The Lions knocked out their trade-deadline shopping early, acquiring defensive end Everson Griffen from Dallas last week. Because of the league’s COVID-19 regulations, he wasn’t able to be in the team facility until Monday, but he’s set to debut — and possibly play a large role — at Minnesota.
Otherwise, the roster is what it is moving toward the second half of the season. And if Detroit is going to snap out of its 3-4 hole, here are a handful of key players who have to elevate their games:
Da’Shawn Hand
The Lions’ new starting three-man front of Nick Williams, John Penisini and Danny Shelton has garnered a lot of attention the past few weeks, and rightfully so. But, rather under the radar, Hand has played at least 50 percent of the defensive snaps for four consecutive weeks, and he’s been really strong the past two — he had four tackles in Atlanta, another four vs. Indianapolis and has flashed an uptick as a pass rusher.
Advertisement
This matters because Trey Flowers’ imminent multiweek absence opens up a huge hole along the Lions’ defensive line. Those 3-4 and 3-3-5 looks will plug some of Flowers’ reps; Griffen will handle a bunch more, especially off the edge. It’s Hand, though, who could wind up playing Flowers’ passing-down role over center, with Griffen and Okwara on his flanks.
“I think he’s been playing great,” defensive coordinator Cory Undlin said of Hand. “I would say this, for everybody on defense, we’re three-and-four right now, so that’s where we’ve all played. … We all got things to improve on, starting with myself. Da’Shawn would probably say the same thing.”
Hand has reestablished himself as a piece to the puzzle, after an injury-plagued 2019. Still, Flowers’ absence might open a big opportunity for him to lock up a role headed into 2021, which is set to be the last year of his contract.
Quintez Cephus
Very interested to see what happens here, as Kenny Golladay stands to miss at least one game, likely more. As late as the Tuesday before Detroit’s opener, Cephus was on track to be way down the depth chart. Then, Golladay suffered a hamstring injury that sidelined him for Weeks 1 and 2, and Cephus wound up starting against Chicago. Matthew Stafford even targeted him a whopping 10 times in that loss (with three completions); Cephus caught another three passes at Green Bay the next week.
Since that point? He’s been a non-factor — minimal reps in Weeks 3 and 4, a healthy scratch in Weeks 6-8. Receivers coach Robert Prince said recently that this is more in line with the Lions’ rookie-year plans for Cephus: “His role was to be a backup for the two outside guys, so when Kenny came back his play time went down. Nothing against him. We’re happy with him and with where his future is gonna go.”
Advertisement
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell confirmed Tuesday that Cephus had been caught in a “numbers game” of late, as opposed to playing his way out of the rotation. Dressing six receivers is tough, so Detroit has defaulted to Hall, a big-play threat, and Jamal Agnew, a key special-teams player.
Does Cephus’ workload creep back up now, opposite Marvin Jones? Or will the Lions ride with Marvin Hall in that No. 2 role?
Cephus is “definitely improving each and every day,” Bevell said. “He’s a tireless worker, so he hasn’t just shut it down because he hasn’t been out there, and you really appreciate it. … He’s definitely ready to go. He’ll do a fine job if he needs to be in there.”
If nothing else, a run of solid play from Cephus might quiet down folks up in arms that Detroit let new NFL star Travis Fulgham leave.
Jahlani Tavai
Here’s where the Lions are at with their linebacking corps: With the way Undlin and Matt Patricia want to deploy that position group, they need Tavai to play far better than he has. They don’t have many options behind him — Jarrad Davis just landed on the COVID-19 list Tuesday, putting his availability for Week 9 very much in doubt. And they still think Tavai can be a versatile piece for them, as we’ve seen with his usage across all downs.
“Jahlani, he’s played a little bit more, little bit inside, little bit on the edge, but I would say his football recognition is really good,” Patricia said. “We have to be a little bit more consistent with some of the things that he’s doing out on the field, but he does a good job of communicating and adjusting some of the different looks that we see.”
Whatever the Lions’ coaching staff is seeing (or saying it’s seeing) in Tavai’s “football recognition” … well, the rest of us are not. He’s been inconsistent in his run fits and he’s been a liability in coverage, be it man or zone.
Advertisement
But the Lions are going to keep running him out there. He might not play 89 percent of snaps again, like he did in Arizona, but expect him to land steadily in the 45- to 55-percent range. That’s a huge chunk, meaning plenty of chances to prove he can be the guy next to Jamie Collins inside.
Tracy Walker
We talked about Walker for a bit on this week’s podcast …
In training camp, and into the early parts of the regular season, the Lions kept trotting out Duron Harmon and Will Harris with the first-team defense and using Tracy Walker as their third option. Obviously, the plan to pile a heavy workload on Harris’ plate flopped, but was there reason to be concerned about Walker?
He’s remained a tackling machine — he’s up to 51 already this season, after posting 103 last season. His coverage, on the other hand, has been hit or miss. Walker allowed a touchdown in coverage in Weeks 1 and 2, then the Colts burned him twice with Nyheim Hines on Sunday. Sportradar had Philip Rivers at 4 for 4 when throwing in Walker’s direction.
This scheme tosses a ton of different matchups at Walker, from tight ends and running backs to high coverage in zone. He hasn’t performed well enough in any of them. And that’s with Jayron Kearse taking some of the man-to-man responsibilities from him.
There’s still a very high ceiling here, but Harmon’s presence at free safety and Collins’ work in second-level coverage have not freed up Walker as a playmaker quite as expected. Can he be that guy from here on out?
Joe Dahl
The Lions never figured to be O-line buyers at the deadline — a week or two back, I actually thought they might sell a piece (Kenny Wiggins just signed with the Giants after Detroit released him). This is a position of strength and depth, in theory.
It didn’t look that way Sunday, as the Colts’ defensive front pushed around the Lions, especially along the interior. Detroit opted to start Dahl at right guard and keep rookie Jonah Jackson at left guard, where he moved while Dahl was injured. In training camp, those roles were as they started the year — Dahl on the left, Jackson on the right.
Advertisement
Part of the Week 8 consideration was that the Lions wanted Jackson between Taylor Decker and Frank Ragnow, and Dahl next to Halapoulivaati Vaitai, for communication purposes. Whether it stays that way remains to be seen. Vaitai’s status, at least, seems up in the air for Week 9 after he hobbled his way through most of the game against Indianapolis, ultimately leaving early.
No matter how it shakes out, Dahl has to settle back in if the Lions are going to stabilize this thing. Patricia talks often of his line needing to “see things through the same set of eyes,” which has been almost impossible to accomplish with the right side shifting almost weekly. Dahl has that background with Ragnow and Decker, though. Those three were meant to be the rocks headed into 2020, so the Lions didn’t feel Jackson’s ebbs and flows or any Vaitai issues as badly.
Dahl’s progress over the past couple of years really has been remarkable. His teammates and coaches rave about the strength he’s added, and he’s developed into a reliable run blocker — he played exclusively out of a two-point stance in an extreme passing offense at Washington State.
(Photo of Da’Shawn Hand: Billy Hardiman / USA Today)
