Thursday, January 14, 2021

Morning Lions Links for Thursday 1-14-21

Articles:

2020 position breakdown: Quarterbacks:  https://www.detroitlions.com/news/2020-position-breakdown-quarterbacks-stafford-daniel-blough

Titans OC Arthur Smith becomes first head coaching candidate to earn second interview with Lions:  https://www.mlive.com/lions/2021/01/titans-oc-arthur-smith-becomes-first-head-coaching-candidate-to-earn-second-interview-with-lions.html






Report: Detroit Lions to wrap up 1st round of coaching interviews with Todd Bowles on Friday:  https://lionswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/13/report-detroit-lions-to-wrap-up-1st-round-of-coaching-interviews-with-todd-bowles-on-friday/

5 Coaches Brad Holmes Could Hire as Detroit Lions Head Coach:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/onepride-plus/five-coaches-brad-holmes-could-hire




Lions reportedly 'close' to poaching GM Kevin Colbert from Steelers:  https://www.radio.com/971theticket/sports/detroit-lions/lions-close-to-poaching-kevin-colbert-from-steelers



Pros and cons for each remaining NFL head-coaching vacancy (Pros: The Lions have generally been viewed by candidates as a good organization to work for, and with a low bar to clear on the winning scale (the Lions have not won a playoff game since the 1991 season), there is room for major improvement here. The offense has a strong chance to be pretty good, with a solid offensive line led by Pro Bowl-center Frank Ragnow and tackle Taylor Decker, a play-making tight end in T.J. Hockenson and a running back in D'Andre Swift with big-play ability. Then there's quarterback Matthew Stafford, a top talent at one of the game's most important positions, who has two years remaining on his current contract. The next regime might be inclined to move on from the 32-year-old, but if he's willing to commit to the rebuilding effort, he could help prompt a quick turnaround. If I was coming in to lead this team, I would want Stafford back on the roster.  Cons: While there's reason to be optimistic about the offense, all four of Detroit's top wideouts -- Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, Danny Amendola and Mohamed Sanu -- are free agents. The Lions, who own the seventh overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, have a real opportunity to bring in weapons for Stafford by retaining Golladay and bringing in a true No. 1, either in free agency or the draft. The defense is another story. Ranking dead last in scoring and overall defense in 2020, Matt Patricia's unit was slow and old, lacking playmakers at every level. The few assets they do have are pass rusher Romeo Okwara, an unrestricted free agent worth re-signing, and first-round pick and cornerback Jeff Okudah, who has potential in this league but struggled as a rookie. Simply put, the Lions need a complete rebuild on defense, and it could be extremely hard to pull off with limited draft capital.):  https://www.nfl.com/news/pros-and-cons-for-each-remaining-nfl-head-coaching-vacancy

Final 2020 NFL pass-rush rankings (20. DETROIT LIONS:  Trey Flowers was the player that Detroit could rely on to defend the run and get after the quarterback at a high level coming into the season, but hios season was largely a disappointment with just 13 pressures through seven games before missing the remainder of the season with injury. It was the other edge defenders for the Lions who ended up surprising with their play.  Romeo Okwara posted a career-high 85.4 pass-rushing grade after four consecutive seasons below 60.0. And midseason signing Everson Griffen earned an 80.1 pass-rushing grade from his Week 9 debut with Detroit through the end of the season. While impressive, those performances weren’t enough to keep the Lions from the bottom half of this list.):  https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-final-2020-pass-rush-rankings

Final 2020 NFL secondary rankings (32. DETROIT LIONS:  Detroit didn’t just have the worst secondary of the 2020 NFL season; it had one of the worst we have seen in the PFF era, dating back to 2006. This group surrendered 0.36 expected points added per pass play, the worst any defense has allowed in a season since 2006 by a considerable margin (0.30 was next worst).  Expectations for rookie corners should always be relatively low, but the performance from 2020 third-overall pick Jeffrey Okudah was far worse than anticipated. Okudah allowed 20 first downs and a league-worst 2.1 yards per cover snap at outside corner while making just three plays on the ball in nine games this season. There is a lot of ball left to be played for Okudah before anyone should be writing him off, but Year 1 was not great.):  https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2020-secondary-rankings

2021 NFL Free Agent Rankings: Defensive Linemen:  https://www.pff.com/news/2021-nfl-free-agent-rankings-defensive-linemen

2021 NFL Free Agent Rankings: Offensive Linemen:  https://www.pff.com/news/2021-nfl-free-agent-rankings-offensive-linemen

Grades:

Grades: Detroit Lions' 2020 Rookies:  https://www.si.com/nfl/lions/news/lions-2020-rookie-grades

2021 NFL Draft:

2021 NFL Draft: 5 quarterbacks who could make sense for the Detroit Lions:  https://www.mlive.com/lions/2021/01/2021-nfl-draft-5-quarterbacks-who-could-make-sense-for-the-detroit-lions.html



Posted by LionsFan at 5:25 AM

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