Five lingering thoughts I have from the Detroit Lions‘ 26-20 preseason loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers:
Preseason results don’t matter
This should go without saying, but I feel like that’s where we need to start given the disgust some fans and pundits had over the Lions’ performance Saturday.
Look, the Lions played awful in the first half. They had 65 yards of offense, didn’t move the ball past midfield, were flagged for eight penalties (six enforced) and gave up four scoring drives in five possessions.
Nothing about that screams: We’re ready for the regular season.
But the Lions sat most of their key players, including Jared Goff, T.J. Hockenson and Frank Ragnow, while the Steelers played most of their starters the entire first half. By my count, the Lions used just 11 players who will have significant roles in Week 1. The Steelers, by contrast, sat only four starters, according to their depth chart.
I’m fine with you thinking the Lions won’t be very good this fall. I fall into that category myself. But to base your opinion on what happened Saturday is nonsense. Of course, a Tim Boyle-led offense, without its two best weapons and two best offensive linemen, is going to struggle. And let’s not act surprised that a Lions team trying to rebuild the worst defense in franchise history, with only its starting secondary in and a rookie defensive tackle playing, couldn’t get off the field against a veteran offense.
There’s a good chance the Lions don’t make the playoffs this year, and you didn’t need Saturday’s preseason game to tell you that. So don’t go overboard with your hot takes.
I’m still wondering who Dan Campbell was talking about
Surely you saw Campbell’s quote after the game, that some players who “maybe were counted out … have a chance of now making this team. And then there’s some ones that maybe everybody thought was going to make it and they’re not going to make it.”
Campbell identified a couple players who fit the former category, mentioning the unheralded trio of Tom Kennedy, Godwin Igwebuike and Jalen Elliott in his post-game comments, but he did not name the one-time locks who now reside in the danger zone.
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Third-year linebacker Jahlani Tavai was the first name that came to my mind, given his disappointing performance. He seems to be on shaky ground with a little more than a week left in the preseason, but before Shaun Dion Hamilton got hurt, I don’t know how many people thought he was going to make the team.
Neither Alize Mack nor Nickell Robey-Coleman played with the urgency they need to secure roster spots. But again, they were on the bubble to begin with. And while Will Harris did not have a great night at safety — and Campbell did say Elliott “did some good stuff” — Harris has worked almost exclusively with the first-team defense this summer and the Lions aren’t exactly teeming with options to replace him (though they did conspicuously sit Dean Marlowe on Saturday).
The one position group that remains the biggest issue for the Lions, and the one Campbell seemed to be directing some of his ire at Saturday, is wide receiver.
“We got to make a play in the pass game and we’re not doing it,” Campbell said. “The opportunity is there … That ball’s still getting off and we still got to make a play.”
I’ve wondered for some time what Breshad Perriman’s role on this team will be and opined Saturday that he and Quintez Cephus are essentially competing for the No. 4 receiver job. The Lions gave Perriman $2 million guaranteed as a free agent, but that’s a sunk cost at this point. And if that money is only going to get you performances like Saturday’s, where Perriman’s only catch in 21 offensive snaps was nullified by a (questionable) offensive pass interference penalty, is it really worth it?
Tom Kennedy could be No. 5 receiver
Kennedy has been more productive than Perriman (and just about every other Lions receiver) this summer. He has a team-high eight catches for 107 yards in two preseason games and is a guy who routinely gets open and catches passes in practice, no matter who’s throwing him the ball.
The rub with Kennedy has always been, what can he do besides play the slot? He’s not big enough to be a downfield weapon as an outside receiver and he’s never had much of a role on special teams. Complicating things even more, the Lions already have two slot receiver types guaranteed to make their roster in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond, though both can flex outside.
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Still, in the Lions’ separation-challenged receiving corps, Kennedy is an outlier in that he can create space. If the Lions keep him over one of their big outside receivers, offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn will have to find creative ways to use his smaller pass targets on the field, but that’s what coaches get paid to do.
“We trust him,” backup quarterback David Blough said. “You go out there, it’s been third down a couple times and he’s made guys miss. He’s done a phenomenal job being the guy you can count on when you need a play to be made, and that gives quarterbacks confidence and we’re going to keep going to him.”
The Lions have the makings of a foundational rookie class
I’m either burying the lede here or setting myself up for @OldTakesExposed, but two games into the preseason, I see signs of the Lions having the type of rookie class that most teams would kill for.
First-round pick Penei Sewell has been just OK this preseason as he adjusts to his new position of right tackle, but he’s one of four rookies trending towards being Week 1 starters. Third-round pick Alim McNeill won the nose tackle job and has been the Lions’ best defensive lineman this summer. Fourth-rounder Amon-Ra St. Brown is, at worst, the team’s No. 3 receiver. And undrafted rookie A.J. Parker continues to impress in his bid to be the nickel cornerback.
The Lions have a thin roster overall, which is part of the reason so many rookies are on track for serious playing time this fall. But having four rookie starters, plus two others in line for prominent backup roles — second-round pick Levi Onwuzurike and fourth-rounder Derrick Barnes — is a feather in the cap for first-year general manager Brad Holmes.
Ultimately, the Lions’ draft will be judged on how close Sewell and Onwuzurike come to reaching their massive potential, which in Onwuzurike’s case might be about staying healthy as much as anything. But if Sewell turns into the Pro Bowl blocker most think he is, and the Lions have depth in the class to boot, we might look back on this year’s rookie class and say it started the Lions’ turnaround.
Three quarterbacks it is
I’ll probably write more about the backup quarterback battle this week, but it seems pretty clear after Saturday that the Lions should keep both Tim Boyle and David Blough on their roster.
Boyle and Blough have alternated second-team reps all training camp, with Boyle playing ahead of Blough in both games. Boyle has a tantalizing but somewhat erratic arm, while Blough has the moxie teams want in their quarterbacks.
Blough shined in the second half Saturday, completing 12 of 17 passes for 143 yards. He led the Lions to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and made a compelling case to unseat Boyle as Goff’s backup.
I don’t know if Boyle or Blough will ever be a regular starter in the NFL, and for that reason I understand the crowd that thinks a third quarterback is a waste of roster space.
I don’t subscribe to a hard and fast rule when it comes to keeping two or three QBs, but I know quarterback is still the most important position in the NFL, and Boyle and Blough have a better blend of training camp production and future value than most everyone else vying for a backup job.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.