Entering his fifth offseason as Detroit Lions general manager, Bob Quinn is faced with his most difficult challenge yet: Win—and do it now.
The task at hand for Quinn and the rest of this front office is time sensitive after Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford laid down the expectation of the team being a playoff contender in 2020.
“We are committed to year three of Coach Patricia’s plan. To be clear, our expectation is for the Lions to be a playoff contender in 2020,” penned the trio of Firestone Ford, Lions President Rod Wood, and Sheila Ford Hamp back in December of last year. The NFL season hadn’t concluded, but for the third season in a row, the Lions season was over. No divisional race, no prospect of playoff football, the Lions season was over... again.
While Detroit faced the nearly impossible task in today’s NFL of trying to be competitive without the team’s starting quarterback, it was clear the Lions roster lacked talented depth. Going into the offseason, those holes are seemingly multiplying. Damon Harrison Sr. was released last week, the team still hasn’t re-signed Graham Glasgow, and the impending holdout by Darius Slay looms.
So today’s Question of the Day is...
What’s the Lions biggest need at this point in the offseason?
This is really a two-position race to me. Detroit needs to fill the Snacks-sized hole on the defensive line—along with replacements for A’Shawn Robinson and Mike Daniels. Unless you’re of the belief that Josh Garnett is the solution at right guard, Detroit is set to lose the aforementioned Glasgow, Oday Aboushi, and Kenny Wiggins in free agency, leaving Detroit in the lurch for at least one interior offensive lineman.
A case for “of the utmost importance” can be made for each of these positions, but considering how little this coaching staff values a starting interior offensive lineman, and the tangible difference a player like Snacks had on this run defense, it’s clear to me the defensive line, specifically a run-stuffing one technique, should be the front office’s biggest priority at this point. Whether it’s addressed during free agency by adding a player like D.J. Reader or Danny Shelton, or adding a player on Day 2 or 3 of the draft like Davone Hamilton or Leki Fotu.
Your turn.