Ikaika in Review

Detroit Lions rookie camp ended today, and with it came more Ikaika Alama-Francis news. Here's a radio interview he had on WKRK, talking about his experience. You'll need RealPlayer or an equivalent to hear it.

The coaches also had good things to say. From Detroitlions.com, here's a transcript of what head coach Rod Marinelli said.

>> On why it's so important to spend one-on-one time with Ikaika Alama-Francis
"There's certain things that I can see that he can do and there's certain things that are really difficult for a young lineman because a lot of times they haven't used their hands in coordinating with their feet. So I'll spend some detailed times and here I got him for three days or whatever it is and I can really just sit down and deal (with him) one-on-one because the next camp there are more guys and it's harder and the tempo (is faster). So you take advantage of this setting.

And here's part of what defensive coordinator Joe Barry said.

>> On where Alama-Francis fits into with them
"He's got the ability to play on both sides. In college, he played both right and left. Another thing that's exciting about Ikaika is that on third-down, when we go into our nickel-rush group, he's big enough to go in and be a three-technique and be a defensive tackle. I really see with Ikaika, he's the type of kid that you could put at nose guard over the center; you can put him at three-technique over the guard; you can put him at five-technique outside the tackle; you can move him out to a nine-technique outside an end. He's got that ability to really play all of those spots.

>> On whether Alama-Francis is versatile because of his speed
"Because of his speed; because of his size. Usually (defensive) ends are ends and (defensive) tackles are tackles. This guy has kind of got that Cory Redding ability. I don't want to put him in Cory Redding's category quite yet, but he's got that type of athleticism and body type. He can be an end or he can be a tackle."

Sounds like he's getting off to a great start.