NFL power rankings: Revisiting Detroit Lions passing on QBs Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa

Dave Birkett

| Detroit Free Press

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Watching Monday night’s New Orleans Saints-Los Angeles Chargers game, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert.

Herbert threw four touchdown passes, staked to his team an early 17-point lead and drove them down the field for the would-be game-winning field goal, only to watch Michael Badgley’s 50-yard kick doink off the right upright as time expired.

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The Detroit Lions, of course, passed on Herbert with the No. 3 pick in April’s draft, and while there was little intelligence connecting them to the Oregon quarterback in the pre-draft process, Herbert’s performance Monday made me wonder if he’ll be their new Aaron Donald.

Donald had four sacks in the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-10 blowout of Washington over the weekend, driving another stake through Lions’ fans hearts. At 29 years old, Donald remains the preeminent defensive lineman in all of football, and the Lions, of course, have been in need of defensive line help almost since the minute they passed on him with the 10th pick of the 2014 draft.

The Rams took Donald three picks after the Lions took Eric Ebron, and that other L.A. team took Herbert three picks after the Lions took Jeff Okudah.

More: Tagovailoa or Herbert for 2nd QB in draft? How NFL execs are weighing decision

Herbert is 0-4 as a starter and the Chargers are in essentially the same spot as the Lions in my weekly power rankings, but the possibility of drafting a quarterback at No. 3 never was about 2020 for the Lions.

At No. 3, the Lions were in the rare spot where they had an opportunity to take one of the draft’s best quarterback prospects and potentially set themselves up for the long haul at the game’s most important position. They passed on both Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa, who went No. 5 overall to the Miami Dolphins and has yet to play this year, and if either quarterback becomes a star will have trouble ever living it down.

As mentioned, both the Lions (1-3) and Chargers are languishing near the bottom of this week’s power rankings, with the Lions sitting in the exact same spot — No. 25 — that they were a week ago. There was some shake up at the top of this week’s rankings as the Kansas City Chiefs fell one spot to No. 2 after losing for the first time in a year. The Chiefs have some things to sort out defensively and they’re approaching critical mass on their offensive line, but they still have Patrick Mahomes and thus still are Super Bowl contenders.

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We have a rare Tuesday night game thanks to some coronavirus schedule shuffling that features two of the NFL’s remaining five unbeaten teams, but with the rest of Week 5 in the books, here are this week’s rankings:

1. Seahawks (5-0)

2. Chiefs (4-1)

3. Ravens (4-1)

4. Packers (4-0)

5. Bills (4-0)

6. Titans (3-0)

7. Steelers (4-0)

8. Saints (3-2)

9. Patriots (2-2)

10. Rams (4-1)

11. Browns (4-1)

12. Raiders (3-2)