Lions To Trade Calvin Johnson?

"Calvin Johnson has the talent to be one of the league's best wide receivers, but he's suffered a bit through the growing pains of the start to the Matthew Stafford era in 2009. Calling to mind the recent Detroit Tigers trade that sent Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson out of town, Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press wrote on Wednesday that the Lions should ship Megatron away as well, in return for a bevy of draft picks. Joining him in the "Trade Megatron" choir on Thursday is Terry Foster of the Detroit News (ESPN)."

I don't agree with this thinking at all. The Lions have wasted so many draft picks trying to find a standout WR, so you can't just turn around and start all over. Calvin is a top 5 WR, and the return would be much less then that. The Lions have some the pieces they need. What they have to do is sit back and let these young guys develop. They have been through so many WRs, RBs, and QBs that they need to let a group come in and develop over time. Trading away their best player is not the answer, especially since he is so young...

Calvin Johnson Might Be Out This Week

"Wide receiver Calvin Johnson -- who entered the game with a thigh issue -- suffered an injury and had to be pulled from action. As he left the field, it appeared to be an upper thigh injury, but after the game, Lions coach Jim Schwartz confirmed to MLive.com that it was a knee injury. "We tried to get a sleeve on it, we tried to get a brace on it and it was a situation where it was still possible -- if he could feel good with it -- we would've put him back in the game. We couldn't get him settled down and we couldn't get him comfortable," Schwartz said. On Wednesday, NFL Insider Adam Schefter noted on Twitter that things are looking worse regarding Johnson's likelihood of playing on Sunday (ESPN)."

Even though the Lions record sucks they have been playing good football, but if they lose Calvin things could get ugly quick. Strafford has already been hurt, and if Calvin is not out there I don't see this offense doing much. In the end they aren't a playoff team anyways, but at least they seem to be heading in the right direction...

Top 25 Under 25 #12: Calvin Johnson

Born: September 25, 1985

23-year old Calvin Johnson was drafted second overall by the Lions in 2007. At 6’5 235 pounds, Johnson certainly fits the mold of a star wide receiver. When you combine that with a 4.35 40 yard dash, you get the second coming Randy Moss.

While that may be a bit gracious, Johnson certainly has the ability to be the NFL’s best receiver by the time his late twenties roll around. In his rookie season he caught 48 passes for 756 yards and 4 touchdowns. Fairly pedestrian numbers, however, he was the number two option behind Roy Williams and Jon Kitna was his quarterback… Not exactly a recipe for success. In his second season, CJ started all 16 games, and although the Lions struggled, Johnson excelled. Quarterbacks Dan Orlovsky, Daunte Culpepper, and Jon Kitna combined for 18 total touchdowns, 12 of which were received by Johnson. In addition to his 12 TD’s (tied for most in ‘08) Calvin had 78 receptions for 1,331 yards.

Johnson’s numbers will continue to grow as he matures, another factor to his success may be the play of rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford. Although Johnson has shown he doesn’t need an all-pro QB in order to put up numbers, it certainly wouldn’t hurt his situation to have somebody with a big arm getting him the ball. The Lions epitomize the current state of Detroit, but at least there is hope in a new foundation of Johnson and Stafford.