One of the more interesting position battles heading into this coming season for the Detroit Lions will be at outside linebacker between Tahir Whitehead and Kyle Van Noy.
Whitehead has to be considered the favorite, based on his performance last season. But the Lions had high expectations for Kyle Van Noy when they selected him in the second round a year ago, only to be disappointed when he was hampered following sports-hernia surgery during training camp.
Whitehead, a fifth-round pick coming out of Temple in 2012, had a breakout year after not even playing a defensive snap in his first two seasons. He moved to middle linebacker when Stephen Tulloch sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 and filled the role admirably.
The plan is for Tulloch to return to the middle with Whitehead back on the outside, along with DeAndre Levy.
"Tully's an outstanding player," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "I'm really glad to have him back.
"What it does is give us a lot of depth. The competition is going to make us better. We have four or five guys who can be starters. When you have that, that makes the competition a little bit tougher, a little bit harder. That's what you want."
Whitehead, 25, started every game but one, and finished second on the team with 76 combined tackles in 2014. He also had two interceptions. That came after he was relegated strictly to special teams the previous two seasons.
Without question, Whitehead was the biggest surprise on a surprisingly good defense.
"I can overcome any odds that are against me," Whitehead said. "Some people might have doubted me early on in my career, just labeling me as a special-teamer or whatever.
"At the end of the day, you can't account for the amount of heart and determination someone has. That's what I proved to myself: that I can go out there and accomplish anything I set my mind to."
Whitehead is a good example of how draft picks often need more than a year or two to prove themselves in the NFL. He took advantage of the opportunity he finally got, but part of the reason for his success was the experience of being around the league for a couple seasons.
Whitehead said the difference for him in his third year was "just understanding the game, settling my nerves, being able to study a lot better, as far as what the opponent is going to do to try to beat us."
"I learned that through talking to Levy and Tully," Whitehead said. "They told me how to study, how to approach the game, as well as myself just putting in the hard work."
Tulloch injured himself while jumping in the air to celebrate a sack of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the third game of the season. He was imitating Rodgers' "Discount Double Check" celebration at the time.
Asked how much the Lions missed Tulloch, coach Jim Caldwell said, "It's hard to assess that. We've got a lot of great leaders on our team. He's one of those, and he certainly does add in terms of overall experience. You can't trade that. We hope to benefit from that in the future.
"But I can also tell you that the guys that did step in and play for him did a heck of a job. Those guys ran around, gave us everything they had. They were as big of a part of stopping the run as our front four. They were super."
Ashlee Palmer and Josh Bynes, like Whitehead, also benefited from more playing time because of Tulloch's absence.
Bynes was re-signed by the Lions this offseason, but Palmer remains an unrestricted free agent despite proving he's a standout special-teams players and a decent linebacker.
The return of Tulloch, along with the emergence of Bynes as a quality, less-expensive reserve, has made Palmer expendable for the Lions.
Palmer, who spent the last five seasons with Detroit after being claimed off waivers from Buffalo in February 2010, is a little annoyed by his inability so far to get a new contract for 2015.
"A productive player for 6 years in multiple roles," Palmer wrote a message posted recently on Twitter. "STILL NOT SIGNED!! LOL."
He then added: "Thanks for the added chip on my shoulders NFL!! #MOTIVATION!!"
