Getty Kenny Golladay makes a catch and runs with the ball.
The Detroit Lions currently have a player in Kenny Golladay who is near the top of the league already, but his coordinator wants him to be even better.
Specifically, Darrell Bevell wants to see Golladay get himself to the level where he is thought of as one of the truly elite players who can make a play any time and takes over a game. To make that happen, Bevell wants Golladay to mirror some of the best wideouts in the entire NFL.
Here’s what Bevell told the media about Golladay’s trajectory:
“He had a really nice year for us, and we hope he continues to have many like that. Really, you want him to be thought of in those upper echelon guys like the (DeAndre) Hopkins and (Michael) Thomas and those type of players where he really is dictating to the defense how they have to cover. Sometimes it’s where that guy gets double covered and he’s worried about him all the time and you help your teammates. But when you’re in that go-to opportunity and everybody knows Kenny Golladay is getting the ball and everybody knows he is going to still make the play. That’s really where we’re trying to get him to be that dominant level player.”
It’s true Golladay had a nice 2019 season and has enjoyed a nice start to his career, and to get him on the level of a Hopkins and a Thomas, he has to make waves constantly in the NFL. If that happens, there is no question people will start to put him amongst the elite of the elite.
Kenny Golladay Projected for Massive Season
After a few solid seasons since being drafted into the league, Golladay appeared to grow by leaps and bounds in 2019. All of that only sets the stage for what could be to come this year. According to Pro Football Focus, Golladay is going to be one of the most productive wideouts in the game this coming season, racking up 1,405 receiving yards. That would represent a top 3 total in the league.
Most projected receiving yards
1. Michael Thomas – 1,525
2. Julio Jones – 1,457
3. Kenny Golladay – 1,405
4. Chris Godwin – 1,331
Golladay is a player the Lions need to build around for the future, and his ability to make huge plays in the passing game is a major reason why. He’s developed well since the Lions drafted him and Golladay is a home grown talent in the truest sense.
A season like this might just propel the Lions forward in the biggest and best possible ways offensively, and might also be beneficial for fantasy players everywhere.
Kenny Golladay’s 2019 Stats
From nearly the start of the season until the finish, Golladay had an excellent year catching the ball. Last year, he put up 1,190 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had some huge games last season, and four times Golladay has gone well over 100 yards in a game catching the ball for the Lions. His ball skills are a big reason why.
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 2,730 yards and 19 touchdowns thus far in his career coming into the 2020 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.
Recently, Pro Football Focus put together a list of the top wideout groups in the NFL 1-32. Detroit’s group, which is led by Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones, ended up placing No. 6 on the list, safely within the top 10 in the league.
Writer Ben Linsey likes what he sees from the group, as he wrote in the piece:
“The duo of Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. may be underrated around the league, but both guys can win in a number of ways, and they excel in contested-catch situations. Golladay ranks fifth in contested catches since 2017 (49) while Jones ranks eighth (42), and both have top-10 contested-catch rates among qualifiers. Danny Amendola remains a solid option in the slot at 34 years old after earning a 71.5 overall grade in 2019, and there’s reason to believe T.J. Hockenson will take a step forward as a receiver in his second season given how effective he was at Iowa. The addition of the best receiving running back in the class — D’Andre Swift — only bolsters the group.”
The Lions have players not only at wideout but other spots ready and willing to jump into the mix and help. That’s the mark of a solid team that has some excellent depth, and is a major reason the Lions might have one of the best groups in the entire league.
When this is the case, Golladay will easily become one of the game’s most identifiable players and personalities.
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Darrell Bevell Outlines Bold Goal for Lions’ Kenny Golladay