Tag: jack fox

Frank Ragnow leads the way for Lions players in latest Madden 22 ratings

The Madden ratings were not kind for the Detroit Lions, but there are notable ratings that are quite interesting among the team

In the midst of the opening of training camp, EA Sports released their latest Madden 22 ratings for every player and team. With the new regime in place, not many people have high hopes for the Detroit Lions this coming season, and it showed with the ratings that were given to the team and players.

With only five players managing to receive an 80 overall rating or higher, the team came at a 74 overall rating, coming in at third-worst in the league behind the Carolina Panthers (73 overall) and the New York Jets (72 overall).

Frank Ragnow comes in as the highest-rated Lion with an 88 overall rating, which was good enough to (barely) crack Madden’s Top-100 players — coming in right at 100. To no surprise, he is the lone Lions representative. Ragnow is easily the best player on the Lions and will be looked upon as a cornerstone for the organization going through a rebuild.

T.J. Hockenson follows with an 85 overall rating, landing him as the 8th-best tight end in the league. That seems disrespectful considering who is ahead of him: Hunter Henry, Rob Gronkowski, and Austin Hooper. None of those three tight ends came near what Hockenson produced last year and it leaves you scratching your head.

Next comes Michael Brockers (82 overall), who will be looked upon providing a veteran presence, especially for the two rookies, Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill, while providing a force up the middle. Trey Flowers comes in with an 81 overall rating as a right outside linebacker, following suit to his position change from end. He will be a player to keep your eye on with the new coaching and see how he responds.

Finishing out the top five lands us in the special teams category with Pro Bowl sensation punter Jack Fox with an 80 overall rating. Fox lit the NFL on fire leading, averaging 49.1 yards per punt, ranking third in the league, and was easily was one of the better players for the Lions last season.

To round out the top ten Lions, Jamie Collins (79 overall), Tyrell Williams (79 overall), Romeo Okwara (79 overall), D’Andre Swift (78 overall), and Taylor Decker (78 overall). Jamaal Williams finishes outside the top ten with a 77 overall rating, but interesting how close the two running backs are rated.

For the rookies, Penei Sewell comes at a respectable 75 overall, landing him eighth among rookies. McNeill and Onwuzurike each earn a 71 overall rating, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Amon-Ra St. Brown receive a 67 overall rating, Derrick Barnes gets a 66 rating, and Jemar Jefferson lands with a 64 rating.

Since these two are tied at the hip with comparisons, Jared Goff comes in with a 77 overall rating, while ex-Lion Matthew Stafford receives an 83 overall rating.

Other interesting rating nuggets for the Lions:

  • Brockers comes in with the highest tackle rating with a 96, ahead of Aaron Donald with a 95.
  • Williams ranks as the third-best back in the carrying attribute with a 97 rating. Also, rates at the 20th-best back in stiff-arm with an 85 rating.
  • Melifonwu ranks as the 18th-best player (95 rating) in the jumping rating, the best among rookies
  • Goff ranks as the 11th best (86 rating) in medium throw accuracy, 12th best quarterback (88 rating) in the play-action category, and short-throw accuracy (90 rating). But comes at 29th overall with an 89 throw power rating.
  • Kalif Raymond rates as the fastest Lion with a 94 rating in the speed section.
  • Ragnow comes in as the 13th-toughest player rating with a 98 overall, but it should be a 99 considering he played with a broken throat.

T.J. Hockenson earns a spot on the NFL’s best players under 25 list

“He’s the best tight end under 25, and it might not be long before he’s considered one of the premier players at the position”

Tight end T.J. Hockenson is coming off his first Pro Bowl season in Detroit. His second year with the Lions saw Hockenson spike up into the top three tight ends in receiving yards and improved blocking chops to go with it.

As a result, Hockenson earned a spot as the tight end on the NFL’s All-Under-25 team from NFL.com. The 23-year-old was an easy choice for the honor as the league’s top young tight end,

Hockenson enjoyed a relative breakout in 2020, finishing third in receiving yards among tight ends behind established stars Travis Kelce and Darren Waller. Lions tight ends coach Ben Johnson thinks it’s just the beginning for the 2019 draft’s eighth overall pick, recently telling reporters “there’s plenty of meat still on the bone” with Hockenson, and adding that “the sky’s the limit for this kid.”

The arrow is still pointing way up for Detroit’s first-round pick in 2019, too. The concluding sentence of his segment says it all,

“He’s the best tight end under 25, and it might not be long before he’s considered one of the premier players at the position, regardless of age.”

Hockenson caught 67 passes for 723 yards and six touchdowns in 2020.

The only other Lions player to earn a mention on the list was punter Jack Fox, who was second at his spot to New England’s Jake Bailey.

Jack Fox working on being a better holder

Fox did awesome punting in 2020 but his holding was suspect

As a punter, Jack Fox was a pleasant revelation in Detroit in 2020. One of the few bright spots on the team, Fox was a second-team All-Pro for his glorious punting prowess in his first season as the Lions punter.

But punting isn’t the only part of Fox’s game, and the Pro Bowler is working hard to get his duties as the team’s holder up to snuff.

He wasn’t particularly good at it in 2020, and it led to issues for now-departed kicker Matt Prater. The veteran placekicker had his worst full season since 2008, and at least a couple of Prater’s missed kicks featured subpar holds from Fox.

Fox worked with long snapper Don Muhlbach earlier this offseason in Texas, and he’s getting plenty of work in OTAs and this week’s minicamp.

“I think I’ve gotten to be a better holder so far, especially being here the last couple weeks, getting a lot of snaps,” Fox said after Wednesday’s practice. “Having two kickers and two snappers, I’m getting a lot of work at holding.”

Thus far, there is no camp competition for Fox as the holder. Backup QBs Tim Boyle and David Blough have not rotated in for reps at all, a clear sign Fox’s focus on his holding is a good idea.

Lions Pro Bowler Jack Fox reaches out to aspiring punters

Lions Pro Bowler Jack Fox reaches out to aspiring punters

In deep infomercial voice…

Are you, or someone you love, an aspiring punter in the metro Detroit area? Do you want to get some individual training with your game with one of the very best?

If you answered yes, Lions Pro Bowl punter Jack Fox has an offer for you!

Fox, fresh off an outstanding debut season in Detroit, posted a message on Twitter with an offer to help out middle school and high school punters looking to maximize their games. It’s a great opportunity to learn from Fox, who earned a Pro Bowl nod and a special teams player of the month honor in his first season on an NFL active roster.

Lions punter Jack Fox offers kickoff scoring proposal

With NFL rule change proposals on the docket, Jack Fox offers a kickoff scoring proposal that may help reinvigorate special teams.

With the various amount of rule changes to special teams like pushing the kickoff line forward, no running start at the kickoff, and making onside kicks almost impossible to covert, players and teams are trying to bring back some of the luster special teams used to have in the NFL.

The NFL announced a handful of rule change proposals during the recent owner’s meetings. Some focus on special teams like improving the odds on onside kicks, where the opposing team is only allowed to have nine players instead of 10 or 11 between 10 to 25 yards of the kickoff spot. A fourth-and-15 alternative over the onside kick gained some popularity after the XFL instituted this alternative.

Either way, as you can see, special teams is one of the hot topics to breathe some life into what some believe to be a dying aspect to the overall game. One player has an idea that could make games interesting if it ever gets adopted.

Detroit Lions punter Jack Fox proposed a kickoff scoring idea. If the kicker can get the ball through the uprights on the kickoff, the team should be awarded one point.

The logistics of accomplishing such a feat would extraordinary in itself. Not only are we talking close to an 80-yard bomb, but the kickers will have to have some accuracy to get the ball through the uprights at that distance. Out of the kickers, who attempted at least 60 kickoffs last year, only three averaged at least 70 yards: Tampa Bay P Bradley Pinion (72.4), Kansas City Chiefs K Harrison Butker (70.7), and Carolina Panthers K Joey Slye (70.2).

Now you wonder where Fox ended up on the list? He was second-to-last with 63.5 yards per attempt, barely behind Dan Bailey with 63.4 for last.

I wouldn’t put much blame on Fox, considering he was able to flip fields with his towering punts, so it was not a question of strength, but more on the previous coaching staff’s philosophy in relying on their special teams to make stops instead of giving the ball at the 25. Due to this scheme, Fox had the highest return rate, where 65% of his kickoffs were returned.

Surely most Lions fans would have no doubt Fox could boot through the uprights without any help, but between penalties or other variables, this could make this situation a little more interesting. Instead of an 80-yard attempt, it could easily turn into a 65-yard attempt, and with a running start, most kickers could make that.

Former Colt punter and special teams advocator Pat McAfee talked about it on his show, and it would be awesome and electrifying, especially for a game-winning situation. Even though he knows this would likely get shot down, he did add some wrinkles they could add, like teams starting at the 35 if they miss, or add blockers at the end zone to help justify the rule.

It would be fun to see teams utilize their punters and kickers differently than we are accustomed to seeing and adding a new dynamic to scoring. There is something about a kicker kicking the ever daylights out of the ball, and it would be exciting to see if it counted for something. Even though it’s just a single point, it could make the difference between a win, a loss, or a potential playoff spot.

Lions lost free agent review: Sam Martin exit led to Pro Bowl change

Continuing our Detroit Lion’s lost free agent series, we explore the loss of Sam Martin and how it led Detroit finding a Pro-Bowl punter

With the season behind us, we can now measure the performance of each of the players the Lions lost last year and the players they brought in to replace them. We would look at if the Lions were in the right or the wrong end of the free-agent class last year. If you missed it, here are the ones we have hit on so far: Graham Glasgow, Devon Kennard, A’Shawn Robinson, and Rick Wagner. This time we’ll be highlighting the loss of Sam Martin.

Martin was part of one of the more successful Lions draft classes in recent memory when he was selected in the fifth round in 2013. That draft also provided key cogs across Ziggy Ansah, Darius Slay, Larry Warford, and Theo Riddick.

The strong-legged Appalachian State punter hit the ground running and never looked back. He never dipped below 46 yards per punt average through his four years with Detroit, while setting a career-high 48.5 yards per punt in 2016 and 44.3 net yards per punt, which helped him net a four-year contract extension.

Outside of the infamous 2014 shank punt incident in their playoff matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Martin was everything they were hoping for in a franchise punter…until the following year.

Martin experienced a down year in 2017, at least compared to what we got used to seeing from him, where he missed six games due to a foot injury caused by stepping on a conch shell, setting career lows in yards per punt (43.4), net yards per punt (37.6), and inside the 20 (13).

Martin was never quite himself after the injury, but he showed enough positive performances; Detroit offered him a contract when he hit free agency in 2019. He ultimately went with Denver for a 3-year, $7.05 million contract, giving Martin the chance to kick in the mile-high altitude.

From the first year, it looks like a positive signing playing in all 16 games averaging 46.8 yards per attempt and 42.1 net yards per punt, which are his best numbers since before his injury.

With Martin’s loss, the Lions brought in two punters to compete for the job, Jack Fox and Aaron Siposs. Fox was poached from the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019, and Siposs was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019. The majority of people thought this was going to a camp battle to watch, but Fox clearly won the job with no issues, and it proved to be the correct choice.

With a 2020 team with many lowlights, Fox was a spark that brought some excitement and took the world by storm. He ranked third in yards per attempt (49.6), second in net yards per punt (44.8), fifth inside the 20 (29), ranked as the PFF’s No. 1 punter. With the monster season he had, the league clearly recognized his accomplishments earning a Pro Bowl selection and named the All-Pro 2nd team.

Fox was able to flip the field like it was nothing, and the consistency he was able to do it left many speechless. He created a feel-good story of an undrafted punter from Rice to an All-Pro/Pro-Bowl caliber player overnight.

The Lions made one of the easiest decisions they will ever make after when they extended Fox’s tender offer earlier this month, securing his spot as the Lions punter for hopefully not just for this season but for the foreseeable future.

Now, it is easy to see who made better at the end of the day. No one was happy when Martin left and the Lions put all their eggs in the basket on a poached practice squad player and an undrafted free agent who both never attempted a punt in the NFL, it left many skeptical that the Lions didn’t do enough to shore up the position.

The Lions did find a diamond in the rough, with Fox and Martin did produce a quality season for the Broncos compared to what they were getting from their punters in the past. Surely each team is happy with their punter situation, but one team has been smiling just a little bit more.

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Lions tender 3 exclusive rights free agents including Jack Fox

Lions tender 3 exclusive rights free agents including Jack Fox

The Detroit Lions have announced they have extended tender offers to three exclusive rights free agents.

Fullback/linebacker Jason Cabinda, punter Jack Fox and offensive tackle Matt Nelson were all extended the required offer prior to the March 17th deadline.

All the players are offered a one-year deal at the league minimum salary and the player cannot negotiate with other teams, hence the exclusive rights portion of free agency. It’s a designation for players with less than two full accrued seasons in the NFL.

Cabinda and Fox are starters, while Nelson emerged as a viable swing tackle option after converting from defensive end. Of note, the team listed Cabinda only at fullback and not linebacker for the purposes of the contract tender. All three players will become restricted free agents after the 2021 season provided they play for the Lions.

Detroit Lions Frank Ragnow and Jack Fox named to the All-Pro 2nd team by AP

Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow and punter Jack Fox have been named to the All-Pro 2nd team by Associated Press.

Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow and punter Jack Fox have been named to the All-Pro 2nd team by Associated Press.

This is Ragnow’s third season in the NFL and he has been a starter all three seasons, the first at left guard and the last two at center. Fox spent his rookie season split between the Kansas City Chiefs and Lions practice squads, but in his first year on the active roster, he dominated on a weekly basis.

This is the next in a long list of offseason recognitions for Ragnow and Fox. While this is the first time pair have been acknowledged with an All-Pro recognition, they are also both headed to the 2021 Pro Bowl (along with teammate T.J. Hockenson), and Fox was also honored on PFF’s 1st team All-Pro team.

Per Pro Football Focus, Ragnow is the second-highest graded center in the NFL, behind the Packers Corey Linsley, who earned 1st team All-Pro honors. Joining Ragnow on the second team ALl-Pro honors is Ryan Kelly of the Indianapolis Colts.

1st team All-Pro punter honors went to Jake Bailey of the New England Patriots, who will be representing the AFC in the Pro Bowl.

On behalf of Lions Wire, we wish to extend our congratulations to Ragnow and Fox.

Detroit Lions’ Jack Fox recognized on PFF’s 2020 All-Pro team

Detroit Lions’ punter Jack Fox was recognized on PFF’s 2020 first-team All-Pro team, while center Frank Ragnow landed on the second-team.

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Detroit Lions’ punter Jack Fox was recognized on PFF’s 2020 first-team All-Pro team, while center Frank Ragnow landed on the second-team.

“Few people know it, but there might be nothing PFF does better than punting grades, which reward players for a combination of hang time, location and distance, all according to where they are kicking from on the field,” Sam Monson said. “Detroit’s Jack Fox has been the best punter in the league all season long by PFF grades and conveniently has the net and gross averages to back it up, however easily those can be manipulated to not actually tell an accurate story.“

Fox’s net punting average (44.8-yards) was second league-wide in pure statistics, his gross average (49.1) ranked third, while PFF marked his hangtime at 4.55 seconds per punt average, third in their system.

At times, Fox led in all three of the above categories, and while he didn’t land at the top in any one at season’s end, he was the only punter to finish in the top-3 in each category. That was a big reason he earned his first Pro Bowl nomination and was recognized here.

Fox played 2020 on a prove-it one-year deal and he enters the offseason as an Exclusive Rights Free Agent, meaning he can only negotiate his 2021 year contract with the Lions. This will be an easy deal to get done.

Ragnow finishes the 2020 season as PFF’s second highest-graded center on the year, earning the third-highest run-blocking grade and tenth-highest pass-blocking grade at the position.

Ranking the Detroit Lions unrestricted free agents heading into the 2021 offseason

Ranking the Detroit Lions unrestricted, restricted, and exclusive rights free agents heading into 2021 offseason.

The Detroit Lions will enter the 2021 offseason with 18 of the 53-players on the active roster unrestricted free agents. They also have one restricted free agent and three exclusive rights free agents.

In this piece, we have separated the players into six ranked tiers based on the level of importance to the team and the role they would fill if they return next season.