Glover Quin Can Break Another Negative Streak for Detroit Lions
By Kent Platte
You’ve seen the posts. The stats. The Detroit Lions have had so much negativity surrounding their team for so long, they’ve amassed a noxious treasure trove of streaks that have made the team a laughing stock for years. It’s an unfortunate fact of life for Lions fans that we will hear of these streaks.
They haven’t won in Lambeau since Nirvana released “Nevermind”. The team has an awful road record vs. winning teams. Those streaks have been slowly crushed, however, and the most recent to do so will be from starting safety Glover Quin.
The Lions haven’t sent a defensive back to the pro bowl in a decade. The last of course being Dre’Bly all the way back in 2004. Since that time, the Detroit Lions have fielded some of the worst secondaries the NFL has ever seen. At one point starting a special teams cast offs and veterans so far on the end of their careers they had to be coaxed into playing at all, the team has steadily gotten better under general manager Martin Mayhew.
One of his best free agent acquisitions was in 2013 when he steered away from bigger name free agents and signed Glover Quin away from Houston.
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Glover Quin was drafted as a cornerback out of New Mexico in the 4th round of the 2009 draft (The Lions took Sammie Hill a few picks later, but picked up Derrick Williams the round before), Quin would struggle at corner before finding a home at strong safety for the Texans. Never quite fitting in as a box safety, Glover Quin found his niche as a cover safety, primed for a free safety role. That wasn’t to come in Detroit when he was signed, however, as the team used non traditional left and right safety designations with Louis Delmas under head coach Jim Schwartz.
In 2014 under new defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, Quin was plugged in at free safety with a true box safety, James Ihedigbo, across from him. Teryl Austin’s scheme is friendly to defensive backs (He once made Ahmad Black appear to be an NFL prospect), but few could predict just how well he would play in less than a season in a new defense.
Glover Quin has been one of the best parts of the Free Hurt Defense, even helping coin the name. Barring a monster game by one of only a few players, Quin will end the 2015 season as the league leader in interceptions. He ended the fan voting only ranked 10th, but there is a strong chance the fifth year player will end the Detroit Lions string of 10 years without a pro bowl defensive back.
Can he help the Lions break their Lambeau losing streak? Let us know in the comments.