The Detroit Lions keep neglecting their defense

As the NFL offseason progresses I've noticed one thing. Even though the Detroit Lions have changed coaches (again), the organizational philosophy remains the same. The team keeps trying to acquire offensive talent instead of trying to build on both sides of the ball. The pick of tight end Eric Ebron  and signing of wide receiver Golden Tate kind of proves my point. Jim Caldwell was hired as the new coach to help quarterback Matthew Stafford reach his potential and stop throwing so many game killing interceptions. They hired Joe Lombardi away from New Orleans to try and make him into a Drew Brees clone.

While it's true that having a high powered offense will excite the fans, it's defense that will carry a team to the next level. Although the Lions went defense heavy on the last two days of the draft the players picked aren't difference makers and will leave the Lions trying to finagle the salary cap and look for veteran help over the summer. And some of the available help has seen better days. The Lions had needs and a tight end or receiver wasn't necessarily one of them. The only player that has me excited is Kyle Van Noy.

Just to illustrate my point, remember when Wayne Fontes went through multiple quarterbacks with the hope that one of them would lead the Lions to a Super Bowl. Fontes said it about Andre Ware, Rodney Peete, and Scott Mitchell. Over the years the team has always tried to draft weapons to surround their quarterback on offense. Matt Millen drafted heavily at the receiver position. If you go back to the 80s they tried to get players to complement Billy Sims.

Either the front office knows something the fans don't or they're just trying to be the smartest guys in the room. Ebron better turn out to be the truth because if he isn't and the rest of the players in the 2014 draft class are projects and hardly see the field, GM Martin Mayhew needs to be fired. If the team was serious about contending this season and beyond they would've drafted defense in at least three of the first four rounds of the draft and got some much needed help on that side of the ball.  

Detroit Lions admit that Matthew Stafford's game needs some work

The worst kept secret in the NFL was that Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford needed to be refined. He has regressed since the 2011 season when he threw for  5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns. Over the past two seasons Stafford has backslid. He completed 63.5 percent of his passes in 2011. In 2012 59.8 percent and in 2013 his percentage dove to 58.5, which was good for 30th in the league.

Stafford would always say there's nothing wrong, but his play on the field said otherwise. Fans started to watch the Lions and wait for the untimely interception off of an ill advised throw. The worse part was that former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz was an enabler of Stafford's lousy performances.

Stafford threw 12 picks in his final seven games of last season, and was culpable for 14 turnovers overall during that stretch and the Lions finished 1-6 after a 6-3 start. Seven games doesn't make a career but the way the turnovers happened you don't see the elite quarterbacks make.

General manager Martin Mayhew finally admitted what many knew all along. Stafford needs some work.

"I think there certainly has to be some work done," general manager Martin Mayhew said this week. "I couldn't really quantify that."

"I don't think his confidence has fallen very far," he said. "I mean, think about it. In Week 9, his numbers were outstanding. We were winning games. We were playing really well.


"Didn't finish up the second half of the season the way we expected to, do the things that we wanted to do. But there are a lot of moving pieces to that. It's not all on Matthew. I've been in contact with him several times since the end of the season and he sounds pretty confident to me."

If the season were nine games the Lions might be in the Super Bowl. Instead they're watching from their lavish homes once again.

The team has taken steps to get Stafford back on track. The Lions have hired former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, who worked extensively with Peyton Manning. The Lions have tabbed former New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach, Jim Lombardi as their offensive coordinator. Lombardi worked with Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Considering the past of the offensive coaches brought on board so far, many of the hires are geared to help Stafford.

Ron Prince named Detroit Lions tight ends, assistant head coach

One of the worst-kept secrets on Rutgers' coaching staff became official today when offensive coordinator Ron Prince left to join the Detroit Lions as an assistant under new coach Jim Caldwell, according to DetroitLions.com, the NFL team's web site. Prince also will replace Bobby Johnson as the team's tight end coach, though Johnson will remain on staff in a different capacity.

This will be Prince's first tight end coaching position at any level.

He played tackle at Dodge City Community College and Appalachian State, and has spent most of his career coaching offensive lines.

He got his start as a volunteer at Dodge City CC in 1992 before coaching the offensive line at Alabama A&M, South Carolina State, James Madison, Cornell and then Virginia from 2001-02.

Prince took over as the Cavaliers' offensive coordinator from 2003-05, and then succeeded Bill Snyder as Kansas State's head coach from 2006-08. He was fired from that position after going 17-20 in three seasons.

Prince, who spent three years in the NFL before becoming the Scarlet Knights' offensive coordinator last season, is the fourth different person to leave as Rutgers' offensive coordinator after just one year on the job.

Prince was an assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 and with the Indianapolis Colts with Caldwell in 2010 and 2011.

Rutgers is expected to launch a search for his successor immediately.

Under Prince, Rutgers averaged 26.5 points per game and 365.2 yards -- but the unit tailed off over the final seven games of the season, with starting quarterback Gary Nova eventually getting benched for the final three games.