Bold prediction of the week: Eli Harold makes an immediate impact vs. Buccaneers With the Detroit Lions heading into dress rehearsal
against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Friday
Jarrad Davis Jersey White , it’s time for our bold prediction of the week. Part of a season-long series, it will be exactly as the title indicates: one hot take
every week about what will unfold on Sunday (or in this case, Friday). Let’s
take a look at this week’s prediction.Bold prediction of the week: Eli Harold
plays with the first team defenseFor those unfamiliar with the name, do not
panic: the Lions acquired the linebacker from the San Francisco 49ers Thursday
morning in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick.From a long term
perspective, this doesn’t seem outlandish at all—the Lions are clearly in
desperate need of linebacker help. The starting defense played a large majority
of the first half last Friday and it was not pretty by any means. The most
glaring hole came at the second level, in which the linebackers consistently
struggled to set the edge in the running game and failed to keep up in coverage.
Early in the third quarter, Giants third string quarterback Kyle Lauletta juked
out four Lions defenders, including Steve Longa who tore his ACL on the play.
That made an ugly problem even worse, leaving the Lions to acquire Harold. The
boldness in this prediction comes in the fact that Harold was only acquired
Thursday morning. Odds are he’s barely set foot in Allen Park
Womens Frank Ragnow Jersey , let alone gotten ahold of a playbook. The conditions behind Harold’s trade however make it an interesting case, as the
Lions only have to give up a seventh rounder if Harold is on the roster for more
than a quarter of the regular season. With Friday night being the third
preseason game and thus the inherent dress rehearsal, coaches will no doubt want
to see how Harold fits with the Lions defense. Waiting until the fourth
preseason game won’t give them a very realistic sample size as he would play
against mostly backups, and the last thing they’ll want to do is try and toy
with his fit in the defense during the regular season. The playbook could be
less of an obstacle as it sounds, too. As Mansur Shaheen broke down in film
review Thursday, Harold’s specialty comes in the run-stopping department,
particularly setting contain on the edge of the line, which the Lions struggled
with tremendously against the Giants. If the Lions want that to be his primary
role, he could see spot duty with the first team
Sam Martin Jersey White , rotating in and out by down and working almost exclusively in run defense. Thus, with the Lions having no options but to be
haste in their evaluation of Harold, he could see action with the first team as
soon as Friday night. The Lions will want to know what they have in him before
it’s too late, even if it means plugging and playing as soon as he lands in
Detroit. If everything comes together in Year 1, the Lions may have a unique
advantage on offense." />Skip to main
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Lions QuotesLions TE Jesse James explains why 2-TE sets are ‘a huge advantage’
New,103commentsIf everything comes together in Year 1, the Lions may have a
unique advantage on offense. EDTShareTweetShareShareLions TE Jesse James
explains why 2-TE sets are ‘a huge advantage’ Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty
ImagesThe Detroit Lions obviously invested heavily in the tight end position
this offseason. First, they shelled out $25 million over four years for Jesse
James. Then they spent their highest draft pick in six years on Iowa tight end
T.J. Hockenson.Part of the reason general manager Bob Quinn hit the position so
hard was likely because of last year’s failure to get any sort of production at
the position after failing to address it after cutting Eric Ebron. However, it’s
also clear Quinn is excited about the possibility of playing more 12-personnel
(one running back
T.J. Jones Jersey , two tight ends)—something they did just 15 percent of the time last year (t-18th).“Probably work a lot of 12-personnel,” Quinn said the
night after drafting Hockenson. “I think that’s something that our offense can
really work through and I think we can be very multiple.”But what are the
advantages of shifting to a more tight-end heavy system? We’ve seen the increase
of spread offenses that typically utilize three-wide sets over two tight ends in
the past few years. Moving to a more bulkier formation is bucking the current
trends of offensive growth. According to James, that may have to do more with
personnel than it does strategy.“There are not a lot of teams in the NFL that
have a solid two-tight end unit that they can go out there and run any part of
their offense,” James said. The Lions may very well have that. Though James has
yet to really break out as a top-tier talent—his best statistical season was
last year with a 30-catch, 423-yard season—he’s still extremely young (24) and
has the physical tools to be a versatile piece to the offense. Adding Hockenson
on the field at the same could be a dangerous threat to defenses according to
James.“It’s a huge advantage if you have two guys you’re confident in,” James
said. “You throw out there and be able to run stuff you’d run out of just a
one-tight end set. If you have two guys that can go out there and catch the
ball, you can stretch the defense a little different than most teams do.”Lions
left tackle Taylor Decker sees a different advantage in bringing in an extra
tight end: Adding some bulk and toughness to the team’s identity.“I think it
tries to establish a level of physicality in the game,” Decker said. “I think we
will have a better feel of what that will look like, like I said
A'Shawn Robinson Jersey White , once we get on the field. Bigger guys, more running backs on the field, I think that just tries to set the tone of a
physical football team.”Will it all come together this year? There are a lot of
factors that suggest it may take some time. Rookie tight ends tend to take a
little time to adjust to life in the NFL, even ones coming from a program like
Iowa, which prepares their tight ends to be the two-way player necessary in the
big leagues. Additionally, everyone on offense is learning a new system with new
terminology under offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.But if everything can
come together, the Lions may have one of the most unique offensive attacks in
the league.
