Offense: At the most important position in sports, the Lions have one of the best in Matthew Stafford. With big numbers, and a clutch gene that led to 8 come from behind victories last year, he is now firmly in the discussion as an Elite QB. The running backs are average. I like Theo Riddick as a Pass catching back and Ameer Abdullah has nice potential as a change of pace back, but they don’t have one guy to take the ball 15-20 times a game and take pressure off of Stafford. I like the potential at wide receiver, as I expect Golden Tate to have a huge year. Marvin Jones blew up early, but struggled late in the year. Don’t love the depth behind those two as they lost Anquan Boldin to free agency. They did a lot to help protect Stafford, by adding TJ Lang and Ricky Wagner. If former first round pick Laken Tomlinson improves and Taylor Decker comes back from injury, this o-line has the potential to be quite good. Eric Ebron is a solid option at tight end but still has not lived up to his potential as a huge mismatch. Overall, this offense will heavily rely on Stafford once again.

 

Defense: The Defensive Line is average. Ziggy Ansah was great 2 years ago, but battled injuries last year and struggled. Let’s hope he gets back on track. Kerry Hyder was good last year but needs to improve on adding balance to his game instead of just being a pass rusher. Ngata is getting old in the middle and is not the same. A’Shawn Robinson has been good so far in limited time, but has to prove he can do it with effort 100% of the time. The Linebacker core isn’t great either. Jarrad Davis was a fabulous pick, but they need more then him to be good and the guys they have right now will not cut it. The secondary is solid. I love Darius Slay, and Nevin Lawson is solid opposite, but they don’t have much after that. The Safeties are quite good, with both Glover Quin and Tavon Wilson being productive and receiving grades of 80+ on PFF.

 

 

 

Schedule

 

Week 1: vs Cardinals: L

Week2: @Giants: L

Week 3: vs Falcons: W

Week 4: @Vikings: L

Week 5: vs Panthers: W

Week 6: @Saints: L

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: vs Steelers: L

Week 9: @Packers: L

Week 10: vs Browns: W

Week 11: @Bears: L

Week 12: vs Vikings: W

Week 13: @Ravens: L

Week 14: @Buccaneers: L

Week 15: vs Bears: W

Week 16: @Bengals: L

Week 17: vs Packers: L

 

Prediction: 5-11