We should finally learn the Detroit Lions true identity this season

Jim Caldwell wanted fast players. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you cannot expect players that are fast, but not strong enough at the point of attack to be able to execute a physical system like Matt Patricia’s. Getting a player like ‘Snacks’ last year was the golden ticket this team needed to help boost them in the direction they want to go.

Over the offseason, they added Trey Flowers from New England. They just added former Packer Mike Daniels at the start of training camp as well and have almost quietly built one of the deepest defensive lines in the NFL.

I suspect the Packers released Daniels because injuries have made it very difficult for him to be an every-down lineman for a whole season. But in Detroit, he will be part of a deep defensive line rotation which means he will not have to play as many snaps, will be fresher and will be able to play more consistently like the Pro Bowler he was just a couple of seasons ago.

Those, of course, are just a few of the wholesale offseason moves the Lions have made. Not only is the defensive line deep and talented, but the linebackers are also better, and the secondary is better too. Meanwhile, there is more depth overall on offense including a complete turnaround of the tight end position from being a weakness to a strength.

Then, of course, there was the hiring of Darrell Bevell as the new offensive coordinator. A man who has earned a justifiable reputation for building productive ground games. Something that did improve last season and should only get better.

So the vision of what Matt Patricia wants the Lions to be is clear; a physical, multiple set defense that hammers opposing offenses and a physical offense that controls the line of scrimmage, runs the ball at will, yet still has the diversity to stretch the field in the passing game.

But there was a process they had to go through in order to be able to execute on both sides of the ball well enough to make that identity come true.

Now in year two of the Patricia administration, he has players that can execute everything he wants his Lions to do on both sides of the ball. Are there still areas of this team that can be improved? Certainly, but it’s the NFL. Every team is trying to improve.

But the point is simple, there is absolutely enough talent on this team to find out if they can live up to the identity Matt Patricia has chosen for them. If they do, then Patricia will be successful and therefore the Lions will be successful and for long-suffering fans of the Honolulu Blue and Silver, they will finally have arrived at the promised land of having a team that will open a window of becoming title contenders.

If it doesn’t work, then it will be the same pathetic tune we’ve heard for years; ‘same old Lions’. The truth will unfold over the course of this season but despite the lazy national media that has once again written the Lions off already, don’t be too surprised if Matt Patricia proves why he’s a rocket scientist.