Twice in the span of three days this week, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell had something to say about the Lions' wide receiver depth chart. The battle for spots down the depth chart, and for the nominal No. 3 receiver role that Josh Reynolds vacated, is clearly a concern.
The urgency to fill a void that has been hard to ignore all offseason hasn't existed at all yet, as Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports hinted at, which makes it easy to question the aggressiveness there will be to address it now.
Kalif Raymond's role in the Lions' offense dipped last season, most notably to just a 30 percent snap share. But there was a lot of good in his work last year, as deeper metrics have shed light on that. He is clearly a trusted target for Jared Goff, like Reynolds was.
Kalif Raymond can't be overlooked in Lions' search for a No. 3 wide receiver
If a piece looking at the five best quarterback-wide receiver pairings from last season based on catchable target rate, Pro Football Focus had Goff and Raymond at No. 4.
"Raymond has caught 130 passes and five touchdowns over that span. His catches have decreased each year in Detroit, but he is still a cog in one of the best offenses in the NFL, earning a 75.4 PFF overall grade in 2023 — his best output since 2019."
"Raymond split his time evenly between being a slot option and a deep boundary threat for the Lions, but his 8.8-yard average target depth and 6.1 yards after the catch per reception tell the story of a receiver perfectly molded into Ben Johnson’s offense. Raymond caught 83.7% of his catchable targets last year, the fourth-best rate in the NFL."
Raymond led Lions' pass catchers with at least 15 targets last season in catch rate (79.5 percent). On Wednesday, via Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News, he talked about Campbell's call for someone in the wide receiver room to step up.
"I think there’s an opportunity here for everybody, especially in that room. But at the end of the day, especially in this league, it’s also a lot of self-motivation because everyone is trying to make a name for themselves and stick in this league. So the best thing you can do is give everything you can,”
It can certainly be said it'd be better for Raymond to have a relatively limited role in the Lions' offense, since he also serves as the team's punt returner. However it may prove to be telling though (h/t to Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire), Raymond was the only receiver to see first-team reps in three-receiver sets with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams during Wednesday's practice.
As others have fallen by the wayside, or been unable to sustain early momentum, Raymond might just swoop in and seize the No. 3 wide receiver role for the Lions.