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Eric WoodyardESPN
DETROIT — Numbers do not lie.
Offensively, the Detroit Lions had been one of the crucial harmful groups within the league in 2022, with the unit averaging the fifth-most factors per recreation (25.71) within the NFL. And though there have been different contributing elements, the passing recreation — spearheaded by quarterback Jared Goff — led the way in which.
Goff utilized a flexible wideout room, getting contributions from Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds, Tom Kennedy and Jameson Williams to throw for 4,438 yards with 29 landing passes and simply seven interceptions — with receivers catching 16 of these TDs.
Chark has left for the Carolina Panthers in free company, however the Lions added Marvin Jones Jr. on Wednesday to take his place.
Except for that, the core of the receiver room remains to be intact and will see a lift if the speedy Williams delivers on the promise that resulted within the former Alabama standout being taken No. 12 general within the 2022 draft. His skill to make performs down the sector would supply an ideal complement to St. Brown’s manufacturing and dependability, elevating the ceiling on an already formidable Lions passing assault much more. If not, with the addition of Jones, the Lions don’t have any scarcity of choices to be their downfield menace.
Here is a more in-depth have a look at the broad receiver place in Detroit throughout free company and the upcoming draft.
How did they carry out in 2022?
St. Brown continued to submit record-setting numbers and was added to the Professional Bowl as a substitute for Philadelphia Eagles broad receiver A.J. Brown. He was the star of the receiver room, posting the sixth-most receptions within the NFL (106) for 1,161 yards, his first profession 1,000-yard season. St. Brown is tied with Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson and New Orleans’ Michael Thomas for essentially the most receptions (196) over the primary two seasons in NFL historical past and is second (2,073) behind Corridor of Famer Calvin Johnson (2,087) for essentially the most receiving yards by means of two seasons in franchise historical past.
Raymond was the iron man of the room, showing in all 17 video games and registering 616 yards, whereas Chark and Reynolds mixed for 981 yards and 6 touchdowns. Nevertheless, after one season in Detroit, Chark joined Carolina, leaving the Lions to fill that void with a deep-ball possibility.
Who’s coming again?
Outdoors of Chark, the Lions are returning most of their core group, which incorporates St. Brown, Reynolds, Raymond, Quintez Cephus and most significantly Williams. There is a ton of pleasure surrounding Williams, who appeared in solely six video games after recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered within the 2021 Faculty Soccer Playoff championship recreation. The lone reception of his rookie season was a 41-yard landing towards Minnesota on Dec. 11, providing glimpses of his playmaking skill. Lions common supervisor Brad Holmes regards having a wholesome Williams as akin to having one other first-round choose in 2023.
“Yeah, clearly, we’re anticipating huge issues. … You recognize, the aim once we initially drafted him, you understand, we did not know actually how a lot we had been going to get out of him, however it was good to have him get some type of recreation expertise to type of really feel the velocity of the sport,” Holmes mentioned of Williams in the course of the NFL mix. “However yeah, we’re simply going to proceed to do all the pieces that we have to do to ensure that he is set as much as succeed.”
Holmes added: “We count on huge issues from him. He is bought uncommon expertise, uncommon skill. He is bought a critical ardour for the sport. We count on huge issues from him, however clearly, we have to do each our components to verify he is profitable.”
Will the Lions do something this offseason on the place?
Though the receiving corps is well-rounded, the Lions knew they wanted to signal — or draft — one other man to stretch the sector within the mould of Chark. St. Brown has proved to be best within the slot, and Williams will see an even bigger position, however including the versatile Jones fills that want.
Jones, who performed the previous two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, has 542 profession catches for 7,386 yards and 58 touchdowns. Detroit signed Jones to a one-year, $3 million contract that may be price as much as $5 million, in response to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He additionally is aware of Detroit properly, having performed for the Lions from 2016 to 2020. He loved his career-best season with Detroit in 2017, posting 1,101 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns.
Holmes mentioned he hasn’t talked to free agent Odell Beckham Jr., however the Lions will definitely discover each possibility to enhance the group, though it is unlikely they’re going to make one other enormous splash within the receiving corps — by means of free company or excessive within the draft — after getting Jones.
“I am going to say that that is nonetheless a place that we’ll nonetheless monitor,” Holmes instructed reporters in the course of the latest NFL conferences. “You by no means actually can have sufficient of these guys, simply to be sincere with you. And simply so as to add extra competitors, however whether or not it is Chark’s talent set or a distinct taste, if it is simply the appropriate soccer participant, we’ll positively proceed to watch that place.”