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Patience
doesn't seem to be the name of the game for the Detroit Lions. We’re nine months into the Brad
Holmes/Dan Campbell experiment, and the Lions’ top guys have shown they’re not
going to be the guys who are loyal to everyone. They have no intentions to
stand by any of Bob Quinn’s mistakes or their own for that matter. You need not
look further than the fates of Jahlani Tavai and Breshad Perriman for evidence.
Recently, the Lions have shown that the end of training camp
wasn't the end of trimming the fat for this team. Just a few weeks ago the
Lions attempted to trade linebacker Jamie Collins before ultimately releasing
him despite piling more dead money on top of the league’s highest dead money pile.
They’re still not done. While they haven’t made any significant
moves, their recent comments tell
a story that says the Lions may be getting ready to bench guys and replace
them.
All is fair in a rebuild. There’s likely to be plenty more
players excused from this team over the course of the next few years. Almost
nobody is safe.
But who actually is safe? Who’s going to be a full on part of this rebuild? Who’s
going to be on this team in three years? We picked out 10 players that we can
say, at the moment, are going nowhere.
T.J. Hockenson
Number one with a bullet
is the Lions’ Pro Bowl tight
end. Hockenson has shown that he keeps getting better and better. He’s had a
rough last two games, but the former eighth overall pick is without a doubt the
Lions’ biggest star right now. The Lions will probably wind up making him the
highest paid tight end in the NFL before long. There’s no way they let this guy
out of their sight.
D’Andre Swift
Swift hasn’t totally figured it out yet. There are moments where
he looks like an absolute stud like he did against the Ravens, and then there’s
moments where you can barely tell he’s out there like he did against the Bears.
Chances are Swift is going to have way more stud moments than missing-in-action
moments. For that reason, there’s no way the Lions are going to move on from
this guy anytime soon.
Frank Ragnow
He’s the best center in the league, in my opinion. He
consistently grades out higher than anyone on the Lions offensive line on Pro
Football Focus and you just don’t move on from a guy like that. He’ll be the
highest-paid center in the league before you know it. He deserves every penny.
Penei Sewell
There’s been some growing pains for sure. He’s been trending
downward lately. He graded out at 46.3 against the Bears. That’s pretty bad,
but you can’t ignore his performance against Nick Bosa and the 49ers. Remember, he only 20 years old at this
point. There’s a lot of career left in this guy, and he’s getting tossed right
into the deep end right away with having to switch from left to right. I think
he’ll show enough by season’s end to feel comfortable with him being around for
a long time.
Taylor Decker
Decker is one of the best left tackles in the NFL. He’ll show
that again as soon as he plays a down of football this season. He’s like the
rug in “The Big Lebowski.” He really ties everything together. He’s a left
tackle and he’ll stay the Lions left tackle despite all those calls for him to
move to right tackle after Sewell’s early success.
Alim McNeill
McNeill just keeps getting better. Again, with rookies there are
growing pains, but McNeill has shown some flashes of a player that can be huge
for the Lions in the future. Head coach Dan Campbell said McNeill had his best
career game against the Bears, and PFF agreed, giving him a great 76.9 grade.
He’s probably going to have more games like this going forward. His case to be
a big part of the defense is only furthered by the fact that guys like
defensive line coach Todd Wash are planted firmly
behind him.
A.J. Parker
Parker has been quite a steal this season. Yes, he’s having a
really hard time in the last two games, but what member of the Lions secondary
hasn’t? When the Lions were fully healthy, Parker graded out in the 70s in the
first two games of the season. Since the injuries, Parker has graded out at
28.4 and 42.4 in the past two games. I don’t think you can count too much of
that against the undrafted rookie who has suddenly taken on way more
responsibility now that he’s out there with guys like Bobby Price and Will
Harris. This may be the one I wind up being dead wrong about, but right now it
feels right enough to put him on this list.
Romeo Okwara
You really hate to hate to see Okwara go out with such a bad
injury., especially since the Lions had been getting their money’s worth from
Okawara in 2021 after his $39 million extension. Normally I’d be inclined to
say that this injury may affect Okwara’s long term and end his chances to be a
big defensive star, but Okwara’s work ethic won’t allow me to believe that. He
should be back next season and his rise should continue.
Quintez Cephus
We’re still waiting for Cephus to really have a breakout moment.
If you would have asked me a few weeks ago, I would have put Amon-Ra St. Brown
on this list, but he has been damn near invisible while Cephus keeps having
moments that show he could be the only Lions receiver to survive this season.
Cephus is probably never going to be the Lions’ number one receiver, but if he
keeps playing like has and if he has that big breakout moment, he could definitely
carve out a number two receiver spot for himself going forward.
Trey Flowers
I know it doesn’t seem
like it because his stat sheet isn’t exploding off the page, but Flowers is
pretty good at his job. When healthy, Flowers is the best guy on the Lions defense.
He just shouldn’t be the guy you expect to constantly get to the quarterback
and lead the league in sacks. He’s just not that type of player.
But he’s shown that he can be good at
what he does, which is stop the run and tackle guys. This may be the only thing
Bob Quinn did right during his time in Detroit. Imagine if he would have paired
Flowers up with a guy who can do the stuff that does shows up on the stat sheet. I’m
guessing the Lions will try to do that going forward.
The guys who are almost there, but I just
couldn’t put them on this list
Derrick
Barnes: Barnes is basically the 11th man on this list. He’s more than
likely safe after he gets over his early struggles.
Jamaal
Williams: I didn’t add Williams to the list because his contract is so
short. I think the Lions will ultimately want to keep him, but I’m not sure he
winds up staying.
Levi Onwuzurike:
It’s not working out for him yet. I think that it will eventually, but right
now it looks bad.
Amon-Ra St. Brown:
Really had high hopes for this kid. He has not shown anything at all so far. I
wonder how much a quarterback change could help him.
Jonah
Jackson: He’s been better than I thought he would be, but can the Lions
do better later? Probably.
Jack Fox: He’s
the punt god. He’s. Probably never leaving.
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