Detroit Lions’ NFL draft haul puts the pressure on Aaron Glenn: Don’t hold this team back
By Carlos M
Full article at Link.
A few snippets:
As the dust settles on the 2024 NFL draft and we try to make sense out of what it all means for the Detroit Lions, I’ve achieved some clarity with a succinct explanation: A.G.
Yes, A.G. stands for Aaron Glenn. But what A.G. really means is that the coordinator’s excuses are pretty much A.G. — as in All Gone — after general manager Brad Holmes committed some of his most valuable draft capital to upgrading Glenn’s underperforming defense.
For the first time in four drafts, Holmes used his first two picks on defense. That included trading away his only third-round pick, and a high one at that, to move up and pick Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold 24th overall. Then he snagged Missouri corner Ennis Rakestraw Jr. in the second round as his only pick on Day 2.
Two days. Two picks. Two corners.
And zero questions about which need the Lions felt the most pressure to address, or which side of the ball and which coordinator needs the most help.
Before that matchup, Glenn was asked how he would describe his defense and leaned on the team’s favorite buzz word: gritty.
“That’s who we are,” he said in late January. “Listen, we know exactly who we are. Are we the fastest? Are we the most talented? No, but we’ll bite somebody’s face off when we go play them.”
Tenacity and toughness are important components in football. But at the highest levels of play, it’s simply not enough. No NFL team succeeds just by being tougher than another. They’re all tough.
It’s mostly two things that separate winners and losers: talent and how it’s used by coaches. And now Glenn has top-shelf talent at three levels of the defense, with first-round draft picks on the defensive line, linebacker and cornerback.
