Quinn and Patricia will stay or go together
Now let me start by saying that Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia are pretty much joined at the hip. If one goes then they will both surely go. So while we are debating whose seat might be the hottest, it is almost impossible to find a scenario where Martha Firestone Ford decides to keep one of them and dismiss the other.
They are a package deal. You keep one, then you’re keeping two. If you toss one out to the curb, then the other one will be flying into the gutters as well.
But with that said, is one of them hindering the success of the Detroit Lions more than the other? Let’s take a look at what they have or have not accomplished in the Motor City.
Bob Quinn has been here longer. He supplied former head coach Jim Caldwell with the players that Caldwell believed would help make the Lions champions. As we all know, the Lions didn’t become champions but they did make the playoffs in Quinn’s first year at the helm only to be blown out by the Seattle Seahawks 26-6 in the Wildcard game.
Quinn’s second season ended pretty much the same as the first as the Lions finished 9-7 for the second straight year, but did not qualify for the playoffs. It was at this time that Quinn relieved Jim Caldwell of his coaching duties and hired his long-time friend Matt Patricia.
I have pointed out before that this change also changed the type of players that the Lions wanted. Instead of finding players that fit Caldwell’s system, Bob Quinn did an about-face and started searching for players that would fit Matt Patricia’s system.
The roster turnover was something that would be more noticeable on defense since in all honesty that was really where the demands differed from what Jim Caldwell was doing.
Players like Taylor Decker, Graham Glasgow, Joe Dahl, Rick Wagner, Marvin Jones, and Kenny Golladay were acquired before Matt Patricia came to town and they are all currently in the starting lineup. Decker had an outstanding rookie campaign but hasn’t been the same since an injury caused him to miss the first half of his second season.
Glasgow has been steady, Wagner hasn’t played to the level of the free-agent contract he signed, Dahl just became a starter this year and Jones and Golladay have become a formidable receiving combination.
Defensively, Jarrad Davis and A’Shawn Robinson are the only real mainstay hold-overs that Quinn drafted before Matt Patricia, and Davis’ inconsistent play ay middle linebacker has been an issue.