Seven bold predictions for the Detroit Lions in 2018
By Ash Thompson
Decker and Ragnow
When a team hits rock bottom, there is no form of change that is not an improvement. The Lions 2017 running backs were terrible. The coaches involved did not put them in a position to succeed either. The offensive line was in tatters for the majority of the year.
As one player would return to action seemingly two would fall, like some twisted inversion of the ancient Greek hydra myth. The Lions went through nine different starting lineups along the line. That run of poor health is unlikely to repeat itself.
Frank Ragnow does not even have to be good to be an improvement over, say, Zac Kerrin. While there are never guarantees that any draft pick will live up to their hype, it seems unlikely that Ragnow will fail to hit that ludicrously low bar. If we are comparing the pre-training camp roster expectations of the two teams perhaps the line has not improved.
However, we are comparing the likely outcome of 2018 to the actual outcome of 2017. There is little debate that a reasonable person should expect a better result this season than last. Even if it is only due to the statistically unlikely poor health of last year’s squad.
Taylor Decker was never up to game speed last year after missing the first half of the season with a shoulder injury. He was playing catch up throughout the second half. That makes it a reasonable assumption that he will be better than he was last year with a full healthy off-season.
There can be no intelligent debate whether he will outperform Greg Robinson, the player who stood in as a poor facsimile of a left tackle in Decker’s absence. To say otherwise is to be intentionally obtuse. There are those who subsist on such nonsensical analysis. I am not one. The Lions left tackle spot can not help but be better than it was last season.
That is two of the five spots along the line that should be better for a significant number of games. The other three that will likely stay at the same level of performance given that the same players will be there. To claim the offensive line is not going to be better is to abandon reason for madness.