Getty Kenny Golladay prepares for a game.
The Detroit Lions had some disappointing snubs when Pro Bowl rosters were released about a month ago, but time has brought the team some better news.
Tuesday, wide receiver Kenny Golladay was revealed to be cracking the Pro Bowl. He will take over for Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ wideout Chris Godwin, who will miss the game.
Golladay had a great season in 2019 for the Lions, and arguably, he was a bright spot for the team in what was a lost season on the field. He piled up the touchdowns and big plays en route to career numbers. With this in mind, many assumed Golladay would become an All-Pro or Pro Bowl player, but it didn’t happen until now.
At this point, though, nobody can take away the fact that Golladay is a Pro Bowl player.
Kenny Golladay Makes Lions History in 2019
Not only was Golladay one of the leading receivers in the NFL, he has been piling up the yardage as well as the impact plays for the Lions, who had been incredibly needy for big plays this season.
Lucky for Detroit, Golladay is making explosive plays a habit for the team. How much of a habit? Golladay has broken records for the Lions that have been standing for decades. As the team’s PR account pointed out on Twitter, Golladay has caught a touchdown 40 yards or more in three straight games, something which hasn’t been done in 88 years since 1931.
The last player to accomplish the feat? Bill McKalip, who managed to do it with the Portsmouth Spartans. In other words, the last time the Lions had a wideout as explosive as Golladay, they weren’t even officially the Lions yet.
Kenny Golladay’s 2019 Stats
From nearly the start of the season until now, Golladay has been having an excellent season catching the ball. He’s put up 1,118 yards and 11 touchdowns going into the season finale. He’s had some huge games already this season, and five times Golladay has gone well over 100 yards in a game catching the ball for the Lions.
In total, Golladay has enjoyed arguably the best start to a career of any wideout in his 2017 draft class not named JuJu Smith-Schuster. With 1,783 yards and 12 touchdowns thus far in his career coming into the 2019 season on the field, Golladay looks like an obvious top dog in Detroit for the foreseeable future with Matthew Stafford tossing him the rock. That’s good news for the Lions, who have long pondered how to find production at the wideout position minus Calvin Johnson. Not an issue anymore with Golladay taking over.
The Lions are going to be happy to keep Golladay in the mix for 2020, and his emergence as one of the top wideouts in the NFL will be easy to see next season with more team health.
Hopefully, Golladay continues to get more buzz and more love for what he’s been able to do on the field in his short career.