With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all. Meet the...
Team with the 2009 slogan, "Nowhere to go, but up." Ah yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Detroit Lions. Insert jokes here. It's tough to get too excited about the Lions this season. They do have one of the most talented players in the league in Calvin Johnson. Then again, they must rely on a worn-out veteran (with no knees left) or a young rookie to deliver him the ball.
Let's not kid ourselves, nobody really delivers the ball to Calvin Johnson -- he goes out and grabs the ball wherever it may be. Yup, he's just that good and he gives Lions fans a reason for hope. This season anything would be an improvement. However, from a fantasy football perspective, we could care less if the Lions go 0-16 or 10-6 ... as long as Megatron continues to be a stud, it's all good.
The Breakout
From the obvious department, let's welcome in Kevin Smith. Relatively speaking, Smith already has kinda-sorta busted out already. You just missed it last season because he was sucking wind for an 0-16 team. Regardless, this is the season Smith arrives at fantasy stardom and leaves those second-guessing him quite bitter they passed him by. Smith figures to be an integral part of this offense and really, aside from Megatron who else is there? Yes, Smith will see plenty of looks and touches and build upon his nearly 1,000 rushing yards, 8 TDs and 39 catches from a year ago. Don't even blink when it comes to Maurice Morris as the backup, Smith is the guy the Lions are banking on and so should you.
The Bust
There has to be significant hype for that player to be considered a bust. Um, would somebody on the Lions please stand up? OK, this really is a tough one. However, we're gonna have to roll with Daunte Culpepper. I know a lot of people are getting visions or hallucinations of Daunte heaving the ball downfield to a circus catch from Calvin Johnson, but let's not get our roll on just yet. Wake up people -- it's not 2002 anymore, this is not another Culpepper-to-Moss connection. Culpepper will have a hard enough time staying healthy and trying to just manage games. Sure, he'll find Megatron a lot, but he will also find the turf of Ford Field and opposing cornerbacks just as much.
The Depth Chart
QB1 - Daunte Culpepper
QB2 - Matthew Stafford
RB1 – Kevin Smith
RB2 - Maurice Morris
RB3 - Aveion Cason
WR1 – Calvin Johnson
WR2 - Bryant Johnson
WR3 - Dennis Northcutt
WR4 - Derrick Williams
TE1 - Brandon Pettigrew
TE2 - Casey FitzSimmons
K - Jason Hanson
The D/ST
The average projection has the Lions defense firmly entrenched at the bottom of the league. You should get my drift; friends don't let friends start the Lions defense in fantasy football. It's just that simple, no need to evaluate and talk about the bright side of things, this unit is brutal and it's going to take a long road to recovery.
The Skinny
There are only two certainties in this Lions offense that you can trust: Calvin Johnson and Kevin Smith. However, if you're willing to sacrifice your chances of winning your league, be my guest and dig deeper.
- We all know what we're getting from Calvin Johnson, dude is a freak. However, it's the production and where it's gonna come from after Megatron that raises a few eyebrows. Ideally, the role of WR2 will belong to Bryant Johnson. The acquisition of Dennis Northcutt means he will likely occupy the WR3 slot, but reports indicate the Lions also do like rookie Derrick Williams. Still though, it's anybody's guess who besides Megatron is a factor, as he's the only really proven commodity and can catch anything.
- The strong suspicion is that Culpepper will be the starting QB with Matthew Stafford being the backup in training and Drew Stanton shoved to the side. However, the Lions like to keep this a mystery by refusing to announce the "official" depth chart until after training camp.
- And that would mean one could expect that at some point Stafford will get a chance to start and/or see extensive action. By no means should there be a stampede to the waiver wire when this day arrives. Keep in mind he's a rookie QB on an awful team, you can do better.
- Look for Brandon Pettigrew to be a pleasant surprise in Detroit. He's not going to throw around numbers that make your jaw drop, but as he gets acclimated he's got the potential to be a nice little sneaky sleeper down the stretch.
It's tough to get excited for the fantasy prospects of a team that went 0-16 a season ago, but the Lions could have an interesting offense this season. There is potential to be a high-scoring machine that can't stop anyone on defense. The problem for fantasy purposes is we really just don't know who will complement the stars (Johnson and Smith).
