FanPost

Are the Lions that far off from the top teams?



I decided to take a look at what makes up the top teams in the NFL. Of course, there are an infinite number of ways to go about trying to measure that elusive standard. And this may be a severely flawed attempt. Nonetheless, I decided to look at the PFF rankings at the different positions for the top teams that I deemed to be the Bucs, Chiefs, Bills, Packers, Rams, Ravens and I threw in the Browns at the last second. Here's what I found they all had in common (with very few exceptions).

1 Top 10 QB

3 Top 20 Offensive Weapons (Ranked top 20 in the categories of RBs, WRs, TEs)

4 Top 25 Offensive Linemen (Ranked top 25 in the categories of C, G, OT)

1 Top 15 CB

2 Top 30 Safeties

0 to 1 Top 25 LB

1 Top 30 IDL

1 Top 25 Edge

So the argument could be made that this is the complement of players you need to have on your team to flirt with being a top 10 team in the NFL. How do the current Lions stack up and more importantly how far off are they from fielding this complement of players. I would submit that they aren't that far off and its not that surprising where they are falling short

QB - Can Goff be a top 10 QB. Sure. He can. He's done it before. Will he. Only time will tell. I hope so. I'd love to spend all our 1st round picks on other positions because we don't need to replace him. But time will tell.

Offensive Weapons - We've got two in RB and TE (although technically it was Williams, not Swift who was in top 20) and are a WR away from locking this category up. I think it is not unreasonable to think/hope/pray that one of Williams/Perriman/Adams/St. Brown/etc can put it all together and sneak into the top 20. But we're probably going to need to nab a stud next year - Olave? - in order to have the 3 top 20 weapons necessary to approach top team status.

Offensive Line - With Sewell on board we're 75% of the way there. I have every confidence that our OTs and C are going to live in the top 25 for years to come. So there is 3 of the necessary 4. But we will need a guard to get in the top 25 to qualify to the standards met by the best. Vaitai has achieved top 25 PFF scores in the past and maybe he can do it again as a guard. Maybe Stenberg is ready to start kicking ass and biting kneecaps. Regardless, I believe our OL will quickly be one of the top rated units and will qualify with the other top teams in the league.

CB - Here's where Glenn and Pleasant come in. I believe we have a top 15 CB on the team. They just need the right coaching and the right plan. Okudah and Melifonwu have the talent and Dunbar has the history (2nd highest PFF 2 years ago) to get to top 15. I still have faith in Okudah and think he will reach top 15 status this year or the next.

Safety - A little of the same thing here. Walker needs to return to form with the new staff. No reason to think he can't. But that still leaves us short a 2nd safety that needs to be top 30. I don't think the 2nd top 30 safety is on the team right now.

LB - This position seems be the least important to have top talent for the top teams. Nonetheless, the Lions qualify here with Collins. And Anzalone isn't too far behind.

IDL - You only need one in the top 30. Brockers and Hand have both scored PFF high enough to do it again. Still pathetically hoping for Hand to have a healthy year and replicating his rookie year. Silly me. But we did add two guys that are going to wreck havoc on those pockets, this year or the next. I think we'll get there with this group.

Edge - We're there with Edge. Flowers qualifies and R. Okwara is there from a PFF pass rushing ranking. Should end up with 2 top 25.

So where does that leave us? Ready to drink the Kool-aid?

If Goff can return to form, we pick up a stud WR and Safety in next years draft and a few of our existing players develop to their potential, we have a reasonable chance of hitting the complement of talents that the top teams all share. If Goff doesn't get there, we'll have to go get our QB next year because it is imperative that you have a top 10 QB. Mandatory. Again, love not to have to and get Olave and Hamilton to cure our WR and Safety shortcomings. But we'll see. Gonna be hard to pass on Thibodeaux if we're sitting at the top of the draft next year though. Man that would be a fun DL to watch.

There you have it. The mindless musings of a bored Lions fan on a May Saturday afternoon. Hope all of your afternoon's have been more productive.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.