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The Detroit Lions coaching staff has been set for the past three weeks or so... with one main exception. After running backs coach David Walker suddenly retired at the end of January, the Lions have yet to announce his replacement. Like many of their coaching searches, there hasn’t even been a peep about potential replacements for Walker.
However, now that most of the Lions staff is in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine, it appears the Lions’ next running backs coach has revealed himself. Kudos to NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala for spotting him:
Spotted in Indy in #Lions gear: Kyle Caskey. The RB coach makes a strong addition to Detroit’s staff. Formerly w/ the #Bengals, Caskey tutored Gio Bernard, Rex Burkhead, Jeremy Hill and burgeoning superstar Joe Mixon (who led the AFC in rushing and had ZERO fumbles in 2018).
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) February 26, 2019
Kyle Caskey was let go by the Bengals in January after most of their coaching staff was overhauled following the dismissal of Marvin Lewis. Caskey was a highly respected position coach who had been in Cincinnati since 2010. First starting out as an offensive line assistant, he was promoted to running backs coach in 2014. He helped oversee the solid careers of Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard and perhaps most importantly, Joe Mixon.
Bringing Caskey along to help develop youngster Kerryon Johnson seems like a big win for the Lions, although it’s important to note the team has not confirmed this hire yet.
UPDATE: Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press is confirming the hire:
Confirming what @AKinkhabwala spotted in Indy: The Lions have hired Kyle Caskey as their new RBs coach. He takes the place of David Walker, who left the profession. Caskey was last with the Bengals.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) February 26, 2019
- The Lions have announced the date of their annual “Taste of the Lions” event, where fans can meet players and dine on some of the best local food.
Coming soon... Bring your appetite, @Lions fans. pic.twitter.com/N7CVSCGrLk
— Ford Field (@fordfield) February 26, 2019
- NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah had a couple thoughts about the Lions draft options. Perhaps most notably, Jeremiah doesn’t think Ed Oliver is an ideal fit for Detroit.
- Remember Greg Robinson? Yeah, that Greg Robinson. Apparently he played pretty well in 2018 and earned himself a nice little raise with the Browns:
Can confirm @rapsheet report that Greg Robinson will receive a $7 million base salary with up to $2 million incentives for his 1-year contract with the #Browns
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) February 26, 2019
- MLive’s Nate Atkins has a top 25 big board specifically for the Lions that surprisingly has a couple cornerbacks in the top five.
- Think the NFC Championship game was enough to finally get some big changes to the NFL’s replay system? It’s not looking like it:
Based on comments today from John Mara and others, @NFL seems unlikely to make a significant change to replay. “I just don’t think we’re there or even close to being there." STORY: https://t.co/46gtbwAqjU
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) February 26, 2019
- SB Nation has a fancy-looking (and equally informative) free agency preview. Their list of top 101 free agents includes two Lions.