Emanuel “Manny” Ramirez, a big strong guard out of Texas Tech drafted by the Lions on the fourth round, is an intriguing prospect. He has tremendous strength, good agility, and was known in college for being an intelligent player with good field vision. He played in a passing offense which means he could be a quick starter in the Lions offense.

George Foster, acquired by the Lions in a trade with the Denver Broncos, was a first-round pick by the Broncos in 2003. He played in all 48 games the last three seasons, with 45 starts at right tackle. Foster was the No. 1 right tackle in last week’s mandatory mini-camp. He too is a big boy who has said he is willing to play any position on the line if it means he can continue to start.

The Lions signed Stephon Peterman from the Dallas Cowboys to their practice squad last October and promoted him to the active roster last December when they ran into injury trouble. He played three games, starting two, and impressed the brass. After practice Thursday, Marinelli raved about Peterman’s attitude: “Peterman just loves our system. He’s out here all day.” A little later, as Peterman did an interview, Marinelli poked his head through the door and said: “He’s tough.”

Peterman doesn’t just fit Marinelli’s philosophy, though. He fits offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s system, too.

“He is the prototypical guard for what we do,” Martz said. “We’re going to see all those big inside tackles defensively, and at 320 pounds, he can handle that in the running game. The five-step drops that we do with the quarterback, he’s pretty stout.”

Peterman feels like he’s finally becoming the player he was supposed to be. He was All-America when Louisiana State won the national title in 2003. He was a third-round draft pick. A knee injury and surgery sidelined him at Dallas. He is healthy now and wants to play. The Lions love his toughness, size and the fact that he has come back strong from his injury and wants to prove himself.

Hopefully with the improvement on the line and the addition of vets Bell and Ducket to their running game their overall offense will be better. For all the yards Kitna threw for last year the Lions pathetic offense was primarily due to the fact that they couldn’t run the ball when they needed to, they had no balance on offense. If you can’t run the ball you don’t win in the NFL. The four worst rushing teams — Oakland, Arizona, Cleveland and Detroit — combined to win 14 games. That’s the same number of wins as the San Diego Chargers, who ranked second in rushing. Running the ball is a mindset. It also helps to have healthy linemen and tailbacks, and injuries stripped the Lions of quality players at both spots last year. But there has to be a commitment to the running game, no matter what. The best way to short-circuit a running attack is for a team to stop running the ball. Lions added lineman, running backs and speed at the wide reciever position by drafting Calvin Johnson. Next year should be exciting for Lions fans. Now if we could just stop anyone on defense we might be a legit team. Look for the Lions to focus on defense in next years draft.