Lions select Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles in second round

The Lions were looking for a fourth receiver to pair with Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson and Titus Young, and they think they’ve found their man in Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles.

Broyles is the NCAA career leader in receptions (349), but was lost for the season with a torn ACL vs. Texas A&M late last season.

Broyles had at least 1,000 yards receiving in each of the last three seasons at Oklahoma with 39 touchdowns.

Broyles (5-10, 188) will be able to help the Lions right away, as soon as he heals from his ACL injury.

Titus Young is DSBA Rookie of the Year

Lions receiver Titus Young received the 2011 Detroit Lions Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year Award.

Young had 48 receptions for 607 yards, six touchdowns and a 12.6 yards per catch average.

He came on strong the second half of the season and proved to be a very effective weapon in the passing game. Young will continue to be a bigger part of the offense moving forward and coaches are excited for his potential next season.

“He’s a dangerous match-up for other teams,” Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan told Detroitlions.com of Young. “To me, he might be the biggest match-up (advantage) we can continue to grow with the way people defend Calvin (Johnson).

“When he gets on the outside part of the field, he can get behind the defense, and if you have that opposite a player like Calvin, that’s really when you got something.”

The DSBA has been awarding a Lions rookie of the year since 2002. Previous winners include: Joey Harrington, Boss Bailey, Kevin Jones, Shaun Cody, Ernie Sims, Gerald Alexander, Kevin Smith, Louis Delmas and Ndamukong Suh.

Nate Burleson voted Mike Utley Spirit Award winner

Before every game, Lions receiver Nate Burleson and some of the other veteran leaders gather the entire team together in one of the end zones to deliver a final message before the game. Burleson is always animated when addressing his teammates and they seem to really respond to him.

Burleson is a natural leader, and a fitting choice for the Lions Mike Utley Spirit Award.

The award, which is voted on by the players, is presented to the Lions player who exhibited tremendous spirit, desire, dedication and work ethic.

“There are a lot of other accolades that you get from people out in the media land and stuff like that but there’s nothing like getting voted by your teammates,” said Lions receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. “They are there everyday, they see what you do, they see your performance on Sunday’s and they know what you bring to the table.”

This is the second-consecutive year Burleson has won the award.

“He’s been great,” Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said of Burleson. “He and Kyle (Vanden Bosch) both have been great leaders for us. They’re great in the locker room, solid vets, they know how to prepare, great leaders for the young guys. Young guys look up to those guys.”

What Burleson brings to the locker room and to the meeting room and to the huddle is invaluable, but it wouldn’t mean as much if he weren’t getting it done on the field, too.

“Nate had 73 catches this year, which is a career-high for him,” Mayhew said. “He was very productive for us. He’s a really good, solid, move the chains type of guy. He has great run after the catch, he’s been a great pick-up for us. He’s worked out very well and we’re glad we have him.”

Burleson also chipped in 757 yards and three touchdowns to go along with those 73 catches. He is a tremendous blitz-buster because of his ability to get the ball quick and make a play after the catch. There isn’t a move Burleson won’t try on a defender one-on-one in the open field.

He also ran the ball 11 times with a 7.7-yard average.

Rookie Titus Young credited Burleson and Calvin Johnson for some of the success he enjoyed this season because of their willingness to work with him and be veteran mentors.

Burleson is always the first guy the media goes to during open locker-room sessions because he has a gage on everything going on in the locker room and with the team.

The award is named in honor of former Lions guard Mike Utley, who suffered a career-ending neck injury that left him paralyzed on November 17, 1991. Minutes after sustaining the injury, Utley flashed his teammates a “thumbs up” sign as he was being carted off the field. The gesture galvanized a team that won its next seven games and advanced to the NFC Championship Game.

Titus Young wins Lions Mel Farr Rookie of the Year Award

Rookie receiver Titus Young was a bystander for most of Lions training camp this season with a hamstring injury. It wasn’t until the end of camp that Young got back on the practice field, but the late start was less than ideal heading into his first NFL season.

Consequently, Young was inconsistent through the first seven weeks of the season as he tried to find his bearings.

It wasn’t until Week 8 that Young recorded his first NFL touchdown and that seemed to be a springboard for the rest of the season. He scored six touchdowns over the team’s final nine games and showed the potential to be a reliable No. 2 receiver moving forward.

For his efforts, Young was voted the Lions Mel Farr Rookie of the Year by his teammates.

“The sky is the limit for this kid,” said Lions receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. “This kid is one of the most talented receivers I’ve seen a while.

“You look at him and see he’s a small guy but he has the heart of a lion. I love his attitude. He thinks he’s Calvin Johnson. That’s a good and a bad thing. I love the energy and juice he brings to our group.”

Young showed tons of promise with 48 catches for 607 yards and six touchdowns this season. He averaged 12.6 yards per catch, finishing seventh among rookies in catches and yards and fourth in touchdowns.

“He wants so bad for people to mention him when they’re mentioning Calvin and Nate (Burleson) that he goes out there and busts his butt,” Jefferson said.

Young had some rookie moments (a personal foul against the Saints in the regular season and slowing up on a touchdown a week later against the Vikings) but he learned from those errors and never repeated the same mistake twice.

Young has already established himself as the team’s best route-runner and might have the best pair of hands, too. The Lions appear to have found the third receiver they’ve been searching years for. The way Young played as a rookie, the Lions have feel like they now have two No. 2 receivers on the roster in Burleson and Young.

The rookie of the year award is given in honor of Mel Farr, who enjoyed one of the finest rookie campaigns in team history. In 1967, Farr led the Lions in both rushing (860 yards) and receiving (317) and tied for the club lead with six touchdowns. As a result, he was named the Lions’ Offensive MVP and was honored as the NFL Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News.

Delmas looks to start; Johnson and Young sit out practice

Lions safety Louis Delmas was on the field and practicing with the first-team defense in the portion of practice open to the media Tuesday.

Delmas has not played since Thanksgiving with a sprained right knee but looks to be on track for his first start in more than a month as the Lions take on quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints in their playoff opener Saturday in New Orleans.

“Obviously he’s a leader of our secondary, very productive player in our secondary, a guy who plays with a lot of speed and a lot of emotion,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said of Delmas during Monday’s press conference.

“He’s one of the corner stones of what we want to do defensively, he’s one of the players that we drafted in 2009, one of the guys we wanted to build around and we’ve obviously missed him and want to get him back on the field.”

The Lions were without both Delmas, starting corner Chris Houston (knee) and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (suspension) when they lost to the Saints, 31-17, earlier this season.

The Lions defense had it’s full compliment of players at practice Tuesday, including defensive tackle Corey Williams, who missed the Packers game with a hip injury.

The offense, however, was missing receivers Calvin Johnson and Titus Young, who did not practice.

Johnson sat out the first two practices of last week with a sore Achilles but still had 244 yards and a touchdown against the Packers on one day of practice (Friday).

Young had two touchdowns against the Packers and finished the game.

WR Titus Young nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week

WR Titus Young has been nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week for his performance in Detroit’s 34-28 win over Minnesota.

Young finished the game with four catches for 87 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown reception.

Also nominated: Doug Baldwin (Seattle), Julio Jones (Atlanta), Jake Locker (Tennessee) and T.J. Yates (Houston).

Fans can vote for Young at NFL.com/rookies!

Lions still without some key pieces

The Lions practiced Thursday without a number of key contributors on defense.

Safety Louis Delmas and corner Chris Houston remain sidelined with knee injuries. Both missed Sunday’s game in New Orleans after suffering their injuries on Thanksgiving.

Rookie defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who was in a protective boot Wednesday, remains out with that foot injury he aggravated against the Saints Sunday.

Defensive end Lawrence Jackson continues to be sidelined with that deep thigh bruise.

Linebacker Justin Durant didn’t practice Thursday after being limited by a hamstring injury on Wednesday.

On the offensive side of the ball, running back Kevin Smith (ankle) missed a second-straight practice. Remember, Smith got his biggest workload in Thursday’s practice last week.

Receiver Titus Young was back working with the first-team offense in the portion of practice open to the media. Rashied Davis was getting most of that work in that spot Wednesday.

Young was benched for the second half of the Saints game game after being flagged for unnecessary roughness after the whistle early in the third quarter.

Stafford has connected on last 10-of-11 with 2 TDs after rough start

A 3-yard touchdown catch by Titus Young chipped into the Panthers’ early lead and the Lions now trail 27-14 at the half.

But do they have more second-half magic left in them?

The Lions will need much better play from just about every unit in the second half if their going to mount another comeback.

The Panthers are averaging over 6.0 yards per rush and finding huge gaps to run through with no linebackers filling them. Linebackers Stephen Tulloch, DeAndre Levy and Justin Durant need to play better in the second half. The Panthers have also been able to dump off the ball to their running backs for positive plays.

After throwing two early interceptions, Matthew Stafford has connected on his last 10 of 11 throws, with two touchdowns, but will need to have a big second half if the Lions are going to mount yet another comeback.

Rookie WR Titus Young nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week

Rookie wide receiver Titus Young has been nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week for his Week 8 performance at Denver.

Young finished with four catches for 66 yards including a 41-yard touchdown – the first of his career – to put the Lions on the board in the first quarter.

Fans can vote for Young on NFL.com/rookies until Friday at noon ET! The Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week will be announced Friday on NFL Total Access on NFL Network and on NFL.com.

Titus Young will start at Buffalo

Rookie wide receiver Titus Young will get the start tonight at Buffalo in place of veteran Nate Burleson, who reopened a ligature on Saturday against the Patriots.

Defensive end Lawrence Jackson will start in place of veteran Kyle Vanden Bosch, still out with a shoulder injury.

Full list of players out at Buffalo:

• WR Nate Burleson
• CB Alphonso Smith
• RB Maurice Morris
• CB Anthony Madison
• T Jason Fox
• T Johnny Culbreath
• DE Kyle Vanden Bosch
• DT Nick Fairley