Dan Campbell is confident with the Lions' receivers, but he'd like to see some youth added there
Last summer, the Detroit Lions had a receiver problem at camp. They were looking for the guy who would be their third receiver and their Josh Reynolds replacement, and they were having a really hard time finding that guy. It got to the point where Campbell said this at one of his pressers: "Yeah, it's […]
Last summer, the Detroit Lions had a receiver problem at camp. They were looking for the guy who would be their third receiver and their Josh Reynolds replacement, and they were having a really hard time finding that guy. It got to the point where Campbell said this at one of his pressers:
"Yeah, it's still the same as where it's been at. We're waiting for somebody to step forward, you know? We're waiting for any one of those guys to step forward. We're dying for somebody to step up and say, 'Hey, man, I'm your guy. I'll be the same consistent player every day and find a way to make a play every day."
None of the guys on the roster wound up stepping up, and the Lions got lucky claiming Tim Patrick on waivers after final cutdowns. Patrick had a nice season, and the Lions did wind up bringing him back, but from the sounds of it, they're going to be looking for more competition in that room in the NFL Draft.
"Love that group." Lions head coach Dan Campbell said in Florida on Tuesday. "We were fortunate that we got out last year, during the season, for the most part, unscathed, you know, I mean, as far as injuries and things of that nature, but for that group, TP (Tim Patrick) and Leaf (Kalif Raymond) and obviously Saint and Jamo, you know, those guys that we got have been big for us. We would love to bring in more competition, particularly some youth. You know that that would help."
There you go. The Lions are looking for some younger players in the receiver room, and with the draft coming up, there are some players to watch from the first to the last round. As Brad Holmes has noted recently, the Lions are not a needs-based drafting team. They want the best player available to them who fits their culture. That could very well be a receiver.
We know that the Lions have been talking to guys, too. At the NFL Combine they had formal meetings with Illinois' Pat Bryant, Stanford's Elic Ayomanor, and Tennessee's Bru McCoy. They've also met in other ways with Vanderbilt's Dariyan Wiley, Louisiana Tech's Abdul Ibraham, and Virginia's Ali Jennings. Those are just the guys we can confirm at this time.
We'll see if any of those guys become Lions later this month. For our money, Pat Bryant is the guy that fits this team the most and is someone that we feel Dan Campbell would be in love with.
‘No block, no rock’ Illinois receiver Pat Bryant may have been made in a lab by Lions head coach Dan Campbell
Picture it with me if you would. It's a dark and stormy night and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell is in his lab with beakers and Bunsen burners and he's almost finished his creation when he begins laughing maniacally and screams "It's alive man!" Then, after some rumbles and shakes, you see Illinois receiver […]
