Lions notes: Yahoo ranks Detroit as 25th best team in the NFL

The Detroit Lions had an impressive offseason thus far, but was it enough?

Even after the additions of Trey Flowers, Justin Coleman and T.J. Hockenson, there are glaring holes on the roster. Who is going to start at guard? Who is going to play at corner across Darius Slay? Will Slay even be around this season?

The biggest question of all may be on the sideline, though, as many fear that now sophomore head coach Matt Patricia still has not won over the locker room.

Yahoo Sports has begun previewing the 2019 NFL season, and they are counting down the best teams in the NFL from 32 to 1. Thursday was the Lions turn, as they come in at #25.

Yahoo Writer Frank Schwab previewed the Lions upcoming season, and focused on the culture shift the team has undergone over the past year. He said:

Patricia’s tenure didn’t get off to a great start, with the story of a 1996 sexual assault allegation. Through offseason practices, players didn’t seem to like having to run all the time like they were on a high school team. Detroit’s training camp was more physical than most NFL teams run. Late in the season, a big deal was made of Patricia making players practice in the snow and cold. Patricia had a “tendency to launch into a curse-laden tirades on the practice field,” the Detroit News said.

The head coach had a rough rookie year that has already out him under fire, and he will need to have a better showing in year 2 if he hopes to be a long term fixture at Allen Park.

• Earlier this week on the PODcast, Jeremy Reisman, Chris Perfett and I ranked who we believed to be the top 10 NFL tight ends heading into 2019. Sports Illustrated’s MMQB did the same this week, coming up with different results.
• Lions tackle Taylor Decker and team reporter Tori Petry went on a field trip to the zoo this weekend, which was documented on the team’s official Twitter account.

• Former NFL wide receiver Reggie Wayne listed a few young NFL receivers he believes will shine in 2019 for NFL.com. The Lions Kenny Golladay made the list.
• The official team Twitter account gave us a better look at the personality of rookie wide receiver Travis Fulgham on Wednesday: