ESPN has done some nice pieces the last couple days on players breaking out and high expectations. Another one is on Calvin Johnson and his expected monster season in Detroit. Detroit fans finally have something to look forward to in Detroit. That something is Calvin Johnson. Johnson has been very impressive in camp, beating CB's bad, blowing by Safeties and making incredible catches. When a guy as talented and talkative as Roy Williams has his jaw drop and is speechless, then you know its good. Johnson battled a back injury throughout last season and still put up good numbers (48 receptions for 756 yards) but they weren't good enough for him. He felt like he under-achieved in his rookie season so he started working on his route-running and overall footwork. Now, people in Detroit are going crazy over the potential of Calvin Johnson.
With WR's like CJ and Williams, why they want to go to a run-oriented offense is beyond me. I'd **** bricks if we had them as our WR's.
When I read things said by the WR's coach in the article, I laughed. It wasn't to be like "yeah, ok, bs" but more of the things that one can do.
I have to say I agree with you. I watched their defense and was impressed. They have a nice rotation along the middle of the defensive line with Chuck Darby, Cody and Redding. I like Gerald Alexander back there with Dwight Smith. They added Leigh Bodden and Brian Kelly to the secondary as well. On offense, they just added Rudi whose a tough runner and fits exactly what Marinelli wants. They added Kevin Smith in the off-season as well. I have two big factors for them though. 1) Can the offensive line protect Kitna? The offensive line gave up 51 sacks last year. They have a couple new guys there and need to do a good job. 2) Can Kitna limit his turnovers? If Kitna is pressured, he will flip and force throws, resulting in interceptions. Kitna has 39 interceptions in his last two years in Detroit. That's an average of 19.5 a season. He needs to cut that down to fourteen for them to be a good team. Through the first nine games, the Lions started 6-3 through the first ten weeks of the season (bye in week 6). Kitna had 8 interceptions. He had 12 in the last 7 weeks of the regular season.
I think he might be the most talented player to ever come into this league. I've been watching football for a much shorter time than others here (since 2001) so I can't say about the players in the early '60s and so forth. But watching him throughout his college career and now in Detroit, I don't know if I've ever seen a guy whose as talented as him.
well i expect a huge year out of him now that hes healthy... i drafted him as my first WR in fantasy over a LOT of proven guys because i think he will explode...
For me, that distinction belongs to Randy Moss. I still remember that Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys his rookie year.
