Tag: Josh Paschal

Quick takeaways from the Lions Week 18 win over the Vikings

Quick takeaways from the Lions Week 18 win over the Vikings

The Lions proved they were the worthy NFC North champions, successfully vanquishing the visiting Minnesota Vikings in Week 18. Detroit’s 30-20 home win in the regular-season finale lifted the Lions to a 12-5 finish while saddling the Vikings to a 7-10 record.

It was a surprisingly eventful game for a matchup that didn’t have a lot of critical playoff implications. Here are some of the notable takeaways from watching the game in real time.

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Second-round selections of Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal not paying off for the Lions

Detroit’s recent second-round selections of Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal are not paying off for the Lions

As of right now, it’s safe to say that Brad Holmes and the Lions are batting .500 with their second round selections from their last three drafts. Certainly, it’s not expected of any regime in the NFL to get every pick right. That said, the Lions rolled the dice on two defensive lineman in consecutive drafts in the second round and currently, it’s not paying off for Detroit.

When Holmes and Campbell took over, they needed to rebuild this roster inside and out. They had to start in the trenches and for their defense, the first player they took was Levi Onwuzurike.

When looking back at Onwuzurike, he was an explosive pass-rusher out of Washington. Some viewed him as a borderline first-round talent, and he was a player who had a good week at the 2021 Senior Bowl. The downside to him as a prospect was that he was undersized at 6’2″ and 290 pounds. That brought up questions to what position best suits him along the defensive line.

Additionally, Onwuzurike opted out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That did bring up additional questions of what type of player he would be with a year-long gap of no football being played. However, the Lions looked past those questions and took a player that seemed like a potential spark-plug to a defensive line that desperately needed it. During his rookie season in 2021, he did play almost 400 defensive snaps and recorded 35 tackles, two pressures and one sack. I’d say that was a promising start to his career.

Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury in 2022 and he’s not been the same player. While he’s made a return to the football field, Onwuzurike has only played 73 defensive snaps this season. It’s only led to three total tackles and has resulted in no pressures for him. When watching the tape, he lacks the explosiveness he once had and is consistently getting beat by the opposition due to his lack of length, explosiveness and power.

Could something click so he figures it out down the stretch this season? It’s possible but don’t be surprised if the Lions decide to move on as they desperately need help on defense. It’s a tough pill to swallow but that is part of the business. I don’t think Brad Holmes made the wrong decision in drafting Onwuzurike. He had to pull the trigger on getting help up front. However, when looking back at the 2021 NFL Draft, you can’t help but wonder what this defense would look like had they taken a player such as Asante Samuel Jr, Azeez Ojulari or Nick Bolton.

Moving onto the 2022 NFL Draft, the Lions made the correct decision in drafting Aidan Hutchinson. Regardless of the current results, he’s the heartbeat of their defense. The biggest question from this regime was when they double downed at the defensive end position and drafted Josh Paschal in the second round of that draft. This is after taking Hutch the day before and the year before, they selected Levi Onwuzurike.

During the 2022 NFL Draft, the Lions could have selected Alontae Taylor, Jaquan Brisker or Cam Taylor-Britt with their second round pick. However, they selected Paschal with the 46th overall pick.

Adding depth to the defensive line is common in the NFL but as a whole, the defense needed help in other areas. At the time, their cornerback depth was Jerry Jacobs, Amani Oruwariye, Bobby Price, Jeff Okudah and Bobby Price.

They didn’t have the luxury of doubling down at defensive end. Especially when their depth chart up front already had players such as Julian Okwara, Romeo Okwara and Charles Harris. Meanwhile, their secondary had the names listed above on the depth chart.

Since drafting Paschal, the Lions have gotten 443 defensive snaps out of him (per Pro Football Reference). This has resulted in 31 total tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks in his career. Looking at this season, he’s only played 150 snaps this season and it’s resulted in one total pressure.

Sure, he’s been hampered by a knee injury and it’s caused him to spend time on injured reserve. However, when a player is a top-50 pick in the NFL Draft, there’s an expectation placed on that player. Regardless of the position. For Paschal and Onwuzurike, they should be expected to perform at a high level for this Lions defense. After all, the Lions are 8-3 and appear to be the best team we’ve seen Detroit have in decades.

Adding talent to the Lions secondary with early draft selections could have been just as useful. Instead, the Lions went for having an impactful pass rush. Outside of Hutchinson, the Lions pass rush has been underwhelming this season. As we’ve seen in recent weeks, it’s a big part to why their defense is turning into one of the worst units in football.

It’s a win-now league and oddly enough, this is a win-now team. These two selections have not helped this team right now. Neither of them are contributing enough or at all to further justify their status on this team. There’s potential for both players to figure it out in Detroit. In fact, I hope they do. The unfortunate part is that right now, neither player is living up to the expectations.

 

 

Lions film study: What I learned from the Week 10 win over the Chargers

Here’s what Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon learned from the film review of the Lions win over the Chargers in Week 10. 

Film study sessions are always a lot more fun when the Detroit Lions are coming off a win. The 41-38 thriller over the Chargers tested that proclamation a bit.

Detroit’s road win in Week 10 should have been by a much bigger margin. That was clear from watching the game live the first time. The breakdown on All-22 and another refresher on the broadcast feed reinforced that overarching takeaway. The film breakdown took some interesting turns in this one.

Thanks to a glitch in the NFL’s app, the film study got delayed a bit; watching the same second-quarter play on loop was fun for a minute or two, but not six hours. Better late than never!

Here’s what I learned from the film review of the Lions win over the Chargers in Week 10.

Lions activate Josh Paschal in latest set of roster moves

Lions activate Josh Paschal in latest set of roster moves ahead of Week 7, which also includes promoting 2 RBs from the practice squad

Josh Paschal is back on the active roster. True to head coach Dan Campbell’s words on Friday, the Lions activated the second-year defensive lineman on Saturday ahead of the Week 7 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.

Paschal has been on injured reserve since the Week 1 win over the Chiefs. He suffered a knee injury that did not need surgery. The Lions started Paschal’s window to return on October 13th and activated him in time to play in Baltimore.

To make room for Paschal, the Lions released veteran tight end Darrell Daniels. That should be seen as a good sign that James Mitchell is healthy enough to play after missing time with a hamstring injury.

Detroit also promoted two running backs from the practice squad to the active roster for Week 7. Devine Ozigbo joins the gameday roster for the second week in a row. He’ll be joined by Mohamed Ibrahim, who was signed to the practice squad this week.

Lions officially start the return clock for DE Josh Paschal

Lions DE Josh Paschal practiced on Friday, starting his 21-day window to get activated from injured reserve

It likely won’t happen for this week’s trip to Tampa Bay, but Josh Paschal is on the way back into the Detroit Lions lineup. The team started his 21-day window for activation from injured reserve on Friday.

Paschal hasn’t played since getting injured in the Lions’ Week 1 win in Kansas City. He suffered a knee injury that did not require surgery. After working with trainers earlier in the week, Paschal was an active participant in Friday’s practice session. That starts his activation window.

The Lions now have 21 days to activate Paschal back to the active 53-man roster. Paschal is eligible at any time, though it’s unlikely to happen before Sunday’s game with just one practice under his belt. If he doesn’t get activated by the end of the 21-day window, he must spend the rest of the season on I.R.

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Dan Campbell gives hopeful update on the status of 2 Lions defenders on I.R.

Lions coach Dan Campbell indicates Detroit could get defenders Khalil Dorsey and Josh Paschal back from I.R. soon

Reinforcements to the banged-up Detroit Lions defense could be on the way very soon. No, the Lions aren’t dealing for (insert pie-in-the-sky name here) before the trade deadline. It’s coming from within the Lions’ own den.

Head coach Dan Campbell gave an optimistic update on two Lions defenders who are currently on the injured reserve list, cornerback Khalil Dorsey and end Josh Paschal. Both are now eligible to come off I.R. for the Week 6 trip to Tampa Bay.

“Yeah, I would say they’re both close,” Campbell said Monday. “And if I was going to pick one, it’d probably be (Dorsey) Dorse before Paschal, but they’re both really, really close. And Paschal’s close too.”

Dorsey has been out since Week 1 with an undisclosed illness that landed him on I.R. After being a somewhat surprising inclusion on the 53-man roster, Dorsey played extensively (and well) on special teams in Week 1 before going down with the sickness. He played well as an outside CB in the preseason and would be a welcome return now that Emmanuel Moseley is lost for the season after just two plays.

Paschal had three tackles, including a critical third-down TFL, in the Week 1 win over Kansas City. He “tweaked” a knee injury during the victory, Campbell said after the game, and has been on I.R. since.

The Lions defensive line needs more than just Aidan Hutchinson

Hutchinson has played very well but he’s too often the only DL doing anything well

There can be a lot of overreactions to an NFL team after two or three weeks, but I can assure you, this isn’t one of them. When watching the Detroit Lions defense trot onto the field, I can’t help but notice that their front four is limited outside of Aidan Hutchinson.

Through two games this season, the Lions talented pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson has a league-leading 13 total pressures (per PFF: three hits and 10 hurries). Those numbers are great, but the lack of sack production is concerning — but not as concerning as the lack of pressure being generated from the rest of the defenders on the defensive line.

From what I can tell on tape, much of the problem for the Detroit Lions defense is how stagnant the interior defensive line plays. Their 41% pressure rating (per The 33rd Team) is 4th best in the NFL, but it’s only generated one sack.

While that pressure rating is great, the Lions are sending 4-man pressures 80% of the time, and that’s the 5th-most in the NFL. As the season progresses, teams will transition to a quick passing attack like the Seahawks did and it will lead to more struggles for the defense.

According to Pro Football Reference, the Lions have 23 total pressures this season. Defensive linemen such as Benito Jones and John Cominsky have both played over 55% of the snaps this season. Only Cominsky has generated a pressure. Just one single pressure. Defensive lineman Alim McNeil has played 71% of the team’s snaps this season and he hasn’t generated one pressure either.

Not having more blitzes or a better pass rush from the interior defensive line is what is really hurting this defense. The Lions have a potential premier pass rusher in Aidan Hutchinson getting chipped from tight ends or double-teamed from tackles and guards on just about every single pass rush.

What makes all of this more surprising is the personnel statistics that have been charted on the Lions’ defense so far this season. According to personnel statistics (powered by SIS) from the 33rd Team, the Lions run zone coverage 64% of the time and man coverage 21% of the time.

Whether it be aligned in Cover 1 (man coverage) or Cover 3 (zone coverage), it’s not getting the job done for the Lions defense. So my question to Aaron Glenn is why aren’t you blitzing more? Blitzing more would indicate more 5 or 6-man pressures. Maybe, just maybe, that’ll generate the sack production that this defense desperately needs.

With injuries to Josh Paschal and James Houston, the Lions are going to have to get creative with their defensive personnel. I say that because I don’t see this team going out and signing a free agent defensive lineman to help generate more pressure. Instead, they’ll handle it within the organization but they’re going to have to figure it out quickly.

Maybe we’ll see players such as Brodric Martin and Isaiah Buggs provide a spark for the interior once they hit the field. But we don’t know when that will be. One can only hope that they’ll make a decision made on how to generate more pressure. If not, things could get uglier for this defense sooner rather than later.

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Biggest key matchup for the Lions vs. Seahawks

Identifying the biggest key matchup for the Lions vs. Seahawks in Week 2 at Ford Field

Going into Week 1 for the Lions matchup with the Chiefs, I had said that Aidan Hutchinson against the Chiefs offensive tackles was the key matchup. Not much will be changing this week for the my biggest key matchup against the Seahawks.

Even though I’m going to be paying close attention to the usage of running back Jahmyr Gibbs and who plays left tackle for Taylor Decker, I’m still intrigued with the Lions defensive line. Most of this is due to the knee injury that occurred with defensive lineman Josh Paschal on Thursday. Not only will Paschal be out against the Seahawks, he could be out for a couple of weeks due to the injury.

That opens the door for players such as John Cominsky and Charles Harris to earn more snaps. However, both players had over 40% each of the defensive snaps last week against the Chiefs. For Cominsky, he played 27 defensive snaps (42%) and Harris played 52 defensive snaps (80%).

Despite Paschal playing the least amount of snaps with 17 defensive snaps (26%), I think the Lions can get creative and get James Houston on the field more. So with that, James Houston is my key player to watch for the Lions defense. Much of that is due to the versatility that the Lions defensive line has at all times.

The Lions should have no issues plugging Cominsky or Hutchinson inside to pass-rush as a 3-technique. That opens the door for Houston to standup off the edge and try to pressure Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.

Houston potentially getting extended playing time is extremely relevant because of the injuries the Seahawks havre sustained with their offensive line. Not only did the team put their starting right tackle Abraham Lucas on the IR with a knee injury, they’ve also listed their starting left tackle Charles Cross out for the game.

This all bodes well for James Houston and the Lions defensive line. It should be expected for the Lions defense to pressure Smith early and often. With that, I’d expect an increase in playing time for Houston. While he didn’t record a defensive statistic last week against the Chiefs other than a quarterback hit on Patrick Mahomes, he should find success against Seattle.

Josh Paschal injury update: Lions DE out in Week 2 and could miss more time

Lions DE Josh Paschal is out in Week 2 and could miss more time with a knee injury suffered in Thursday’s practice

It’s never good when an injury pops up late in the week in practice. Unfortunately, that’s what happened with Lions DE Josh Paschal this week.

Paschal suffered a knee injury sometime during Thursday’s practice session. Head coach Dan Campbell didn’t go into detail on the exact injury, but he did throw out a vague timeline for the second-year defender.

“I don’t think serious, but I think there is a chance—we’ll know more today—but there is a chance he could be out for a little bit,” Campbell said on Friday. “But I don’t feel like this is something to be a season-ending type of deal.”

Paschal is out for Week 2, another setback for the talented Kentucky product. He missed time in his rookie season with a core muscle injury and a knee injury after having his college career interrupted by cancer.

The Lions are expected to keep veteran Romeo Okwara active in Week 2 to help fill Paschal’s role. Okwara was inactive in Week 1. Detroit could also use more of Levi Onwuzurike, as well as a higher snap count for John Cominsky on Sunday against Seattle.

Lions injury report for Week 2: Josh Paschal ruled out, Taylor Decker doubtful

Lions injury report for Week 2: Josh Paschal ruled out, Taylor Decker doubtful for Sunday

The Detroit Lions will be without at least three players for the home opener in Ford Field, and a fourth is doubtful for Sunday’s Week 2 matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.

All three players ruled out are on the defensive side of the ball. Cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley and Khalil Dorsey were anticipated to be ruled out after not practicing all week. The third Detroit defender is an unpleasant surprise.

Defensive end Josh Paschal is also out. Pashcal left practice with a knee injury and has quickly been ruled out. The extent of Paschal’s injury is not yet known. Paschal played well in the Week 1 win in Kansas City.

No other Lions carry any injury status into the game.