Psychometrist claims ability to hack into computer by touching its case

Let's talk some Detroit Lions football.

Why Detroit? Well that's who I'm a fan of and every other hack out there is writing a review of his or her favorite team, so I feel that in the spirit of being a well-rounded hack I should also take my blunt axe to this particular topic.

Covering their free-agency moves first, let's look at their noisiest move: Trading CB Dre Bly to the Denver Broncos for RB Tatum Bell, T George Foster and a 5th round draft pick. A lot of folks didn't like this move. On the surface it seems absurd to trade away the only defensive back we've had in the last 30 years to appear in multiple pro-bowls (a big shout out here to Lem Barney) but when you just look at the surface you miss most of the story. Dre Bly is a cover corner and the Lions run a 'Tampa 2' style defense, which relies on physical CBs who jam the receivers at the line of scrimmage and then drop back to play zone coverage, not man to man, and are also responsible for 'run-support' which in essence means forcing ball-carriers back to the center of the field. Dre Bly is simply not made to play in a Tampa 2 system, throw that in with the fact he's a malcontent and all of a sudden this trade makes perfect sense.

In return the Lions got Tatum Bell, a good addition to a Lions' backfield which finished the season featuring two RBs that didn't even start the '06 season on the roster while all those that did finished the season on Injured/Reserve. There are a lot of questions surrounding Bell given that Denver RBs tend to succeed in Mike Shannahan's running system for a few years and then generally quietly retire. They also got OT George Foster who I have listed as the projected starter at Left Tackle for the '07 season.

The Lions also traded away DE James Hall to St. Louis for a 5th round draft pick. To fill this void the Lions signed DE Dewayne White from Tampa Bay. Little is known about White, who in his 4 previous seasons has played mainly a reserve role backing up Simeon Rice. When Rice went down with an injury last season White stepped in and played very well, prompting the Lions to ink him to a long-term deal when he hit the free-agency market this year.

A few other notable acquisitions: RB T.J. Duckett was signed in what appears to be an attempt to alleviate stress on Kevin Jones (or Tatum Bell if Jones isn't fully recovered from his lis-franc injury suffered at the end of last season) in short yardage situations. Considering that each of the 4 teams that played in the AFC and NFC championship games last year featured a 'two-back attack' this move makes all kinds of sense. G Edwin Mulitalo was signed from the Ravens in order to bolster the pathetic offensive line play from last year which allowed a league high 63 sacks. Mulitalo's credentials include paving the way for former Ravens RB Jamal Lewis in his 2,000 yard season. The Lions also signed CB Travis Fisher who, in addition to have broken his arm twice in his career, is expected to compete with a whole bunch of other guys I either haven't heard of or wish I could forget to see who will take Dre Bly's spot and also to see who gets to come in when Fernando Bryant gets hurt. AGAIN. A whole slew of WR's were signed to short term deals (I count 6 names that weren't on the roster last year) in what will likely be a vain attempt to find a competent number 4 receiver. I believe Shaun McDonald is the only one who got a deal lasting over 1 year, meaning I expect most of these guys to be cut shortly after training camp.

The draft this year was quite interesting. Taking WR Calvin Johnson with the number 2 overall selection was pretty much a foregone conclusion unless the Lions could get a blockbuster trade from another team to move up into their spot. At 6'4 with great hands, a 4.35 40 time and a work ethic worthy of Jerry Rice, we expect Calvin to make an immediate impact on the offense which last year was, at best, spotty. With their second pick the Lions traded down to take QB Drew Stanton out of Michigan State. Stanton played on a horrible MSU team last year and still managed to play well. Mike Martz loves him and he's expected to be tutored under John Kitna for the next year or two and eventually take over. With their 2nd-2nd-round pick the Lions added DE Ikaika Alama-Francis who Rod Marinelli refers to as '5-0' since Ikaika came out of Hawaii and Marinelli can't pronounce his first name. Alama-Francis is probably the most intriguing prospect of the Lions entire draft given his raw athleticism and the fact he didn't start playing football until 2003. With their 3rd-2nd-round selection the Lions picked up S Gerald Alexander out of Boise State. A converted corner with solid speed and great aggression make him a natural to play in Marinelli's Tamp 2 scheme, though, barring injuries, I don't expect him to start until the latter half of the season if at all given that Kennoy Kennedy and Daniel Bullocks are both solid safeties. With our 3rd round pick we added CB Usama Young out of Kent State. A ball-hawk with great speed and aggression he figures to become a solid corner in the Tampa 2 system, but probably not this year.

Keep an eye on: Manuel Ramirez, an overlooked guard who had an awesome senior bowl and Jonny Baldwin, a LB out of Alabama A&M that virtually no one had heard of, both drafted by the Lions in the 4th and 5th rounds respectively.