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Lions need a WR: Options That Will Help Detroit AND Your Fantasy Team

Mr. Nate Burleson just couldn't help himself and threw himself in the line of fire to save one of his large deep dish pepperoni pizzas from a catastrophic death. What a Saint, he is. I'm sure the pepperoni pizza's little brother that was just beneath him was thankful to good ol' Nate for putting his life on the line to save his brother. Unfortunately, this heroic action has put Nate Burleson's arm in a sling and he will be sidelined for the foreseeable future where he will be able to eat all the pizza he desires. The little brother of the saved pizza has made sure that Nate will be receiving a life time supply for the courage he displayed saving his brother.

What does this mean for the Lions?

Well it means Ryan Broyles will get a heck of a lot more playing time and the ex-Oklahoma star will have his chance to show what he is made of coming off an ACL injury he suffered last season. The Lions coaching staff have immense confidence in Broyles, but then again, of course they're going to publicly say that. What else are they going to say when asked if Broyles is capable of stepping up in Nate's absence? "No, we don't think he is capable, he's pretty shit to be honest." Can Broyles step up and replace Nate's production? Sure he can, but he's not one I would rely on if I was in the Lions management. He's not a guy that will take your team to the next level. He's not a guy that will strike fear into opposing DB's. He's not a game changer. The good news is, neither is Nate Burleson. Broyles really doesn't have big shoes to fill. He just needs to show up, catch 5-6 balls a game, rack up 50-60 yards, anything more than that and he would be exceeding expectations.

So far this season, Burleson has 19 receptions for 239 yards. His best game came just last week against Washington where he went for 6 receptions and 116 yards. Can Ryan Broyles replace Nate's production? Yes, I believe he can. However, the Lions were in need of a wide receiver before Nate got injured. In order for this team to really blossom and get to the next level, they need that dangerous #2 WR that can really take the pressure off of Megatron. This injury has simply intensified that need and could set some moves into motion.

Hakeem Nicks

My preferred option for the Lions and for my fantasy teams. I own Nicks in all 3 of my leagues and having Stafford throwing to him would make my day. Unfortunately, the rumor that started swirling around last night about the Lions inquiring about Nicks were false. That doesn't mean it still can't happen, it just means whoever started the rumor was an idiot that had no inside knowledge and was just making stuff up. Nicks is in a contract year, Giants seem to be in need for an RB, Lions have an RB on their roster that they are not using in Mikel LeShoure. Match made in heaven? Hmmmm. I hope so!

A lot of fans have the misconception that Nicks misses a lot of time due to injury. That's not true. Yes, Nicks tends to get nicked up every now and then but it rarely causes him to miss significant game time. Nicks entered the league in 2009. He played in 14 games that season, 13 games the next season, 15 games the next season, and 13 games just last season. He has missed a total of NINE games in his career thus far. That's not bad at all.

It doesn't hurt that my favorite musician is Stevie Nicks, either.

Josh Gordon

The supplemental draft prodigy that took the league by storm. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating. This dude is a freak, though, for real. Coming off his two game suspension to start the seaon, Josh Gordon took the Minnesota Vikings DBs to school, and he was the only one that passed the exam. In his first game of the season, Gordon went for 10 receptions, 146 yards and 1 TD. He did all of that with BRIAN FREAKING HOYER throwing him the ball. The slightly less scary looking version of Sebastian Janikowski - Brian Hoyer!

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Gordon had a fantastic rookie campaign for the Browns finishing the season with 50 receptions, 805 yards and 5 TDs. He did that with Brandon freaking Weeden throwing him the ball! Let's imagine what his numbers would have looked like had Matthew Stafford been throwing him the ball.

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Cecil Shorts

The Jaguars suck. Cecil Shorts does not suck. #FreeCecil - start the movement everyone! Cecil Shorts put together a fine season last year. He ended the season with 55 receptions for 979 yards and 7 TD's. The QB's throwing to him were named Chad and Blaine respectively. I mean, come on. That kind of says it all, doesn't it? Poor, kid. I never thought I'd see the day where I would actually say...."Come to Detroit, we will save you."

There was another Cecil in Detroit that was quite successful. Maybe we can make a success out of this Cecil too!

These are the three guys I would target. If either of these guys get traded to the Lions, I think it will help boost their fantasy value immensely and it would also help the real life Detroit Lions get a heck of a lot better.

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