Bobby Layne, Detroit Lions (Photo by George Gelatly/Getty Images)
Regardless of what Detroit Lions fans may want, this is a rebuild project. It will take time and patience.
There is a new sheriff in town. Dan Campbell has ridden into the Motor City and fired up fans with the promise of a new tomorrow.
With the help of his sharpshooting general manager Brad Holmes, they will identify talent to build this franchise into a winner. The time of being hopeless losers is over. But that doesn’t mean they are ready to win yet.
There are multiple reasons that the Lions didn’t win under Matt Patricia’s reign. His inability to identify with his players made for a broken locker room. His belief that his defensive scheme was more important than who manned it was another big downfall.
Finally, the missteps by former general manager Bob Quinn kept the Lions from acquiring enough play-makers to become legitimate contenders not to mention the talent level from ever being deep enough to withstand injuries. Two very important qualities for a team to make a playoff run.
Short-sightedness could be considered a blanket concept for the Matt Patricia/Bob Quinn regime. They claimed they didn’t need to rebuild, then tore the team down. They claimed it would take time, but never showed progress on the field.
In a nutshell, the failures of Patricia and Quinn are hallmarks of the Lions franchise as a whole. They never take the time to actually build a contender, They are always fascinated by the idea of ‘retooling’ and suddenly becoming winners.
Well let’s be honest, what has that approach ever done for this franchise? Where are all the championships ‘retooling’ was supposed to lead the Lions to?
The last time the Lions built their team from the ground up with solid draft picks and astute trades they won three championships on the way to becoming the team of the 1950s. The biggest move was a trade with the soon-to-be-defunct New York Bulldogs in 1950.
In that trade, the Lions acquired a talented young quarterback named Bobby Layne. The rest was history. Now over 70 years later it’s ancient history. But the blueprint hasn’t changed.