Lions reunite with a Bob Quinn draft pick from 2017 and he could make the 53-man roster

Here's a couple names that we never thought we'd hear about again. The first one is Bob Quinn. The Lions old GM had quite a few drafts with the Lions and in his second one he took a defensive lineman from Eastern Michigan in the seventh round. That was Pat O'Connor.  O' Connor didn't make […]

Mike Payton — Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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Here's a couple names that we never thought we'd hear about again. The first one is Bob Quinn. The Lions old GM had quite a few drafts with the Lions and in his second one he took a defensive lineman from Eastern Michigan in the seventh round. That was Pat O'Connor. 

O' Connor didn't make it out of camp for the Lions that year and he wound up getting claimed by the Buccaneers and spent eight seasons with them and even helped them win a Super Bowl. As of Thursday, he's back in Detroit. 

O'Connor is someone the Lions probably should have held onto. I know it's crazy to think that Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia made a really bad decision, but they did. O'Connor didn't make any starts for the Bucs, but he played in 68 regular season games for the team and was a solid veteran presence for the team when he got out there on defense. There's a reason the Bucs kept this guy for eight years.

Where the Lions could use him is as a special teamer. He's spent his entire career as a special teams ace for the Bucs and this is the kind of thing the Lions are looking for. A guy that can do multiple things. He can play special teams and then when you put him on defense, he can play well enough. There's a shot that O'Connor could make the roster and be a depth guy. 

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