Offense
Offensive line
There is no shortage of bodies to choose from, here. Back are starters Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow, and Rick Wagner. The Lions also brought in a free agent option for competition, Oday Aboushi, who is slated to battle Joe Dahl, Kenny Wiggins, and possibly Tyrell Crosby for the right guard position formerly occupied by T.J. Lang who has retired due to a series of concussions.
The reality of the situation is that none of them is a sure thing at guard. Therein lies a big problem. It isn’t the only problem, though, as the team’s spending on offensive linemen has been rather high and Taylor Decker is in the fourth year of his rookie contract. The good news is that the Lions have some time to decide on Decker, due to his fifth-year option, or Wagner who is already making about twelve million dollars per season but is signed through 2021, with a potential out after this year according to Spotrac.
Decker has his fourth year to play and the Detroit Lions can exercise his fifth-year option in 2020 if they choose, which would be much less than the fourteen to seventeen million dollars he might garner as a free agent in two years. So, ballooning costs for linemen plus a need to plug the right guard hole are two situations that Quinn has to manage. Depending on who fills the guard spot, they may also need to revisit the depth at tackle or guard, too.
Tight end or wide receiver
Let’s revisit the playmakers issue from earlier. The Lions lacked big plays in 2018, looked very pedestrian and anemic at points and at their better moments still looked like an offense laboring to accomplish anything. Rookie, T.J. Hockenson, helps the offense’s need for receivers who can go and get the football.
Jesse James might be an outlaw but isn’t the only option anymore after scoring a big free agent deal. The Detroit Lions traded away yards-after-catch receiver Golden Tate after the parties could not agree on an extension, leaving the offense without a go-to guy. Danny Amendola, an ex-New England Patriots player, was signed to mitigate some of the loss.
However, starters Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones, Jr. are both looking to rebound statistically, and need to produce bigger plays like the offense did two years ago. The depth behind the starters is shaky and is in need of speed, mostly at wide receiver, now.
Running back or quarterback depth
Today’s NFL dictates that NFL teams have a stable full of runners with different skills to accommodate the matchup and personnel groupings of modern football. The Detroit Lions also signed two players to add to their quarterback room since the end of the season, Connor Cook and Tom Savage. The backfield, though, is still a source of concern due to lack of quality behind the established starters.
The running backs could be okay for this season if Kerryon Johnson can stay healthy and newly-signed C.J. Anderson can give him breaks. Theo Riddick and Zach Zenner provide depth, with Zenner being a very good third back and Riddick being a pass-catching specialist, albeit an expensive one. Anderson is on a one-year deal and Johnson has yet to be consistently healthy, while the other backups have not proven to be effective over big stretches.