As New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees continued to rain touchdowns upon the Detroit Lions secondary in the second half of this year’s Wild Card playoff game, the minds of many Lions fans immediately began to wander toward the off-season.
The Lions definitely have a lot of promise going into next year and beyond. When you talk about elite talents such as Matt Stafford, Calvin Johnson, and Ndamukong Suh among others, you have to include these Lions in any discussion of future contenders.
But while General Manager Martin Mayhew has done a remarkable job re-building this franchise, the task is a probably a year or two away from being over. The Lions have some needs, namely in the secondary and on the offensive line.
The last two games of the season were an absolute embarrassment for the secondary. In Week 17, Packers backup QB Matt Flynn threw for a whopping six touchdowns in a game the Lions were supposed to dominate en route to nabbing that all important 5th seed. It didn’t get much better in the playoffs as Drew Brees threw for over 450 yards, 3 touchdowns, and zero interceptions, the type of game Lions fans feared going in.
While these performances ultimately ended the Lions season, it made one thing clear: secondary is by far the biggest need. I believe the Lions already have an adequate number two cornerback in Chris Houston. Beyond him, there’s Aaron Berry, Alphonso Smith, Eric Wright, and Brandon McDonald. Eric Wright is a free agent, and you’d have to think the team wouldn’t mind keeping him as a nickel guy. Despite Aaron Berry having a very tough game in New Orleans, he showed a lot of potential this year and he should still be a guy the Lions would like to keep around, Twitter controversy considered. Berry is a very good tackler and gives the team speed at the position. However, the Lions are still lacking that shutdown corner. Thankfully for them, there’s quality options in both free agency and the draft.
Free Agency
One guy that immediately catches your eye as a potential target is Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan. Tennessee of course, is Jim Schwartz’s old stomping grounds, and the potential for a pitch that would include being the number one guy on an up and coming team with his old defensive coordinator would have to be pretty intriguing. Schwartz got Kyle Vanden Boesch to come here from Tennessee following an 0-16 season, so why not Finnegan now after a 10-6 campaign?
Other potential targets: Falcons CB Brent Grimes, Chiefs CB Brandon Carr, 49ers CB Carlos Rogers, Giants CB Terrell Thomas.
NFL Draft
Unfortunately, when the Lions are on the clock at pick 23 it’s highly unlikely that stud corners Dre Kirkpatrick (Alabama) and Morris Claiborne (LSU) will be there for the Lions taking. The Lions will certainly take that trade-off for the success they had this year, and the good news is that there is talented guys beyond them.
At pick 23, the Lions may have the opportunity to pick either Nebraska CB Alfonzo Dennard or Northern Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins, who is a University of Florida transfer if you’re not a fan of small school guys. However, consider that Jenkins transferred from Florida because of a second arrest, but also consider that he went first team All-SEC as a junior at UF. Not like the Lions exactly have the reputation as a team full of good guys anyway. Either one of these players has the definite potential to be a number one corner in the NFL and would fill that void going forward for the franchise.
Stay tuned in the coming days for an analysis of the Lions offensive line and look at potential targets for the team.