Is Bob Quinn’s plan for the Detroit Lions working? Comparing 2015 to 2019
Detroit Lions Receivers and backs
Then:
Matthew Stafford was the quarterback, Dan Orlovsky was back as his backup. They were handing off to former second-round pick Ameer Abdullah, Joique Bell, and Theo Riddick, primarily. Zach Zenner, George Winn, and Michael Burton were there for special teams and blocking purposes.
The receiver corps was comprised of Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, T.J. Jones, Eric Ebron, and Corey Fuller or Lance Moore as slot receivers. Brandon Pettigrew was the blocking tight end with Timothy Wright and Bear Pascoe providing depth.
For reference, Abdullah missed seven games while producing 597 yards as the starter, Calvin Johnson had 1,214 yards, while Golden Tate was second with 831 yards, stats from Pro Football Reference. Stafford had a great year passing for 4,224 yards, 32 scores, a 67.4% completion rate, while only throwing 13 interceptions.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Now:
Vuja-De, wait, …didn’t we just talk about this year? Other than Stafford’s final numbers the situation is almost completely the same; a good passing game, hurt starters, backups doing okay, and general inconsistency from the run game, in particular.
Stafford is still around, only pounded for four more years, and we just have to sub-in the new names. Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, Jr., T.J. Hockenson, Danny Amendola, and Marvin Hall as the receivers. Jesse James, Logan Thomas, Isaac Nauta, and Nick Bawden provide the tight end and fullback depth.
At running back, Kerryon Johnson, Ty Johnson, J.D. McKissic, and Bo Scarborough have split time due to injuries and limited effectiveness. Jeff Driskel and David Blough have both started at quarterback in place of the recovering Stafford. Kyle Sloter was just signed to take a look at as a quarterback, too, with Driskel being moved to the injured-reserve list joining Kerryon Johnson.
Verdict: Better/ younger
Like so many other areas of the roster, it is not easy to point to big improvements, especially in production. Golladay is better than 2015 Calvin Johnson because he is healthier and younger. Tate and Jones are different styles of players but both were in their prime in each respective year. Amendola is a better slot-specific player but he is also not a spring chicken at 34 years of age.
At running back, it’s a bit of a wash. Is Johnson, Johnson, Scarborough, McKissic much better than Abdullah, Bell, Riddick? Perhaps by a bit but the run game leaves a lot to be desired after four years of attempts to fix things. The newer players are faster overall but in terms of production, the stats don’t show big strides.
Going from Ebron to Hockenson seems to be an upgrade but the Lions have failed to utilize their first-round talent as much as his being a top-ten selection would suggest they should. There is little debate that he is a better blocker, as Ebron is notorious for being a poor blocker and that is an insult to poor blockers.
A quick look at rankings shows that the current run game is ranked eighteenth with 105.6 yards-per-game (ypg) compared to thirty-second with an 83.4 ypg average. While that improvement is noticeable, the Lions have yet to have a runner eclipse the 1,000-yard mark or for the run game to end in the top half of the league in production.
Quinn said at his first press conference that fixing the run game was a priority to him and that he was building from the inside-out. The passing game has been in the top ten in both years, and with very few games missed by Stafford, it has maintained a high ranking almost continuously.
Blough and Driskel were picked up after the draft and Quinn has used very little resources to find or develop another quarterback. Scarborough was brought in after the draft as a free agent, as well but has looked pretty good as an inside runner.