Slay was benched because he was getting torched and picked on. And that was WITH “some” semblance of a pass rush. Okudah had “no” semblance of a pass rush. They put him in off man where he couldn’t get his hands on guys and use his size and strength. They also didn’t run much zone where a young corner can focus on protecting an area. Instead Patricia thought it would be a better plan to give guys like DeVonte Adams 5 yards to get free releases and expected Okudah to turn and burn with them on an island as a rookie. That isn’t his game. I believe if you are secondary player who’s only played in Patricia’s flaming turd of a scheme, you deserve a chance to show what you’ve got in NOT the worst defensive scheme design in the entire NFL.
Generally speaking, with a DC who was a former CB and secondary coach, I think the DBs, including Okudah, will show improvement in 2021, especially in something other than a defense resembling a “bend but don’t break” or “prevent defense.”
1 Like
I agree with you 3rd.
I won’t deny the fact that Okudah didn’t play well. Because he didn’t. Expectations were high that he would be a CB worthy of a 3OA and he wasn’t … he struggled like a mid-late round 1 rookie CB would. I expected this much.
However I think he looked way worse than he actually was and that the Lions didn’t do him any favors at all. You brought up a few points I’ve made in the past but I want to emphasize two … Zone is much easier to play and the Lions didn’t run a lot of zone coverages and this exposed Okudah. We also didn’t have much safety help over the top. Our lack of quality safety play made our CB’s look much worse than they were.
I think Okudah will look much improved this year because I’m expecting better coaching, more zone coverages and a better pass rush but I’m still worried about our safety situation. So I do expect to see some struggles again but not nearly as bad as last season.
Ultimately I think Okudah can be a solid pro and I think we will start to see signs of that this offseason.
Unfortunately I don’t expect him to ever live up to his draft position. So I think fans will always be a bit disappointed in the pick.
The groin injury he suffered at Ohio State didn’t help either during the 2020 season.