Yeah, but will he be able to *stay* healthy? I would hate to see Fox get plugged into the line and end up like Delmas - great when he's in there... only it seems like he's never in there. Also noticed the Lions signed a whole lotta OL as UDFA's.

Exactly. Fox can't stay healthy. Even when he barely sees the field.

And neither could Matthew Stafford through his first couple seasons. I don't see anyone questioning Stafford's durability after a couple years playing every game.

I'm not saying Fox is going to be great, or even good. But writing him off after a couple years is wrong. He's had injuries, but is reportedly healthy now. Let's see how it pans out. Lots of guys have injury issues early in their careers and bounce back. Vandenbosh was another guy like that. Ditto Phil Simms. etc.

Agreed. Let's not forget that some peeps wrote off KVB after his first couple of years, he turned OK.

That being the case, I still don't think it's prudent to rely on someone that's never been able to stay healthy for his entire career.

I agree. I think this is different because they invested a lot of money into Stafford and a high pick, so they had to rely on him coming back, but Fox cost them almost nothing and should only be a pleasant surprise not what your hoping will work out.

Point taken. My only remaining sticking point is that Stafford's injuries were mostly related to his left shoulder. Fox's problems were/are with his knees. 300-pound dudes with bad knees generally have problems that become degenerative.

Don't get me wrong, I would like Fox and Hilliard turn out to be late-round gems that play for the Lions for years. But I'm not counting on Fox to make it through the season.

I agree. Given a choice, I'd rather not have to rely on Fox. But they do. And I was just making the point that it's not a certainty that he can't stay healthy. He's young and could rebound fine. Or he may be injury prone and never amounts to anything. We just don't know yet.

Fair points. We'll see how it plays out. None of us knew at this point.

Mayhew said on Sunday that they weren't done adding to the offensive line, I think that shows they aren't comfortable with what they got yet. There is too many question marks on the line right now and adding a vet in the OT rotation or a starter seems like what they are looking at.

I think a vet starter at RT assuming Reiff is the LT would be a big boost to the line, but I'm afraid that the front office feels set there with Fox and Hilliard, and we don't have the cap space to add a big name. We need more than 3 tackles though so hopefully we'll add someone.

They won't add a big name, but Stafford hasn't restructured yet and if they really wanted to add a guy like Eric Winston they could get it done. There are still some decent OTs left out there like Tyson Clabo, Winston Justice, and Max Starks who all shouldn't cost to much this late in free agency.

Stafford had problems with both shoulders, the worse injury was to his right throwing shoulder which ended up being treated surgically

Winston is the only guy of that group I like and I consider him to be a big name player.

Agreed. He was released because of a hamstring injury, I believe, but I think wouldn't have been if KC wasn't guaranteed a big-name tackle in the draft and started a mini-rebuild with Reid. Getting him would mean two spots on the offensive line are solidified (along with Sims) and the other three are decent (Reiff, Raiola/Nagy, Fox/Hilliard)