The five player additions that will define the Detroit Lions season

Defensive tackle Sylvester Williams

The Lions defensive line has been unable to hold up against heavy running attacks. The 2016 season ended with a playoff loss to the Seahawks where this deficiency was laid out to the world. The Lions never really fixed that problem in 2017.

I have seen a lot of writing, including the recent PFF article that ranked the Lions pass rush as the twenty-fifth best in the league, that has Jeremiah Ledbetter as the Lions starting defensive tackle beside A’Shawn Robinson.

I would be very surprised if Ledbetter played more snaps than Williams. Williams provides almost no pass rush, so for PFF’s purposes, I understand why they would prioritize the two the way they did. In the Lions new scheme, however, a defensive lineman’s job is to mind his gaps first and push up-field second.

Williams has one skill, and that skill is taking up space while minding two gaps. Ledbetter has been more of a single gap shooter for the Lions to this point in his career. His skill set lends itself more to the hybrid edge/interior role of Trey Flowers in New England than the space-eating role of Malcolm Brown and Alan Branch.

Of course, the previous coaching staff has spent two seasons trying to make Ledbetter into something he wasn’t when he got here. It remains to be seen what use Patricia will have for him. They have made him bulk up from his 280 pound college playing weight to 295 pounds.

Because Ledbetter is playing out of type as a two-gap space eater, the Lions need Sylvester Williams to do well in 2018. The team’s inability to stop the run at times last season hurt them badly.