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Four Downs with Stock & Doc
by Ben Stockwell and Paul Hopkins
5/6/2008
This week, up for consideration is Detroit’s status at the bottom of the NFL rankings, Jake Long’s prospects in Miami, what will become of Cedric Benson, and will Los Angeles ever get back on the NFL map… and do they deserve to?
  As argued on ‘Power Ranking the Decade‘, the Detroit Lions have been the worst franchise of the decade.
STOCK FACT ! How do you want to measure it? Worst overall record through the decade? Fewest playoff appearances? Most inept front office? Most wasted draft picks? However you want to judge the NFL franchises over the last decade the Lions are going to come out at or near the bottom of the pile, it’s not even as if they’ve really had a true false dawn to give their fans hope this decade either (though a dawn of some sort, be it true or false, may be upon us now). Rod Marinelli may have the team moving in the right direction, but there can be no doubt that the Lions have fielded some appaling teams with horrid consistency. If Jets’ fans had to put up with this team rather than their own I think there’d have been a mass suicide pact by now, Lions fans are clearly a mellow bunch.
DOC FACT ! Beyond question, this franchise has had beacon status for losing for quite some time now. Where do we start when there’s so much to choose from? You’ve covered it all, so I’m going to talk about that guru in Ford Field (I suppose a nice new stadium is all they really have to show of late). Matt Millen. How this guy remains in post is beyond a mystery, as he is proven himself to be so far out of his depth you can’t quite believe it. You assume there’s something else that you’re missing that the Ford’s see, and then you think of his lust for WR’s in the draft and all that tells you about him and his team. And you realise that the one punishment Millen deserves for leading this Lions era of ineptitude is … the job he has.
  Jake Long will prove to be successful at left tackle in Miami.
STOCK FACT ! I’m not sure how success is being defined here, but under my parameters he’ll be a solid left tackle who can be dominant blocking for the run, with troubles against an elite speed rush. There are very few LTs who aren’t troubled by elite speed (they’re the ones with the Gold jackets) and you could argue that if Long isn’t going to be one of those, why was he drafted #1 overall? But, Long will achieve what the Dolphins desire, someone to be consistent and dominant against the run and keep the QB clean and upright. Heck, stick him in a run heavy system where he can get his hands on smaller defensive ends and wear them down so that they can’t get their speed rush going and he could even go to a few Pro Bowls. He won’t be an all-time great and you might reasonably be able to question him as a #1 overall pick down the line, but I think he’ll be a success.
DOC FICTION ! How soon we forget? Do you not recall all those weeks when we both advocated Chris Long as the top pick, and saying that Jake Long was not at all the right pick for the Dolphins? So lets now look at the issue in question. Will he succeed? Will he make a decent fist of it? Probably. He certainly won’t Robert Gallery it, but then he won’t be the next Joe Thomas or Orlando Pace either. He’ll do ok, but whether he remains at left tackle to my mind depends on a lot of factors many of which have little correlation to his own performance. A solid but unspectacular tackle who in years to come people will look at and think First overall pick? Really? Ultimately he is going to be judged by the position he was taken at, and harshly or not, he’ll never achieve a level that justifies that tag.
  Cedric Benson will still be the starting running back in Chicago by week 1.
STOCK FACT ! It may be a nominal designation even at this early stage, but I expect Benson to start the game for the Bears in week one against the Colts at the brand new Lucas Oil Stadium. His only viable competition is from 2nd round rookie Matt Fort and I don’t think he will be the full time starter by week one. I fully expect a running back by committee from the Bears, but Benson is the most proven back at this stage and until Fort shows his…… strengths (you were expecting a pun there weren’t you?) Benson will see more carries, though that may change very early in the season.
DOC FICTION ! The guy is a loss to the Bears. They don’t need the distraction, the unwanted attention and everything that comes along with ‘not my fault’ Benson. If he was playing like a 4th overall pick then fine you could make an exception, but he isn’t. I know Lovie likes to stay loyal to people, and considering how he’s stuck with the walking nightmare that is Rex Grossman, there’s no reason to assume he won’t with Benson. But Benson doesnt even show flashes of anything, as Grossman can. So I’m saying they’ll grow tired of him over the summer, and go elsewhere with the running back position, hence why they took Forte. Assuming the first snap makes it as far as being given to the running back, it won’t be Cedric Benson taking the football.
  Los Angeles will get an NFL franchise within the next five years.
STOCK FICTION ! Did I miss them breaking ground on a new stadium? If not then I don’t see that they’re getting an NFL franchise in the near future. Neither the Rose Bowl or Los Angeles Colliseum are good enough facilities to be home to modern NFL franchises. Plus the further problem that the area around the Colliseum is far from welcoming to families that might wish to go to an NFL game.. The other problem I have with this is why on earth LA is being considered. Yes, I know it’s the biggest market in america that the NFL isn’t in, but how quickly are we forgetting that Los Angeles has had NFL franchises in the past and they simply can’t hold on to them. The Rams left, the Cardinals left, the Raiders left. How many teams does a city have to lose before the NFL realises that the city simply isn’t interested in having its own team?
DOC FACT ! Because money talks and people forget history when the here and now and the dollars are concerned. Five years might be a bit too tight to have a new team up and running, but Los Angeles will get an NFL franchise back one day. I don’t disagree that they have no God-given right to have a team after losing interest in every single team that has played in their city, but the NFL is all about money, marketing, filling stadiums, executive boxes, selling shirts and expanding the interest and the TV market you know that, after all, thats how your team wound up in Baltimore! It’s why we have games in London now. Los Angeles very easily, once it sorts a stadium out, has the ready-made business case for a team, and the NFL owners, whilst some will ask the obvious question, will eventually be swayed. Hopefully this next time though, they’ll appreciate what they have.
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