| 13 May 2010
As NFL news has slown down to next to nothing, once again there's only one question for the congregation, as put together by Joshua, aka DetFan79, of Roar of the Lions.
1. Brian Cushing won the Defensive Rookie of the Year re-vote, but by a much closer margin. Jim, a WMU alum, wants to know: Do you think Louis Delmas should have been in the discussion for DROY, and why?
In the discussion? Sure.
Should have gotten a few votes? Yes.
Deserve to win it? No.
Delmas had a nice year, and was a vastly improved player by the end of the season. But he played for the Detroit Lions, who were out of the playoff picture by the end of September. Sorry to say, most any year end award tends to favor players on contending teams. I'm not saying the Houston Texans (Cushing's team) are great shakes, by any means. But they were in the playoff hunt all season, and that what counts in the minds of the voters.
Unfortunately, that's the way of the awards world.
Out of the players who received votes, Cushing, Buffalo safety Jairus Byrd. Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews III, Washington linebacker Brian Orakpo, and St. Louis linebacker James Laurinaitis, I will say Delmas compares more than favorably. I wouldn't bet against him having the best career, or at the very least, a comparable career.
There's one more issue worth mentioning about Delmas' ROY candidacy. his stat line, which is where voters who didn't get to see Delmas play look first, was especially lacking. Much of it was due to the abysmal defenders surrounding him, and Delmas really didn't ramp up his game until the second half of the season.
Delmas had 94 tackles and 2 interceptions.Not bad, right? But Delmas' numbers just didn't stand out when compared to the rookies who received votes
Cushing got himself 4 INT's, along with his 134 tackles. Byrd played for a bad team, but had 9 picks Orakpo had 11 sacks from an important position, defensive end. Laurinatis accounted for 120 tackles. Matthews didn't have great overall numbers, but his 10 sacks for a playoff team definitely stand out.
Louis Delmas is going to be a very good player for a very long time. But he won't get the notoriety he deserves till the Lions starting winning more than they lose. The Lions decade long lack of NFL relevance had more to do with Delmas not getting even one ROY vote than his play.
If you have a Lions question you'd like to see answered, you can email the congregation at lionscongregation@yahoo.com.
As always, to read the rest of the Lions blogosphere answering DetFan79's questions, head over to Roar of the Lions every Friday!
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