Getty Taylor Decker ready to block.
The Detroit Lions took a big gamble when they signed Taylor Decker to a major extension this offseason, but that gamble seems to have paid off handsomely.
According to Pro Football Focus, Decker has been playing excellent football thus far this season. He’s been a physical force and has stepped up his game to the point where he is looking like a major asset for the Lions as they try to improve their offensive line.
After signing a big contract extension prior to the season, LT Taylor Decker has been having a career-year
Ranks among OTs in 2020:
83.8 OVR (7th, career-high)
77.7 PB (20th)
84.9 RB (3rd, 1st among LTs and career-high)
Decker has yet to allow a sack in 2020
Coming into the year, not many were sure what type of football Decker would deliver as he had been up and down during his Lions career. The contract was a concern, but with how Decker has played so far, that is no longer the case in a major way.
If Decker keeps playing well, this will be fantastic news for the Lions moving forward. So far, as the numbers show, he’s off to a great start.
Taylor Decker Rated 23rd Best NFL Tackle
How has Decker played for the team since getting drafted? The answer is likely close to a grey area rather than black and white, and recently, Pro Football Focus and writer Anthony Treash helped to shed some additional light on the matter. The site recently ranked all of the offensive tackles in the league and Decker placed on the list at No. 23
Here’s what Treash wrote:
“Decker has consistently been an above-average player throughout his four-year NFL career. He’s earned an above-average grade on true pass sets and has avoided negatively graded run blocks at an above-average rate, too — both of these are stable metrics for offensive tackles. Decker closed out the 2019 NFL season from Week 8 on as the league’s sixth-highest-graded tackle and will look to continue that in 2020.”
Whether or not the Lions bring back Decker via re-signing before his deal is up is anybody’s guess at this point in time, and those decisions seem to remain fluid in terms of actual negotiations with Bob Quinn and the team.
Obviously, Decker is a player who has graded positively at some points and negatively in others, but PFF seems to think that he should be valued a bit more by this list and some of their metrics which grade him in a more positive light.
This shows many were expecting a solid 2020 season from Decker. So far, he’s delivered.
Taylor Decker Stats
Quinn’s first draft pick from 2016 has run hot and cold in Detroit. While Decker has been a decent piece, he hasn’t been the transformational lineman the Lions probably hoped for when they selected him early on. There’s been a ton of change in Detroit up front the last few years, and it will be interesting to see if Quinn commits to more time with Decker, or if the Lions look elsewhere and try to start over at tackle. Decker has youth on his side, but this is a big decision for the franchise to make.
In his Lions career coming into 2020, Decker has played in 55 games with 55 starts and also has a receiving touchdown to his credit collected in the 2018 season.
Perhaps by the end of this season, Decker will add more accolades to his ledger.
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