<
>

Lions: One big question

Did the Detroit Lions do enough to address their secondary?

When the offseason began, it was reasonable to lock in two starters among the Lions' defensive backfield: safety Louis Delmas and cornerback Chris Houston. That left the other two starters open and possibly subject to upgrade after a well-documented collapse of their pass defense.

Four months later, nothing has really changed about that arrangement. Cornerback Eric Wright signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and if there is a safety on the roster who will challenge 2010-11 starter Amari Spievey, he isn't easily identifiable.

It appears the Lions are set to open training camp with oft-injured nickelback Aaron Berry, free agent Jacob Lacey and perhaps Alphonso Smith competing for Wright's former position. Although they drafted three cornerbacks last week, the best-case scenario is probably for third-rounder Dwight Bentley to win the nickel spot.

You can't fill every hole in an offseason, and the Lions' secondary will continue to be protected by one of the best defensive fronts in the game. But there are some important questions remaining to be answered.