Detroit Lions and What They Need: My 100th Article

Yeah, I know. I said I was going to take a break but trying to give up the Lions is like trying to give up alcohol.

My name is Seattle Lion Fan and I'm a Lionholic.

I even tried to write an article about the Seattle Seahawks.  It wasn't a bad experience but the Hawks don't fire the passion as much as the Lions do.  And isn't that a sad statement to make when a 1-8 football team makes you a bigger fan than rooting for a 3-6 team.

I really need some therapy here.

So here I am at what some might consider a milestone. My 100th article for the Bleacher Report. I'm not going to go off on some love fest for the Bleacher Report or go down some sentimental journey about some dim, distant but sweet memory about my hometown and their teams. Hasn't been my style as of late and I see no reason to change now.

I'm just happy to be here and that I've reached a hundred articles.

I will take some time to say thank you to some fellow Bleacher Report writers:

Dean Holden, Michael Schottey, Greg Eno, Leroy Watson, Eric Wilson, George Anderson,  Scott Reiger, Jay Wierenga, C Detgetmon, Ben Hammond and Keith Shelton

Each of you have given some great advice as well as some great thoughts on how we can fix the Lions.  Too bad we couldn't somehow come up with $ 950 million, buy them and do it right!

Back to the subject at hand.

I've been reading articles about what needs to be done to fix the Lions.  A majority of the opinions have been to go after defense.  And while I will agree the Lions need help in that area as well as many others, I truly believe what should be addressed that hasn't been for 20 years is the offensive line.

The Lions have had some good to great offensive linemen.  A few that come to mind are Lomas Brown, Russ Bolinger, Kevin Glover and Ray Roberts.  But even with these names, one can never say the Detroit Lions ever had a dominating offensive line.

Even in 1997, when Barry Sanders ran for 2,053 yards, Scott Mitchell was sacked 41 times.  You have a running back that runs wild and still finish 9-7, there is something seriously wrong with the team.  Yes, yes, I know, the defense sucked back then as well.  The idea was to outscore the other team in shootouts but that didn't quite work.

I look at the Lions as they are right now much like a house in disrepair.  And if any of you know what the one thing every building known to man must have is a solid foundation.  And every foundation of any football team is the offensive line.

Have a good and solid offensive line and that translates into a good and solid football team.

2009 has shown some promise in these young Lions.  Last years draft brought us Matthew Stafford and Brandon Pettigrew.  Along with second year running back Kevin Smith and third year wide receiver extraordinaire Calvin Johnson, the Lions have the tools to be a very productive offense.

Problem is the current offensive line couldn't hold back a front four of old ladies in walkers.  But I'm not slamming any of the current offensive linemen for not giving their best effort.  But a harsh reality is they are just not talented enough.

Now bear with me since this is a radical idea but I strongly feel the Lions should make the following moves.  It may be the fastest way to make the foundation stronger:

Move current left tackle Jeff Backus inside to left guard and target left tackle Bruce Campbell from Maryland with their first pick in the 2010 NFL draft.

What does that get you?  Backus is constantly overmatched by elite defensive ends.  He's 32 years old and in his ten years as the Lions left tackle, he's given up an average of nearly 7.5 sacks per year.  Backus won't have to rely as much on his footwork and when the guard needs to pull on running plays, Backus should be fairly effective.

Campbell has played left tackle at Maryland for 4 years.  He's 6-7 and 312 lbs.  Granted he has fought minor injures but I'll take him missing a few games over allowing my QB to get hit on 3 step drops.

The offensive line would look like this:

LT:  Bruce Campbell

LG:  Jeff Backus

C:  Dominic Riaola

RG: Stephen Peterson

RT: Gosder Cherilus

Keep Jon Jansen as a super sub for all the spots with the exception of center, trade or release Manny Ramirez and you got yourself a pretty stout line.

If Campbell isn't available, then target Jason Fox out of Miami or Bryan Bulaga from Iowa.  I don't think the Lions should go after Russell Okung since he's played right tackle for Oklahoma and they can't afford to wait for him to make the adjustment to left tackle.

And for those who say Backus is too expensive to play at left guard, forget about the money and focus on what's needed for the Lions to win.  Besides, how well did the Minnesota Vikings offensive line improve when left guard Steve Hutchinson joined them in 2006?  From a pretty good offensive line to a damn good one.

As for the rest of what the Lions need, I'm sure there are going to be hundreds of articles and thousands of responses that will offer many different opinions.

But let’s face the one fact that's keeping Detroit from having any kind of success (besides being owned by William Clay Ford, Sr.):  They must build a solid offensive line to keep Matthew Stafford from getting sacked and to open holes for Kevin Smith to keep defenses honest.

Happy 100th everyone...and thanks for reading!