The Detroit Lions have worked hard in the offseason to improve their roster, but one area of concern is still the tight end position. Is it justified?
It has been a busy offseason for the Detroit Lions. They have hired a new head coach, re-vamped the linebacker corps, added many pieces to improve the ground game and in general lifted the hopes of most of their fan base.
Yet there are two areas that seem to be glaring weaknesses to most onlookers.
The defensive line still doesn’t seem deep enough and the tight end position is lacking a ‘name’ player, which makes many fans nervous.
The concerns on the defensive line seem obvious. The Lions didn’t add any big names to the mix and as of right now they are pinning all their hopes on a few players who could be solid and their franchise tagged end, who they hope to be healthy and unstoppable. Outside of them it is a group of mostly young, unproven players that if the season started today would be filling out the depth.
If the Lions have identified a couple of gems with the young players they have brought in, then this scenario will look much different, but for right now it is definitely cloudy with plenty of question marks.
The other position of concern is, of course, tight end.
General manager Bob Quinn raised the white flag just before the start of free agency and sent much maligned Eric Ebron packing by releasing him.
Ebron never really lived up to the hype or challenge of being selected ahead of players like all-pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, which would have addressed a big need for the team and would have made the defense better with his presence alone.
Instead Ebron was brash and didn’t seem to take his craft seriously. It often showed with his inability to ever improve as a blocker and the steady stream of dropped passes he left behind. So that being said, how bad off is the Lions rag-tag tight end position?