Does Matthew Stafford want to stay a Detroit Lion?

Improve the defense

Chalk this headline up to the DUH category.

As much as Detroit loves drafting wide receivers, upgrading the poor defense will assuredly play into Stafford’s decision about the team’s status as a contender. The best friends of a quarterback are a good offensive line, a run game, and a stingy defense.

The Lions defensive woes start up front. The defense was sixth worst in yards given up per play, at 5.9 yards per play. They generated one more sack than the worst team in the NFL at the metric, ranking a tie for thirtieth. The team was dead last in opponent QBR, quarterback rating.

They allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete an astonishing 72.7% of their passes, more than five percentage points higher than any other team.

Let that sink in.

For reference, that’s a higher completion percentage than the best one year any quarterback has ever had in the NFL.

Not surprisingly, Bob Quinn went with more defensive help in this past draft. Quinn signed help at corner back, defensive line, and linebacker to augment his choices in the draft, too. The Lions general manager drafted two former Florida Gators in the first two rounds to help the defense, linebacker Jarrad Davis, and corner back Teez Tabor.