3. The Offensive Line is in Flux
As mentioned before, the rushing attack was awful last year and a fair share of the blame belongs to the offensive line. Center Travis Swanson was a clear liability and rookie OG Laken Tomlinson struggled through much of the season. While the Lions did draft OT Taylor Decker with their first pick in the draft, last year proved to be a fairly decent indicator of rookie OL success in Detroit. Decker has taken reps at left tackle so far this offseason, but we won’t have any idea what we have in the rookie until the pads go on in August and truthfully, not until the games actually start. Fans should expect some growing pains. While shifting Reiff over to the right side can only help, he hasn’t played there since his rookie year when he was brought on as the sixth offensive lineman. Again, rookies are better served through baby steps which it doesn’t look like the Lions will be affording Decker.
Next: Number 2: Back to the Defense