Detroit Lions ready for rebirth under Schwartz?

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Head coach Jim Schwartz’s first year at the helm of the Detroit Lions was largely forgettable. While the team actually won a game, ending a franchise record 19 game losing streak, they only managed to win one other contest the rest of the season. Franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford had his rookie season cut short and the team’s defensive woes continued.

On the eve of free agency the Detroit Lions got uncharacteristically aggressive courting Tennessee free agent DE Kyle Vanden Bosch and Seattle free agent WR Nate Burleson, acquiring both early. The team also traded for DT Corey Williams (Cleveland), CB Chris Houston (Atlanta) and QB Shaun Hill (San Francisco) to help bolster their depth. Additionally, the team parted with CB Phillip Buchanon and DT Grady Jackson.

2009 Team Record: 2-14
First Round Pick: 2nd Overall

Roster Analysis

2009 Active Roster Batting Average (NFL Average): 35.85% (44.69%)
2009 Draft Pick Retention: 50.0%*
Undrafted Players on 2009 Active Roster (NFL Average): 20.75% (27.89%)

2010 Free Agents

Unrestricted: 12
Restricted: 10
Notable: Dante Culpepper, QB (UFA); Larry Foote, LB (UFA); Will James, CB (UFA)

Last Five First Rounds

2009 – Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia (1st Overall)
2009 – Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State (20th Overall)
2008 – Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College (17th Overall)
2007 – Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech (2nd Overall)
2006 – Ernie Sims, OLB, Florida State (9th Overall)
2005 – Mike Williams, WR, USC (10th Overall)

DNQBR

We did not calculate a DNQBR for the 2009 season as no Detroit Lions quarterback started 13 or more games.^

Notes & Observations

• Five of the Detroit Lions ten 2009 draft picks made the team’s active roster.
• TE Dan Gronkowski (7th round) finished the season on the practice squad
• Both of the Lions’ first round selections, QB Matthew Stafford (1st overall) and TE Brandon Pettigrew (20th overall) finished the season on injured reserve.
• If you go back to the 2003 NFL draft the Detroit Lions have used their past eight first round selections on offense, including four wide receivers of which only one remains on the team’s roster

* we have not performed a complete analysis of teams’ 2009 draft selections versus their 2009 active rosters in order to calculate an NFL league average.

^ we will detail the breakdown of the DNQBR in a future post, however, the figure represents the approximate number of points per game that the team’s quarterback contributes. As a point of reference Saints QB Drew Brees lead the league with a DNQBR of 26.3, while Jets QB Mark Sanchez possessed the lowest at .7

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