FanHouse Ernie Sims

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

The following is an actual quote pulled from my league message board on Monday night: "[Expletive] Dallas Clark. [Expletive] the Miami Dolphins."

Needless to say, that particular fantasy owner wasn't too happy that Clark singlehandedly obliterated the lead he had going into Monday Night Football. Seven catches, 183 yards, one long touchdown, and possibly an entire pack of Rolaids. All courtesy of the big man.

In its effort to rebound from the worst season in NFL history, Detroit is hoping a hometown hero can provide some optimism.

A little more than 24 hours after he was cut by Pittsburgh, Detroit native Larry Foote agreed to a one-year deal with the Lions. Foote said that he expected to sign his new contract on Wednesday -- and he will immediately inherit Detroit's starting middle linebacker position between Julian Peterson and Ernie Sims.

If quarterback Matthew Stafford is going to be the No. 1 pick at the NFL Draft in April, then Thursday is a critical day. Stafford, who did not take part in passing drills at the league's scouting combine in February, will be the featured attraction at Georgia's pro day in front of a multitude of scouts -- including, of course, representatives from the Lions.

While quarterbacks often sit out certain drills at the combine (though it's worth noting that Southern Cal's Mark Sanchez participated), Stafford's decision immediately led to questions about the impact on his draft status. He's still expected to be one of the first guys off the board, but Detroit's opinion on him may be changing. For one thing, since the combine, Detroit reportedly engaged in talks with Denver about Jay Cutler's availability, hinting that the Lions may not see what they want from a QB at the No. 1 pick.

Something very odd is going on in Detroit this offseason: the Lions are actually showing signs of knowing what they're doing. The latest move reportedly has the Lions sending defensive tackle Cory Redding and a 2009 fifth-round to Seattle for Pro Bowl linebacker Julian Peterson.

Peterson was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his three seasons in Seattle. The Michigan State alum will slide into Detroit's starting strongside linebacker spot and, paired with Ernie Sims on the weakside as the Lions continue to rapidly rebuild their miserable defense. There are implications here beyond immediate on-field payoffs, though.

At some point soon we'll just ignore anything coming out of Jon Kitna's mouth. In the meantime, the Lions' oft-concussed quarterback wants to make it clear that Detroit is winning at least 10 games in 2008. The same speech he gave in June 2007 and March 2008.

After a 6-2 start last season, the Lions limped to a 7-9 record. And after stating that 2008 is the year a couple months ago, he reiterated that point yesterday for anybody who may have missed it the first two times:

"Our expectation is we will be disappointed if we don't win 10 games," Kitna following a Tuesday training session. "Because that will mean we're not in the playoffs and that sucks. "I can't make it any simpler than that. Anybody who says that's not their expectation level is not much of a competitor."

Yes, that does suck, but I'm not sure I'd classify linebacker Ernie Sims as "not much of a competitor." In fact, I'd say he's the sane one of the bunch: "I'll just say we're going to do good," the Lions' leading tackler said. "I just play."

Other than the guy sitting in the team president's office, there's no reason this team can't win 10 games. They should've done it last season, but, depending on your perspective, it was all Mike Martz's fault. Assuming Jim Colletto can reintroduce the running game, the offense should be more consistent.

Hat tip: Shutdown Corner

With the upcoming Texans-Saints game matching Mario Williams versus Reggie Bush, Houston Chronicle columnist Jerome Solomon did a do-over of the 2006 draft. Here it is:

#1 Houston Texans - Joseph Addai, RB
#2 New Orleans Saints - Maurice Jones-Drew, RB
#3 Tennessee Titans - Vince Young, QB
#4 New York Jets - Jay Cutler, QB
#5 Green Bay Packers - Laurence Maroney, RB
#6 San Francisco 49ers - A.J. Hawk, LB
#7 Oakland Raiders - Reggie Bush, RB
#8 Buffalo Bills, Donte Whitner, SS
#9 Detroit Lions, Ernie Sims, LB
#10 Arizona Cardinals, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, T

Hmmm. Redrafts are always hard because of what you should consider. Marketing? The failures or injuries of other players on the team yet to happen? And whether these players would have the same success for the redrafted team as they do on their current team.

For example, if the Texans knew for a fact that even after working with Gary Kubiak, David Carr was going to struggle as much as he did, they wouldn't have renewed his contract in February 2006 for three years. With no David Carr in the picture, the Texans would have had significantly more fan pressure to pick quarterback, and specifically Vince Young with the first pick in that draft. Nationally, NFL fans thought that the Texans should have picked Reggie Bush, but in Texas the sentiment was mostly behind Young.

I don't think the casual NFL fan realizes how little protection most players wear below their shoulder pads. If you played in Pop Warner you remember the girdle with hip and tail pads, the thigh pads, the knee pads, and especially the cup.

NFL players don't wear that stuff -- especially the cup. Detroit Lions linebacker Ernie Sims explained that to a Detroit Free Press reporter:

On why football players don't wear jock straps: When we were little kids like in pee wee football they used to make us wear jock straps. As we got older in high school, some kids wore them – I didn't wear them in high school. In college pretty much nobody wore them. It's just the type of thing that, I've got hit in the jewels before but it's just that it doesn't happen that much, so you don't need to wear it.

Are you worried about an injury in "that" area: Nine times out of 10, you'll end up messing up something else. Seriously, you rarely ever hurt that area. It's the type of thing where if you play hard, if you play wall to wall and ball to ball you don't have to worry about it.

The thing I've never understood is why they can't make a more comfortable cup designed for football. A soft groin protector like the one boxers wear would seem to make more sense for football players than the hard-shelled cup that Pop Warner players know about. Just a thought.

From Andy's Blog via Deadspin.

With the announcement of the firing of 2006 Defensive Coordinator Donnie Henderson, a new era has officially begun in Detroit. Henderson, who had played on a team coached by Rod Marinelli, never gelled with Marinelli's dogged faith in the Tampa-style Cover-2 zone defense. Joe Barry, in spite of being Marinelli's son-in-law, is likely one of the league's biggest proponents of the defensive scheme. Both Barry and Marinelli coached under Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, and Monte Kiffin in Tampa. They are adherents to what has become one of the more effective defensive schemes in recent NFL history. That in mind, one has to wonder if the Lions will have the personnel necessary for the scheme to be effective in 2007 and if the rest of the league has not already caught up with and adapted to the scheme.

The Lions allowed opponents to complete nearly 70% of their passes this season. The Lions were almost completely unable to generate a consistent pass rush, especially from their edge pass rushers, even though DT Cory Redding had eight sacks. The Tampa-2 is a "bend, but don't break" type of defense that is predicated on a heavy pass rush from the defensive line and excellent zone coverage from the linebackers and the defensive backs. Most Cover-2 schemes demand big, physical corners who make it difficult for receivers to get off of the line of scrimmage. The Lions never established this type of defense against the pass. The Tampa-2 also emphasizes maintaining gap responsibilities against the run, to eliminate running lanes and allow the zone defense's fast, undersized linebackers to flow to the play unabated. The Lions linebackers, aside from Ernie Sims, never flourished within this scheme this season.

The Lions do possess some of the necessary personnel from which Barry can build a stronger Tampa-Style defense. First priority is re-signing DT Cory Redding who has proven to be a diference maker since he was moved to the middle. Getting All-Pro DT Shaun Rogers fully on board with the defense may be Barry's biggest challenge but could lead to the greatest rewards for the team. The Lions can only hope that with one more season that young players like Ernie Sims, Alex Lewis, and Stanley Wilson, Jr will continue to improve under Barry's guidance. The biggest priority for the organization is finding a consistent edge pass rusher via free agency, trade, draft or internally. Kalimba Edwards continues to be a major disappointment who may finally develop under the auspices of Barry's guidance.

During last Sunday's game against the Niners, Lions 2nd year nickle defensive back Stanley Wilson, Jr., was delivered a gift from the Niners QB Alex Smith. Smith threw an ill-advised pass that, had Wilson caught it, would have lead to an easy 6 points for the Lions. Had Wilson, Jr. made the play, it is quite possible the play would have lead to a Lions victory. Instead, Wilson, Jr. dropped the ball, which provides us with a heavily-cliched analogy, with which to compare the Lions failings in pre-draft scouting and their draft selection process. This continued organizational failure has caused them to remain mired squarely in the NFL bottomlands--in spite of any mythical league-wide parity. Wilson, Jr., a raw, physically gifted player, has made little tangible contribution to a roster that desperately needs players like Wilson, Jr. to contribute nearly immediately.

The Lions numerous mistakes in addressing personnel needs has become increasingly exacerbated by each successive poor decision. The Lions roster has been bereft of talent for such a long time that their continued inability to rectify that situation has stalled their attempts to emerge from the league basement. Lions Team President Matt Millen has been fortunate enough to have numerous high draft picks with which he could attempt to retool the Lions roster. Other than WR Roy Williams and RB Kevin Jones, Millen's high draft picks have been a serious disappointment. WR's Charles Rogers and Mike Williams will likely be viewed upon as two of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, if their performance up to this point serves as an indicator.

One of Millen's major failings as president, in my opinion, is that he has gravitated toward selecting skill players(WR's Mike and Roy Williams, QB Joey Harrington and WR Charles Rogers) in hopes of drawing a quick impact(otherwise known as the "bright and shiny" syndrome), in spite of not possessing the necessary cornerstone organizational players in place along the offensive and defensive lines for these skill players to be able to fully flourish.

Millen also has placed a lot of value on players with high-ceilings athletically (DE Kalimba Edwards, CB Stanley Wilson, Jr., LB Teddy Lehman, and LB Boss Bailey), who if given the proper developmental time could possibly have become quite successful. The Lions have not had the luxury of being to able to allow much time for these players to develop, though. They generally have needed to be thrust into important roles that they have often been unprepared for. In some cases, it may have been advisable for Millen to focus on potential draftees actual, past on-field performance as a barometer rather utilizing so much projection. These high-ceiling players have seemed unable to develop the necessary levels of consistency and fundamental performance, that when coupled with their natural athletic ability, could help them achieve a superlative level of performance.