Darius Slay, the future of the Detroit Lions (Video)

While the hot topic right now for the Detroit Lions is obviously Ndamukong Suh, I found myself wondering why nobody seems to talk about Darius Slay. It seems funny to think about. Some may say I’m jumping the gun with the title alone. But I feel that Slay more than proved his worth this season. So much so that I believe Slay will be the future superstar of the Detroit Lions. Here are a few reasons why.

STATS.

The stats are there for Slay. There are two premier corners in the league that every corner will be compared to. Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis are the pinnacle of the position. Slay from a statistical standpoint isn’t far off. Slay notched 61 tackles this season, good for 5th on the Lions. That is also 20 more tackles than Revis ad 10 more than Sherman. Slay had 18 passes deflected this season. Revis had 16 and Sherman had 11. A lot of fans will focus on the sexy stats like interceptions and say he only had 2 (Revis also had 2 and Sherman had 4) 2 interceptions is right in line with most corners in the league. Of the top 20 players ranked by number of interceptions only 5 of them were corners.

ATTITUDE.

Dec 21, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay (23) during the first half at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Slay’s attitude is exactly what you would hope for from a veteran. Being that Darius is only 24 and in the second year of his career, it’s a bit shocking. In a time where most guy’s his age are trying to figure themselves out and find their place in the league, Darius is only concerned with how to get better. After a few rough outings last season that wound up getting Slay benched, Darius set out to make the off-season count by working with Hall of Fame corner Rod Woodson. It’s evident in Slay’s play this season that he learned a thing or two from Woodson. You could see a night and day difference between this season and last from Slay and apparently Woodson saw it too.

As for off field attitude I won’t say much. All I can see is a humble kid on twitter that appreciates the fans and the respect they give him

HE’S STOPPING THEM.

Slay has gone up against some of the best in the business this season and has shaken all of them. Most notably Dez Bryant. Slay managed to lock up Dez all night and didn’t allow him a single catch any time he lined up against Slay. Darius also stopped Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb holding them both under 100 yards in both meetings. Brandon Marshall and Julio Jones fared about as well. Alshon Jeffrey was the only guy to really give Slay trouble and it was on a lot of high point plays where Slay couldn’t out jump Alshon. Still this is quite a nice list of accomplishments for a second year player.

Darius Slay is the future superstar of Detroit because of his work ethic. He cares about his career and has shown that. I believe this will show through next season and beyond. What do you think? leave your comments below and be sure to follow me on twitter.