particularly poor man coverage skills, which stands to reason considering how much zone coverage he played at Iowa. And zone coverage plays to his strengths: strong instincts and great read-and-react ability, which makes safety a perfect fit for him.

At least, that was the case on paper. Now it is actually materializing in game situations. Spievey can hit, tackle, and blitz, and he proved it with a sack against Cleveland and a number of run-stuffing plays against Buffalo. In coverage, he's still mediocre, but not completely overmatched, as he seemed to be sometimes at corner.

Suddenly, with Spievey looking strong and undrafted free agent Randy Phillips looking more like a veteran than the veterans, safety has gone from huge hole to almost overflowing with young talent.

And yes, that means corner is an even bigger hole now. But if we're talking about Spievey, would you rather he thrive at safety or struggle at corner?

Yeah. Me too.

Willie Young

I love this kid. He doesn't bring the kind of value you'd expect from a seventh-round pick.

He's a speed rusher, nothing more, nothing less. He will never, ever have the size required to push an offensive tackle around or be a great run-stuffer. Although, to be fair, all five of his tackles against Buffalo (three solo, two assist) were on run plays, and only one went for more than five yards (a six-yard run on third-and-13 in the red zone).

Regardless, the point is, his job as a player is going to be running around offensive tackles to collapse the pocket.

And he does it well. Very well.

It seemed like any time you saw a guy shooting off the edge, dragging a relatively slow-footed lineman with him, that was Young. He brought consistent pressure off the edge, and even though he didn't notch any sacks against the Bills, he was a disruptive force all the same.

In one instance, Young's small stature seemed to work in his favor. He lined up a bit off the line, slightly behind Andre Fluellen. The tackle attacked Fluellen, completely losing track of Young, who proceeded to fire to his outside, more than happy to take an unabated shot at the quarterback.

Of course, the lineman was able to reach out and horse-collar Young down with one hand while engaged in his block, to the effect of a holding call. Otherwise, Young might have had a sack and caused his first NFL injury.

Young will make the final roster, and you'll be hearing his name again in the future. Mark it down now.

Landon Cohen

I really didn't want to put Landon Cohen here. Especially not after saying some harsh things about him last week. But before I talk about him, let me explain why a couple of guys aren't here.

Paul Pratt isn't here, despite leading the team in tackles and snatching an interception in the end zone and taking it to the other end zone, because that's a play that shouldn't have happened.

Pratt wasn't actually covering anyone. He was standing in no-man's land. Presumably, he was playing a shallow zone. At least, I hope he was, because otherwise, he had no idea he was involved in a football game until the ball came his way.

The pick was a gift from Levi Brown, not a result of great coverage skills and superior positioning. I give Pratt credit for stretching out and pulling the ball in. The pass wasn't exactly in the numbers, and he had to be surprised that the ball was actually coming to him, when all the receivers were on the other side of the field. But the bottom line is, that pick isn't going to magically put him on the roster.

Likewise, Ashlee Palmer isn't here, because while his interception was also a spectacle, it was also a gift. The ball popped up in the air off of J.P. Foschi's apparently unsure hands, and yes, Palmer made an incredibly athletic play, diving and pulling it in one-handed, but there are two things I must point out.

First, he wasn't the man in coverage. He was just in the area when the ball popped up. Not to take anything away from his awareness on the play, but he didn't force the play, it just appeared in front of him and he took advantage of it.

But more importantly, why did he pull it in with one hand? He clearly could have put two hands on the ball, and since he was pulling an interception in, he should have. Just because it worked doesn't mean he should be lauded for what was essentially a showboating effort.

But anyway, Landon Cohen.

Cohen makes the list even though he showed the best and worst of what he is as a defensive lineman. He is undisciplined in the worst way. He lined up in the neutral zone. He came across the field and hit a receiver about three full seconds after the whistle to draw an unnecessary roughness penalty.

And yet, he finished the game with four tackles and two sacks. It's very possible that his lack of even basic discipline will be offset by the promise of his budding skills and the hope that his mistakes can be coached away.

Find me another defensive tackle on the roster outside of Suh, Hill, and Williams that can bring two sacks a game.

Hint: It's not Andre Fluellen.

Losers

Derrick "Stone Hands" Williams

I am convinced that Derrick "Mittens" Williams' touchdown catch was an accident. I was ready to rip him for yet another pedestrian game (to put it kindly), and then he pulled in a pretty decent touchdown catch.

But does that absolve Derrick "Change-of-Possession Receiver" Williams of a blatant drop on a perfect pass in a preseason game where he should be fighting for his life?

No. All eyes were squarely on him. He was open, the pass was on his hands. He had gotten plenty of separation from the linebacker in coverage, and there was nobody in front of him for a very long time. But that turned out to be irrelevant, as Derrick "Don't Call Me T.O." Williams let the ball bounce off his apparently wooden hands, falling harmlessly to the turf.

Am I being too harsh on the kid? Absolutely. But I'm tired of being lied to about the things he's getting better at.

Better kick returner? All I saw was him run in a straight line and get lit up after an 18-yard return.

Better receiver? I think I've covered my feelings on that, and if it were an isolated incident, I'd have already forgotten about it, but his penchant for drops is well-documented.

Fewer mental mistakes? Look the ball into your hands. But not if you're standing on your own three-yard-line fielding a punt.

I know I said it last week, but if Derrick "Get Up So I Can Drop You Again" Williams makes the final roster, it's because Schwartz and Co. are rolling the dice on his potential. Right now, Northcutt brings more to the table all-around.

Steve Hauschka

If you're a kicker, there's nothing like a week in Denver to build some hype around you, is there?

Hauschka was the talk of Detroit when he went to Denver as a virtual unknown and started booming kickoffs out the back of the end zone. I admit, even I forgot where he was for a minute, and started to think he was a real diamond in the rough.

Of course, in the past two games, he has performed the far more standard practice of kicking off to about the goal line. And worse yet (for him), Jason Hanson is back, and he appears to be in fine form.

I should make it clear that I still see nothing at all wrong with Hauschka as a kicker. I wish him the best, and believe he has earned a shot somewhere in the NFL.

But Jason Hanson still has plenty left in the tank, and the only guy Detroit is going to be able to replace him with is the next Jason Hanson. And I don't think Hauschka is it.

Maurice Morris/Jerome Felton/Kevin Smith

I couldn't pick just one. The fact is, every one of these guys is in trouble. Jahvid Best is going to be very good, and Aaron Brown and DeDe Dorsey have been preseason studs.

The likely inclusion of these players (especially Dorsey) means less room for the Smith/Felton/Morris combo.

Smith doesn't appear to be fully recovered from his knee injury (and if he is, maybe he just wasn't that good in the first place), Morris has failed to impress for most of the preseason, and Felton hurt his stock as a third-down back when he needed four carries to punch the ball into the end zone on first-and-goal inside the five.

The Lions have plenty of spots available, but don't be surprised if one or two of these guys get cut. And I'm not even sure which ones.
 

Tim Toone

I really, really wanted to see the Lions' Mr. Irrelevant make some noise, especially given Martin Mayhew's talent for finding value in the seventh round of the draft.

And to an extent, he has, but not nearly enough. Toone was also the culprit of a dropped pass against Buffalo, and hasn't shown enough in the punt return department to make up for it.

Don't mistake me, he's been decent. Okay, at worst. He won't make the Lions' final 53-man roster, but he's far from done.

His name will pop up in the next year or two, if not later this year, and as long as he continues to progress, he'll make the roster and contribute sooner rather than later.

The good news for the Lions (and the bad news for Toone) is that cutting Mr. Irrelevant is not that big a deal from an organizational standpoint. Mayhew and Schwartz would much sooner cut Toone than, say, last year's third round pick, Derrick "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" Williams.

Cutting a third-round pick from a year ago sends all kinds of bad signals from the front office, and it's likely the Lions want to avoid that. So even though Toone and Williams have fought to an arguable stalemate, Williams gets the edge due to his draft position, and Toone's ability to likely fly under the radar on a practice squad without getting claimed by another team.

Ko Simpson

It might be time to light the funeral pyre for Simpson's career in Detroit.

A few months ago, I said the starting safety job opposite Louis Delmas was Simpson's to lose.  Many others said it was C.C. Brown's.

I was wrong. So were they. Now it looks like Brown will be a backup, and Simpson will be in the unemployment line. The emergence of Randy Phillips, by all accounts, should earn him a starting position. And Spievey isn't far behind, but since he was just shifted to safety a couple weeks ago, the Lions will probably hesitate before throwing him in as a first-string starter.

Still, you have to like the chances of a pair of young, promising rookies with upside playing at the same level as the veteran Brown and the injury-riddled Simpson.

That being said, Simpson plays pretty good special teams coverage, and that might be enough to keep him around. But somehow, I don't think so. There are younger guys with more potential and less injury problems to plug into his spot, and he's not likely to see any time on the field with the defense.

Therefore, wave a fond farewell to Simpson, and cross your fingers that Phillips and Spievey are the real deal.