| Detroit Free Press
Detroit Lions’ Darrell Bevell explains what happened on fake punt
Detroit Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell speaks to the media on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020.
Detroit Lions, Wochit
Bob Quinn did not leave the cupboards totally bare.
The Detroit Lions had three players selected for the Pro Bowl on Monday, their most since 2014: Recent first-round picks Frank Ragnow and T.J. Hockenson, and first-year punter Jack Fox.
Ragnow has established himself as one of the best centers in the NFL in his third season. A first-round pick in 2018, he played every offensive snap in the Lions’ first 13 games before missing Sunday’s 46-25 loss to the Tennessee Titans with a fractured throat.
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Hockenson, the Lions’ first-round pick in 2019, leads all NFC tight ends with 675 yards receiving and ranks second behind former teammate Logan Thomas with 60 catches. He has emerged as one of Matthew Stafford’s favorite targets, racking up six receiving touchdowns in 13 games.
And Fox ranks second in the NFL with a 45.3-yard net punting average.
The Lions, 5-9 with two games to play, had two players selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons, though several of those players went as alternates.
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In 2014, when the Lions went 11-5 and had one of the best defenses in the NFL, they had five Pro Bowl selections: Calvin Johnson, Glover Quin, Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh and Golden Tate.
Quinn, who took over as Lions GM in 2016, was fired last month along with head coach Matt Patricia.
He left the Lions with a major rebuild to do on defense, but took three Pro Bowlers in his five drafts — Ragnow, Hockenson and receiver Kenny Golladay, who went as an alternate after leading the NFL in touchdown catches last season — and signed Fox late last season as a street free agent.
Golladay has missed most of this season with a hip injury, which helped open the door for Hockenson’s breakout campaign.
Hockenson was named a starter for the NFC team, ahead of the New York Giants’ Evan Engram, while Ragnow was picked as the backup to the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jason Kelce.
The Lions close the regular season with home games Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and next week against the Minnesota Vikings.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pro Bowl will not be played this winter.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.