7 Biggest Winners and Losers of Detroit Lions OTAs, so Far

Nobody has put on pads or laid a hit yet, but with every OTA and mini camp, we creep ever closer to the NFL regular season.

And while it's patently absurd to apply any lasting impressions on what a player does in a jersey and shorts, it's also a useful benchmark to see where a guy's starting place will be.

After all, a guy playing well in seven-on-seven drills or coming up big in the weight room can at least transfer some of that to the field. It's rare to see a guy who isn't fast or strong get faster or stronger after putting pads on. 

So it's not like OTAs are completely worthless, but even head coach Jim Schwartz says this isn't the time to evaluate players. Today's "winner" could be tomorrow's chopping block resident.

Still, though, it's the offseason. And what would the NFL offseason be if we didn't analyze everything right up until the games are played?

Pretty boring, that's what. So I'm here to save you from the doldrums of NFL news in June with some whimsical (maybe even useful) analysis about literally the only news you're going to get on the Lions front for at least another month: analysis of individual players.

So settle in and enjoy. These may not mean anything come opening day, but here in June, these are the guys turning heads so far in OTAs, in both good and bad ways.

Loser: Nick Fairley

Nick Fairley looks really good on the field in OTAs.

And that doesn't matter one bit if he can't get on the field in the regular season.

You'll notice that a large number of the "losers" in OTAs thus far are people who have performed well on the field and foolishly off it. And in most cases, those off-field mistakes will eventually keep players off the field when it counts.

The commissioner's office has yet to levy punishments for Fairley's (and Mikel Leshoure's) offseason shenanigans, but a suspension of at least one game each is certainly possible.

Nothing Fairley does in OTAs is going to erase his offseason mishaps. The only thing that will repair his image now is if he stays off the police blotter and on the field.

Winner: Titus Young

Like Fairley, Titus Young has gotten the wrong kind of publicity this offseason.

Unlike Fairley, Young's issue isn't a repeat offense, isn't likely to garner any attention from the league office and almost certainly won't result in a suspension. It is far more similar in nature to a more run-of-the-mill type of incident.

So that makes it much more significant that Young is basically uncoverable in OTAs right now.

Now, is that more a discussion of the Lions' weak secondary or Young's development as a player? I won't answer that for you, but it should be no surprise that Young is performing well in OTAs.

He missed the offseason program because of the lockout last year, and as a result he did all his rookie progression during the regular season. All he's doing now is showing off what he learned and the physical skills that made him a second-round pick.

Loser: Kellen Moore

Kellen Moore was, for a time, the darling of the Lions' 2012 draft class.

Such value and potential for the low cost of practically free! How could 31 other teams miss out on a kid with such incredible ability and a long history of winning?

Well, let's tap the brakes on the Kellen Moore hype train. He was always going to be a work in progress, that's actually part of the reason the Lions signed him. The more Moore does in practice, however, the more it looks like it's going to be more "work" than "progress" for a while.

That's to be expected for most any rookie at any position, especially an undrafted quarterback, but Moore has not impressed to this point in his pro career. In fact, he reaffirmed some initial fears about his arm strength and throwing mechanics.

The Lions are not committed to taking three quarterbacks into the season, so Moore is going to have to earn his way onto the team. And he's going to have to perform much better if he wants to do that.

Winner: Tahir Whitehead

When the Lions traded up in the fifth round to select a 3-4 rush linebacker nobody had heard of, groans went up throughout Detroit.

Tahir Whitehead seemed to have no particular attribute that made him valuable in the Lions' defense. He seemed miscast and without a clear role.

Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham was skeptical, too, but a week of seeing Whitehead in action has flipped that perspective right around.

Now, we all know Cunningham is prone to superlatives and can be sometimes too quick with praise, but there are worse things than for a rookie linebacker to draw positive remarks from his defensive coordinator—especially for a guy nobody could really place after the draft.

Loser: Cliff Avril

Cliff Avril is a good football player who deserves to be paid well for being the best pass rusher on the team.

For the time being, however, he's a no-show at camp and losing favor with Lions fans despite a 2011 campaign with 11 sacks.

Now, business is business and Avril deserves his paycheck, but he is missing out on offseason training and not earning himself any new friends in the process.

Of course, fan irritation is common with any holdout like this (and this won't become a holdout into the regular season), and Avril doesn't need to sacrifice his family and well-being just because fans think he's replaceable. Both his and the Lions' point of view is perfectly understandable.

Still, it's hard to grade Avril positively when his contribution thus far in OTAs is a flat zero.

Winner: Riley Reiff

Though it's nigh impossible to properly judge an offensive lineman in non-padded, non-contact practices, Reiff has done basically everything he possibly can to impress in the early going.

Reiff is blowing the offseason program away, to the point where offensive coordinator Scott Linehan is already saying he is likely to play "early and often."

That doesn't mean Reiff has secured himself a starting role just yet. That's something he'll have to do in training camp, when he can actually start hitting people.

If his early performance is any indication, though, a starting job might be his to lose this offseason—even if the Lions decide to start him on the right side.

Loser: The Lions' Front Office

Martin Mayhew, Tom Lewand and Jim Schwartz have put together a great team with a combination of savvy personnel moves and great draft picks.

And by "great," I mean "talented." Because in some ways, the Lions' draft classes of late have been little more than headaches. They're extremely talented players, of course, but none of them seem to be able to keep themselves out of some measure of trouble.

This isn't the front office's fault, but it's starting to come back to them in the form of backlash. Are the Lions a team that sacrifices character for talent like the Bengals or Cowboys? Is the front office letting too much go without taking drastic action?

Everybody is going to come down in a different spot when it comes to these questions. For all the good the Lions' current front office has done for the team, there are criticisms for each.

Lewand can't really preach about getting DUIs during the offseason, and he's also the drifter.

Schwartz is often seen as a hothead who can't control his players. 

Mayhew, while obviously a talented personnel guy, is becoming a guy who doesn't take character into account in his drafting decisions.

Although it is undeniable that this team has been put together with the goal of long-term success, and they appear to be on that path, the front office is still made to look foolish when their selections do foolish things off the field