Three reasons why the Detroit Lions should not draft Tua Tagovailoa
Reason #2: Defensive needs
By now, I think everyone knows what the Lions’ biggest liability is – its defense.
When it came to total yards allowed this season, the Detroit Lions defense was ranked 31st in the league. That alone should be an indicator of what their draft needs are.
A lot of their defensive struggles were because of the losing battle in the trenches. The defensive line was supposed to be the strong suit of this defense going into 2019. But instead, they ended up being the biggest liability.
Aside from defensive lineman, Damon “Snacks” Harrison, the Lions had little to no penetration in the run game. They failed to fill gaps which led to opposing running backs getting yards in chunks each carry.
Because of this, it often led to the weak linebacker core having to make more plays than usual in the run game. You can probably guess how those scenarios would turn out more times than not.
Everyone blamed the porous pass defense on the secondary, but that simply wasn’t the case. Again, this problem stems from the D-line and their lack of a pass rush.
As a team, Detroit only racked up 28 sacks, half of those being from linebacker, Devon Kennard and defensive end Trey Flowers who both had seven a piece.
The Lions defense ran zone coverage more frequently than other teams did. When you run a zone coverage, you’re basically betting on your D-line to get to the quarterback before the wide receivers find the soft spot in the zones.
Needless to say, that bet didn’t work out for Detroit.
The secondary can’t cover receivers forever, especially in a zone. Even when Detroit sent a blitz, whether it was zone or man, they still failed to get consistent pressure on the opposing QB.
With studs like Ohio State’s defensive end, Chase Young, and Auburn’s versatile D-lineman, Derrick Brown, you can’t pass up on an opportunity to draft one of these guys.
Do you draft Tua who would sit for several seasons? Or do you get someone like Chase Young who can make an impact now? I think the answer is pretty self explanatory.