Cornerback stood as a top need for the Detroit Lions leading into the trade deadline. But unsurprisingly for a number of reasons, including a market at the position that saw no one be traded in-season, general manager Brad Holmes didn't get a deal done.
In a perfect world, Roger McCreary would not have the second-most snaps played among Lions' cornerbacks this season and it wouldn't now be in line to stay that way. With D.J. Reed now set to miss a second straight game with a hip injury, McCreary is in line to leave Germany on Sunday, after the game against the New England Patriots, with the most snaps played among Detroit cornerbacks.
McCreary enters Week 10 No. 66 out of 104 qualifying cornerbacks in overall Pro Football Focus grade. His 53.1 coverage grade is several notches worse, 75th among that group of corners. A few particularly rough games have skewed things some, but everything counts and the eye test says McCreary has not been nearly good enough.
But the Lions "like who they have." Hopefully that won't prove costly over the rest of the season.
Roger McCreary has been even worse than you might expect in one area of coverage
Nic Bodiford of Pro Football Focus has highlighted some wide receiver-cornerback matchups to target or avoid for fantasy football in Week 10. It's no surprise the looming matchup between Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas and Lions cornerback Roger McCreary as one fantasy managers should target for profit.
Among 40 cornerbacks with at least 65 slot coverage snaps so far this season, McCreary has the 32nd-best coverage grade and he's below-par in multiple other areas Bodiford cited.
McCreary actually has the third-best catch rate allowed among that group of cornerbacks (53.6 percent), but Bodiford offered a huge caveat for that from his data chart.
"Douglas should rack up yardage efficiently against McCreary, whose catch rate allowed benefits from having faced high drops and off-target passes."
READ MORE: 3 most worrisome matchups for Lions ahead of international Patriots game
Doing some simple math, and using the PFF data Bodiford shared, McCreary has allowed 15 receptions on 28 targets in slot coverage this season. Seven of those 15 catches have been explosive plays.
Seven of the 13 targets that have not been completed against McCreary in the slot were charted as an off-target throw or a drop, not a direct credit to anything he did in coverage.
How easily can the Lions move Roger McCreary off the slot?
With Reed out again, McCreary will be on the field a lot by default against New England. The difference can be where he lines up. With A.J Brown listed as questionable for Sunday's game, and possibly operating at less than full strength if he does play, Douglas may be the de facto No. 1 wide receiver for the Patriots.
With safety Andre Cisco set to make his Lions' debut Sunday after being acquired the day before the trade deadline, rookie cornerback Keith Abney could (should?) start moving into a Brian Branch-like hybrid cornerback/safety role. He could certainly take over some slot work from McCreary, as could Branch if taking way Douglas becomes an easy priority. Cisco could even take some slot coverage snaps.
The Patriots will surely have a bullseye on McCreary no matter who he's covering. But if he's on Douglas a lot in the slot, in combination with Hunter Henry and how bad the Lions are against tight ends, Drake Maye's Next Gen Stats passing chart could have a sea of green between the numbers when Sunday's game is over.
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