Will Detroit’s LB Group Be Its Downfall?
Detroit Lions General Manager Brad Holmes has had two exceptional drafts in his first two years with the franchise. Overall he’s received nothing but praise for his selections at the draft, as those players have become key contributors to the team already.
Holmes hasn’t made many mistakes yet, and it’s still too early to tell if some of those decisions ultimately sour in the long run. However there’s very little talk about a key drafting mistake that Holmes appears to be guilty of. That mistake could be fixed by next year‘s draft, but current team expectations may look completely different had this particular issue been addressed before the 2022 campaign.
The weakest position group for the Detroit Lions is the linebacker position. They arguably have one of the weakest LB groups in the entire NFL with the front office doing the bare minimum by drafting sixth round potential starter Malcolm Rodriguez.
The Detroit Lions drafted LB Derrick Barnes in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. In the same draft, they drafted second round Defensive Tackle Levi Onwuzurike, who was considered to be one of the top DT’s in the draft. The very next round, the Lions drafted another DT in Alim McNeil, who played like one of the top rookie tackles in the league. While defensive tackle was a big need, they probably didn’t need to double dip with talent still on the board in other areas of need as well.
To be clear, Levi is a talented player, but he wasn’t the right pick based on how the rest of the draft went. Alim McNeil looks promising for Detroit but needs to get more snaps as he was very productive in his small on the field sample size last year. With a roster that had as many holes as the 2021 Lions had, doubling down on the same position likely wasn’t the smartest move.
A player that kept slipping in 2021 that the Lions would have greatly benefited from picking was Browns linebacker Jeremiah Owusu.
In this year‘s draft, Brad Holmes had one of the best drafts in the league, selecting arguably the best offensive and defensive players in the first round in Aidan Hutchinson and Jameson Williams. In the second round, the Lions decided to draft another defensive end in Josh Paschall, and took safety Kirby Joseph in the 3rd. Joseph was actually a player who the Lions considered drafting in the second round but were thrilled to grab a round later.
Pasal was considered one of the best run stoppers in the draft, which complements the selection of DE Aiden Hutchinson. Kirby is a ball hawk at the safety position and can be very good on Sundays for the foreseeable future. However, there were far too many talented linebackers still available that warranted consideration.
Even though both of these guys will compete for starting jobs soon, far too many talented linebackers were passed up by Detroit. Players like Chad Muma, Christian Harris and Nakobe Dean were all available at the second round pick, and the Lions might regret passing on any of those three down the line.
In the third round, the decision to ignore the linebacker spot continued. Joseph may not see as many snaps as fans immediately expect, as the Lions added some veteran depth to rotate in at the safety position. The other one is already secured by Tracy Walker. Safety was a big need, but not enough to pass up on consensus top linebackers that were still available such as Leo Chenal and Brandon Smith.
This linebacking corps at least took a step forward when they added Rodriguez in the sixth round. He’s looked like the best linebacker on the team in the early going, but that also indicates just how depleted this position group is. Rodriguez is a talented linebacker that believed he could be a starter instantly. Which proves Detroit could have improved their linebacker group exponentially if they took one of the players mentioned above ALONG with Rodriguez.
There’s simply not enough competition in Detroit’s LB room to push players to be better. There’s a balance in talent which makes the competition intriguing to follow, but there aren’t any other standouts on the team which means all three LB starting positions are essentially up for grabs. If Holmes doesn’t grab a QB in next year’s draft, don’t be surprised if the Lions draft a linebacker with not just one, but both late first round picks.
-Robert Martin
Twitter: @Defense_Rob