Detroit Lions: Offensive X-Factors for each position group
Quarterback
More than any other spot, quarterback is a position where the consensus feeling is that Lions fans know exactly what we have:
- Healthy Matthew Stafford- It’s all good. The Lions will be competitive and have a chance to win just about any game if he stays up and in one piece.
- Chase Daniel- a career backup with very few starts, fewer wins, and the Lions massively overpaid him this spring (Daniel will make more this year than Cam Newton and Jameis Winston combined. Think about that).
- David Blough- Throws a good deep ball, but otherwise didn’t show many other NFL-level skills in his five starts a year ago. Blough’s poise and decision making in late game situations was woeful even for a rookie, with 4th quarter interceptions in four of those five games.
X-Factor:Â The Free Agency market
Maybe Bob Quinn still has something up his sleeve. Remember, Cam Newton just got signed barely 24 hours ago, and there are still plenty of well-known quarterbacks available. Until then, the Lions will live one play away from another season-ending disaster, which isn’t a comforting thought.
Running Backs
Recent history has a way of blinding us to the present moment; at present though, the Lions have a solid set of ball carriers that should be able to pick up yardage under almost any circumstances. For this perennially underachieving position, the draft brought in some reinforcements that make the Lions’ backs much deeper (and much more cost effective) than the team has had in a long time. Of course, now it needs to translate to on-field results.
X-Factor: D’Andre Swift
If Swift lives up to his ‘best running back in the draft’ billing, we’re looking at a potent ground attack in Detroit this year. Swift has arguably as high of an upside as any other player on the roster. Lions fans have heard this story before though, and the names Jahvid Best and Ameer Abdullah immediately spring to mind for high draft picks who didn’t pan out at the position.