Lions Blog: 2018 Draft Picks

Going into this years draft, the Lions had a lot of needs to cover and only 6 picks to cover them with. The team also had the general knowledge that some of the more glaring needs would not be easily dealt with given that this draft class was short on defensive linemen. Bob Quin executed the most trades in this year's draft moving up twice and trading next year's third round pick to basically move up in the second round (its a little more complicated than that but its ends up in the same place). The results are 2 new offensive lineman, one defensive lineman, one defensive back, one fullback, and one running back. Many people were disappointed by the lack of a pass rusher in this year's draft class for the Lions but as I have stated the team did not really have good options for that this year and instead will be focusing on their schematic changes and relying more on linebackers for the team's pass rushing ability. This year's draft class was mostly about the run game and protecting Stafford and to that end, I think they did about as good as a team could do in one draft.

Day One

Frank Ragnow, G/C: With the expected departure of Travis Swanson, the Lions had a need for an interior offensive lineman (either a Center or a Guard) and Bob Quinn moved decisively in selecting Frank Ragnow to bolster the O-Line, and improve the run game. I must admit, I was not expecting this pick. There were two other offensive lineman as well as a few other positions that I had in mind that if I had been doing this blog ahead of the draft(like I should have done), I would have wrote about as a "here's who the Lions should take in the first round" kind of post. With this pick, Bob Quinn has completed his offensive line overhaul as Ragnow will be a starter from day one. Pro Football Focus had some good things to say about Ragnow ahead of the draft in this video where they stated he was their top center in the draft. Ragnow came from Arkansas in the SEC where he face teams like Georgia and Alabama with some of the toughest defenses in college football and yet in his career there he did not once give up a single sack, at either guard or center. If that fact does not give you reason to be pumped up about this pick, then nothing will. Stafford once again went through a season with one of the highest sack numbers in the league. This was due to a number of things constant injuries, bad offensive line coaching, changing personal on almost a weekly basis (thank you injuries), and some bad players left over from the Martin Meyhew era (also, the players on the right side of the line coming from teams that get away with things a lot more going to a team that gets penalized even when the other team commits the infraction). Ragnow is an aggressive blocker who is pro active on the line and down the field as shown in this highlight reel from NFL Highlights History. Many analyst graded the pick of Frank Ragnow as a "Reach" (mostly because of dogma relating to not picking a center in the first round) but considering how highly rated as a center and guard and that the team after us was going to pick him for sure (Cincinnati) I think its pretty clear that Ragnow is closer to a steel than a to a reach.

Day Two

Kerryon Johnson, RB: Regardless of who I thought the Lions were going to take in the first round, I always believed / knew that they were going to take a running back in the second round. My heart was set on Nick Chubb from Georgia, but when his team mate Sonny Micheal was selected late in the first round I knew there was going to be a run on RBs in the second. Sure enough, Chubb was taken very early as well as some others. Bob Quinn traded up in the first round (spending the fourth round pick in the process) and selected Kerryon Johnson from Auburn. The constant talk about the Lions is there lack of a run game and this draft class seems very focused on fixing that with Johnson the team is has plenty of options in the way they address it. I have heard plenty of comparisons to Le'veon Bell in his patience in the run game, waiting for holes to open up for him before he commits to a specific running lane. Johnson is a big athletic player ( a common theme with Bob Quinn's picks) who could serve as and every down back in the future or could develop into a long term replacement for Blount. Judging from this highlight reel from Sports Highlights where he seems to be the primary offensive weapon for the team indicates he should be significant improvement over the long standing running backs on this team. I expect him to be the starter at some point this upcoming season with Blount getting that role early on. I don't expect to wait long (like with Tabor last year) before Johnson sees the field, in fact I due expect him to play in every game. Kerryon Johnson is a big reason to be excited about the Lion's offense this year for sure.

Tracy Walker, DB: The team's third round pick seems like another long term development player much like last year's second round pick Teez Tabor. The selection of Tracy Walker, Defensive back from Louisiana was also the most criticized pick the Lions made this year especially from analyst who expected the team to go Defensive lineman the rest of the way after the first 2 picks.  This Pride of Detroit scouting profile dated May 7, 2018 has some good info on him (with some good clips too) and states that he is a versatile  DB who can play safety or corner and has good athleticism and range. It seems odd that the team would pick a DB when their secondary is so deep but that depth gets very questionable after this year with both Glover Quin and Tavon Wilson on the last year of their current contracts. Quandre Diggs is also on the last year of his rookie contract and while I fully expect the team to take his 5th year option, he will be an expensive player to sign to a long term contract given how well he played last year playing both corner and safety. Bob Quinn is clearly getting the team ready to make some difficult cap space related decisions in regards to their secondary and a player like Walker who can play multiple potions in said group is definitely  a worth while asset.

Day Three

Da'Shawn Hand, DL: The Lions finally got that defensive lineman that people have been demanding all off season in the fourth round (which they traded away next year's 3rd round pick to get back) and the selected Alabama Defensive Lineman Da'Shawn Hand. Hand was a team mate with Robinson and was coached by our new defensive line coach Bo Davis. According to This Pride of Detroit article dated May 3, 2018  Hand is not really expected to be a starter right out of the gate but could be a great player if he is handled the same way he was at Alabama (considering he has the same Defensive line coach that seems reasonable) and with the lack of depth on the D line, there will be plenty of opportunities for Hand gain at least a rotational role fairly early on.

Tryell Crosby, OT: The Lions were not done with adding to the offensive line as the injuries to that group show even when they have good starters they need enough quality backups for when the inevitable injury bug hits. With that in mind Bob Quinn took Tryell Crosby, OT from Oregon, a player that most experts expected to have been taken much earlier on day three and wound up being considered a rare steal for the Lions by most opinions. This Pride of Detroit Article dated May 4, 2018 has more info on him but he seems like a good value pick that could end up being a starter in the future depending on how well T.J. Lang and Rick Wagoner end up doing. Both of the high priced offensive linemen were injured and seem to have difficulty adjusting to the way the Lions always get false start penalties and as a result they wound up having a disappointing season. I expect both Lang and Wagner to have a better season this year but if they don't it is good to know the team has a potential replacement on the roster for at least one of them (two if Joe Dahl takes a leap forward).

Nick Bawden, FB: One problem with waiting so long to write about the draft is that events have taken place since then. The Lions 7th round pick Nick Bawden, FB from San Diego brought about the return of the Full Back to the Lions. It makes sense as even after they cut Micheal Burton last year the team ended up using linebackers as the FB role. Bawden was at least partially responsible for the success of Rashaad Penny (who was another name that was sometimes mocked to the Lions ahead of the draft) as he helped clear the way in run blocking. We will have to wait to see what kind of difference Bawden makes to the run game until next year as he suffered a torn ACL in mini camp and will miss his entire rookie season as a result. The Lions did make last year's acting FB Nick Bellore a full time Fullback before the injury with the intent to provide some competition but with this development int looks like that competition will be delayed at least a year.


The Lions had much more focus this year in the draft. They set out to improve the offensive line and the run game, the last two pieces that kept the offense from truly excelling last year. Bob Quinn threw his best effort at improving both this year. He provided some depth/ future starters in the secondary and set up the defense to be more compatible with the new coaching staff. Need less to say, I am excited about the upcoming season for the Detroit Lions.

Lions Blog: 2018 Off-Season Free Agency

The free agency period for the Detroit Lions was mostly know for the notable players who left than the players who were added. People at the time did not really know the new head coach or what direction he was taking the team, especially on the defensive side and few knew what to make of the new players other than that they came mostly from New England and that they were not flashy signings. Meanwhile the players that left were big names that people got use to over the years and their departure with seemingly inadequate replacements if any caused a great deal of concern about where Matt Patrica was taking the team. I have been regretting not starting this blog sooner so I could have covered this period at the time it happened but I am also thankful that I didn't because I likely would have overreacted to things that I did not understand just like everyone else. With time and the draft behind us I wanted to blog about the notable moves in free agency Acquisitions and Departures. I choose the ones that I thought were either the most interesting or relevant.

Acquisitions
  Offense

• LeGarrete Blount, RB: Over the past 4 years the statistic that the national and local media has been hounding the most is the number of games the Lions have gone without a 100 yard rusher. It was Thanks giving in 2013 and that RB was Reggie Bush, who was also the last rusher to go at least 1000 yards in a season. The first big free agent addition to the roster this off season was a running back with 2 Super Bowl rings from 2 different teams from the last two years and his name is LeGarrete Blount. Blount is a power rusher who is good at short yardage downs and pushing the pile forward, which is something Detroit completely lacked for years. Last year there were far too many situations where the Lions were first and goal from the 5 yard line or less and they could not push through to save their own lives (playoff lives that is) and would wind up settling for a field goal on 4th down or worse, going for it and failing. Blount's addition is guaranteed to improve those situations at least by a little and that alone could make a big difference. 
• Luke Willson, TE: At start of Free Agency the Lions found themselves with a large need for a new starting Tight end (I will get into the whys of that later in this post) and went out signed former Sea-hawks TE Luke Wilson (who came from the Windsor, ON area). Wilson was the team's second tight end (after Jimmy Graham) and now going to a team with a more pass heavy offense and a clear shot at the number one tight end spot should easily have a career year here in Detroit. This was the case with both Marvin Jones and former Sea-hawk  Golden Tate who were both lower down the depth chart in their former teams and exploded when moving here. As a tight end Wilson does not have the athleticism or the big numbers of Eric Ebron but he has been  a better blocker and a more consistent pass catcher (i.e. fewer drops) and above all he is far cheaper to have on the roster. I am hopeful that he  will succeed here although I am still not happy about the reason why his services were needed to begin with as I will get into later. 

  Defense 

• Christian Jones, LB: A former Bears LB, Jones was one of the later fee agents signed by Bob Quinn this off season. I don't really know much about him but he seems to be part of a complete overhaul of the Line backers and there fore the front seven of the team's defense under Matt Patricia. With the Lions moving to a system that will include 3-4 schemes I expect much of the teams pass rushing to come from line backers such as Jones. For the sake of it I will include a link to this Pride of Detroit Article dated 3-29-18 that goes into some detail about Jones. The article seems to suggest he will likely be a rotational player but could be used in blitzing situations. 
• Devon Kennard, LB: The team's biggest free agent addition was a Line Backer from the New York Football Giants in both contract size and impact on defense, Devon Kennard should come in a be a full time starter in place of another LB that left the team this year. This Pride of Detroit Article dated 3-21-18 suggest that he is good against the run and can play from the Defensive line as well. As I stated before the team will have a new defense that will change between 3- and 4-3 as well as other sub packages so I expect to see Kennard on the field a whole lot this season in many different positions. 
• DeShawn Shead, CB: I did not expect the Lions to do much with the secondary this off season with how well it did last year but I was wrong. A former Sea-hawk, Deshawn Head comes in to replace DJ Hayden (who left in free agency)will likely take turns with Nevin Lawson opposite of Darius Slay as an outside corner. In Seatle he played opposite of Richard Sherman and should provide better depth at the one position in the secondary that seemed iffy last year.  
• Sylvester Williams, DT:  One of the few Defensive lineman acquired in this off season is Sylvester Williams from the Titans of Tennessee and according to this Pride of Detroit Interview dated April 3, 2018 was not very consistent with his former team and is probably better as a rotational player.  The important thing to note is that Williams is a Nose Tackle. Part of a 3-4 defense includes a Nose Tackle, which is the lone defensive tackle between two defensive ends. The nose tackle is primarily there to absorb blockers and push the pocket, which is on of the few positives the interview highlights on Williams. It still seems (to me at least) the Lions will be in a 4-3 defense with a nickle sub-package more than 3-4 and that will be the case for most of this year as Patricia learns what he has to work with this year. I expect that this year will be on for learning for the front 7 and as such Williams might not be used as much this year (I hope to cover more on that font 7 change this off season with a specific post).

Departures 
  Offense 

• Eric Ebron, TE: The first truly questionable decision made by Bob Quinn in his time as General Manager was cutting Eric Ebron right before the start of free agency. Ebron was the Lion's first round pick from 2014 taken before many higher rated players such as O.B.J. and many fans have never forgiven him or the team for taking him. I was never one of those people. It's true that he had some issues with dropped balls but he also stretched the play field vertically drawing defenders away from players like Golden Tate in the process. Ebron was called a mismatch nightmare by many and this seems to fit because he is much more of a wide receiver than a traditional tight end (he was also not much in the blocking department). Ebron was cut due purely cap space reasons according to the team and I hope that is the case. The team has yet to use much of this cap space but I hope it will result in a big contract extension for Golden Tate. I also hope the loss of Ebron won't result in Tate not being able to get open as much due to having more defenders covering him that would have been covering Ebron. 
• Travis Swanson, C: The last of the Martin Meyhew starting offensive lineman, Travis Swanson has missed the last hand full of games at the end of the season due to injury every year since 2015, often ending the team's playoff chances. I just knew last year that if Swanson did not return from his concussion that he would be gone in free agency. I am not happy about that as I though quite highly of Swanson and that he at one point was considered one of the better centers in the league. With Swanson gone, the role of center is up for grabs between Gram Glasgow and our first round pick from this year, which I will get into in the next post. 
• Darren Fells, TE: As a back up to Eric Ebron, the Lions brought in a Veteran Tight End Darren Fells late last off season. Fells was supposed to bolster the pass protection and give another receiver for Stafford. At the start of the season Fells seem to be one of the team's top pass catchers at a time when Ebron was struggling. As the season went Ebron surged and Fells, well, he just fell and disappeared for the rest of the season. He departed the team in free agency despite the Lions efforts to keep him here, indicating that they wanted him back. 

 
  Defense 

• Haloti Ngata, DT: On the defensive line front, free agency has been more know for the team's departures than its arrivals, One such case is long time veteran DT Haloti Ngata. Having been signed in 2015 after the departures of Suh and Fairley, Ngata was brought in to be a premier run stuffer and leader on the defensive side. He was never supposed to be a replacement for either of those players who left but was seen by many fans as such anyway, as such he never lived up to the expectations of fans. He was having what seemed to be the best year of his time here in Detroit in 2017 when he suffered a season ending injury near the midpoint of the season. The team's run defense suffered greatly as a result. With this in mind I was sure that the team would give him at least a year extension as he stated he did not want to retire (not wanting to end his career on a season ending injury). While the team made an effort to resign him, the change in coaching and the schematic change to the defense caused him to seek more agreeable pastures elsewhere (in this case to the Eagles). 
• Tahir Whitehead, LB: The linebacker corp has seen the biggest change over these past few off seasons in the Bob Quinn era (at least on the defense side) and the departure of Tahir Whitehead is the biggest example of that this off season. With the departure of Tulloch, Whitehead was pressed into service as the middle linebacker in 2016 where he did not do so well. In 2017 the Lions Drafted Jarred Davis to take over that role and move Whitehead Weak linebacker spot where he had his best year with the team. Like with Ngata, I was sure the team would give him a contract extension, and I like Ngata I was wrong with Whitehead as well. The Lions move to a different defensive style likely cost Whitehead his role here as the team is moving to linebackers that can function better in the pass rush game.  
• Brandon Copeland, LB: One of the two defensive players for the Lions to suffer a season ending injury from the first preseason game in 2017, Brandon Copeland had great potential coming off of a 5 sack season in 2016. Copeland for me was a shoe in to be resigned by the team as he spent as much time on the defensive line as a DE as he did as a LB. To me this seemed like an obvious fit in a flexible defense like Patricia ran in New England and is now bringing to Detroit, a LB who was also a DE on a team that needed more of both, especially in the pass rushing department. Copeland's departure in free agency is perhaps the most puzzling to me, especially as he seemed recovered from his injury. I hope there is method behind this madness because there certainty seems to be madness behind the method.     

The Lions once again used free agency to address holes in the roster created by free agency. People expected the team to go after mostly pass rushers on the defensive line in the draft but as we all know, that did not happen. Its pretty hard to judge FA on its own without looking at the draft but overall I don't think it was nearly as bad as people say. The team is clearly reworking its defense to be more linebacker centered and throwing everything at the run game, which I  cover in a article about the draft. The NFL off season is a long one and I hope to have at least a  few more post written by training camp in late July.