Seven bold predictions for the Detroit Lions in 2018
By Ash Thompson
Hayden out and Shead in
The secondary was the absolute strength of the Lions defense last season. That Bob Quinn kept it together is a good move. The Lions kept what they had last year, or brought in a replacement level player for their only depth loss. Based on their previous performances the DJ Hayden to DeShawn Shead transition looks like a lateral move.
Hayden was not good for the Lions. There were multiple times where Hayden replaced Nevin Lawson in the Lions lineup midgame. He was always pulled for not performing any better than Lawson had, usually, he was a downgrade. Shead may fare no better, but he does bring a significantly different athletic profile than Lawson to the table. If for no reason but flexibility, Shead constitutes an improvement.
The secondary is an area where the Lions have left the door open for younger players to step into larger roles but kept the safety net of a solid group together. If Teez Tabor outplays Lawson, that is good for the Lions.
He only has to play better than he did last year, where he spent the early portion of the year as a healthy scratch, to constitute an improvement. There is no reason to believe he will start the year in street clothes on game days.
Jamaal Agnew had earned snaps toward the end of last season. There is no guarantee that he will become an every-down player, but the indicator points up until we see otherwise. If Shead, Tabor, or Agnew can play, they offer an improvement over Hayden, who could not.
That brings us to Tracey Walker. He does not have to be better than last year’s starter, Tavon Wilson. Walker does not even have to outplay Miles Killebrew, or Quandre Diggs, the two players who stepped in for Wilson when he was injured. They are still on the team.
He has to improve the fourth and fifth safety options for the Lions to constitute an improvement. Rolan Milligan and Charles Washington are the players that the Lions are relying on Walker to replace as a rookie. While that is not guaranteed, it is a reasonable assumption that he will do that.
The Lions secondary looked god behind a terrible front seven in passing situations last year. It is difficult to imagine them looking worse with the expected better play in front of them. Football is a team game, after all, it is impossible to judge position groups out of context and find a reasonable assessment.