ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday that Lions RB Jahvid Best could very well begin the 2012 regular season on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list meaning he would have to sit out the first six weeks of the season.
Best’s inability to get himself into camp stem from multiple concussions last season, one in the preseason and the other coming on October 16th in a loss to the San Francisco 49ers from Ford Field. After that game Best was out for the remainder of 2011 and by all accounts hasn’t stepped on a football field since.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz continues to maintain that Best’s status is week-to-week but given the time he’s had to recuperate from the injury you really have to wonder if this is the end of the road for the still very young running back.
So with this latest news you is it conceivable that the 2012 draft class was a total failure?
Offensive tackle Riley Reiff seems to be a guy that could very well pan out in the NFL and be a nice asset for the Lions on the line going forward. However it was the picks made after this (especially the middle round picks) that continue to make the Lions 2012 draft look horrendous.
Heading into the draft the Lions very much-needed help in the secondary and it seems like fans were led to believe that everything was fine in the offensive backfield.
We can now see that the all is right with the world mentally was circumventive on the actual state of the running game. Or did the Lions front office simply not do their homework on Best’s actual condition?
Instead though the Lions continued to make irresponsible pick after irresponsible pick choosing to go with a wide-out of all things with ACL trouble (Ryan Broyles) and a corner in the third round (Bill Bentley) that may at best be only a nickle in the NFL. This also doesn’t include the fact that fifth round corner Chris Greenwood may also start the season on the PUP list and last year’s second round pick Mikel Leshoure will be out for the first two weeks of the season.
So are the Lions really a better team than what they were last season? Are they a better team without Jahvid Best? Is the secondary better without adding any real assurable talent in the draft or through free agency?
The Lions have a deadline of August 31st to take Best off the PUP list or lose him for the (at least) the first six weeks of the regular season.
