Detroit Lions Stock Report: Weeks 10-11

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Stock Down: Eric Ebron

The second year tight end started off the season hot, leading the team in touchdown receptions for several weeks and doing his best to put the doubters to rest.  He had a pair of drops through the first part of the season, only one of which was particularly bad, and it looked like he had found the corner he needed to turn and made that change.

Then he met the Kansas City Chiefs, and everything changed. Ebron dropped 3 passes in that game and saw his drop rate catapult from good to worst in the league.  He hasn’t done anything to change that in the past two weeks, dropping a crucial pass against both the Packers and the Raiders.  Thankfully, both ended up as wins, but it’s a problem that needs to be fixed.

It’s easy to point to his hands and claim that’s the problem, but none of the drops that I’ve seen can be attributed to bad hands, but a bad head.  His concentration is shot, and with the oversimplified offense he doesn’t have the excuse of things being complicated anymore. His career thus far is mirroring that of former 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, who had similar issues with keeping his head in the game (for different reasons) in his first few years. Davis got a wakeup call that saw him leap into the top of tight end rankings, but who is on the Detroit Lions staff that can switch that light on with Eric Ebron?  I don’t see anyone, putting even more on the shoulders of the troubled second year player.

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