Addressing the Detroit Lions top offensive and defensive needs

Top Defensive Need

Defensively, the line had started out as the biggest liability, which was extremely surprising given the guys the front office signed and the talent they already had there. As the season has progressed, the secondary has formed into one of the best units in the league that is spearheaded by elite cornerback Darius Slay and the top slot corner in the league in Justin Coleman.

However, the most glaring need is a linebacker who can hold his own in coverage and not be a liability when asked to cover a slot receiver, running back, or most of all a tight end.

Adding a coverage linebacker who can do the above would be a massive help to the defense and would allow head coach Matt Patricia to come up with even more ways to make his defense even harder to handle. A linebacker capable of handling his own in coverage would complete the last piece to the Detroit defensive puzzle.

There aren’t any linebackers that fit this mold that come to mind that might be available for trade but you never know what might come up eventually as the deadline approaches and teams decide to sell high on their players they can get good worth for. However, there is a linebacker available in the upcoming draft that should still be on the board when the Lions pick in the first round should they choose to go that direction.

His name is Dylan Moses and he attends the University of Alabama. If he had been able to play this season and not tore his ACL, he may very well have gone in the top half of the first round. Despite the injury, he still could go that high, but it may cause him to slip into the later part of the first round which is where the Lions are on track to pick this year.

Moses is an elite linebacker who can do it all at a high level. He can defend the run and diagnose plays at an impressive speed, and sift through traffic quickly and efficiently. The biggest draw here is he is a very capable linebacker in coverage, especially zone coverage.

According to the experts at The Draft Network, Moses is a good coverage linebacker and can transform a defense while becoming a mainstay immediately from Day One.

So while the Lions are sitting in a good spot right now, they still have some weaknesses that need to be addressed either on the trade market or through the draft.