In ESPN.com’s weekly power rankings, they have the Lions listed 20th, behind a lot of 1-1 teams, which seems a little harsh. But the theme in the column this week is “most pleasant surprise for each team,” and for the Lions, they list CB Rashaan Melvin.
Cornerback Rashaan Melvin had a down 2018 and signed with the Lions in a bid to resurrect his career. Through two weeks, he has given Detroit a good option opposite star Darius Slay, making the Lions’ secondary vastly more difficult to deal with. Melvin, who is seeing a lot more attention because of Slay’s shutdown abilities, has 13 tackles and five pass breakups over the first two weeks and is on pace to obliterate his career-best pass breakups mark of 13, set in 2017. If he keeps playing like this, he might warrant a much larger contract after the season.
I did notice him out there, in a good way. A few of us were asking whether Quinn had adequately addressed the CB position opposite Slay, and weren’t too enthusiastic about paying big money for a slot corner (Coleman) and the Melvin signing. So far, however, it’s looking really good.
Melvin’s emergence allows them to take their time with Oruwariye as well.