| 26 August 2010
Yesterday, a corner. Today, a safety. Tomorrow...your guess is as good as mine..or the Lions, for that matter.
It's true. The Lions' 3rd round draft pick is switching positions.
In a move that was not totally unexpected, the Detroit Lions have moved rookie third-round pick Amari Spievey from cornerback to safety. The switch also should get Spievey closer to some playing time.
Does it bother anyone else Spievey is no longer a cornerback? It's a HUGE position of need, more so than safety...even if the depth chart at safety has a gimpy Louis Delmas at the top, and a cast of thousands battling to make the team, let alone start, underneath.
If Spivey can't beat out the immortal Eric King and the older than Betty White in cornerback years Dre Bly as a backup/nickel/dime corner, it does makes me wonder if the Lions whiffed on the selection. It certainly gives the impression the Lions are grasping at straws in the secondary.
Killer tries to sell the move to safety as a positive with what sounds like coach delivered talking points...
His new position plays to his strengths -- excellent tackling ability, instincts and eyes.
...but then pretty much shuts the door on Spivey ever playing corner in the NFL.
At corner, Spievey isn't as good. He lacks that quick burst and doesn't flip his hips well enough at the NFL level.
Then why was Spievey drafted in the 3rd round...as a cornerback?
If his skills were better suited to be used at safety, then he should have been working out at safety during mini-camp and OTA's. It's not very encouraging news in regard to either Spievey's talent or the Lions' secondary as a whole, if a fairly high draft pick is being moved to a new position more than halfway through the preseason exhibition season.
So we now know Spievey's not a corner. But what if he isn't a safety? What is Spivey then? A bust...but I'm not going there...today.
Before we start throwing the "B" word around in anger, let's see if Spievey can ably fill the gaping maw next to Delmas. Even if filling one need by creating another isn't exactly the optimum way to fix the defensive backfield.
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