Martin Mayhew is turning the Detroit Lions into a Super Bowl caliber team
By Josh Albee
Feb 22, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew speaks at a press conference during the 2013 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Have the Detroit Lions taken necessary steps to become a true Super Bowl contender? Say what you will about the “true state” of the Lions organization. Many fans have been drawn in to the hype of recent years, only to be gifted with a 4-12 season in 2012. Some of the same people that had just become very excited about the growing number of talented players on the roster are quickly trying to point out reasons why certain guys are typical Lions busts. Most frustratingly for the fans and the organization, a never-ending stream of injuries have really made Martin Mayhew and company look bad in terms of what their vision for assembling a winning team has been.
Let’s face it, there is no denying that the Detroit Lions have put a lot of good pieces into place since the hiring of Mayhew, Lewand, and Schwartz. For one reason or another, however, this team has had enough setbacks to make fans nervous. Yet, what is tantalizing to us Lions fans is that the team seems to remain teetering on the brink of something great. For the past couple seasons the Lions have been able to compete with almost anyone in the NFL, but there has been enough evidence to make even the most sincere fans realize there were some things to fix to be on the same level as the top teams.
The new excitement for the 2013 season is building behind a well-orchestrated off-season that has so far improved the Lions in 3 major areas of weakness: Depth, Character/Leadership, and overall size/strength/speed. The most important aspect that can help the Lions take that next step has to be the increase in quality depth at several key positions.
How does depth fix everything?
I believe that the Lions had a great draft, with a bit of a different feel to it this year. What really felt different was the quality and need taken in later rounds—which is exactly what everyone was hoping for. The draft and free agency together so far seem to make one major statement: Martin Mayhew does not want a repeat of 2012.
The Lions are apparently trying to be what they hoped they would be this time last year. Mayhew has been confident in his players and the schemes since he started building his era in 2008. Last year, a series of unfortunate events caused the team to look very different than he probably imagined it would on paper. Mayhew has made the moves this off-season to give the Lions a much better shot of remaining as good this season as they currently appear to be on paper.
The signing of Reggie Bush is a way of making sure the Lions have a top running back to incorporate into their offense—without once again relying on a miracle of Jahvid Best’s return. The signing of Glover Quinn gives the team a solid safety to pair with Delmas, but also ensures that at least one “true” starter will be out there in the all too likely event that Delmas misses some time. Darius Slay is a speedy corner that adds much needed depth to the backfield. It appeared there was depth last season, until injuries became a virus to the secondary. This year Mayhew does not want to be signing unknown corners mid-season out of desperation. After taking the inevitable hits on the D-line and O-line, the Lions drafted DE Ziggy Ansah in the 1st round, G Larry Warford in the 3rd, DE Devin Taylor in the 4th, and made a key signing of D-lineman Jason Jones—who has experience with the system. The team has also done a nice job of grooming players like Jason Fox and Corey Hilliard to be ready to take on starting roles, in addition to efforts to continually increase competition for the center and guard role. The runningback position should be much sturdier this season with the Bush, Leshoure, Bell, and the new draftees competing for extra depth roles. Even the tight end position has some good competition. In the case that Brandon Pettigrew just can’t get it together and take the next step, Joesph Fauria and Michael Williams could possibly provide a new endzone threat and an improved run-blocking game, respectively.
Of course there are still certain positions of relative weakness, as with any NFL team. The important thing to realize is that this off-season has been a major effort to fix the cracks for what the Lions should have been in 2012. The best NFL teams have depth. Detroit is really improving that aspect this year.