July 28, 2012; Allen Park, MI, USA; Detroit Lions tackles Riley Reiff (71) and Corey Hilliard (78) complete drills during training camp at the Detroit Lions training facility. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Lions figure to have a lot of turnover on their starting offensive line and the first domino to fall is the re-signing of Corey Hilliard. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted the news this morning:

Lions signed OT Corey Hilliard to a two-year contract extension. Hilliard is expected to compete for Lions starting RT job.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 1, 2013

Tweets may be limited to 140 characters, but this one says a lot.

First, it likely signals the end of the road for the Gosder Cherilus with the Detroit Lions. That might be welcomed news to some fans but Cherilus finally put an end to a lot of his inconsistencies last year and it resulted in a fine season. If the Lions had more room under the cap they would have been wise to bring Cherilus back instead of Hilliard but the reality of the situation is that money plays a role in who comes back and who doesn’t.

Hilliard getting re-upping with the team with the intention of competing for the starting right tackle job also has a big impact on Riley Reiff. It wouldn’t be good news if last year’s first round pick simply got beat out by Hilliard but that isn’t the only way Hilliard ends up with the job. If Jeff Backus doesn’t retire, hopefully Reiff will have an opportunity to unseat the veteran. With Cherilus gone via free agency and Reiff at left tackle, the door is open for Hilliard at right tackle.

The other possibility involving Reiff is that the Lions determine getting their five best offensive linemen on the field together means Reiff plays right guard. Perhaps that means Backus returns and shows he can still hold down his familiar left tackle spot or the Lions use the fifth overall pick to take another offensive tackle and the difference between Reiff over the other guard candidate is greater than the difference between Reiff and Hilliard at right tackle.

The good news is that whatever the situation turns out to be, the Lions have options. The next domino to fall is next month’s draft.

Nov 18, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions tackle Gosder Cherilus (77) sits on the bench with his teammates during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Ford Field. Packers beat the Lions 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Today we take a look at how the Detroit Lions’ offensive tackles performed during the 2012 season with a little help from the fine folks at Pro Football Focus.

The radar chart below shows the Pro Football Focus grades for the Lions’ offensive tackles that played at least 25% of team snaps and compares them to the best, worst and league average ratings. PFF grades each player on each play to produce a massively useful tool for evaluating the totality of a player’s season compared to others at his position.

2012 Season Review
Jeff Backus – 2012 was a tough season for Jeff Backus. He missed a game for the first time in his career and he finished below average in PFF’s overall rating. He posted a good +8.4 rating in pass blocking but his -12.1 run blocking grade was the third worst among the 80 offensive tackles who played at least 25% of his team’s snaps. For the first time in his career, Backus missed a game due to injury.

Gosder Cherilus – Rob Sims won the team’s vote for offensive line MVP but it was Gosder Cherilus who posted the highest PFF grade. In fact, his +23.5 overall rating was tied for seventh best among all offensive tackles and second only to Andre Smith among right tackles. Cherilus did in mostly on the strength of a +21.1 pass block rating, fifth best in the NFL. He has now been rated as solidly positive every year excluding his rookie season – a fact overshadowed by some puzzling and boneheaded decisions that often draw penalties. Cherilus got dinged by PFF for penalties again this year, but his fine season still needs to be recognized.

Riley Reiff – The Lions offense had issues overall but offensive coordinator Scott Linehan did a great job of getting Riley Reiff involved as a useful part of the offense even though he didn’t win a starting spot on the offensive line. He was an important part of getting something out of the running game, and it shows up in his +6.4 run blocking grade from PFF. Of some concern may be that his lowest individual game rating game in his only start at left tackle, a -2.1 against the Houston Texans. Stepping into a spot start in a matchup with J.J. Watt is a tall order. Reiff graded out as a +0.6 in pass blocking that game but was dragged down by a -2.9 in run blocking, his only solidly negative run block rating of the year.

Offseason Plan
Oh how I would love the draft to come before the start of free agency. Since it doesn’t, the Lions should make retaining Gosder Cherilus a priority. He’s still on the right side of 30-years old and coming off his best season as a pro. The Lions have some issues that need to be improved on the offensive line but Gosder Cherilus isn’t one of them. Keep Cherilus and right tackle is taken care of for at least the next few years.

I have defended Jeff Backus as the victim of overly harsh criticism from Lions fans over the years. He wasn’t a Pro Bowl left tackle but he wasn’t terrible outside of Mike Martz’s madness that leads to all his quarterbacks getting sacked a bunch of times. Backus has been solid and dependable but he took a step back in both regards this year. At this point in his career, Backus won’t get better, he’ll only get worse. It’s time for the Lions to move on and use the cap space elsewhere.

That makes Riley Reiff the team’s left tackle pending what happens in the draft. If the Lions find themselves without the option of taking a blue chip pass rusher, I’m all for them taking either Luke Joeckel or Eric Fisher (why I wish the draft was before the free agency period). Doing so would put Reiff in limbo but it gives the Lions the choice of trading Cherilus (assuming he is retained as I have suggested) or to take advantage of Reiff’s versatility and play him at guard or as an extra tackle as he was used in 2012.

Previously: Wide Receivers

*Those that have been around the Detroit Lions blogosphere for a while may recognize the approach presented as similar to Ty Schalter’s ‘Old Mother Hubbard’ series on The Lions in Winter. Don’t worry, he’s cool with what I’m doing here and has assured me that he’ll be back with Old Mother Hubbard later in the offseason.

Aug 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Detroit Lions offensive tackle Riley Reiff (71) during the game against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Lions 31-20. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Riley Reiff wasn’t able to unseat Jeff Backus or Gosder Cherilus as a starter on the Detroit Lions offensive line but he still was able to have a positive impact on the offense as a rookie.

When the Lions were able to find some success running the football, Reiff was usually involved. One of the best things offensive coordinator Scott Linehan did this year was to get Reiff involved as a third tackle or jumbo tight end. It was a creative way to use the versatility that the Lions raved about during training camp when Reiff worked as both a tackle and guard.

Reiff did start one game at left tackle – the Thanksgiving Day game against the Houston Texans in place of the injured Jeff Backus. He played well enough that the Lions should feel comfortable if Cherilus leaves via free agency and/or they decide to move on from Jeff Backus as they work the salary cap this offseason.

The contributions of Reiff weren’t lost on his teammates. They voted him the winner of the team’s Mel Farr Rookie of the Year. The award is named for the former Lions running back who had one of the best rookie years in team history.