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On Wednesday, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell basically confirmed that cornerback and punt returner Jamal Agnew is making a full-time transition to wide receiver this offseason.
“This offseason, he’s spent time in the receiver room pretty much exclusively,” Bevell told a group of reporters in a Zoom conference. “Right now we’re going to lean that way and kind of let it go where it goes.”
Agnew has been a defender and special teamer going all the way back to his high school days at Point Loma High School. However, throughout his Lions career he’s had a handful of snaps to use his speed and agility as a threat on offense—be it as a runner on a reverse or other gadget plays, or some minimal time as a receiver.
To help him with the transition to his new position, one former teammate reached out via Twitter: Golden Tate.
Young AG.Come see me bro Bro , I’ll get you right!!
— Golden Tate (@ShowtimeTate) June 18, 2020
Tate, of course, enjoyed a wildly successful four-and-a-half year career in Detroit. In that time, Tate racked up 4,741 yard and 22 touchdowns. His career overlapped with Agnew for just under two seasons, when Detroit took the punt returner in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft until Tate was traded in the middle of the 2018 season.
The Lions just wrapped on offseason meetings this week, meaning Agnew will have the next month and a few weeks to prepare for training camp at the end of July. No word yet on whether he’ll take up Tate on his offer, but considering both spend a lot of their offseason in Southern California, I’d say there’s a good chance.
UPDATE: Sounds like Agnew is in:
Say less!!!
— Mal (@jamalagnew) June 18, 2020