Quote:I think from a penny pinching standpoint, though he would not be "cheap" per se, Fairley would command less in free agency than Suh. He may represent a talent upgrade at DT over Miller, but by how much?
If I recall correctly, Fairley was at one point benched in Detroit because of weight & effort issues.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/column.../15864351/
D6, hopefully you can shed some light/perspective on this one way or another.
Were Lions fans happy with his play? In your opinion, did he ever show signs of being dominant, even if not consistent?
Bullseye, my take is Nick Fairley and Roy Miller are different type of DT's. Fairley is the most athletic DT, who gets plenty of penetration. Miller is more of the type who seems to focus on tying up Offensive Lineman and/ or holding the point of attack. There's definitely a place for both players on a typical roster.
Nick Fairley was indeed demoted to the 2nd team during training camp and the pre-season. Fairley let his weight get out of control again. For the 2nd straight year, he gained plenty of weight in training camp which is very difficult to do. To Fairley's credit, he hired a personal chef. Since then, Fairley has done a great job with his diet. Even during the months he was sidelined with the knee injury he suffered in late October in London. Ironically, from a Jaguars standpoint, it was the Lions pre-season game vs. the Jaguars that Fairley turned things around in games this year. In the first two pre-season games, Fairley's weight and desire were problematic.
There were times in the last 4 seasons in which Nick Fairley was even more dominant than Ndamukong Suh. Even Suh has expressed that he thinks Fairley is the better athlete. A case can be made for either in that regard. But being in the same sentence with Suh in terms of athletic skills is impressive to say the least. If you get a chance, got to a website that has the video of Fairley's penetration on a 2 point conversion attempt at Chicago in 2013 that led to Matt Forte' being tackled in the backfield. That failed attempt prevented the game from going to OT. That play is a prime example of what Fairley is capable of when relatively healthy and focused.
Most Lions fans, including me, were very happy with Nick Fairley's play in the first 8 games of the 2014 regular season collectively. Fairley was much more consistent. While he only had 1 sack, he was at the time of his injury in the top 3 DT's in QB hurries. Suh was also in the top 3.
There are significant risks with Fairley. The fact that Lions GM Martin Mayhew decided not to use the 5th year option on Fairley, despite his wealth of talent, speaks volumes. Then the very disappointing first half of the pre-season, despite this being a contract year. Not to mention the numerous injuries, including the knee injury that knocked Fairley out of the game in London, the last 8 regular season games, and the road playoff game against the Cowboys.
My take on Fairley is he seems to have learned from many, if not most of his mistakes. Fairley seems like a good person, who wasn't motivated enough. I'm far from certain but I think Fairley's play will be more along the lines of the first 8 games of the 2014 regular season than the highly inconsistent version the previous 3 seasons. The BIG IFs is if he can stay healthy and he doesn't get a lucrative long term contract. The better approach would be to sign Fairley for 1 or 2 seasons ( with a possible option ), which would increase the chances that he won't fall back into his inconsistent ways.
