The first team to fall into ruins and need a replacement user is none other than the historically bad and extremely cursed Detroit Lions. While we don’t know who from the carousel will be called up to take the helm, this is a promising young roster that despite it’s tough division and conference can have success if handled correctly. In this article I’ll highlight the highs and lows of the offense itself. Then I’ll provide some insight into what direction this franchise should be headed in the offseason and how to utilize its key players to get the most wins the Lions can in the coming seasons.
QB Room: Jared Goff, Brett Hundley, Tim Boyle, Nate Sudfeld
This is probably the most pathetic position room on the team and also the most important. A young team with many building pieces may benefit from a veteran quarterback, but this roster needs a guy who’s actually good. The Lions are likely drafting a quarterback regardless of which user takes over, but it may be worth trying to trade for a big name instead of reaching on a below average rookie.
TE Room: TJ Hockenson, James Mitchell, Brock Wright, Garrett Griffin
I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable football fan but even I don’t know any of those guys besides TJ Hockenson. Luckily, you really only need 1 good tight end and the Lions have that. Definitely an area that can be improved with a depth piece or two although high quality resources should not be spent here.
Starting OL: Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Penei Sewell
A cornerstone of this team, the lions OL has a quality starter at every position including the young superstar at right tackle. This line should not be changed in any way unless you can upgrade at right guard and is probably the biggests strength of the whole team. All the starters are also younger than 30, so all there’s left to do with these guys is keep them around.
HB Room: D’andre Swift, Jamaal Williams, Justin Jackson, Craig Reynolds, Jermar Jefferson
A solid room that’s led by the young and elusive Swift. Good depth in terms of overall, but there is no running back on this team with breakaway speed which is always a good thing to lean on, especially if Swift were to go down with an injury. Jamaal Williams is a pretty good power back compliment to Swift though, the Lions look pretty set here.
WR Room: Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark Jr, Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond, Tom Kennedy
This receivers room may look bad when you see no player is even an 80 overall, but this is an elite core in just 2 seasons. If you’re able to resign DJ Chark or not you have two extremely young and promising stars, one of which has 98 speed! The top 3 are all you need but I’m assuming the new user will sign a free agent or draft a wide receiver late for depth or to replace Chark.
This is clearly a solid offense in almost every area and whichever user gets them will be in good hands. The steps to elevate this team from promising to actually elite are not only simple and straightforward, there’s not many of them
Draft a quarterback, design a playbook that plays to the strengths of your new franchise cornerstone, whether that be a pocket passer that the Lions have the offensive line needed to protect or a scrambler where you have a great tight end and reliable receivers to open up scrambling lanes for the new guy. Maybe there is no quarterback worth taking or maybe he just ends up not being good, the Lions still have a quick elusive running back they can pair with a powerful bulldozer in Swift and Williams to fuel their offense once again on the backs of a top tier offensive line. This roster is off to a great start and should have success if handled well.
