There is no question about it. If the Detroit Lions want to make a run at the NFL Playoffs in 2020, Matthew Stafford is going to have to remain healthy and the offense is going to have to be dominant.
Looking at the Lions position groups, it is pretty obvious that their most talented group is the wide receivers. With Kenny Golladay , Marvin Jones Jr ., and Danny Amendola back for another season, along with TE T.J. Hockenson having a chance to break out and rookie RB D’Andre Swift ‘s ability to catch passes out of the backfield, Stafford is certainly going to have plenty of weapons to work with during the coming season.
According to Pro Football Focus , the Lions have the No. 6 ranking receiving corp in the NFL.
From Pro Football Focus :
The duo of Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. may be underrated around the league, but both guys can win in a number of ways, and they excel in contested-catch situations. Golladay ranks fifth in contested catches since 2017 (49) while Jones ranks eighth (42), and both have top-10 contested-catch rates among qualifiers. Danny Amendola remains a solid option in the slot at 34 years old after earning a 71.5 overall grade in 2019, and there’s reason to believe T.J. Hockensonwill take a step forward as a receiver in his second season given how effective he was at Iowa. The addition of the best receiving running back in the class— D’Andre Swift — only bolsters the group.
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Hopefully Swift does change the entire dynamic by being a legit threat to catch balls out of the back field.
As for receivers, I think our top 3 guys are all pretty solid, so we have a good starting group. However, we are super thin if any of them go down. Not a fan of Allison, Hall was a neat surprise last year, but I am not sold on him other than a go route dude. Cephus is another big ? for me. I didn’t see a lot that I cared for but maybe he can become a good possession WR one day. I wanted Donovan Peoples-Jones a lot more and thought he could rotate in from day 1.
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We didn’t need DPJ, we have Marvin Hall Jr to take the top off the defense
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DPJ isn’t the same type of WR. He will be more like Amendola and Edelmon than a one trick pony like Hall.
DPJ is a good route runner, all Hall has shown is the go route. Teams will adjust to him. Kind of like they did with Theo. When he goes in the game, you know what’s coming.
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Was sarcasm man… but regardless DPJ needs to catch the damn ball before I would consider him worthwhile, and I am a Wolverine fan.
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Love our WR group, as long as they stay healthy.
Actually think I love our RBs more.
KJ is a highly serviceable player, if he can stay healthy.
Bo is really good in his role.
Swift is “the guy,” and I think he’ll do amazing, in that role.
Huntley may be a much better version of McChapstick, as well as KR/PR
Love BTP’s point that the run game should bolster the passing game.
This could get really fun
I saw the change first hand out here in Denver when Elway got a running game with Terrell Davis.
That offense was just deadly and an absolute joy to watch
I hope that we as Detroit Lions fans get to see this this type of change this year.
So screw it…
My bold prediction is this will be the best offense we have seen since Stafford’s arrival. Better than 2011.
i understand the way people feel about the cephus pick. i wasn’t thrilled initially either. the more i went back and watched the kid though i was impressed with his ability to catch contested footballs. he reminds me of anquan bolden. which is funny because he’s the exact same size and build bolden was coming out of college. they even ran almost identical 40 times at the combine. i’m not saying he’s going to be the second coming of bolden but at the very least i think he could be a solid chain mover.
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