The Lions are bad, but drafting Jahvid Best gives them potential game-breakers at all the offensive skill positions, and best of all they are all young! If only the defense could catch up.
Penny stocks are hard to come by, especially in the NFL, but it doesn't get much less valuable than the Detroit Lions were two years ago when they went a winless 0-16.
The value of this team's stock crept up just a tad in 2009 after a 2-14 year that showed some promise. Many are high on the Lions as a team with a stock to watch this year, and right now, we're analyzing the pro football odds on one of the saddest franchises that the NFL has to offer.
Long Term Stock: QB Matt Stafford - Are you going to get rich by buying into Stafford's stock this year? Probably not. But can you make yourself a mint in the long run? You'd better your butt that you will. The #1 pick in the NFL Draft two years ago, Stafford immediately became a hero in the Motor City when he won a game... something that the city hadn't seen in nearly two full years at that point.
He led the team to the 21st rated passing offense at 198.0 yards per game in 2009, which was a marked improvement for a team that basically finished dead last in every offensive category the season before. Keep a very, very close eye for some marked improvement, as this season, Stafford will get all 16 starts under his belt if he stays healthy. This is only a 3* stock now, but will be a 5* in years to come.
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Can't Miss, Buy Early Stock: RB Jahvid Best - Detroit hasn't exactly produced stellar draft picks in recent seasons, but this year, it did the exact right thing by trading up into the back end of the first round from the front of Round 2 to take Cal RB Jahvid Best. The Lions didn't have many explosive game changing athletes on offense (in fact, only WR Calvin Johnson really fits that billing), so going out and finding an amazing talent was top priority.
Best was a speed demon as a Golden Bear, and now he steps into an offense in which he can return kicks, return punts, run the ball, and catch the ball either out of the backfield or in the slot. This rook has a cheap stock right now, but after a few games, his price will surely skyrocket. Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy! 5*s!
Stock in Question: HC Jim Schwartz - This is the one thing about the Lions that we aren't so sure about. The NFL odds are really stacked against Schwartz in Detroit, as it feels like he was basically brought in to be a bridge coach between Rod Marinelli and whichever sucker is stuck taking this job next.
Sure, two wins last year was nice, and potentially reaching five or six would be amazing this year, but eventually, Schwartz is going to have to take this team to the playoffs. It's still nowhere near as talented as anyone else in the NFC North, though. We're not buying what Schwartz is selling. 2*s at best, and certainly not one to be buying.
Buying or Selling the Detroit Lions - We're going to suggest that you ultimately buy the Lions' stock, but only if you have some patience.
This is a team that knows that it is going to have to play plenty of games that end with the final score of 35-31 and possibly even worse. The defense ranked dead last in '09 in both total defense (392.1 yards per game) and scoring (30.9 points per game).
That just won't cut it in the NFL, no matter how strong your offense is. Yes, the addition of #2 overall pick in the draft, DT Ndamukong Suh is going to help out immensely, but there are ten other players that need to be on the field with him, and the prospects of those ten guys don't exactly look stellar.
We buy the offense enough to make a difference, though. Stafford, Best, Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew make up a solid foundation of skill players to build around, but the offensive line isn't there yet either. Talent alone on that side of the ball will win this team some games, but we aren't exactly suggesting that you grab the +15000 odds to win the Super Bowl either.
Going 4-10-2 ATS in NFL betting action won't happen again. Buy some Detroit stock while it's cheap and reap the benefits in another few years when this franchise starts to put the puzzle pieces together again.
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