At this point, I don't see Matt Millen getting fired. He may resign at the end of the season or go into an advisory role, but even then I don't see him being fired by Ford Sr. I hope that a genuine and qualified Personnel Director is hired to head that department, even though I am unsure if that will happen. The scouting department and the whole department needs direction, and I'm uncertain if Marinelli is the one to give it to them. Millen has already proven he is not the man to do it. Perhaps together they can get the job done, but I am very uneasy about that situation for another year too.
I don't see any of the main coaches being fired. Again, they may get interviewed for head coaching jobs elsewhere, but I'm fairly sure that this group will remain in Detroit in 2007.
I don't any changes at QB in 2007.
In fact, the changes I foresee are (or at least hope for are):
Defensive End. Kalimba Edwards is NOT the man. Maybe he can be a linebacker, or maybe Cleveland would still like him enough to trade for him, but he's all but useless as a DE. Hall is above average and a keeper, and after that the depth is all on IR or just bad. DE has got to be a top priority this coming off season. No Tweeners either.
Middle LineBacker. The Lions are set at weakside with Sims. They have a number of talented players to choose from at strongside, but so far, none of them have shown they can be above average to great at middle linebacker. A true genuine MLB would really help this defense a lot (along with a great DE).
Guard. Woody has proven a disappointment, and at his salary may not even be on the team next year. Then again, if I were the Lions, I wouldn't make that cut or even hint at it until the end of preseason, allowing time for any pickups to prove they deserve the starting job. The DeMulling, Verba, Stokes experiment failed. One or preferably two Guards are needed on O.
Right Tackle. Scott was an improvement over Butler, but not much of one. Perhaps after another offseason he'll prove worthy, but I'd be looking for a possible starter or quality depth at this position as well. The winner can start, the other the depth. The Lions haven't had a quality RT in well over a decade, despite annually trying to address the position.
Slot Wide Receiver (WR#3). Assuming Furry gets a contract extension, the lions need another WR to go with Roy Williams. I don't think it'll be Mike Williams (who I think they might trade to trade this off season). Drummond, Ellis and the others don't seem to be above average either. If Martz stays you can bet that a third WR will be high on his list.
That's the list so far, there will be more needs addressed later. Just to summarize though, I do not foresee Millen being fired, nor Marinelli, Martz or Henderson. I see Kitna as the starting QB next year with the exact same QB corp as this year. And I see changes at the positions of DE, MLB, G, RT and WR3.
Remember, the above is not what I want or believe should happen (except for the 5 starters listed). It is merely what I believe will happen. There is usually a difference between what I want and what happens, as I'm sure there is with anyone who reads this blog.
