Darrell Bevell – Page 10 – Syndication Server

Darrell Bevell confirms Jamal Agnew is now a WR for the Lions

Agnew has played CB while also serving as the team’s primary return specialist for the last three seasons

In his Zoom teleconference with reporters on Wednesday, Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell effectively confirmed that Jamal Agnew has moved from cornerback to wide receiver. It’s a move that has been widely speculated, and it actually began last season.

“I think you saw a little bit of that right at the end of last year, right, where we kind of brought him over and gave him a few opportunities on the offensive side of the ball. We really like his skill set,” Bevell said of the 25-year-old Agnew.

Agnew caught three passes and took four carries in limited action on offense over the final nine games of 2019.

At a listed 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, both of which seem quite generous in person, Agnew likely fits in the slot as a receiver. Similar to J.D. McKissic in 2019, Agnew has the ability to make things happen on jet sweeps and bubble screens. Like former Lion Theo Riddick, he can also potentially work out of the backfield as a motion receiver and matchup dictator.

“Right now we’re going to kind of lean that way,” Bevell said of Agnew’s move to receiver “Kind of let it go where it goes. I think he has a chance to help us.”

In all likelihood, it’s a moot point. Agnew will make the Lions, or not, based exclusively on his ability to return punts and kickoffs. The transition to full-time offense does get rid of the practice reps he took from other CBs. Agnew presents even more competition for filling the role that McKissic and Riddick filled in recent seasons, and he could also threaten Marvin Hall for the undersized vertical threat.

T.J. Hockenson is ‘running routes’ but not ‘100% yet’

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell updated the media on tight end T.J. Hockenson’s health and noted he is “running routes” but not “100% yet”.

It was an up and down rookie season for Detroit Lions 2019 1st round draft pick T.J. Hockenson, and while it started with a record-setting bang in week one, it ended with a gruesome ankle injury on Thanksgiving day.

Hockenson left Ford Field that day on crutches and was seen later on in the season relying on a scooter to get around, but over the last seven months, there have been no updates on his recovery until today when offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell virtually met with the media.

“As far as I know right now,” Bevell said, “he’s in his running part of the protocol. He’s on land, he’s running, he’s running routes, doing that thing. You can’t say he’s 100% yet, but I think he’s well on the way to getting there. He’s done a great job with his rehab, he’s always been a good worker that way. I know he’s going to get some time with Matthew (Stafford), throwing and catching. So yeah, I’m comfortable with where he’s at along the rehab part.”

Bevell would go on to say that Hockenson was “emerging as one of the leaders” on the team. Noting that he has the confidence to lead, a willingness to speak up, a desire “to be really good at his position”, and puts in the time to make it all possible.

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While Hockenson is developing into a potentially strong offensive option for the Lions, Bevell acknowledged that there is still work to be done and he needs to find ways “to get him (Hockenson) opportunities to get the ball”.

There are a lot of mouths to feed in Detroit as the Lions are returning their top-4 wide receivers, are converting Jamal Agnew to offense, added D’Andre Swift to a backfield that already featured Kerryon Johnson and Bo Scarbrough, but the Lions didn’t use a Top-10 draft pick on Hockenson for his blocking — he’s going to get the ball.

The Wisconsin connection for Detroit Lions OC Darrell Bevell played a part in taking WR Quintez Cephus

The former Badger QB used Wisconsin connections to gain some insight into the Badger wideout. Bevell’s Lions ended up drafting Cephus.

[lawrence-newsletter]When the GM of the Detroit Lions Bob Quinn talked through the decision to take Wisconsin WR Quintez Cephus in the fifth round of the NFL draft, he mentioned that a former Badger was instrumental in the process. Former Badger and current Detroit Lions OC Darrell Bevell played a key role in bringing in Wisconsin’s top receiver.

Once upon a time, Bevell played a starring role in a storybook season at Wisconsin. Bevell was the starting QB at Wisconsin from 1992-1996, and was crucial in then Head Coach Barry Alvarez turning the tide in Madison. The former Badger QB led Wisconsin to a Rose Bowl win in the 1993 season — the first Badger Rose Bowl appearance since 1963 — in which the Badgers defeated UCLA 21-16. During a coaching career that has lasted over two decades, Bevell began at the collegiate ranks before taking his first NFL job in Green Bay as the QB coach from 2000-2005. He then landed his first OC job with Minnesota in 2006, before moving on to serve the same role in Seattle and now in Detroit.

During Quinn’s online media availability following the final day of the NFL draft, the Lions GM raved about the talent that Cephus brings to Detroit. “Cephus is a really, really strong player, very physical, great catch radius, strong hands,” said Quinn.

The Lions GM went on to add that Bevell’s relationship at Wisconsin played a part in their interest with Cephus. “Coach Bevell has a strong relationship up at Wisconsin and one of his former teammates is one of the coaches up there,” said Quinn. “We really got a good recommendation on that player [Cephus] in the fifth round.”

The former teammate that Quinn could be referring to is Wisconsin offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph, who was the starting left guard on the 1993 Rose Bowl winning team that had Bevell at QB. According to the Lions GM, the relationship between the two proved important in Detroit’s prospect evaluation, and eventual selection, of Cephus. The saying ‘once a Badger, always a Badger’ certainly holds true in this case.

Barry Alvarez, Mel Tucker, and Darrell Bevell walked into a bar…

Lions coaches refuse to criticize Jesse James’ poor production

James has 8 receptions on 15 targets for just 64 yards in the Lions’ first 10 games after signing a 4-year, $28.5 million contract

The Detroit Lions signed free agent tight end Jesse James with considerable promise and widespread fan support this past offseason. James was arguably the top tight end on the market, and the Lions desperately needed help at the position; none of the wildly unproductive and underwhelming TE cast from 2018 was returning, and that was a good thing.

Thus far, the Lions are getting precious little return on their 4-year, $28.5 million contract. James has eight receptions on 15 targets, netting 64 yards in the Lions’ first 10 games. He has not shown to be more than an adequate blocker in the run game, either.

Despite the disappointing early results, the Lions coaches refuse to criticize James. Even though he has just one catch for three yards on three targets in the last four weeks, head coach Matt Patricia remains supportive of his tight end.

Patricia very diplomatically waffled away the question about why James has not been more involved.

“Well, you know, I think the tight end room in general – we have some good players in that room,” Patricia said Tuesday. “All of those guys really have certain roles in every game that we’ve needed them to (do) in different facets and jobs that they bring to us.”

The second-year coach was then asked a follow-up more directly about James and if the tight end is being used differently than they envisioned when the Lions signed him.

“I can’t say that, nope,” Patricia responded. “I can’t really say that that would be a factual statement. I think for us, guys in there that really have different skill sets and some skill sets that are not the same, and we try to make sure that we mix those in different ways. Certainly, that they don’t show up in tendencies for our opponents to be able to scout. So we try to keep that moving from that standpoint.”

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell echoed the same comments. Bevell, in his first year in Detroit, was asked a very similar line of questioning in his Tuesday press conference.

“Well, I think we have a great tight end room,” Bevell stated. “We went and got him, we went and got Logan (Thomas), and then of course we drafted T.J. (Hockenson). I think really, it was one of the best upgraded rooms that we had this offseason, and I think all three of those guys, we’re using them and we’re moving them around. There are a lot of things that tight ends do that really don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet. We love all three of those guys, we love what they’re doing.”

James does continue to start, sometimes ahead of Hockenson and sometimes with him in a two-TE set. His playing time has diminished since the bye week. James has not played more than 36 percent of the offensive snaps in the last five weeks, including a season-low 15 (23 percent) against the Cowboys.