As a preface, I like the approach Holmes and Co. took towards addressing this area in light of their approach to other positions on the team. However, I remember clearly the last time this group made such a stark transition, letting Johnny Morton walk away while bringing in Az-Hakim and Bill Schroeder as replacements.
I’m very much concerned about seeing similar results with this group. Tyrrell Williams, not exactly #1 material. Perriman, would he still be around if not for his father’s name? After that,???
Hockenson and a strong running game can do a lot to alleviate that, and take the pressure off. Too much is riding on things going right on paper.
Paper Lions have seldom been kind to us.
There is hope, with another piece on the offensive line, to enjoy the fruits of a grinding running attack, and legitimate play action, defensive breakdowns that Goff can take advantage of. At some point though, sooner rather than later, some defensive coordinator will stack the box from the first snap and dare this group to sustain success over the course of the game.
That’s where things could get ugly this year, or where this group could prove itself to be more than the sum of its parts.
I’ve been pretty vocal about the lack of attention giving to the WR corps this offseason. There is no #1 guy, and I think it is a stretch to say there is even a #2 guy.
To me this is still a bottom-5 wide receiver group in the league, and all it could take is one injury to make this snowball into something horrible. People keep bringing up Hockenson, but he’s going to be schemed for by the opposing team so the other guys are going to have to step up. Here’s hoping it works out.
Let’s face it, Perriman has been injured a fair amount early. Would he have even been a first round pick out of Central Florida without him being Brett’s son? I have to wonder. Many critics have pointed out how he completely disappears while on the field, and attribute this to a lack of effort. Are they wrong? I have to wonder. Maybe he’d be on a roster, but would he be in a position to start anywhere else? He’s never had more than 36 receptions in a season. Bad offenses, or failure to capitalize on opportunities? These are all legitimate questions where he’s concerned.
Is the talent there to make an impact? Absolutely. Is the will? We can only hope, as there aren’t many other options out there.
I think in the past we would go get the Adrian Peterson and because he was formerly great, people felt happy because of getting a name guy. Well, we did not do that. So I think people are automatically thinking we are going to be terrible. Looking at what Austin Ekler did under Lynn… insert Swift there. He is going to be a huge part of our passing game. Hockenson is going to break out and we are going to make him a much bigger part of the offense. Stafford was just always had an affinity for going to his slot receiver. That’s why he made Danny Amendola look like Golden Tate. I think a lot of those targets are going to now go to Hock and he’s going to put up Kelce/Kittle type numbers (if he learns how to catch a ball without falling down).
I think having the speedsters going vertical will stretch the defense, even if they are mainly decoys. You have to cover them and so that will be their value, creating space underneath so Swift and Hock can be dealing with LB’s not DB’s. It also would shock me if we add a WR after cut downs that may upset the current depth chart for the better. We couldn’t fix it all this offseason. So there are going to be soft position groups on this team this season. Yes WR will likely be one of them, but I think overall our passing game will be better than most people think when they focus on Williams/Perriman.
My fear is that we face 8 in the box, a run blitz situation. If I were facing the Lions that’s exactly what I would do defensively. If you can’t make the opposition pay for it, you’re screwed.
I agree fully. If you’re going to have second and third-tier receivers, at least make sure they’re fast.
Again, fully agree. Given that they didn’t allocate draft resources to WR, I think they took a very reasonable approach. Rely on the backs and TEs for a huge part of the passing game and hope the wideouts can take the top off once or twice to keep everything from completely locking down underneath.
That’s exactly my concern as well. Let’s even go a step further and envision a defensive blueprint where the opposition doesn’t care if the Lions have long successes multiple times and keep stacking the box. That’s what I would do until the receivers prove they’re a legitimate threat, and a couple long ball TD’S wouldn’t even phase my approach, as that’s going to shorten time of possession and put the pressure on the defense. I think the 10-25 yard intermediate passing game is going to be critical to offensive success or failure this season.
Quintez Cephus’s performance in year 1, coupled with his offseason performance thus far, gives some reason for hope that he may actually emerge as a quality starting WR.
Cephus managed to beat a pretty darn good CB in Kyle Fuller [2× Pro Bowl (2018, 2019), First-team All-Pro (2018), NFL interceptions co-leader (2018)], for a TD, which is encouraging:
Tyrone Williams & Breshad Perriman strike me as low volume guys who will average a higher ypc–something along the lines of 30-40 catches with a 15-16 ypc average.
Yep, our D is going to give up points so we HAVE to score often if we are going to win. Putting constant pressure on Goff, filling the running lanes, it’s going to take some serious work for the O to be effective.
If they have 8 in the box. Screens! WR screens, RB screens, TE screens! Invite them up field and then make them pay for it. Swift in the slot is going to be a difficult matchup to put 8 in the box against.
Its a weird statement that I can’t even compute. The receivers shouldn’t be respected until they prove they are a threat. Catching long TD passes is not being a threat. Hitting passes in the 10-25 yard range is what makes them a threat.
I’m looking forward to our RBs and what they will bro no to the receiving game!
Reading one of the recent articles, out OC simply put them in with the WRs at time during these last OTAs - like in the slot - and they both crushed it…
Don’t be surprised if we end up with a top three Rec. being a RB and in a good way!!
Completely agree. Swift and Williams are both going to go wild in this offense. Lynn and Duce are going to feature the RB’s, heck they both played RB in the league for many years.
Get the ball in the hands of your playmakers in space.
