2018 Record: (6-10) 4th
NFC North
2018 Season Recap:
Offense
Points: 20.2 (25th)
Yards: 327.2 (24th)
Pass Yards: 223.5 (20th)
Rush Yards: 103.8 (23rd)
Defense
Points: 22.5 (16th)
Yards: 335.0 (10th)
Pass Yards: 224.9 (8th)
Rush Yards: 110.1 (10th)
When the 2018 season
began, the Detroit Lions seemed to have a great deal of optimism, perhaps more
than in years past. With new head coach and former New England Patriot disciple
Matt Patricia now the sideline boss for the Lions, expectations naturally rose
for this club.
With Matthew Stafford
still leading the charge behind center, there was belief that the Lions could become
a divisional leader with added weapons and the potential for younger players to
show giant progression.
After opening up the
year with a blowout loss to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football, the
Lions managed to win only 2 of their first 5 contests before hitting their
early week 6 bye. As the optimism began to fade, over the final 11 games of the
regular season, they could only muster 4 more victories leaving the season a
complete disaster after seeing so much early promise.
Unfortunately for Lions
fans, the same issues which plagued this club in years past still turned their
ugly heads and continued to wreak havoc on the 2018 edition. Matthew Stafford
witnessed the worst season of his 10 year NFL career throwing for the least
amount of yards and touchdown passes since his rookie season. While the blame
fell most on Matthew, this offensive line was once again an issue which has
been a constant throughout his time in Detroit.
There were positives
which came from this season, including the breakout performance of Kenny
Golladay, and the solid running style of Kerryon Johnson. But as the year
progressed, injuries began to pile up, and the Lions traded away reception king
and home town favorite - Golden Tate to the Eagles. This team still possess many
flaws and the change in coaching staff seemed to make it worse.
2019 Offseason WorkBook:
The Coaching Staff
Like any head coach
who just went through a horrible campaign, Matt Patricia had many questions
thrown at him from media circles expecting instant solutions. While Patricia
remained calm, he pulled the trigger rather quick and announced that offensive
coordinator (Jim Bob Cooter) would not be retained by the club.
With the offense
showing its worst output in years, Patricia knew that revamping the offensive
system would deflect from the poor showing his team ultimately gave him. Hiring
Darrell Bevell to take over the reins as the Lions new offensive coordinator,
hopes are already stacking up to produce more than last season.
Year two of the
Belichick defensive prodigy is underway in Detroit, and expectations to produce
a winner will be that much higher.
The Offense
It’s difficult to
place all the blame squarely on the shoulders of Matthew Stafford as he has
been the staple of consistency over the majority of his 10 year NFL career.
Seeing a hiccup in the first year of the Patricia regime doesn’t send out alarm
bells because we still believe he is a top flight passer in this league. Moving
forward with yet another system/scheme change, we could again witness growing
pains as the installation process irons itself out.
The running back
situation in Detroit seems destined to remain in purgatory since the Lions
refused to trade all-time great (Barry Sanders) those many years ago, almost as
if there is a curse on the club. This past season saw some assurance that
Detroit has potentially figured out their running back dilemma, as Kerryon
Johnson appeared up to the challenge of becoming the bell-cow type of back they
so desperately need. Injuries derailed his rookie season as it was beginning to
bear fruit, but at least the prospects look much better than they have in the
past.
The Lions receiving
core viewed as a potential powerhouse when the 2018 season opened, and in most
cases didn’t disappoint. Now that the team is without Mr. Reliable (Golden
Tate), there is an opening for this team to add more talent to the core. Kenny
Golladay definitely silenced his critics showing he could face-off against the
best in the business and become victorious. With Marvin Jones returning from
injury and ready to take back his place on the opposite side of Golladay, the
slot position will require a massive talent infusion.
While the Detroit
brain trust continues to figure out how to protect Matthew Stafford, it appears
no amount of draft pick capital and big money deals spent will keep Stafford
off the turf less than 40 times in a season. On paper the group looks more than
capable to halt the opposition but continue to under preform. This is one
aspect we will be watching with a keen eye as it could provide insight to what
the Lions will be offensively in 2019.
The Defense
When Matt Patricia
took over the Lions, he inherited a defensive group that was fairly good, and
again proved they could be a trusted group from last season’s output. This unit
was able to generate several top ten finishes in many different
categories.
When we went back to
review what was achieved, we were quite surprised to see that the Lions amassed
a healthy 43 sacks on the season. What was more impressive, was that the group
got to that number collectively without seeing one individual go above 7 sacks.
This truly meant that Patricia was multi-dimensional in his pass rush schemes.
With all that said,
there is a great possibility that the Lions leading pass rusher (Ziggy Ansah)
has played his last down in Detroit, meaning some retooling on this line will
have to take place. Naturally with Ansah gone, the former Crimson Tide
connection - A’Shawn Robinson and Da’Shawn Hand would jump into a leadership
role on this defensive line but will require assistance to continue to be
dominant.
The line backing core
is a stout group that seemed to get better as the season wore on. Lead by
middle line backer Jarrad Davis, he took a massive step to become a true force
on the field leading the team in tackles and coming in second with 6 sacks.
Christian Jones and Devon Kennard preformed admirably, but we would like to see
a real supportive piece to assist Davis and propel this unit that much further.
The Lions secondary will
move forward with Darius Slay and Quandre Diggs as the primary playmakers now
that Glover Quin has been released form the club. Adding more depth to this
group would do a world of good to improve this defense even more. Together
Detroit managed to secure 7 interceptions as a team, 6 of which were taken by
both Slay and Diggs, you see what we are saying. With many free agents on the
market at both corner and safety, the Lions should be able to bolster this unit
rather easily.
Team Free Agents / Team Salary Cap
With the 2018 season
going completely sideways and the Lions front office looking to build and
improve this team in the likeness of Matt Patricia, this offseason will be
paramount for the future outlook and success of this franchise.
Currently the Lions hold
a decent 35 million (+$35,411,895) on the books to help this club turn the
corner. With a short list of team free agents (20 players) to contend with, we
could see the Lions actually become players on the open market. When reviewing
the listing, the biggest name to jump off the paper is top pass rushing talent
Ezekiel Ansah. With no official word, it’s unclear which direction the Lions
intend to move regarding bringing him back to the team, but speculation
suggests he has played his final snap in the sliver and blue.
With other players
vying for the opportunity to return, TJ Jones, Levine Toilolo, Zach Zenner look
to be the only names of great value to garner any type of contract. Outside of
that, mere depth pieces complete the list and should make the Lions move in
other directions.
With Detroit
releasing long time safety Glover Quin from the roster, and him subsequently
announcing his retirement, the Lions have already saved money on the
books.
Looking to generate
more funds to help improve this roster as a whole, TJ Lang screams cut bait
candidate with his injury history and his whopping 11.5 million going against
the books. It’s our contention for Detroit to release Lang and endure that
small 2.6 million dollar cap hit and move on.
Outside of that, any
other transactions to retrieve funds would be minimal and would create a heavy
downgrade to this roster at this point.
The NFL Draft
While the Lions find
themselves back picking in the top ten of this year’s NFL draft (pick 8), they
also hold 9 selections to round out the class.
Having secured an
extra 6th and 7th round picks, it shouldn’t make fans
jump for joy, but any additional picks they can grab to help retool this roster
is a welcomed sight.
Detroit does possess
many holes on this roster and should entertain trading down in the first round
come draft day. Securing extra draft capital in this draft and perhaps next
year’s draft could make all the difference in how this club looks in the years
to come.
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