Lions Add a Left Guard

The Detroit Lions traded with the Seattle Seahawks, giving them Robert Henderson from their practice squad and a 5th round draft pick for Seattle's 7th rounder and LG- Rob Sims.

This fills the hole at Left Guard the Lions have had vacant for far too many years. It may also end the on going debates over if the Lions will draft Ndamukong Suh or Russel Okung.

Simple logic states that if you are happy with a player, you do not use a first round pick to draft a player to replace him. Schwartz has said he thinks Jeff Backus is a very good Left Tackle and has even said he should have gone to the pro-bowl. The argument before was that if the Lions drafted Okung, a LT, then Backus would have moved over to play Left Guard. Now the Lions have added a LG in Rob Sims. With both, the LT and LG position set, it is much more unlikely the Lions would spend their first round pick to add Okung.

However, it is not the same with Defensive Tackles. As it stands, the Lions have two solid DTs in Sammie Lee Hill and Corey Williams. Hill was coming on strong at the end of last year, but still is not5 considered dominant. Williams has had a couple of dominant seasons, but was then moved into a DE position and did not perform. Moving back to DT should help him return to form but until he does, he is not considered dominant.

In the NFL, an offensive lineman is expected to play most of the snaps. The defensive tackles however are rotated in to keep them fresh. With two solid DTs, the Lions still need one more. They have a couple guys in place who could fill that spot, but they are considered nothing more than depth guys right now. Schwartz has stated he wants a dominant defensive line. If you want a big pass rush, you need dominating defensive tackles to draw double teams and open things up for the defensive ends. The Lions needing another DT who will be a force, makes it still likely they will draft Ndamukong Suh.

And that my friends, is a very good thing!