Mike Furrey "came out of nowhere" in 2006 to finish second in the NFL with 98 receptions. The wide receiver position should be white dominated, but most potential white stars at this position are continually filtered out through high school and college, with the NFL finishing off the job. But now and then one perseveres and falls through the cracks like Furrey.
The NFL could and should be filled with "Mike Furrey types," in fact white players with considerably more talent than Furrey. Furrey's success came about only because the Lions hired Mike Martz to be their offensive coordinator. Furrey had been a backup when Martz coached the Rams (along with Kevin Curtis and Dane Looker) and Martz brought him to his new team and gave him the chance to blossom.
Unfortunately, outside of Furrey the Lions are your standard Caste System team, all black on defense and white at quarterback, tight end, and a couple of o-line spots.
Jon Kitna threw for over 4,000 yards in 2006 and is highly regarded in fantasy football circles going into the new season, but in a sneering kind of way, ala "the Lions offense is so good under Mike Martz's scheme that even Jon Kitna can succeed in it." Kitna had a superb 2003 season as the starter for the Bengals then gracefully stepped aside to allow Carson Palmer to take over. He's not an all-time great, but he's no chump either.
Detroit has a troika of whites at tight end in Casey Fitzsimmons, Sean McHugh, and Dan Campbell. They will do more blocking than receiving, and will also line up at blocking fullback when required for certain plays.
On the line, 7th year man Jeff Backus out of Michigan is the starting LT. Dominic Raiola is the center. Kitna may spend a lot of his time on his back again this season as the team brought over such flops as George Foster from the Broncos and Edwin Mulitalo from the Ravens to start on the line. White backups include Stephen Peterman and Don Muhlbach.
Kitna's backups are J. T. O'Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky. Rookie Drew Stanton out of Michigan State, who should have first shot to be Kitna's successor, was placed on IR.
The Lions have but two white players on defense. Iowa graduate Jared DeVries has spent his entire nine year career with Detroit as a backup end.
MLB Teddy Lehman won the Butkus Award while with Oklahoma as the nation's best college linebacker and followed that up with a strong rookie season with Detroit in 2004. He was slowed by injuries the past two seasons and although healthy is currently backing up the less-than legendary journeyman Paris Lenon on the team's depth chart.
NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 5 (but will fall to 4 as soon as heralded rookie Calvin Johnson replaces Mike Furrey as one of the 2 starting receivers)
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON 53 MAN ROSTER: 15
GRADE: F
The NFL could and should be filled with "Mike Furrey types," in fact white players with considerably more talent than Furrey. Furrey's success came about only because the Lions hired Mike Martz to be their offensive coordinator. Furrey had been a backup when Martz coached the Rams (along with Kevin Curtis and Dane Looker) and Martz brought him to his new team and gave him the chance to blossom.
Unfortunately, outside of Furrey the Lions are your standard Caste System team, all black on defense and white at quarterback, tight end, and a couple of o-line spots.
Jon Kitna threw for over 4,000 yards in 2006 and is highly regarded in fantasy football circles going into the new season, but in a sneering kind of way, ala "the Lions offense is so good under Mike Martz's scheme that even Jon Kitna can succeed in it." Kitna had a superb 2003 season as the starter for the Bengals then gracefully stepped aside to allow Carson Palmer to take over. He's not an all-time great, but he's no chump either.
Detroit has a troika of whites at tight end in Casey Fitzsimmons, Sean McHugh, and Dan Campbell. They will do more blocking than receiving, and will also line up at blocking fullback when required for certain plays.
On the line, 7th year man Jeff Backus out of Michigan is the starting LT. Dominic Raiola is the center. Kitna may spend a lot of his time on his back again this season as the team brought over such flops as George Foster from the Broncos and Edwin Mulitalo from the Ravens to start on the line. White backups include Stephen Peterman and Don Muhlbach.
Kitna's backups are J. T. O'Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky. Rookie Drew Stanton out of Michigan State, who should have first shot to be Kitna's successor, was placed on IR.
The Lions have but two white players on defense. Iowa graduate Jared DeVries has spent his entire nine year career with Detroit as a backup end.
MLB Teddy Lehman won the Butkus Award while with Oklahoma as the nation's best college linebacker and followed that up with a strong rookie season with Detroit in 2004. He was slowed by injuries the past two seasons and although healthy is currently backing up the less-than legendary journeyman Paris Lenon on the team's depth chart.
NUMBER OF WHITE STARTERS: 5 (but will fall to 4 as soon as heralded rookie Calvin Johnson replaces Mike Furrey as one of the 2 starting receivers)
APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF WHITE PLAYERS ON 53 MAN ROSTER: 15
GRADE: F
