Changes you'd like to see over the bye week

[David]

Defense

I''d like to see this alignment on the depth chart:

Roh // Brooks (Minter) // Westerman (Menard) // Smith (Bazzie - but give Bazzie more reps than he's been getting)

Offense

I'm a big fan of the under-used Courtney Taylor, but I'd be tempted to move the big-target Arceneaux into the slot and put the speedy Lavelle Hawkins (who's now ready to return) in Arceneaux's wideout spot. Either Hawkins or Terence Jeffers-Harris (who had a 62 yard catch and run in preseason, and a 40 yard reception) at WR to hopefully create more separation.

Special Teams

I'd take Antolin off the roster and just have Iannuzzi and Murray-Lawrence returning kicks (Iannuzzi the punt returner). You could put Hawkins back there for some kick returns, as that is what he did in the NFL.

Quarterback

It would be unfair to put the blame squarely at the feet of the Lulay (who's still the leader of this team) for a dismal QB rating these past two games. He's mostly been running for his life. But I would give him far less rope that he's been given. Give John Beck more 1st team reps in practice and insert him in games when the offense bogs down, if nothing else than to give our offense some life and defenses a different "look." I know he's not the QB of the future, but he's got moxy, composure and more importantly, a fast, accurate release. He also knows this offense much better than Jennings who's still very green.


DH

[WestCoastJoe]

The mess we are in will not be fixed by any suggestions we make.

What one hopes for ... Wholesale change, top to bottom.

What one expects ... Tinkering. NFL cuts. Player moves. No system changes.

What one gets ... More of the same.
.....

Sorry to be such a downer. My tendency is to face reality. Happy when things go well. Waiting patiently for better times when things go poorly. Almost always speaking my mind. Biting my tongue at times, with some sensitivity for the human factor.

........

Is there hope? Well there is always hope. The odds are against change that works, however. System change? One doubts that.

[B.C.FAN]

The biggest thing the Lions need to do during the bye week is self-scout and figure out why other teams are running and passing at will against them and why they can't do the same things to opponents. The offence needs more motion and misdirection. The coaches need to get the ball into the hands of Murray-Lawrence and Gore more often in the backfield to take the strain off Harris, and they need to get the ball to them at speed, not while they're standing still on hitch screens. They also need to use more slants and hot routes so the they can attack the blitz and not run right at it every time.

One personnel change I would make would be to bench Arceneaux for the next game and inset Terence Jeffers-Harris to see he can replicate the big-play ability he showed in preseason.

David mentioned Lavelle Hawkins. He didn't stand out at minicamp in April, where he was listed third on the depth chart behind Bryan Burnham and Courtney Taylor, and he was injured on the first day of training camp but not before he dropped several passes, so I have no idea what he can do, but the Lions have to get more explosiveness out of that position. Taylor is a great possession receiver, but nothing more. Burnham is not as good a receiver but he had one good game last year. The answer may not be on the roster, or may be hiding at WR. Shawn Gore showed explosiveness at slotback as a first-year-starter in 2011 but dropped too many passes and lost that position when Arland Bruce was acquired. He hasn't had as many touches since then. I believe Gore is faster than all the international receivers on the roster, and he has a ready backup at WR in Iannuzzi ,who always seems to get open. Stephen Adekolu is another backup who might be worth a shot. He too has shown an ability to make pays in practice, where he backs up Collie. I don't expect a radical overhaul of the receiving corps this season but some change is necessary to shake things up.

On the defensive line, personnel are playing out of position. (Sorry, I know that's not an original thought.) The Lions will never effectively stop the run with Craig Roh at DT, and they'll never have an effective pass rush with Jabar Westerman at DE. Will we ever see Zach Minter? He won a starting position beside Brooks at training camp but then lost it to injury and can't seem to get it back. He didn't impress me at all in training camp or preseason but he has one asset that none of the current linemen have: size.

The problems of the defence have been well covered in other threads. The Lions need to show multiple looks and attack the line of scrimmage in various ways with blitzes and stunts and better defend the edges. They also need a safety. I've said it before but J.R. LaRose was far better last year than Chris Rwabukamba, the invisible man, has been this year.

On special teams, I think Keola Antolin has been given enough opportunity to show flashes as a returner. I haven't even seen a spark. I would use Murray-Lawrence as punt returner and look for another international RB who can share the load in the backfield and on returns. The player who most impressed me at training camp was Rickey Galvin, who looked like a clone of Tim Brown, wearing his own number 7. He was cut because the Lions had Antolin to fill that position. He might be worth another look. Having a Tim Brown clone sounds pretty good right now.

[WestCoastJoe]

Excellent suggestions, David and BCFAN.

Digging our way out of the rubble. It has to start somewhere. Would that the Lions' brass had your vision.

[TheLionKing]

Off the top of my head:

- fire Mark Washington and Chuck McMann
- have George Cortez revamp the offence
- bring in bona fide defensive linemen and play them in their position. (Mark Washington has morphed into the Mad Scientist, a position formerly held by the now departed Dan Dorazio)
- find a receiver who is a deep threat which puts fear in the opposition
- find another running back to take the heat off Andrew Harris. Opposition has been stacking the box to stop Harris
- find /develop a safety

[MexicoLionFan]

David, thanks for starting a thread such as this. These are all good suggestions that might "tinker" with the symptoms of the Lion's problems, but they do NOT address the CORE ISSUES that are quickly killing this franchise. Unless RADICAL systemic changes occur, along with player reassignments and new additions tinkering won't change a thing, IMO.

[prj]

David and BCFan have given very worthwhile suggestions. More to the point, they have called for incremental shifts, not things that blow up the team; I suspect Wally is unlikely to ever blow anything up. But I hope he will consider some of these ideas. My biggest fear of this layoff is that nothing will change.

[DanoT]

Starting in the off season the Lions have made a lot of strange and bizarre decisions that now need addressing although the GM and HC somehow don't seem to acknowledge this so very little will change, imo.

The Loh/Westerman situation is possibly the strangest of all with both players playing out of position. So here is my bizarre guess on the reason for this apparent insanity: Somehow the Lions got word from the NFL team that signed Chris Covington that he was camp fodder and would be available to the Lions once the NFL season starts. So when Covington joins the Lions to play DT that would necessitate Westerman moving to DE and so the Lions decided to convert Westerman to DE starting in TC, with DT Loh going to the PR once Covington shows up.

I know the above is pure idiotic speculation but it is not as idiotic as unnecessarily playing two young guys out of position on the D line.

Also it is time to shake things up by benching Arceneaux for Jeffers-Harris.

[B.C.FAN]

Tinkering with personnel and schemes in 2011 turned an 0-5 Lions team (2-6 at the bye week) with the league's worst defence into an 11-7 first-place finisher and Grey Cup champion. Blowing everything up, as Montreal likes to do, has never done anything but stroke the considerable ego of GM Jim Popp. In B.C. the equivalent move would be to fire Tedford and have Wally assume the coaching duties. I don't hear anyone calling for a more direct role for Wally.

[David]

Excellent suggestions, David and BCFAN.

Digging our way out of the rubble. It has to start somewhere. Would that the Lions' brass had your vision.

Thanks WCJ, but mine are merely personnel changes. Cosmetic. Lipstick on a pig. Problems seem to run much deeper than that. As you, BCFAN, MLF (and many others - including football guys in the local media) correctly point out, the REAL changes required are scheme (and a personnel upgrades in key areas), yet the guy at the top is resistant to change. I ask somewhat rhetorically, do the assistants report to Tedford, or is Buono driving this bus?

I am less critical than some of #84 for his ill-advised, heat-of-the-moment post-game comments. The larger issue: where was the club in all this to put out the fire? I blame Jamie Cartmell, who's supposed to be the club's Communications Director. He needed to immediately alert Tedford and Buono after this blew up on TSN1040 Thursday night. The 4 of them needed to huddle in Buono's office Friday morning (or at the very least Cartmell needed to coach Arceneaux one-on-one) for damage control. "This is what you're going to say....."

It was evident to me that when Manny went back on TSN1040 Friday afternoon that NO ONE from the Lions had spoken to him. There was no script. He was riffing.


DH

[sj-roc]

I am less critical than some of #84 for his ill-advised, heat-of-the-moment post-game comments. The larger issue: where was the club in all this to put out the fire? I blame Jamie Cartmell, who's supposed to be the club's Communications Director. He needed to immediately alert Tedford and Buono after this blew up on TSN1040 Thursday night. The 4 of them needed to huddle in Buono's office Friday morning (or at the very least Cartmell needed to coach Arceneaux one-on-one) to minimize damage control. "This is what you're going to say....."

It was evident to me that when Manny went back on TSN1040 Friday afternoon that NO ONE from the Lions had spoken to him. There was no script. He was riffing.

I totally thought that there had been some intervention from the club like you said and that he was going back on 1040 yesterday afternoon specifically to express some contrition. Moj gave him every chance to do so but was in complete disbelief that he didn't. The final question of the interview came from Paterson asking him if he'd heard from anyone in the organisation over what he said. "No [but] I probably will," he said without much concern evident in his voice.

Als pbp man Rick Moffat was on with Moj & Burns about an hour ago to talk mainly about the Higgins firing and the Manny comments came up. RM reckoned it as "a guy putting the 'Arce' back in Arceneaux."

[TheLionKing]

Biggest change I would like see happen is Wally coming out and announcing that this would be his last year.

[JohnHenry]

- Promote Khari Jones to co-OC to revamp the passing attack (using last year's offence if necessary) and call the offensive plays. Cortez could be in charge of the running game.
- Ditch the pretend international TE who doesn't know who to block, and start a national receiver instead.
- Bring in an international FB who excels at run and pass blocking, and being an offensive threat to run or receive (to counter teams keying on Harris).
- Give Lulay one more quarter to pass the ball more quickly and accurately, if not, then sit Travis for a quarter or two and give Beck or Jennings a try.
- Toss out the 3-man pass rush and use a minimum of 4 DL on every defensive play.
- Who is our safety this year and why is his name never mentioned?

[VictoriaFan]

I always liked Lulay, unfortunately he's lost his mojo, give Jennings more reps because Beck will probably be gone next year.
Sean Gore is just a façade of a receiver, cut him to make the others realize,"hey, if I don't step it up I could be next"
Put K.Parker or Fraser in at safety, get rid of Chris Rwhatsisname.
Ask Cam Wake to come back.

[jwbavalon]

I kinda like the theory of putting the fear of god into the equation. We are not winning with what we have so what is there to lose. Bench the none performers and try a few bench warmers. As others have said it will send a message and who knows it can't be worse.

We also need a leader in the locker room, in 2011 it was Arland and others, who is up for 2015.