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Now that spring practice is over, we're examining the most indispensable players on each Big Ten team for the 2013 season. By indispensable, we don't necessarily mean best. We mean the players who would be hardest to replace between now and the st...

So on the first Friday of May, we learned that not one but two former Iowa left tackles will be making their full-time NFL debuts at the position here in the NFC North. (The similarities don't end there. Both were the No. 23 overall pick of their ...

NFC North teams added dozens of intriguing young players over the weekend. They filled glaring holes and added to already-established strengths. Some areas remain weak, of course, while other selections created new storylines we hadn't anticipated. ...

If it wasn't apparent already, the Detroit Lions made it clear Friday evening: Riley Reiff will be their left tackle in 2013. The Lions could have drafted a left tackle in either the second or third rounds of this draft, but instead they selected ...

And so, in the end, the Detroit Lions never got a chance to tell us how they feel about their left tackle situation. When their No. 5 overall pick arrived Thursday night, all three of the 2013 draft's elite left tackles were already off the board in ...

Our 2013 #bloggermock took an early twist and left me only partially satisfied as the protector of NFC North interests. Of note: Not a single quarterback was drafted in the first round, something that hasn't happened in the real draft since 1996. We ...

The NFL draft begins a week from today, with the first round taking center stage next Thursday night. But will the Big Ten have any players celebrating before Friday's second round? Prospects for that are starting to look slim, at least according ...

We're Black and Blue All Over: Wednesday was a busy day for the Green Bay Packers, and not just because they made linebacker Clay Matthews one of the most highly-paid defensive players in the NFL. They also took the rare step of hosting a restrict...

I thought Scouts Inc.'s Steve Muench brought up an interesting suggestion during our video discussion Wednesday, one that went against conventional wisdom and will depend largely on the Detroit Lions' internal evaluation of what many consider the thi...

Thursday, we reviewed Mel Kiper Jr.'s fourth mock draft. Meanwhile, fellow ESPN analyst Todd McShay posted an update to his fourth mock. Two of the NFC North's five first-round picks changed in McShay 4.1, which I will pass along below. At No. 5 ...

Everyone and their brother is excited about the Detroit Lions' potential for a balanced and explosive offense after the acquisition of running back Reggie Bush. It all makes perfect sense. What could go wrong? One overlooked aspect, at least from ...

We're Black and Blue All Over: Good morning. Wednesday was quite the day here on the NFC North blog. During the trek back from the NFL owners meeting, I did my best to keep up with the Chicago Bears' decision to part ways with linebacker Brian Url...

We're Black and Blue All Over: PHOENIX -- The Detroit Lions drafted a left tackle in the first round of the 2012 draft. In 2013, their longtime left tackle retired. But it's apparently not as simple as connecting the dots between the retirement of...

We've known the possibility has existed for most of this offseason, but in the midst of the NFL's free-agent frenzy, the news still came as a surprise. Jeff Backus announced his retirement, meaning the Lions will enter the 2013 season with a differen...

Jeff Backus played 12 years for the Detroit Lions, missing only one game while enduring some of the franchise's most difficult days.

If the Detroit Lions have decided to move on from right tackle Gosder Cherilus, a believable scenario considering their recent moves and his injury history, then they have secured another competitor to replace him. Corey Hilliard, a swing backup at b...