Fantasy Football Notes: Detroit Lions

To call the 2008 Detroit Lions a disappointment would be an extreme understatement.

The Lions became the first team to go winless since the league expanded its schedule to a 16 game regular season in 1978. The 0-16 campaign took many casualties along the way.

The first victim was team president and general manager Matt Millen, who was fired in September during his eighth season running football operations in Detroit.  The Lions compiled a dismal 31-97 record since Millen was hired in 2001, which is the worst NFL franchise record over an eight-year period since World War II.

At the end of the season, the Lions also fired head coach Rod Marinelli and most of his staff. Marinelli was hired as the Lions' head coach in 2006 after spending 10 seasons as the defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he had never been a head coach or even a defensive coordinator prior to his stint with Detroit.

In three seasons as the Lions head coach, Marinelli compiled a pathetic 10-38 record. Despite the ugliness of it all, there were a few bright spots to the Lions’ 2008 season.

Wide receiver Calvin Johnson showed why he was the second pick in the 2007 NFL draft, catching 78 passes for 1,331 yards with 12 touchdowns. Meanwhile, rookie running back Kevin Smith showed a lot of promise as he had 238 carries for 976 yards with eight touchdowns.

Both Johnson and Smith’s numbers are even more impressive when you consider that the Lions had a patchwork offensive line and started three different quarterbacks. Both players should be significant fantasy contributors in 2009.

KEY ADDITIONS

Jim Schwartz (HC)-With the Rod Marinelli era finally coming to an end in Detroit, the Lions hired Jim Schwartz as their new head coach. Schwartz, like Marinelli, has never been an NFL head coach, but has been an assistant to some of the league’s best coaches in Jeff Fisher and Bill Belichick.

He has also built a solid staff, adding Scott Linehan as offensive coordinator and Gunther Cunningham as defensive coordinator. The Bruno Boys feel this is a solid hire, but Schwartz definitely has a lot of work ahead of him in Detroit.

Bryant Johnson (WR)-After trading Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys during the 2008 season, the Lions needed to find a compliment to Calvin Johnson at wide receiver.

To do so, they signed former Arizona Cardinal and San Francisco 49er Bryant Johnson as a free agent to fill that role. B. Johnson has never lived up to expectations early in his career and has never topped 50 receptions in a season.

In 2008, he had 45 catches for 546 yards and three touchdowns with the 49ers. Consider B. Johnson a low-end WR3 or WR4 heading into 2009, but with C. Johnson receiving most of the attention, he may get a chance to shine.

KEY DEPARTURES

Dan Orlovsky (QB)-Orlovsky left the Detroit Lions as a free agent and signed with the Houston Texans to be the backup to Matt Schaub. Orlovsky was a fifth round draft pick of the Lions in 2005 out of the University of Connecticut.

He played in 10 games for the Lions in 2008 and passed for 1,616 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Jon Kitna (QB)-After spending most of the 2008 season on injured reserve with back issues, Kitna was traded during the offseason to the Dallas Cowboys for cornerback, Anthony Henry.

Kitna is an 11-year NFL veteran and played the last three seasons in Detroit. In his career, he has thrown for 27,293 yards with 152 touchdowns and 151 interceptions.

In Dallas, Kitna will be the primary backup to Tony Romo.

ROOKIES TO WATCH

Matthew Stafford (QB)-With the first pick in the 2009 NFL draft, the Detroit Lions selected University of Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford, who signed a six year deal with the club. 

This deal could total up to $78 million and has $41.7 million in guaranteed money, the most money ever guaranteed in a contract in NFL history.

Not bad for a guy who might not even be the team’s opening day starter. Stafford will battle veteran Daunte Culpepper for the Lions’ starting quarterback job in training camp.

Even if Stafford beats out Culpepper and is the Lions’ starting quarterback at the beginning of the year, do not overvalue Stafford based on the rookie seasons of Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons and Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens in 2008.

Both the Falcons and Ravens had much better supporting casts than the Lions. Stafford should be nothing more than a late round flier as a QB3 with hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. 

Brandon Pettigrew (TE)-The Lions used their second first round pick, No. 20 overall, on Oklahoma State tight end Brandon Pettigrew. This is the pick the Lions acquired when they traded wide receiver Roy Williams to the Dallas Cowboys during the 2008 season.

The 6'5", 263 pound Pettigrew is an excellent blocker with good pass catching ability. The Lions feel that not only will he help the offensive line in run and pass protection, but they also expect him to be an excellent safety valve for the quarterback as a short yardage target.

Pettigrew may be worth a late round flier as a TE2 in leagues that carry two tight ends on their roster. Keep your fantasy expectations low, though, as he had just 42 receptions for 472 yards in his senior season at OSU and did not record a touchdown.

BRUNO BOYS SPOTLIGHT

Kevin Smith (RB)-Smith enters his second NFL season as the clear cut No. 1 running back in Detroit. He had a solid rookie season in 2008 with 238 carries for 976 yards with eight touchdowns, which are very solid numbers for a rookie running back on a 0-16 team.

The Lions are expected to be more of a power running team in new offensive coordinator Scott Linehan’s offense, which suits Smith’s style very well. He is a versatile running back, who also had 39 receptions for 286 yards last season.

Smith had eight runs of 20 yards or more, and is a dependable runner who only lost one fumble in his rookie season. Consider Smith a low-end RB2 who has the potential to put up big numbers if the Lions can ever turn things around.

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