Lions to Play Jarrad Davis at Middle Linebacker
By Matt Urben
When the Lions selected Jarrad Davis in the first round, one of the first things fans heard about was his versatility. He played inside linebacker at Florida but has the skills to play all three spots in a 4-3 defense.
With Tahir Whitehead starting last season as the team’s middle linebacker, many assumed Davis was drafted to take former Lion DeAndre Levy’s vacant spot at the weakside linebacker position. Apparently, that’s not what the Lions had in mind when they drafted Davis.
DetroitLions.com reporter, Tori Petry, spoke with Lions general manager, Bob Quinn, regarding the draft. They talked about each prospect that the Lions drafted, including Jarrad Davis and his role with the team.
"“We’ll play him at middle linebacker, and we hope for many years with him calling our defense,” Quinn told Petry in the interview."
The move isn’t a total surprise, and Tahir Whitehead has switched positions numerous times in his short NFL career thus far. Whitehead can play multiple spots as well, but after leading the team in tackles in 2016, it was not enough to convince management he was the long-term answer at that mike linebacker spot.
So it’s going to be Davis manning the middle next season and beyond. Quinn also talked to Petry about the team not drafting a running back, despite most fans assuming they’d address the position at some point in the draft.
"“Felt really good about our running backs, how our depth chart looks right now. We have a couple guys coming off of injury,” Quinn said. “At no point in the draft did we feel the value equated to the player,” he clarified."
This means the Lions have faith in their running back trio of Ameer Abdullah, Theo Riddick and Zach Zenner. It’s probably the right move since Abdullah was hurt after two games, but looked explosive when out there.
Watch Petry’s full interview with Lions G.M. Bob Quinn below.
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