Way back in 2017 Bob Quinn and the Detroit Lions drafted a defensive lineman out of Eastern Michigan in the seventh round. Seven years later he finally made his Lions debut and on Sunday against the Texans, he made the very most of the snaps given to him and made a case that he should get more.
We’re talking about Patrick O’Connor. While he was drafted by the Lions, he never actually played for them. He was cut after his first training camp and then was picked up by the Buccaneers. He played in Tampa for seven seasons and even won a Super Bowl there. He was mostly a special teams ace for the Bucs and they kept him around for a reason. He got things done.
The Lions signed him this summer and he’s found himself getting signed off the practice squad and has played in the last four games. He’s gotten better in all of them. On Sunday he played nose tackle for the Lions and he wound up getting a sack and a tackle for a loss on just eight snaps.
The Lions may want to consider playing him a little more than eight snaps going forward and it might be worth it to try to play him off the edge a little as well. We’re not saying to start O’Connor, but more than eight snaps would be good. At this point the Lions could use all the help they can get to manufacture the pressures they lost with Aidan Hutchinson. O’Connor could be a part of that.
With Jalen Reeves-Maybin out for the next three games, definitely look for O’Connor to continue his work on special teams as well. While it’s been really quiet for the most part, he’s been a good addition for this team. Maybe we’ll see more going forward.