Detroit Lions: Why wasn’t defensive line beef a higher priority?
By Robert Jones
The Detroit Lions have received high grades for their efforts in the NFL’s first ‘virtual draft’. But why wasn’t the defensive line addressed sooner?
The Detroit Lions have been given pretty high marks in general for their performance in the draft. They addressed several needs and on paper appear to be a better team for general manager Bob Quinn’s efforts.
But fans and the media alike can’t help but keep asking the same question; why did the Lions wait so long to address the defensive line? A question that has been answered, but perhaps not adequately for our satisfaction.
When we take a good long look at the draft, there are a couple of things that pop out at you. The first is that after we all talked about how Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia had given away all their leverage to make a draft-day trade by stating over and over to the media that Matthew Stafford was their man, they went a step further and their actions said the same thing.
Adding running back D’Andre Swift in the second round, along with the back to back selections of guards Jonah Jackson and Logan Stenberg not only speak about their desire to run the ball better but also make sure the line is more solid in pass protection.
When you toss in receiver Quintez Cephus and speedy running back Jason Huntley, suddenly the Lions look like a team that will have the ability to make defenses pay attention to the Lions ground game which will make the play-action passing game more deadly and those big ugly’s that happen to be good at opening holes for the backs will be just as good at protecting Matthew.
In other words, the 2020 Lions draft is Bob Quinn’s statement that ‘Matthew Stafford is our quarterback and this draft was built around making the offense better for him’. Just imagine if the Packers thought the same way about Aaron Rodgers and gave him a real receiving weapon or two?