2019 Offseason thread

[Gulf of Brazil]

2019 NFL season: Patrick Peterson leads top 10 cornerbacks

6. Darius Slay

The two-time Pro Bowl selectee has great ball skills and loves to compete. A complete cornerback, Slay didn't get close to his 2017 INT mark (eight, tied for the league lead) as teams threw his way less than they did in '17, though he still managed to record three picks and finished fourth in the league in passes defensed with 20. Slay deserves to get the new contract he's seeking based on his performance the last few seasons.

 

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Lions CB Darius Slay makes PFF’s ‘All-Underrated Team’

he’s had at least 13 passes defended

“90.5 coverage grade over the past four seasons

His lowest single season over that span is 77.0, which, to me, is very impressive because we see how fickle the cornerback position can be.

having tracked No. 1 receivers over that span—he did it, I think, 10 times this past year, he tracked opposing No. 1 receivers—to do that is very impressive.

there has been criticism of his play in 2018. His PFF grade dropped from 80.6 to 75.0. But PFF’s Austin Gayle believes his drop in performance may have to do with how the Lions used him last season.

When he got moved into the slot, it brought him down a little bit. It was that tracking—not necessarily out of position—but when you track a No. 1 receiver in the slot,
like a Julio Jones or some of these other receivers that are playing well from the slot nowadays, it makes things difficult. I think Darius Slay, if you can find a way to keep him at outside corner—obviously there’s certain No. 1 receivers you want him to track—but at outside corner, he’s really one of the best in the biz.”

Gayle is probably understating just how big of an effect playing in the slot had on his overall play. From his article last month:

He played 200 snaps split between slot cornerback and box defender, nearly 100 more than any other year of his career – and the results weren’t great.

Slay earned just a 46.0 coverage grade across his 106 coverage snaps away from outside cornerback, allowing receptions on 10-of-18 targets for 125 yards, four first downs and three touchdowns.

The good news for Slay is that the Lions emptied their wallets to make sure Slay didn’t have to play the slot too often anymore. Free agent signing Justin Coleman is a PFF darling, and should lock up the nickel corner spot for instances in which Slay is not following a receiver inside.

That could mean Slay is in for a big rebound year. Maybe then he’ll get some of the attention he deserves.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

TWENTYMAN: 5 numbers that need to change

1. Number: 14

What it means: Total number of takeaways registered by the Lions' defense in 2018

NFL rank: 31st in NFL

Twentyman: Only the San Francisco 49ers generated fewer turnovers last season (7) than the Lions. Detroit’s seven interceptions were tied for the second fewest in the league, and Detroit’s overall turnover differential of minus-five ranked 23rd in the league.

Turnovers are one of the most important statistics when it comes to winning and losing in the NFL. The top three teams in both the NFC (New Orleans, LA Rams & Chicago) and AFC (Kansas City, New England & Houston) ranked No. 1-No. 6 in the NFL in turnover differential. That’s not a coincidence.

Generating turnovers and winning that battle on a weekly basis is one of the big keys to winning in the NFL.

 

[jayfan]

in that same link as above there's this

5 observations from Week 1 of Lions training camp

5. The offense has a completely different feel under Bevell
It’s not just the addition of Hockenson or the signing of Danny Amendola. The offense looks plenty different under Bevell than it did with Jim Bob Cooter. Get ready for an abundance of 12 personnel and some actual, real pre-snap motion. Bevell also hinted at a more mobile Stafford, likely meaning more rollouts for the QB. On Sunday, Stafford took part in a drill where he would start rolling out to one side of the field and then quickly spin to the other side as if evading a pass rusher to throw the football while on the run.

Yes, entirely new & different offense. There will be a learning curve, to be sure. Stafford did not adjust well/easily to the Linehan-to-Lombardi transition. We all hated what we saw of Lombardi's offense, but it was no secret that Stafford had trouble picking up the new scheme. This transition will be just as difficult.

 

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TWENTYMAN: 5 numbers that need to change

2. Number: 78.4 and 111.9

What it means: Red zone passing rating, both for Lions and opposing passers

NFL rank: 30th and 28th

Twentyman: Quarterback Matthew Stafford’s red zone passing rating was actually lower (77.2) than the team rating because the team rating accounts for Matt Prater’s touchdown pass in Green Bay Week 17. Stafford threw 14 red zone touchdown passes, which ranked 20th, and had a completion percentage of 47.9 inside the 20-yard lines, which was good for 26th. Improving the red zone offense was one of the big goals for the Lions this offseason.

On defense, opposing passers had a rating of 111.9 in the red zone. Only Houston, Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Arizona were worse. The 64.4 completion percentage in the red zone by opposing quarterbacks was the fifth best in the league, and the 19 touchdown passes allowed ranked in the top half of the league.

Scoring touchdowns in the red zone on offense and not settling for field goals, while forcing field goal tries on defense and not allowing touchdowns, is critical to success.

Those four points can often mean the difference in the game.

BB_72; You can read the article for the remaining 3-5 areas where changes need to be made.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

This transition will be just as difficult.

That's probably understated. Stafford did have some success last year rolling outside of pocket and finding receivers downfield or the occasional keep and run but the problem that existed within that was our receivers found it difficult to get separation (whether it was due to bad formations, play calls with multiple receivers too near to one another, missed assignments due to audibles or the absolute inability to beat their immediate defender.)

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I fully expect the offense to struggle early on in those first 4 weeks. Maybe not against Arizona as much ( they usually don't fair well playing at AZ though ) as I expect they will vs Chargers at home, at the Eagles and then the Chiefs at home.

That 5th week bye will be a blessing in disguise, imo.

 

[Old Lion]

I really like this signing - a LOT.

This signing should push A' Shawn even more so. Imo, The only time A' Shawn has stepped up his play has been when we had a healthy Ngata and then again once Snacks came on board.

I don't believe it's automatic that he gets/deserves an extension until he can show on the field production (not just in stats) without Snacks in the same lineup/rotation. He's going to have to produce when Snacks is getting a breather and more than likely when Snacks and Flowers both are on the sideline getting breathers. He has to start being a much better run defender, gap plugger, disengaging from combo blocks.

A' Shawn could easily be on his way out of Detroit by end of this season unless his play on the field changes substantially. jmo.

Agree with both of these. I think only 1 of them is back after this season.

 

[Old Lion]

I fully expect the offense to struggle early on in those first 4 weeks. Maybe not against Arizona as much ( they usually don't fair well playing at AZ though ) as I expect they will vs Chargers at home, at the Eagles and then the Chiefs at home.

That 5th week bye will be a blessing in disguise, imo.

I expect a lot of running plays early in the season. Now that they have put Glasgow and Ragnow in their natural positions the run game should improve. I still think the O-line needs more revamping though. Was a little disappointed we did not bring any new faces in FA other than Oboushi.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I expect a lot of running plays early in the season. Now that they have put Glasgow and Ragnow in their natural positions the run game should improve. I still think the O-line needs more revamping though. Was a little disappointed we did not bring any new faces in FA other than Oboushi.

This past FA for OG, whether RG or LG-less of those players available- was atrocious. It would be difficult to spend FA $$$$ and possibly receive worse results than trying out Wiggins, Dahl and Oboushi for that LG spot.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

I expect a lot of running plays early in the season.

I expect somewhat of a vanilla offense with those first four games. It's after that 5th week bye that we begin in-division competition.

You're probably correct with a more lean to running game early on just to get that established while not giving GB and Minny much to go off of from a game tape. Plus, I just think, as jayfan alluded to, Stafford and that entire offense, from O-Line to RB, to WR, to TE will naturally struggle trying to pick up the new scheme. There's lots of new players plus a different playbook to install/learn.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

Detroit Lions 2019 training camp Day 6-7 stock report

S Walker has had a very, very good camp to date so far. It's difficult to glean much from the varying sites reporting but all in all they've all been relatively consistent when it comes to discussing Walker.

Stock up: Tracy Walker, S
I’m running out of laudatory phrases to use for Tracy Walker. I had thought about running a count of how many passes he’s able to disrupt either by picking them off or knocking them away, but I’m having enough trouble keeping track of T.J. Hockenson touchdowns. Walker continued his strong camp both days, getting in the way of a ton of passes and making it very difficult for the quarterbacks in camp to get passes to their intended targets.

and it's almost been the same for LB Dooley. almost. This would not only be a surprise but also a huge lift for depth reasons.

Garret Dooley, LB: Dooley continues to steal reps with the first team and I have yet to see him stand out in a negative manner.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

3 standouts from Thursday's Lions practice

I would like nothing more than to see Oruwariye progress to earn 2nd team outside CB spot. However, I'd prefer he's brought along slowly as to not hurt his confidence.

The above link, here in this post, is the 2nd one I've read today and is also the 2nd time he's had a good of camp. He's still making mistakes but he seems to rebound well and quickly.

The post above talks about his positive day also even though he was responsible for what would have been a long TD.

 

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Observations from Lions training camp, Day 1: Jahlani Tavai gets starting reps

Observations from Lions training camp, Day 2: Welcome to the T.J. Hockenson show

Observations from Lions training camp, Day 3: 1st look at the running game

Observations from Lions training camp, Day 4: injuries mount on defense

BB_72; btw, RB Ty Johnson has been doing quite well as an outlet receiving back and even in a few pass pro assignments. His speed and elusiveness has been unmatched so far (in most instances).

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

3 Lions land on PFF lists of top 10 players at their positions

The good folks over at Pro Football Focus completed their rankings of every player at every position entering the 2019 NFL season. Three Detroit Lions earned their places on the lists at their respective positions.

All three play defense, and only one of them began the 2018 season in Detroit. That would be cornerback Darius Slay, who checks in at No. 8 among all CBs entering the season.

The other two are tackle Damon Harrison and EDGE Trey Flowers. Harrison is No. 6 among tackles and Flowers is ninth at EDGE. “Snacks” came to Detroit midway through last season in a trade with the Giants, while Flowers signed as a free agent this offseason after leaving the Patriots.

Not a single Lions offensive player made the top 10 at any position in the PFF projection for 2019.

 

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Here’s PFF’s list of the top-10 edge defenders ahead of the 2019 NFL season.

9. Trey Flowers, Detroit Lions
2018 OVERALL GRADE RANK: 6
Even though Bill Belichick & Co. were reluctant to pay him his due to stay in New England, Flowers is still a premier talent in this league and should very well live up to the expectations tied to his new five-year, $90 million deal with the Lions.

Improving steadily every year of his career, Flowers earned career-high marks in overall grade (89.7), run-defense grade (84.9) and pass-rush grade (79.9) a year ago. He also finished the 2018 season ranked tied for eighth in pass-rush win percentage (17.4%) and sixth in pressure percentage among the 61 NFL edge defenders with 300 or more pass-rush snaps played.

From PFF’s Austin Gayle on Flowers pre-free agency:

“Flowers eats away at his good-not-great pass-rushing ability with his run defense and versatility, specifically his ability to rush the passer from ranging pre-snap alignments as mentioned above. He’s a movable chess piece with consistent, high-end play in several areas over the years, a piece that teams should and will jump to move into their system if given the opportunity this offseason.”

 

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Here’s a list of PFF’s top-10 interior defensive linemen ahead of the 2019 NFL season — otherwise known as Donald & friends.

6. Damon Harrison Sr., Detroit Lions
2018 OVERALL GRADE RANK: 3
Snacks continued his reign over the NFL as the league’s top run defender across what was a 17-game season for the seven-year veteran having played seven games with the New York Giants and another 10 with the Lions post-trade. He earned a 92.0 overall grade and a 93.8 run-defense grade across his 606 defensive snaps split between the two teams, ranking third and first, respectively, among qualifiers at his position. He’s now earned an 89.9-plus overall grade and a 91.6-plus run-defense grade in four of his last five seasons in the league – utter dominance, if you will.

From PFF’s Josh Liskiewitz:

“Trading for Harrison before the in-season deadline proved a brilliant move for the Lions this year, and considering his consistent track record of complete dominance against the run; the move should continue to pay dividends in 2019 and beyond.”

 

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Coming off a career year, New England Patriots veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore takes the top spot on PFF’s list of the top-10 cornerbacks ahead of the 2019 NFL season. Check out the rest of the list below!

8. Darius Slay, Detroit Lions
2018 OVERALL GRADE RANK: 23
From PFF’s Austin Gayle in his latest feature on Slay:

“Slay’s consistency is underrated. Other names have dominated the very top of the cornerback conversation all throughout his six-year career, but Slay’s floor is one of the highest of any defensive back in the NFL.

All while playing at least 500 coverage every year, Slay has earned single-season coverage grades at or above 70.0 in each of the past five seasons (2014-18). Only Slay, Chris Harris Jr.and Casey Hayward Jr. can lay claim to the feat over the five-year span.

Slay’s 90.5 five-year coverage grade ranks tied for eighth among the 93 cornerbacks targeted at least 200 times since 2014, and he ranks 11th in forced incompletion percentage (17.2%) and 16th in passer rating allowed among the same group of cornerbacks.”

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

PFF's position rankings ahead of the 2019 NFL season | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | Pro Football Focus

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

My apologies in advance for these upcoming posts that'll be elongated.

Sizing issues class failed.