The Detroit Lions know one thing for sure going into 2017. Their success relies almost completely on the play of quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Lions have surrounded Stafford with a mediocre at best supporting cast, but as elite quarterbacks do, the Lions will rely on Stafford to raise the play of everyone around him. Let’s grade the Detroit Lions Offense.
Grading the Detroit Lions Offense
Quarterback: A-
Unlike Joe Flacco, Matthew Stafford is unquestionably an elite quarterback. Think about it like this. If Stafford became available on the open market, how many teams would bid for his services. Let’s start with nearly every team in the league. The thing about Stafford that people always forget is he has been the quarterback for one of the worst run franchises in the entire league. Next to the Cleveland Browns, it is hard to find a team with more dysfunction than the Lions.
The complete lack of playoff success the team has achieved is practically impossible. The Lions haven’t had a playoff win in 25 years. Any success that Stafford has had is in despite of his organization. A few years ago, some Lions fans began to doubt if Stafford could be the man. The entire city of Cleveland must have wanted to slap those Lions fans. Without Stafford, the Lions would be no more successful than the Browns and the team should pay Stafford accordingly in his next contract
Running Back: C-
The Lions best running back is more of a receiver than a halfback. Theo Riddick is a monster at catching the ball out of the back field, but him running through the tackles is a recipe for disaster, especially with his injury issues. The Lions next best running back is Ameer Abdullah, who missed all but two games last season. Abdullah showed flashes during his rookie season but had a serious fumbling issue. If he could fix that problem and find a way to stay on the field, he could be a solid back but at this point that feels like a bit of a long shot.
The Lions most recent signing, Matt Asiata is the definition of a power back. The Lions should be able to rely on him to punch it from the goal line, something they did not have last year, but anything beyond that is not really a part of Asiata’s skill set. Overall, saying the Lions running back core is anything above average would be a massive stretch. However, if they can get strong play from each of the above guys and can find a way to use their skill sets in a complementary fashion, the group could end up being passable and better than last season.
Wide Receiver: B
The Lions receiving core is often up and down. At times they can be extremely effective and then at other points they can be downright poor. After a hot start last season, free agent Marvin Jones really cooled off in the second half of the season. Golden Tate was the Lions most consistent threat at receiver last year and really stepped up his play without Calvin Johnson. Considering the Lions were fresh off losing a hall of fame talent in Johnson, I think this group out performed what many thought they may do in 2016.
The real problem came with the lack of depth for the group. Last season, Anquan Boldin proved to be a valuable security blanket for Stafford and acted as the team’s tight end at times, specifically in the red zone. However, if he does not resign the Lions will have a major hole in that slot. The Lions selected receiver Kenny Golladay in the third round of this years draft and he is certainly a deep threat, but to expect major production out of him in his rookie season is likely unrealistic.
The real strength of the Lions receiving core is at the top with Tate and Jones. If those two do not have a strong 2017 campaign, you could be looking at a very below average position group. However, as most great quarterbacks do, Stafford tends to make the receivers around him look a lot better than they are, so this group should be expected to bring at least average play in 2017.
Tight End: C-
It must never be forgotten that the Lions selected Eric Ebron 10th overall in the 2014 draft, passing over the likes of Odell Beckham Jr. and Aaron Donald. A downright colossal mistake that will go down in the Detroit draft mistakes hall of fame right along side the Pistons selecting Darko Milicic with the second pick in the NBA draft with Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and more still on the board. Okay, maybe it wasn’t as bad as Darko, but it was still awful.
With all that being said, there is still hope in Detroit that Ebron can be a threat for them at tight end. Ebron brings all of the athleticism that you would ever want from a tight end but hasn’t been able to piece it together during his three year career. He missed three games his first year, two during his second and three again in 2016, so staying on the field has been an issue for him. Last season he had a career high of 711 yards, but only had one touchdown. The Lions play next season at the tight end position relies almost completely on how Ebron does.
The Lions did select Michael Roberts with their second pick of the fourth round, but similar to Golladay, the production from Robert will likely be low during his rookie campaign. Expect a low level of play in 2017 once again from the tight end spot for the Lions unless Ebron is able to piece it together.
Offensive Line: B-
The Lions offensive line going into next season has many question marks. They made the moves of signing veterans T.J. Lang and Ricky Wagner, but both of those guys have some serious miles on their tires and there have already been question marks about Lang’s health. While the right side of the Lions offensive line will be a veteran group with Wagner and Lang, the left and middle will be feature plenty of youth. Taylor Decker had a strong rookie year for the Lions at the left tackle position and he should be improved next season. Graham Glasgow, who will be entering his second year next season, is expected to start at left guard. Travis Swanson is the expected starter at center and he has three NFL seasons under his belt. So between the left tackle, left guard, and center, the Lions will have five seasons of experience combined.
While youth can be a positive, it also means there will be a significant amount of inexperience. Also, adding two guys who have never played with this group, there are many question marks about this unit. While they will have talent, chemistry is the most important thing for an offensive line and this group will likely be trying to gain that on the fly. In order for the Lions to find success in 2017, the offensive line will need to learn how to keep Stafford off his back and they’ll need to learn fast.
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