Detroit Lions Face Uncertainty At Tight End Position
The Detroit Lions are trying to find solutions at tight end after a pair of ACL injuries have depleted the depth chart.
The Detroit Lions find themselves with very little depth at the tight end position after ACL injuries to Brandon Pettigrew and Tim Wright. Bob Quinn told reporters on Monday that Pettigrew is not expected to be ready for the start of training camp, still recovering from a torn ACL suffered during a Week 14 loss to the Rams last season. Wright was placed on injured reserve on May 31 after he tore his ACL this offseason.
2014 first-round pick and alleged bust Eric Ebron is the current starter at tight end for the Lions and while his play has been adequate, his level of productivity is going to have to increase after Calvin Johnson‘s retirement. While he does not deserve much of the criticism levied upon him and the comparisons to fellow 2014 draftees Aaron Donald and Odell Beckham, Jr. will doubtlessly continue, Ebron’s production (72 receptions, 785 yards and six touchdowns in 27 games) has not yet met the expected level of a top-ten pick through his first two seasons in Detroit. He returned to practice on the last day of OTAs on Thursday and reportedly looks good.
The injuries to Pettigrew and Wright have left the Lions very much short-staffed at the position beyond Ebron and as a result, the bottom of the tight end depth chart has been a bit of a revolving door in recent months. The team signed Bear Pascoe after Pettigrew went down at the end of last season to fill the blocking tight end role, but he was not re-signed this offseason after playing 49 snaps over the last three games of the season.
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After the season was over the team signed journeyman veteran Matthew Mulligan on April 4 and waived Casey Pierce from the practice squad on May 3. The next day, the team released Jordan Thompson, who originally been the apparent successor to Don Muhlbach, but he was no longer needed on the roster after he failed a physical after spending 2015 on injured reserve and the Lions drafted long snapper Jimmy Landes in the fifth round of this year’s draft.
On May 6, the Lions signed two undrafted free agent tight ends, Cole Wick and Adam Fuehne, when they signed the rest of their rookie class, and the team added another UDFA on June 1st, Ben McCord, to bring the total number of healthy tight ends on the roster to five, including Ebron. It’s not a depth situation that inspires a lot of confidence, however, as the entire position group has combined for a total of 89 receptions and eight touchdowns in NFL games.
The Lions are the tenth NFL team 31-year old Mulligan has been a part of since signing with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2008. After a three-year stint with the New York Jets, he has been with a different team every year since 2011 and has never started more than nine games in a season. He is primarily a blocking tight end who has never recorded more than eight receptions in a single season.
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Wick seems to have the inside track to the roster among the UDFA tight ends on the depth chart, as he has participated in every offseason activity for the team, was offered a $10,000 signing bonus by the Lions to sign as a UDFA and has reportedly impressed in OTAs, even getting reps with the first-team offense. Wick hails from FCS program University of the Incarnate Word and is one of the first two players from the school, along with teammate Myke Tavarres who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, to sign with an NFL team. He has the size one looks for (6’6″, 255), although he’s not particularly fast or strong, and he is more of a receiver than a blocker, so he will not be filling Pettigrew’s role if Pettigrew continues to be limited by his injury.
There has not been much word from camp about the other UDFA tight ends, both of whom seem unlikely to crack the 53-man roster. Fuehne also has the size of an NFL tight end at 6’7″, 257, and he can block but he lacks the athleticism to be a receiver. Central Michigan prospect Ben McCord seems to have good hands but lacks a pass catcher’s size and speed.
The position battle for the Lions at tight end could very well depend on how quickly Pettigrew recovers. If the Lions feel like he’s ready to go Week 1, Mulligan might be cut in order to keep Wick as another target for Matthew Stafford. If Pettigrew is not ready to go, Wick might find himself on the practice squad until Pettigrew is healthy enough to justify Mulligan’s release.
Either way, it doesn’t seem like Mulligan will be a Lion for very long as the front office has invested quite a bit in Wick. UDFAs who get large signing bonuses tend to make the 53-man roster and it would seem that the Lions would be unlikely to want to keep four tight ends.
Pettigrew’s role has been primarily that of a blocking tight end in recent years, as much of his early career was plagued by drops. According to Pro Football Focus, he posted highest drop rate of any tight end in the NFL from 2009-2011. When he went down at the end of last season, the Lions resorted to deploying an extra tackle at the tight end position at times simply because there was not another blocking tight end on the roster until the team signed Pascoe.
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Wright was traded to the Lions at the end of the 2015 preseason for rookie kicker Kyle Brindza. Wright flashed occasionally for the Lions, catching nine passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns, and was re-signed on March 14, but he was waived by the team with an unspecified injury designation on May 26 and then placed on injured reserve five days later.