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There aren’t many players that need to impress more this offseason than Detroit Lions safety Miles Killebrew. After an extremely disappointing second year, Killebrew’s future with the team is up in the air—especially after Detroit added safety Tracy Walker in the third round of last month’s draft.
Unfortunately, his offseason doesn’t appear to be off to a great start. With Glover Quin being the only player absent at OTAs (family obligations) and Tavon Wilson in a red no-contact jersey (shoulder surgery last year), Killebrew was given significant safety reps in practice on Thursday, per MLive’s Kyle Meinke.
It apparently did not go well:
Miles Killebrew got tons of reps at safety with Glover Quin not here and Tavon Wilson in a red jersey. It did not go well at all. Was beat twice for touchdowns, plus another two times where the ball was dropped.
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 24, 2018
2018 is going to be a make-or-break season for Killebrew. Though he’s not expected to be a starter—he’s well behind Quin and Wilson on the depth chart—if he’s going have a future with this team, he’ll have to prove his worth either in sub-packages or on special teams.
Last year, Killebrew started the season as a significant contributor in the secondary, garnering at least 25 defensive snaps in the Lions’ first six games. However, after Tavon Wilson went down, it was Quandre Diggs who shifted to safety, not Killebrew. As a result, Miles only had a total of 23 snaps in the final five weeks of the season.
Killebrew has a golden opportunity right now to convince his new coaches that he deserves some real playing time again. Although coverage was never thought to be one of Killebrew’s strengths, he’ll have to display some versatility to impress head coach Matt Patricia, who has a history of using his defensive backs—especially safeties—in a variety of roles.