The Lions are in need of a shakeup at receiver

There's not a whole lot to complain about right now when it comes to the Detroit Lions. They went out and stood toe to toe with the Super Bowl champion in their own building and won the game.  Still, there is something to complain about and maybe there's something that might get done about it. […]

Mike Payton Detroit Lions Beat Writer
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There's not a whole lot to complain about right now when it comes to the Detroit Lions. They went out and stood toe to toe with the Super Bowl champion in their own building and won the game. 

Still, there is something to complain about and maybe there's something that might get done about it. That's the Lions receiving corps. Really we're just talking about anyone not named Amon-Ra St. Brown or Josh Reynolds. 

The rest of the group at a pretty bad night. Marvin Jones, who the Lions wanted to use a lot in this game, had a really rough night. He was targeted six times and only came down with tow catches for eight yards and a really bad fumble in the red zone. 

Kalif Raymond was nearly invisible all night long. I don't know where he was in this game. He got targeted just one time and he caught that ball. But this is a guy that finished second in receptions and receiving yards for the Lions last season. Where was he? He only played 19 snaps Thursday night.

Part of me is thinking on Friday morning that the Lions can get a lot out of Jahmyr Gibbs. Especially in the department where Raymond would normally thrive. It makes you wonder if Gibbs addition to the pass game makes Raymond a bit obsolete in this offense. 

All of this leads to the question. Do the Lions need to have a shakeup in their receiver room over the next 10 days? 

It doesn't have to be a signing or a trade. Although, if I'm just about any team in the league, I'm calling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and trying to make a deal for Mike Evans. I actually think that would be a solid move for the Lions. It's one they can afford to make as well. 

That doesn't have to be the answer though. The Lions could try things out with Antoine Green or they can elevate Dylan Drummond and see what he's got on the main roster. 

They could also do the simple things and get Kalif Raymond more targets and maybe don't try Marvin Jones on screen passes anymore. Little fixes like that could go along way. 

At the end of the day, the Lions are fully aware that there are things that need to get cleaned up. Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell said as much on multiple occasions during his postgame presser. There's still plenty of time to get things fixed there. 

Plus the Lions will get back Jameson Williams five games from now. He brings a speed that can really help the Lions take the top off of just about any defense in the league. If he's ready to go mentally and the drop woes are behind him, he's going to eb really dangerous. He might actually be dangerous the way he is right now with that freaky fast speed. Really tempted to make a Jimmy John's joke there, but I am a professional and I shall refrain from such nonsense. He said while doing scrimshaw and smoking his pipe in his fancy robe. 

Week 2 should tell us a lot more about what the Lions plan to do. Right now it looks like they have their two lead dogs in St. Brown and Reynolds. Let's see if they get Raymond more involved or if there really is something to the idea of Gibbs blowing up his spot. Also, let's see if Jones cam have a bounce back game.

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