Observations from Detroit Lions Mock Game

I made the trek to Detroit for Saturday’s Family Day practice session and mock game at Ford Field. The Detroit Lions took to their football home and entertained the 5,000 or so fans with a warm-up session followed by a “mock game” where the first-team offense faced the second-team defense, and vice versa.

The biggest development–perhaps–is the status of tight end Eric Ebron, who went down in a heap about 20 yards from me near the west (Comerica side) end zone halfway through the mock game. For my reaction on that, check out the video I posted earlier. As of now, we still have no update on the starting tight end’s status. He was the best player on offense all day.

Takeaways from the rest of the 2.5-hour session:

Jay Lee is already a lot better as the vertical threat wideout than Corey Fuller ever has been. Or will be. Lee, an undrafted rookie from Baylor, consistently got separation on all sorts of routes and was definitely Dan Orlovsky’s preferred target with the second-team offense. Other than one deep sideline throw where he didn’t track the ball well (and it was almost certainly uncatchable), Lee definitely looked like he belonged. The Lions have a glaring need for a third outside receiver behind Marvin Jones and Golden Tate, and Lee made a strong case.

Marvin Jones looked solid but unexceptional. If you’re expecting him to replace Calvin Johnson in that kind of role, you’re going to be disappointed. The free-agent signing from Cincinnati doesn’t have the length of the long speed. He is definitely quicker in short areas however, and I saw him successfully run a lot of drags, crosses and hitches. He and Ebron appeared to have good chemistry when aligned next to one another.

Tyrunn Walker was the best player on defense. The hideously broken leg from last year looks just fine. He absolutely destroyed third-round pick Graham Glasgow with a combination of a quick burst and sustained leverage. Walker ended one drive all on his own, including a batted pass.

The flip side of that was Glasgow really struggling. He’s exceptionally tall for a center at 6’6”, and Walker and others took advantage of his lack of natural leverage inside. Glasgow has been largely working behind Gabe Ikard at center, both behind Travis Swanson (who was decent today). I was hoping this was Coach Caldwell sending a message that the rookie must earn his role over the underwhelming Ikard, but he legitimately looked in way over his head. If you were expecting him to start Week One in Indy, you need to rethink that.

The offensive highlight for me was Laken Tomlinson firing out and executing a great seal block to help spring Zach Zenner on a long run off left tackle. I didn’t focus much on Tomlinson but when I noticed him it was positive. That’s progress.

In a development which interests me far more than most others, undrafted rookie corner Ian Wells turned in one very nice series. A fellow Ohio Bobcat alum, Wells got the second series with the 2s and shined. Lined up in the slot, he executed a perfect blitz, not tipping his hand too early and scooting right around the back (believe it was Ridley, might have been Riddick) for what would have been a clean shot on Stafford if contact were allowed. On the very next play, the speedy Wells executed trail technique nicely on Marvin Jones and broke up a poor throw from Stafford. He’s almost certainly bound for the practice squad, but it was nice to see him show a little something nonetheless.

I gushed about Sam Martin in the above video, but another special teams battle is for who gets to snap the ball to Martin. Veteran Don Muhlbach was emphatically superior to sixth-round rookie Jimmy Landes at both punt snapping accuracy/speed as well as getting down the field in coverage. On one rep Brandon Copeland locked him up as soon as he was legally permitted and bulled the rookie from Baylor wherever he wanted. Copeland, who is making a good case for a roster spot, let him know about it after the play, too.

I can’t imagine Bob Quinn cutting Landes after pulling the shocker and drafting a long snapper, but for at least today’s session there seems no way Landes deserves the job over the cagey, well-liked Muhlbach.

Matthew Stafford did not have a good day. There were several miscommunications, two of which he threw the ball to Point A when the receiver worked wide open to Point B. On another, he forced a low throw to the double-covered slot when Ebron was alone in the wider flat thanks to a coverage miscue. Stafford has to see that. Other than one great Ebron-heavy drive, Stafford was outplayed by Dan Orlovsky. You read that right. We did not see Jake Rudock.

I got my first look at Cole Wick, the undrafted rookie tight end. He made a nice catch on some lousy coverage by Kyle Van Noy and turned it upfield quickly, but beyond that he reminded me a whole lot of Jordan Thompson, who earned a practice squad berth in 2014 and was showing promise in last year’s camp before fracturing his leg. Decent first impression, but Wick is not a dynamic player.

Yet the overriding takeaway from today’s session was just how miserable the linebackers and safeties are in coverage. Other than Glover Quin, these safeties are awful in coverage. Fourth-round rookie Miles Killebrew struggled in coverage when I watched him in person during Senior Bowl week, and the speed of the NFL only exacerbates it. Ebron blew past him in two steps and had three steps on him by 15 yards. On another rep, he was late to identify the back (Dwayne Washington, bigger and thicker in person than advertised) flaring out and then didn’t have the speed to close the gap. He’s an undersized linebacker playing safety, folks…

It didn’t matter who was playing safety, they could not cover the Lions wideouts or tight ends. Tavon Wilson made one nice play and it stood out like a sore thumb. If Rafael Bush is starting, it’s because he’s the least objectionable option and not on anything he does well.

As egregious as the safety play was, the linebackers were even worse in coverage. Even Tahir Whitehead got lost a couple of times; on one drive Orlovsky was picking on him not getting to his mark fast enough. Van Noy showed me absolutely no reason why he belongs on the roster. I talked about it in the video and don’t want to get so upset again, so I’ll leave it at that. Jon Bostic wasn’t much better but at least showed up in run defense.

I know this assessment seems grim. Keep in mind it was just one day, the first time I’ve seen the 2016 Detroit Lions in person. Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps it was just a bad day being in an unfamiliar environment and going so early in the day. For me, it makes next week’s group practices and preseason game against Pittsburgh a little more important. If they’re this poor against the Steelers, we won’t have to worry at all about all the “can Jim Caldwell keep his job with a playoff run” debate. They’ll be out of it by mid-October.