Under the radar: Kalif Raymond deserves notoriety
It's under the radar player week here at A to Z Sports. All week our writers will be picking out under the radar players for each of their NFL teams that they cover. For me, it was very easy to pick the under the radar player for the Detroit Lions. I went with Kalif Raymond. […]
It's under the radar player week here at A to Z Sports. All week our writers will be picking out under the radar players for each of their NFL teams that they cover. For me, it was very easy to pick the under the radar player for the Detroit Lions. I went with Kalif Raymond.
Raymond has had an interesting career in the NFL. He came into the league as an undrafted free agent in 2016. His first run was with the Broncos. He spent time on their practice squad and played four games his rookie year. The Broncos moved on from him.
Raymond spent time with the Titans and Giants, but where people really remembered him from for a while was his time with the Jets. Specially the times he muffed several punts in back to back games and the Jets waived him.
Raymond never forgot that. That's why you could really see the emotion pour out of him when he took a punt return 47 yards to the end zone against the Jets in Week 15 of the 2022 season.
That was a big moment for the career of Kalif Raymond, but he's been so much more for the Lions and lately, he's been pretty overlooked.
The Lions found themselves in some trouble this offseason when they lost DJ Chark to the Panthers in free agency and then lost Jameson Williams to a six game suspension for violating the leagues gambling policy. Suddenly it seemed that everyone, myself included, believed that the Lions really needed receiver help to shore up this problem.
While I still think more help is a good thing, I'll admit that I totally overlooked the guy who finished second in second in receiving yards and third in receptions for the Lions last season. It wasn't Chark and it wasn't Williams, it was Kalif Raymond.
Raymond finished the season with 47 receptions and 616 yards. Add that to the 48 receptions and 576 yards he had in 2021 and you have a player that's been pretty good for this Lions team for two years now.
While he didn't put up any receiving touchdowns in 2022, he did put up some of the biggest plays of the year for this team. That punt return was huge for the Lions in their win over the Jets. His big catch against the Packers in Week 18 really set the tone for the rest of the game and the Lions never looked back from that moment.
Raymond is never going to be the top receiver in the NFL. He's never going to grace the cover of Madden and he won't be highly selected in your fantasy football league. None of that matters though. Because what Raymond has proven to be is a reliable receiver in this league.
He went from the guy who people would use as an example of how sparse the Lions receiver room is to a guy that's a big part of that very same room. The arrow is only pointing up for Raymond. So look for him to be a big part of what the Lions do early int he season and beyond. There's a trust and chemistry there with Jared Goff and I would guess that chemistry isn't going anywhere. It's time to put people on notice.
Featured image by Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
