Detroit Lions: The Importance of Playing a Role

It isn’t always about having the star player that can take you all the way. Did Bob Quinn find the RIGHT players to fill each role the Detroit Lions need?

Let me make this abundantly clear before we start. I’m a nerd in every sense of the word. Both with nerdy things and “non-nerdy” things like football. I’ve been a part of many Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, and I’ve had experience in other games.

I’m currently at the start of a campaign where one of someone’s traits, their strength, is incredibly low. My character happens to have rather high strength. My character isn’t magical. Hers is. They complement each other, something that we had planned from the start. Okay, but what does this have to do with football?

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It’s all about finding those complementary fits. Let’s look at the beginning years of Stafford’s career. One of the unanimous defenses for Stafford’s poor win percentage was his poor supporting cast. Outside of Calvin Johnson, there really wasn’t much ability to stretch the field, nor was there much ability to turn short, quick plays into big yards. We can pick and choose any subset of Stafford’s receiving corps, but it wasn’t until the last couple of years that we were able to say that this was becoming an asset as opposed to a hindrance to Stafford’s talent.

Last year was the most talented receiving line-up to date. Golden Tate and Theo Riddick were excellent at generating yards off of short plays. Calvin Johnson caused defenses to shift. Eric Ebron, while inconsistent, was often a matchup nightmare for opposing linebackers and safeties with his size and speed.

And yet I think that this year’s crew may actually be better.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Megatron, and I think that Detroit was very lucky to have him. That said, look at the group the Lions have now. Tate, Marvin Jones, Jeremy Kerley, Anquan Boldin, T.J. Jones. That group is deep. And that’s just the receivers. But they aren’t just deep. They bring a variety of talents to the table. Boldin, the team’s most recent signing, brings a reliable possession receiving game to the table. Both Joneses and Kerley excel at making plays on mid-range routes. Tate makes his money on turning short yards into big plays.

While the Lions lost Calvin, they gained a variety of other players that aren’t as talented as he was overall, but together, their abilities in different roles look to pass what Calvin brought to the team.

Look at the Patriots’ model (which fans are hoping will be brought with after Bob Quinn’s hire). They haven’t relied on a big name receiver in some time. Instead, they’ve funneled their picks and free agent “buys” into role players. The Patriots are known for taking players that complement what they are looking to do and letting them shine in that role.

For every orc warrior, there should be an elven wizard. No, their strengths may not usually overlap, but that’s the point. There are just going to be some situations where one asset is better suited than another.

And with the depth that Bob Quinn has brought in this off-season, I think we are in a strong place to have the right player for most jobs on offense. Now it’s up to Stafford to bring all these tools together.

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