The Lions may have a depth problem
The Detroit Lions played a rough game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yes, it was a preseason game, but you can still take some things from that. The biggest thing that I took is that the Lions have some depth issues in a few different places. For starters, the Lions backup offensive line is pretty bad. […]
The Detroit Lions played a rough game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yes, it was a preseason game, but you can still take some things from that. The biggest thing that I took is that the Lions have some depth issues in a few different places.
For starters, the Lions backup offensive line is pretty bad. The Lions only put up 131 yards of offense on Saturday and it was mostly because they couldn't get anyone to block for their quarterback and and they couldn't get any holes open in the run game.
While it's true that the Lions have one of the best offensive lines in the league and you don't have to worry about these types of problems when they're healthy, it's also true that the Lions offensive line has suffered injuries on an annual basis for a while now. This year might be the first time we've seen them simply enter the season at full health.
If that trend continues, do the Lions have anyone that can come in and help out in a pinch and help out well enough to avoid a major drop off? I'm not sure they do at this point. If they put Graham Glasgow on the bench, you have someone that can shore up that issue on the interior part of the line, but the tackle spots need some help. It feels like they need one more guy at this point.
Then there's receiver. It's not as big of a concern as the offensive line is, but it's a concern. The Lions have four receivers that they can really count on until Week 7 when Jameson Williams returns form suspension. Outside of those guys, there's a big question mark.
There's some undrafted options like Dylan Drummond and Chase Cota, but I'm not sure those guys have really shown enough. What you hope you can get out of a fifth or sixth receiver is special teams help. Neither guy really showed all that much in their attempts at returning the ball.
Lastly there's running back. Again, they have it figured out up front with David Montgomery and Jahmry Gibbs. Then they have a whole group of guys fighting for the third spot and nobody seems to really be taking the edge in that battle. This is the spot you probably have to worry about the least, but it is something that I wonder if the Lions will figure out with guys that are currently on the roster.
If this is the Lions biggest problem, this team is going to be ok. They just want to hope that they stay healthy and don't have to tip their toe too deep into their depth pool. Chances are they'd be slamming in into the floor of the pool because it's pretty shallow.
What can they do about it? Well, they can go out and make trades, check out free agency or wait until after the August 29th cutdown day and see who they can get from the group of guys that just fell off the roster. The latter seems like the most realistic option at this point.
There's still time to get things sorted out, but the Lions might want to dwell on this. Judging by Dan Campbell's comments about the team looking for depth and the back up tackle battle and running back three battles being wide open, it's already on their minds.
Lions vs Jaguars: What Just Happened?
One more week and one more Detroit Lions preseason game out of the way. It's almost regular season time. U-g-l-y, they don't have an alibi, it was ugly. Preseason football is usually pretty ugly, but this one took it to a whole new level and made me want to take a nap afterwards. At the […]
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