FanHouse WisconsinBadgers

The Badgers are well nigh invulnerable at home. On the road, they have kept winning, but not nearly as impressive. They actually give teams hope that they will knock off one of the best teams in the country. Then, Wisconsin proceeds to crush all hope. Today was no different on the road at Iowa.

The Hawkeyes battled back in the first half from a 12 point deficit in the first half to get to halftime down only 4 points. The Badgers then came out in the second half to score the first 6 points and put the lead back to 10 points. Iowa tried again to comeback, getting it to 45-41 inside of 8 minutes. Again Wisconsin clamped down on Iowa and went on an 8-0 run.

It's almost formulaic for the Badgers on the road. They aren't nearly as dominating on the road, but they never let the home team get much more then hope. Never the actual lead.

Alando Tucker continues his pursuit of the Naismith Award with 27 points on 11-14 shooting. Rebounding was surprisingly lacking for Wisconsin. Bryan Butch had 14 and the rest of the team 17 and the Badgers were actually outrebounded by 5. Still, Wisconsin is 7-0 in the Big 10, and a huge match-up at Bloomington looms on Wednesday.

Pro Football Talk.com recently reported that a member of the Lions front office indicated that the Lions may be leaning towards selecting OT Joe Thomas with their 2007 draft pick. Thomas, a towering Left Offensive Tackle, has suffered a knee injury in his past, which could effect his future draft standing. The Lions are in Mobile, Alabama this week scouting their draft prospects in the Senior Bowl, which is considered the premier showcase for draft eligible college seniors.

Thomas would be a desirable candidate in my eyes, since Lions incumbent Left Offensive Tackle Jeff Backus is both capable and reliable, but is far from the franchise cornerstone that Thomas may eventually be. In regards to Backus, the Lions could release him or shift him to Right Offensive Tackle. With the recent news that Mike Martz will likely remain the Lions Offensive Coordinator, selecting Thomas would be a shrewd move because the Martz-designed offense relies heavily on an Orlando Pace-type Left Tackle. In Martz's offense, the running backs are often involved in pass patterns and rarely utilized in max-protection schemes, which increases the responsibilities that are expected from the offensive line.

Lions QB Jon Kitna was sacked an astounding 63 times during the 2006 season. Although Kitna may not be the most fleet of foot, 63 sacks is an abomination that if repeated would likely see Kitna eventually suffering from a major injury. Their are five key organizational cornerstones that are generally accepted as being associated with success in the NFL (QB, LT, CB, edge-rushing DE, and 1-2 RB's). By selecting Thomas, the Lions may be filling one of those key positions that is currently filled, but could use an upgrade in my opinion.