We don’t talk about Benito much but he made Buggs expendable and he gave time for rookie DT Brodric Martin to develop. Benito ended up out snapping McNeil (due to injury overall of course) and he played pretty much 52% of all defensive snaps:
Benito turns 27 in November and he is a free agent now. My guess is he is a much larger priority for Holmes than many think. 330+ pounds and good here. Benito earned an 82.6 PFF grade in the Bucs playoff win:
Benito has had games where he wasn’t very good too to be fair. In the Vikes season ending W Benito had a poor grade. Benito was also graded poorly in the win over the Chiefs and Broncos. BUT…with the Lions being so damn good at defending the run it feels like all DTs involved in the scheme are better than their grades. McNeil is turning into a real STUD and Benito is a role player that we need to who should be very affordable as a run stuffing DT.
It feels like Benito is getting better4 and better. In 2022 Benito played 311 defensive snaps (about half as much as Buggs in 2022) and in 2023 Benito played 567 snaps. Almost double. It feels like Benito has a higher ceiling still at this point. Again he turns 27 this November. Undrafted in 2020 the Dolphins gave him a shot. We picked him up in 2022 and in 2023 he played a large role in our fantastic run run defense.
As good as the Lions run defense was it is time to give Benito a little credit. He and McNeil are a viable starting DT duo at this point. Martin is Benito’s back up at this point and Levi is Alim’s back up. I want another DT BUT…as long as Benito is back I am not worried about DT as much as some others. Thoughts?
That depth DT helped drive the Lions amazing run defense!
Why were the 2023 Lions one of the top three run defenses in the NFL? Anzalone arriving helped. Hutch is amazing in all phases of the game and that helps.
I think Alim was a BIG factor as well. But Benito also played a role too.
Is he Snacks? Nope. But Benito took a big step forward for us in 2023. I don’t think he has hit his ceiling yet. Benito is more valuable now than Buggs was to Holmes in 2023 when Buggs signed an extension.
Benito not only deserves a new deal he deserves a little credit as part of a great run stopping unit in 2023.
D.J. Reader has been PFF’s 6th and 13th ranked DT the last two years. 91st percentile last year and 96th percentile in 2022. He’s coming off the quad tear but he came back from that same injury once. I prefer Stewart bc he’s so damn tangy but both would be difference makers.
If we’re still Martin believers than instead it’s like re-up Jones (which I am fine with) or grab a Nunez-Roche/Hankins/Pennel type on the cheap.
Curious, I’m glad you mention Martin. Re-signing Jones allows us to develop BOTH Martin AND Benito still for very low dollars while fielding a great run defending defense.
We know Benito at this point. He outplayed Buggs and allowed the Lions to cut Buggs. That means something, right?!
PFF seems to have a blind spot for the DTs that just take up blocks. They overwhelmingly have very low grades. Though the NTs that both do that and make plays are highly regarded.
That is what I am thinking (low grades for space eaters). There is no way our team run defense could be that good and Jones be bad. No way. Feels like Jones plays his role here well.
I was just thinking he’s probably the only guy on the team who I don’t know what he looks like. But I remember that picture and thought it was Awosoke for some reason
You could say the same about JRM at the LB position. I still think he deserves a little credit and to be resigned.
I e been thinking about Benito and our run game and the DT position. Like we always talk about upgrading the DT position, which I think we absolutely should. But what would that mean for our run game which was really really good.
Benito has value as a run stuffer and takes on doubles. I’d imagine he comes back pretty cheap. Hopefully Bromart steps up and earns the starting spot though by mid season next year.
I hear ya’ Jim but dang…how do explain having such a great run defense? No Pro Bowl safeties. Anzalone WAS a beast but he didn’t do it alone. Jack Campbell was a rookie. Barnes made HUGE strides but he was still in a time share.
When Alim was out late the run defense was STILL good overall.
I’m not saying Benito is awesome or a Pro Bowler. He isn’t. I am also NOT saying replacing him would be hard. But he is an important role player in the run defense, we know him, he played his role well, we like him better than Buggs and he should be close to veteran minimum.
I am saying to me getting an upgrade at DT is my lowest priority of the three big defensive needs: CB, Edge rusher and DT.
In fact, I can live with Benito, Alim, Martin and Levi. If we add a rookie or a free agent I’m smiling! But I am fine passing on DT if we’re-sign Benito.
At one point last year, they were carrying Benito, BroMart, and Buggs on the roster and calling up Bohanna from the Practice Squad. I definitely think stopping the run first is a priority for the team, and I fully expect that we’re going to see additional investment in the position beyond BroMart and Benito, should they resign him.
What forms that investment takes is anyone’s guess, but I see three as their desired number there, not two.
In thinking about this I had this thought:
Who is a better football player at their position right now? Who is viable in their role?
Benito Jones, CB Vildor (not signed), CB Jerry Jacobs or edge players Charles Harris or Romeo Okwara?
Benito Jones is WAY better at his limited job which makes other guys better. Benito is also crazy affordable.
CB and edge opposite Hutch are serious issues.
For my $ re-sign Benito and bring that DT group back. Get an upgrade at CB and find an answer on the edge. Use the draft and flex guys inside if we need again with Commish, Paschal and sometimes Hutch. But get that answer at CB and edge.
We do have 4 top 100 draft picks. If a DT we love falls awesome. We also get James Houston back. I feel like Holmes needs to re-sign Benito and we need a top FA CB. From there see if the draft can help us at edge, interior OL, CB (still a need) and then also DT. That feels reasonable to me.
There’s too many permutations at this point to even speculate. Free Agency last year changed our entire perception of strengths and weaknesses with moves no one could predict. No one foresaw Montgomery and Sutton in combination, and then Holmes double dipped with Gibbs in the draft, and I can foresee a similar surprise waiting around the bend this year.
It’s clear that the Lions were hot on Witherspoon even after Sutton, and I do think that raising the floor talent level in the CB room is a foregone conclusion. Similarly, I think defensive line is also going to see some massive changes, but I definitely think we’re waiting on March 11th to begin to get an inkling. Can’t get here soon enough.
Do you mean the Snacks that played for the Giants, or the one that played for us (particularly at the end)? Because I would argue that most functional DTs outplayed ‘Detroit’ Snacks last year. It was remarkable how little he contributed at the tail end of his time here…
Obviously this still annoys me, and I should work on letting go of the past…