Update:
Since writing, the Lions made moves answering the questions below. Matthew Stafford and the team have mutually agreed to part ways. Although disappointing for Lions fan, Stafford has shown that he deserves a shot to play with a playoff-caliber roster. Also just coming across the wire, Detroit has hired Anthony Lynn to be their next offensive coordinator. He was fired following his fourth season with the Los Angeles Chargers. Lynn’s teams were far from perfect, but he did help develop Justin Herbert into one of the front-runners for the offensive rookie of the year award.
These moves signify a full tear down for the Lions who currently hold the number seven pick in this year’s NFL Draft and should be able to pick up at least another first for Matthew Stafford.
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The top two things on the Lions to-do list for this off-season have been finished following the hiring of general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell. Holmes, who comes from the Los Angeles Rams, was the scouting guru for a team who had numerous Pro Bowl and All-Pro selections. Detroit fans are certainly familiar with at least one of those outstanding picks. Aaron Donald was selected just after the Lions picked tight end Eric Ebron. Although Ebron was talented, his flaws showed out and ultimately led Detroit to move on. In that same time, Donald has been a six-time All-Pro and two-time defensive player of the year.
Dan Campbell is also a first-timer in his role, although he did serve as the interim head coach for Miami in 2015. His stint in South Beach finished with a 5-7 record. Although he wasn’t selected to continue coaching in Miami, he did join Sean Payton’s staff in New Orleans and served as one of the assistant head coaches there. His press conference caught national attention after a few memorable one-liners.
Reactions about his press conference were mixed, but I think he is going to be a guy who players want to play for. Whether or not the team will be successful is yet to be seen. Now that the Lions have concluded their general manager and head coaching search they can look ahead to the draft and free agency. Lets take a look at what some of the big moves might be.
Potential Off-Season Moves
The buzz around the Lions off-season has been surrounding quarterback Matthew Stafford. Speculation that he may finally want to leave as the team prepares to enter another rebuild has circulated widely. Stafford has always publicly pledged his allegiance to Detroit, but the two sides may decide for him that it’s best to move on. If they do move on from Stafford they will be signaling a full rebuild. This team has so many holes across the roster. Having to spend a first round pick on a quarterback would be bad especially in this class. We will have our first mock draft coming in the next few weeks, but I’ll spoil my hope for the first round. Micah Parsons, who sat out of the 2020 college football season would be my pick at 7. Detroit was so completely inept at the linebacker position in 2020. Getting a difference-maker in that role is crucial to the team’s rebuild.
Along with the struggles of the linebacking corp, the secondary was extremely poor as well. Some of those struggles can be attributed to the immense number of injuries that were suffered by that position group. That doesn’t alone explain how poorly rated that group was. The two biggest disappointments were disappointing for two different reason. Desmond Trufant was brought in to try and serve as the number one corner that Darius Slay was. His season was injury plagued, but even was he was healthy he certainly didn’t live up to the $10 million per year contract he got prior to last season. The other big disappointing member of the secondary was Jeff Okudah. He also struggled with injuries, but looked lost in coverage at times and was also beaten handily in man coverage which was his specialty in college. Its far too early to label him as a bust after just one season, but he will need to improve greatly in year two or risk being passed over.
The hope that Okudah can turn things around has a lot to do with the Lions new defensive coordinator. Aaron Glenn left his role as the secondary coach with New Orleans to join Dan Campbell in Detroit. Okudah himself was quite happy with the hire.
The familiarity between the two should benefit Okudah as Glenn obviously knows what kind of player he is. Both Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn are coming as former tight end and defensive back coaches to a team where the best young players on each side of the ball being a tight and and a defensive back. Campbell also seemed to want D’Andre Swift to be one of the focal points on offense.
Although Swift’s most memorable moment as a receiver was the drop in week one against Chicago, he did show a lot of skill in that regard. While comparing him to Alvin Kamara might be a bit much at this point in his career, its good that Campbell understands where the offense needs to come from.
Whats Next at Full Press Lions
We will be looking at our first mock draft coming soon as well as reactions when the Lions confirm their coaching staff. There have been several interviews with potential offensive coordinators after Darrell Bevell left to join Urban Meyer’s staff in Jacksonville. If there is content you want to see, let us know! We are also looking to add to the Full Press Lions team! If interested send us a DM and we will get you information about applying!
