LOL, you have GOT to be kidding me. Sanders was the best running back ever, so youre telling me a dlineman, who isnt in the top 10 ever...yet is better than arguably the best running back to ever play the game? You do realize barry sanders averaged 5.6 yards per carry, right? You do realize that the stadium only sold out because of sanders. He also led the lions to the nfc championship game in 1991. I love Suh but the detroit fans are getting ridiculous, its painfully obvious that we have a lot of bandwagoner fans who only started watching since Suh got drafted. Suh is HELPING the lions get to greatness but there are other people that are causing it as well, mainly mayhew. But it is also a mix of Suh, Schwartz, MATTHEW STAFFORD being healthy, pettigrew and scheffler make a damn nice TE combo, a tad bit of best, our lb pickups this offseason, corey williams etc. Whats funny is that jemele hill has ALWAYS been a lions hater and doesnt exactly think rationally
it's a stretch but I can see it. Detroit had PLENTY of high 1st round picks over the last decade and none of them (including stafford) had the kind of impact Suh has had. He's essentially turned the entire team - one that was one of the worst in the history of the NFL - completely around. There's help, but it's undeniable that it started w/ Suh. If Barry had been drafted in Suh's place - I don't see Detroit being 6-1 right now...regardless of how good he was.
Yeah, i misread what was said and thought a husker fan posted that then i found out about jemele hill wrote that article. None of them had the impact that Suh has had? Calvin Johnson is having a pretty big impact this year, am i correct? You can say hes had more of an impact this year than Suh. Stafford did well last year. He turned the entire team around? Uh, Stafford was hurt most of his first year and last year so him finally playing more games has something to do with it dont you think? What about the acquistions of pettiegrew, best and scheffler? Suh was MIA against the 49ers and the 49ers were running right at him, yet we still almost beat the 49ers, if it was "all suh" then we would have gotten our butts kicked. So is Suh the reason that the lions have one of the most prolific offenses in the nfl? I never knew Suh played both sides of the ball. What about Mayhew being a hell of a gm and finally turning things around. You do realize hes only been here for two years, right? Hes essentially gotten all the right pieces and great draft picks and took that two years to fix a seven year mess! He's been making great trades i.e traded a 5th round pick to the browns for corey williams and a 7th round pick. Dont get me wrong, Suh has made an impact and is one of the best dlineman but there are also other factors that are just as important or more important as to why the lions are successful.
I don't think you're understanding what has been said about Suh. Suh is larger than life right now in Detroit. He is a man, a myth, and a legend over there. Because of that, he has brought some clout to a Lions team that was pretty freaking awful before he got there. That's what Hill wrote about in his article.
I do know whats being said and i understand we've been awful for awhile. But the Lions have been my fav nfl team since 1990 and suh is getting way too much credit for "turning the lions around." The changed started when Mayhew took over as gm and made some great trades/draft picks. I go on lions boards quite often and even though we all think Suh is amazing, most lions fans also say that Mayhew deserves the most credit a long with schwartz and some to suh. Thats how most of the lions fans see things. Also, is Jemele Hill, have you ever read some of her other articles? Shes just writing this to stir up debate when barry sanders will always be face of the franchise. Once again, the lions are turning around because of the organizational changes. Without Mayhew, the lions wouldnt have the offense or the defense we had now. Like i said, Suh was non existant against the 49ers but we were still one play from winning that game.
I'm curious... what does your list of the top 10 D linemen of all time look like?
Ive said Suh is one of the best dlineman in the league and has played a part in turning my lions around, so how am i not giving him credit? I can give u stats all day on Barry Sanders, for instance, he averaged 5.6 ypc, the only other rb that had a better ypc is Jim Brown. Barry Sanders only needed one more season to break the record. Barry Sanders had inept QB's his whole career, i.e. erik kramer, andre ware, rodney pete, scott mitchell, dave krieg. His Oline only had 2 pro bowlers total his whole career, his only pro bowl wr he ever had was herman moore, who fizzled out after a few years due to injuries. Barry sanders took himself out of a game where he could have had the most rushing yards in a game even tho the coaches, i.e. wayne fontes, wanted him to stay in. Enough about Sanders though, but you do realize there are only about 3 players on this team that were on the 0-16 team? Cliff Avril, Raiola and Backus are the only ones that are currently starting that were on the 0-16 team, so maybe people should put into consideration that its a whole new collection of talent that have turned this thing around instead of Suh? Like i said, Suh is a great player but he's gettiing too much recognition for this turnaround. Anyone who's actually followed the lions know this.
But what about Schwartz? Schwartz is a great defensive minded coach and he helped turn the defense around. What about Gunter Cunningham? Hes always been a good D coordinator. What about the acquisitions of vanden bosch and corey williams? They are the reason you cant double team Suh. What about drafting Delmas? Hes a pretty good FS, if you ask me. What about the acquistions of eric wright? He always been a solid cb. What about chris houston improving big time from last year? What about the free agent pickup of bobby carpenter? If you remember correclty, he sparked the comeback against dallas. What about the tulloch and durant additions? They have been playing pretty well for us. Spievey is playing better at the SS than he did last year, but still needs improvement. Look at the additions and the players that are playing better they are the ones helped turn this thing around, Suh was on our team last year and we still gave up quite a bit of points and still had one of the worse pass defenses and only a sufficient run defense. If it were "mainly suh" then we should have not been so low in defensive categories last year, correct? Once again, I will state that Suh is a great player, but he was a great last year and look how our defense performed. This is why people need to look at the additions the lions made this year and the people that improved. Mayhew needs to get most of the credit, along with schwartz, suh and the new additions on defense that really turned this thing around.
Sweet picture, I looked at it and the Imperial March from Star Wars instantly started playing in my head!
