A few random thoughts and musings from Day 1 of Lions minicamp Tuesday:

• Bear in mind this is without pads, but the Lions look much faster and much more capable of playmaking on defense than they did a year ago. In two practices today, the defense forced a number of turnovers. The secondary is much improved and the speed at linebacker has been upgraded. If the Lions can generate a pass rush, they will rank in the top half of the league defensively.

• Now that Mike Martz is gone, Dan Orlovsky looks like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders (or maybe it's just that he's taking reps). Either way, he was crisp in team drills and appears to be clearly ahead of Drew Stanton for the No. 2 job. This is Stanton's first real NFL action and he has to get used to throwing into a smaller window. Still, I'll reserve judgment on both players until I have a larger sample to judge.

• Tatum Bell said he's lost 12 pounds since the start of the offseason conditioning program two months ago. I still expect him to open the year as starting running back in a bit of a time share of rookie third-round pick Kevin Smith. Clearly, Smith will play a ton as well and will start at some point.

• If not this year, Calvin Johnson will be a Pro Bowl receiver in 2009.