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1978 Detroit Lions
Franchise Index: Previous Season / Next Season
Record: 7-9-0, Finished 3rd in NFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary
Scored 290 points (18.1/g), 13th of 28 in the NFL.
Allowed 300 points (18.8/g), 19th.
Differential of -10 points (-0.6/g), 11th.
Expected W-L: 7.7-8.3.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +8 (0.5/g), 6th.
Simple Rating System: Total -1.8, Offense: -0.1, Defense: -1.7, SoS: -1.2, versus averages of 0.0.
Coached by
Monte Clark (7-9-0)
Training Camp: Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan)
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Starters
ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),Hide Non-primary Starters
| Pos | Age | Yrs | GS | Summary of Player Stats | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Starters | ||||||
| QB | Gary Danielson | 27 | 2 | 11 | 199 for 351, 2,294 yards, 18 td, 17 int, & 22 rushes for 93 yards and 0 td | |
| QB | Greg Landry | 32 | 10 | 5 | 48 for 77, 452 yards, 1 td, 1 int, & 5 rushes for 29 yards and 0 td | Detroit Lions / 1st / 11th pick / 1968 |
| RB | Dexter Bussey | 26 | 4 | 16 | 225 rushes for 924 yards, 5 td, & 31 catches for 275 yards and 1 td | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 65th pick / 1974 |
| FB | Horace King | 25 | 3 | 15 | 155 rushes for 660 yards, 4 td, & 48 catches for 396 yards and 2 td | Detroit Lions / 6th / 141st pick / 1975 |
| WR | Luther Blue | 24 | 1 | 15 | 31 catches for 350 yards, 2 td, & 5 rushes for 9 yards and 0 td | Detroit Lions / 4th / 96th pick / 1977 |
| WR | Freddie Scott | 26 | 4 | 13 | 37 catches for 564 yards, 2 td, & 4 rushes for 53 yards and 0 td | Baltimore Colts / 7th / 174th pick / 1974 |
| TE | David Hill* | 24 | 2 | 16 | 53 catches for 633 yards, 4 td, & 3 rushes for 12 yards and 0 td | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 46th pick / 1976 |
| LT | Karl Baldischwiler | 22 | Rook | 15 | Miami Dolphins / 7th / 178th pick / 1978 | |
| LG | Homer Elias | 23 | Rook | 16 | 2 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 4th / 107th pick / 1978 |
| C | Larry Tearry | 22 | Rook | 12 | Detroit Lions / 4th / 109th pick / 1978 | |
| RG | Lynn Boden | 25 | 3 | 16 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 13th pick / 1975 | |
| RT | Brad Oates | 25 | 2 | 15 | 1 fumble recovered | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 83rd pick / 1976 |
| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Dave Pureifory | 29 | 6 | 8 | Green Bay Packers / 6th / 142nd pick / 1972 | |
| LDE | Ken Sanders | 28 | 6 | 7 | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 65th pick / 1972 | |
| LDT | John Woodcock | 24 | 2 | 14 | 0 interceptions, 4 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 76th pick / 1976 |
| RDT | Doug English* | 25 | 3 | 13 | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 38th pick / 1975 | |
| RDE | Al Baker*+ | 22 | Rook | 16 | 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 40th pick / 1978 |
| LLB | Paul Naumoff | 33 | 11 | 13 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 60th pick / 1967 |
| MLB | Ed O'Neil | 26 | 4 | 16 | 4 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | Detroit Lions / 1st / 8th pick / 1974 |
| RLB | Charlie Weaver | 29 | 7 | 16 | 3 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 48th pick / 1971 |
| LCB | Walt Williams | 24 | 1 | 11 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 42nd pick / 1977 |
| LCB | James Hunter | 24 | 2 | 5 | 2 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 1st / 10th pick / 1976 |
| RCB | Luther Bradley | 23 | Rook | 16 | 3 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 1st / 11th pick / 1978 |
| SS | Mike Burns | 24 | 1 | 11 | 1 interception, 1 fumble recovered | San Francisco 49ers / 6th / 141st pick / 1977 |
| SS | Bruce Rhodes | 26 | 2 | 5 | 1 interception, 1 fumble recovered | |
| FS | Jimmy Allen | 26 | 4 | 14 | 5 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Pittsburgh Steelers / 4th / 100th pick / 1974 |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | Benny Ricardo | 24 | 2 | 0 | 20 of 28 field goals & 32 of 33 extra points | |
| P | Tom Skladany | 23 | Rook | 0 | 86 punts for a 42.5 average, 1 blocked | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 46th pick / 1977 |
| PR | Jesse Thompson | 22 | Rook | 1 | 16 punt returns for a 10.1 average and 0 td | Detroit Lions / 6th / 165th pick / 1978 |
| KR | Jesse Thompson | 22 | Rook | 1 | 14 kick returns for a 24.7 average and 0 td | Detroit Lions / 6th / 165th pick / 1978 |
| No. | Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Jimmy Allen | 26 | DB | 14 | 14 | 194 | 6-2 | Pierce College (CA),UCLA | 3/6/1952 | 4 | Pittsburgh Steelers / 4th / 100th pick / 1974 |
| 60 | Gary A. Anderson | 23 | G | 1 | 1 | 253 | 6-3 | Stanford | 9/22/1955 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 10th / 263rd pick / 1977 |
| 60 | Al Baker*+ | 22 | DE | 16 | 16 | 265 | 6-6 | Colorado St. | 12/9/1956 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 40th pick / 1978 |
| 76 | Karl Baldischwiler | 22 | T | 16 | 15 | 265 | 6-5 | Oklahoma | 1/19/1956 | Rook | Miami Dolphins / 7th / 178th pick / 1978 |
| 89 | Luther Blue | 24 | WR | 16 | 15 | 185 | 5-11 | Iowa St. | 10/21/1954 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 4th / 96th pick / 1977 |
| 62 | Lynn Boden | 25 | G-T | 16 | 16 | 270 | 6-3 | South Dakota St. | 6/5/1953 | 3 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 13th pick / 1975 |
| 43 | Andy Bolton | 24 | RB | 6 | 0 | 205 | 6-1 | Fisk | 5/23/1954 | 2 | Seattle Seahawks / 4th / 123rd pick / 1976 |
| 27 | Luther Bradley | 23 | DB | 16 | 16 | 195 | 6-2 | Notre Dame | 5/7/1955 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 1st / 11th pick / 1978 |
| 53 | Willie Brock | 23 | C | 4 | 0 | 250 | 6-3 | Colorado | 9/20/1955 | Rook | Kansas City Chiefs / 12th / 310th pick / 1978 |
| 29 | Mike Burns | 24 | DB | 15 | 11 | 181 | 6-0 | USC | 4/6/1954 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 6th / 141st pick / 1977 |
| 24 | Dexter Bussey | 26 | RB | 16 | 16 | 195 | 6-1 | Oklahoma,Texas-Arlington | 3/11/1952 | 4 | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 65th pick / 1974 |
| 31 | Ken Callicutt | 23 | RB | 13 | 0 | 190 | 6-0 | Clemson | 8/20/1955 | Rook | |
| 66 | Karl Chandler | 26 | C-G | 11 | 0 | 250 | 6-5 | Princeton | 2/15/1952 | 4 | |
| 72 | Bill Cooke | 27 | DT-DE-T | 12 | 0 | 249 | 6-5 | Connecticut,Massachusetts | 2/26/1951 | 3 | Green Bay Packers / 10th / 244th pick / 1975 |
| 16 | Gary Danielson | 27 | QB | 16 | 11 | 195 | 6-2 | Purdue | 9/10/1951 | 2 | |
| 58 | Tony Daykin | 23 | LB | 16 | 0 | 215 | 6-1 | Georgia Tech | 5/13/1955 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 11th / 293rd pick / 1977 |
| 57 | Dan Dickel | 26 | LB | 4 | 0 | 225 | 6-3 | Iowa | 8/24/1952 | 4 | Baltimore Colts / 7th / 170th pick / 1974 |
| 61 | Homer Elias | 23 | G-T | 16 | 16 | 255 | 6-3 | Tennessee St. | 5/1/1955 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 4th / 107th pick / 1978 |
| 78 | Doug English* | 25 | DT-NT | 14 | 13 | 255 | 6-5 | Texas | 8/25/1953 | 3 | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 38th pick / 1975 |
| 70 | Bill Fifer | 23 | T | 8 | 0 | 250 | 6-4 | West Texas A&M | 10/26/1955 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 4th / 94th pick / 1978 |
| 65 | Amos Fowler | 22 | C-G | 16 | 0 | 250 | 6-3 | Southern Miss | 2/11/1956 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 5th / 121st pick / 1978 |
| 38 | Lawrence Gaines | 25 | RB | 13 | 1 | 237 | 6-1 | Wyoming | 12/15/1953 | 2 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 16th pick / 1976 |
| 71 | Dave Gallagher | 26 | DE-DT | 1 | 0 | 256 | 6-4 | Michigan | 1/2/1952 | 4 | Chicago Bears / 1st / 20th pick / 1974 |
| 83 | William Gay | 23 | DE-DT-TE | 16 | 0 | 250 | 6-5 | USC | 5/28/1955 | Rook | Denver Broncos / 2nd / 55th pick / 1978 |
| 64 | Dan Gray | 22 | DT | 14 | 0 | 240 | 6-6 | Rutgers | 1/29/1956 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 5th / 123rd pick / 1978 |
| 67 | Donnie Green | 30 | T | 7 | 0 | 272 | 6-7 | Purdue | 7/12/1948 | 7 | Buffalo Bills / 5th / 107th pick / 1971 |
| 63 | Donnie Hickman | 23 | G | 7 | 0 | 261 | 6-2 | USC | 6/11/1955 | Rook | Los Angeles Rams / 5th / 130th pick / 1977 |
| 81 | David Hill* | 24 | TE | 16 | 16 | 229 | 6-2 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 1/1/1954 | 2 | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 46th pick / 1976 |
| 28 | James Hunter | 24 | DB | 9 | 5 | 195 | 6-3 | Grambling St. | 3/8/1954 | 2 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 10th pick / 1976 |
| 45 | Ray Jarvis | 29 | WR | 2 | 2 | 200 | 6-0 | Norfolk St. | 2/2/1949 | 7 | Atlanta Falcons / 5th / 111th pick / 1971 |
| 32 | Rick Kane | 24 | RB | 15 | 0 | 200 | 5-11 | Oregon,San Jose St. | 11/12/1954 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 69th pick / 1977 |
| 25 | Horace King | 25 | RB | 15 | 15 | 208 | 5-10 | Georgia | 3/5/1953 | 3 | Detroit Lions / 6th / 141st pick / 1975 |
| 11 | Greg Landry | 32 | QB | 5 | 5 | 210 | 6-4 | Massachusetts | 12/18/1946 | 10 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 11th pick / 1968 |
| 26 | Tony Leonard | 25 | DB | 3 | 0 | 170 | 5-11 | Virginia Union | 2/28/1953 | 2 | San Francisco 49ers / 5th / 140th pick / 1976 |
| 86 | Willie McGee | 28 | WR | 4 | 0 | 179 | 5-11 | Alcorn St. | 5/14/1950 | 5 | San Diego Chargers / 5th / 123rd pick / 1973 |
| 63 | Mike Montler | 34 | C-G-T | 4 | 4 | 254 | 6-5 | Colorado | 1/10/1944 | 9 | Boston Patriots / 2nd / 32nd pick / 1969 |
| 50 | Paul Naumoff | 33 | LB | 15 | 13 | 215 | 6-1 | Tennessee | 7/3/1945 | 11 | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 60th pick / 1967 |
| 55 | Ed O'Neil | 26 | LB | 16 | 16 | 236 | 6-3 | Penn St. | 9/8/1952 | 4 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 8th pick / 1974 |
| 74 | Brad Oates | 25 | T-G | 16 | 15 | 274 | 6-6 | Duke,BYU | 9/30/1953 | 2 | St. Louis Cardinals / 3rd / 83rd pick / 1976 |
| 42 | Reggie Pinkney | 23 | DB | 13 | 0 | 190 | 5-11 | East Carolina | 5/27/1955 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 6th / 166th pick / 1977 |
| 72 | Ernie Price | 28 | DE | 3 | 1 | 248 | 6-4 | Texas A&M-Kingsville | 9/20/1950 | 5 | Detroit Lions / 1st / 17th pick / 1973 |
| 75 | Dave Pureifory | 29 | DE-DT | 8 | 8 | 260 | 6-1 | East. Michigan | 7/12/1949 | 6 | Green Bay Packers / 6th / 142nd pick / 1972 |
| 14 | Joe Reed | 30 | QB | 1 | 0 | 195 | 6-1 | Baylor,Mississippi St. | 1/8/1948 | 6 | San Francisco 49ers / 11th / 283rd pick / 1971 |
| 33 | Bruce Rhodes | 26 | DB | 15 | 5 | 187 | 6-0 | San Francisco St. | 4/17/1952 | 2 | |
| 1 | Benny Ricardo | 24 | K | 16 | 0 | 175 | 5-10 | San Diego St. | 1/4/1954 | 2 | |
| 82 | Ken Sanders | 28 | DE | 7 | 7 | 240 | 6-5 | Howard Payne | 8/22/1950 | 6 | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 65th pick / 1972 |
| 87 | Freddie Scott | 26 | WR | 16 | 13 | 180 | 6-2 | Amherst | 8/5/1952 | 4 | Baltimore Colts / 7th / 174th pick / 1974 |
| 15 | Tom Skladany | 23 | P | 16 | 0 | 192 | 6-0 | Ohio St. | 6/29/1955 | Rook | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 46th pick / 1977 |
| 53 | John Sokolosky | 22 | C | 11 | 0 | 240 | 6-2 | Wayne State (MI) | 4/2/1956 | Rook | |
| 31 | Tony Sumler | 22 | DB | 1 | 0 | 185 | 5-10 | Wichita St. | 4/10/1956 | Rook | |
| 54 | Larry Tearry | 22 | C | 14 | 12 | 260 | 6-3 | Wake Forest | 4/24/1956 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 4th / 109th pick / 1978 |
| 30 | Nat Terry | 22 | DB | 4 | 0 | 167 | 5-11 | Florida St. | 7/20/1956 | Rook | Pittsburgh Steelers / 11th / 279th pick / 1978 |
| 84 | Jesse Thompson | 22 | WR | 11 | 1 | 185 | 6-1 | California | 3/12/1956 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 6th / 165th pick / 1978 |
| 39 | Leonard Thompson | 26 | WR-HB | 16 | 1 | 192 | 5-11 | Oklahoma St. | 7/28/1952 | 3 | Detroit Lions / 8th / 194th pick / 1975 |
| 52 | Dave Washington | 30 | LB-TE | 16 | 3 | 223 | 6-5 | Alcorn St. | 9/12/1948 | 8 | Denver Broncos / 9th / 219th pick / 1970 |
| 59 | Charlie Weaver | 29 | LB | 16 | 16 | 220 | 6-2 | USC | 7/12/1949 | 7 | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 48th pick / 1971 |
| 21 | Walt Williams | 24 | DB | 15 | 11 | 185 | 6-1 | Ashland,New Mexico St. | 7/10/1954 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 2nd / 42nd pick / 1977 |
| 77 | John Woodcock | 24 | DT-DE | 16 | 14 | 246 | 6-3 | New Mexico,Hawaii | 3/19/1954 | 2 | Detroit Lions / 3rd / 76th pick / 1976 |
| Team Total | 25.3 | 16 | 221.5 | 6-2.1 | 2.7 |