After adding Reggie Ragland from the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Elijah Lee from the team Kansas City bested, the 49ers, the Lions can now deploy a defense comprised entirely of linebackers. With 11 linebackers currently on the roster, Detroit could have a backer at every single spot.
They won’t, of course, though coach Matt Patricia might be tempted to trot out a 2-8-1 formation just for the chaos factor. But there is certainly a deep mix of LBs to sort through.
The current list of LBs on the Lions roster:
- Jamie Collins
- Jarrad Davis
- Jahlani Tavai
- Christian Jones
- Reggie Ragland
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Elijah Lee
- Jason Cabinda
- Steve Longa
- Anthony Pittman
- Christian Sam
How they sort out
Collins will start at one spot, that is certain. The Lions didn’t pay him $30 million to defect from New England and then not play a significant role. He’s experienced at playing the SAM (strongside) role behind a 4-man front, which the Lions seem to be trending to play more often under new defensive coordinator Cory Undlin.
Tavai projects as the likely starter at middle LB, a role he grew in as a rookie in 2019. The Lions run defense did improve when he took over the primary ILB spot.
Jones and Davis now seem to occupy the weakside role, or WILL. If the defense deploys four LBs, they could both be on the field. Jones offers more versatility and is a more reliable all-around player, while Davis should now be able to play in more of a specialist role. That could be a boon for his struggling career.
Davis played his best football in 2018 as a pass-rushing LB behind DT Damon Harrison. With Danny Shelton now manning the nose, Davis could get more looks in that role as a rusher or an assignment-specific nickel backer. Outside of Collins, Davis remains the most athletic and fastest LB on the roster.
Ragland has become an effective run-stuffing ILB in the Chiefs’ version of a 4-man front. His coverage skills are weaker than Tavai, Jones or Collins (who excels in covering TEs). I expect to see him in place of Davis or Jones in short-yardage situations or when the opposing team uses a fullback or two-TE set.
Reeves-Maybin offers potential in nickel packages or 4-LB sets. Lee is the same sort of player, so they are likely dueling for the same roster spot. Lee played well on special teams in San Francisco and that could give him a leg up.
The rest are unlikely to have any role beyond special teams. Longa and Cabinda could be competing for the same backup MLB/ILB role, but the team may opt to not carry than many LBs. Pittman should stick on the practice squad, where he spent his entire rookie season before making his debut in Week 17. Sam is only on a reserve/future contract and might never don a Lions uniform, his Patriots heritage be damned.
Variables
It seems extremely unlikely the Lions will draft any linebackers with any reasonable expectation of making the active roster in 2020. It doesn’t rule out a developmental talent on Day 3, but anything more than that would appear to be a redundant case of draft resource wastefulness.
While I don’t expect it to happen, the possibility of Jarrad Davis being traded does at least merit consideration. His inexpensive salary means there is no real point in cutting the 2017 first-rounder. Davis is well-respected in the locker room and deserves a chance to try and salvage his Lions career in Undlin’s new defense. His trade value would appear to be quite low.
Jones signed a two-year contract extension in November, an indication of some level of commitment. It’s a team-friendly contract if they opt to remove Jones, who did not play well in 2019, before the season. Dumping the veteran would eat just under $2.2 million in cap room in 2020 and about $1.1 million in 2021.