QUARTERBACK: Starter -- Daunte Culpepper. Backups -- Dan Orlovsky, Drew Stanton, Drew Henson, Jon Kitna.

Culpepper came out of semi-retirement, hopped right into the lineup mid-season and struggled. Then he suffered a shoulder injury. Orlovsky came closest to winning a game, but while he was safe, he was unspectacular. His big blooper - running out of the back of the end zone for a safety at Minnesota - will forever sum up the 0-16 season. Stanton has been set back by injuries in his first two seasons and still has a long way to go in his development. Henson remains a reclamation project. Kitna was unhappy after Mike Martz's firing and never bought into Jim Colletto's offensive approach. When he struggled early, the Lions used a back injury as an excuse to shelve him.

RUNNING BACKS: Starter - Kevin Smith. Backups - RB Rudi Johnson, RB Aveion Cason, RB Brian Calhoun, FB Moran Norris, FB Jerome Felton, FB Jon Bradley.

Smith came on the second half of the season. The more he got the ball, the better he ran. He finished just short of a 1,000-yard season and appears to be a solid building block for the future. The Lions need another runner, though, at a time when two backs is the standard. Johnson never looked anywhere close to his old Pro Bowl form. Cason, after being cut, came back and helped boost an awful return game, but wasn't a real factor. Calhoun spent the season on IR. Felton is a smart player who impressed early, but he lost his job to Norris, who made an impact with his lead blocking. Bradley is a converted defensive lineman whose future is uncertain.

TIGHT END: Starter -- Michael Gaines. Backups -- Casey Fitzsimmons, John Owens, Dan Campbell.

Campbell would have been the starter, if healthy. He is a strong blocker who can make catches downfield. But he continued to battle injuries and was out for the season after only one catch. Gaines struggled and committed two huge turnovers that helped cost the Lions games - one at Chicago, one at Carolina. Fitzsimmons is a good special teams player and can catch the ball, but he isn't a good blocker. Owens is a solid role player.

WIDE RECEIVER: Starters -- Calvin Johnson, Shaun McDonald. Backups -- Mike Furrey, Keary Colbert, Adam Jennings, John Standeford, Travis Taylor, Reggie Ball.

Johnson stood out amid the misery. He had 1,331 receiving yards - 999 more than the Lions' next receiver, McDonald. He ranked fifth in the NFL in receiving yards and tied for first in touchdowns with 12, even though he didn't get the ball enough much of the season. He tied for only 20th in the NFL in catches with 78. He is the cornerstone for the future. McDonald and Mike Furrey had lesser roles without Mike Martz as offensive coordinator, and both finished the year on IR. The rest were fill-ins.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Starters -- LT Jeff Backus, LG Edwin Mulitalo, C Dominic Raiola, RG Stephen Peterman, RT Gosder Cherilus. Backups - C Andy McCollum, G Manny Ramirez, T George Foster, G Damion Cook.

The Lions started eight different combinations, thanks to injuries and ineptitude, which hurt the continuity and consistency. Backus played well against some top pass rushers but also took some killer penalties. Mulitalo lost his job to Cook at times. Raiola brought passion and seemed to play OK, but the Lions actually started to run better when he was out with a broken hand and McCollum was playing. Peterman wasn't exactly dominant. Cherilus struggled to beat out Foster early in the season. While he showed potential, he made too many mistakes.

DEFENSIVE LINE: Starters - LDE Jared DeVries, DT Cory Redding, DT Chuck Darby, RDE Dewayne White. Backups - DE Cliff Avril, DE Ikaika Alama-Francis, DT Shaun Cody, DT Andre Fluellen, DT Landon Cohen, DT Langston Moore, DE Corey Smith.

White is a solid end, but he is better suited to be a left end than a right end. Avril showed some promise, with five sacks. Redding didn't produce enough again. Darby didn't have much left. Young players like Cody, Alama-Francis, Fluellen and Cohen didn't develop enough to make an impact. DeVries gets everything out of his ability, but he shouldn't be a starting left end. He's should be a solid role player, like Smith.

LINEBACKERS: Starters -- WLB Ernie Sims, MLB Paris Lenon, SLB Ryan Nece. Backups -- Jordon Dizon, Anthony Cannon, Darnell Bing, Alex Lewis.

Even Sims, who was supposed to be in the mold of Derrick Brooks on the weak side, didn't play well. The Lions desperately need talent here. Their linebackers just don't make enough plays - one interception, four sacks all season. The Lions wanted to upgrade the middle in the offseason. They drafted Dizon in the second round but hardly played him. They stuck with Lenon, who knew what he was doing mentally but often didn't get it done physically. Nece, a former Buccaneer who was supposed to know the Tampa Two, arrived just before the season and took over for Lewis on the strong side. Still, the unit did not improve. At times, the tackling was simply atrocious.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters -- LCB Leigh Bodden, RCB Travis Fisher, FS Daniel Bullocks, SS Dwight Smith. Backups - CB Ramzee Robinson, CB Dexter Wynn, CB Chris Roberson, CB Keith Smith, CB Stanley Wilson, S Gerald Alexander, S Kalvin Pearson, S Stuart Schweigert, S LaMarcus Hicks.

The Lions intercepted only four passes this season, an NFL record low for a 16-game season, and only one interception was by a defensive back. Bodden was unhappy because he wasn't handed a starting job and fell well short of expectations. Kelly and Dwight Smith had nothing left. Fisher, Keith Smith and company didn't make plays, either. Pearson looked like a good role player, but he was overmatched when asked to play a lot. Bullocks showed flashes, like when he laid a lick on Adrian Peterson, but no one distinguished himself in this group.

SPECIAL TEAMS: K Jason Hanson, P Nick Harris, LS Don Muhlbach, KR
Aveion Cason.

Hanson, Harris and Muhlbach were excellent, especially Hanson. The 17-year veteran failed to convert only one field-goal attempt all year. He became the first in NFL history to go 8-for-8 from 50 yards or more and set an NFL record with his 41st from that distance. He also served as a vocal leader, trying to prod the team to avoid 0-16. Harris had 24 punts downed inside the 20 with only six touchbacks. But the Lions got virtually nothing out of their return game, even after they brought back Cason to address the problem. Their longest kickoff return of the season was 46 yards. Their longest punt return was only 27 yards.