The Detroit Lions have the chance to reshape their team this offseason with a pair of first-round draft picks, both which fall within the top 20.
Such an opportunity comes with much fanfare and debate in terms of direction, and that’s currently the position the team and their fans find themselves right now. It seems everybody has an opinion on what should happen, even players like cornerback Jerry Jacobs.
Joining the Bleav Network at the Super Bowl on radio row, Jacobs was asked his take on what should happen with the picks this year. As he said, the defensive side of the football is one that the team should be looking to upgrade with their first picks.
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#SuperBowlLVII | Presented by @betonline_ag“I think the key thing we need, and I’m not trying to be a GM, I think we should go for defense with the first two picks. Not saying our offense is solidified, they’re pretty good but we (could) go and start the defense and get back on the offense,” Jacobs says in the clip.
Later, in sharing the clip on Twitter, Jacobs admitted that he was simply throwing out his opinion for the masses.
“Just throwing my lil opinion out there,” Jacobs tweeted along with some laughter emojis.
Laughter aside, Jacobs might not be wrong. The Lions had one of the top-ranked offenses in the league this past season, placing fourth-overall in terms of total offense at 380 yards per-game. Defensively, things weren’t nearly as good. Detroit was 32nd in the league, good for dead last position.
Building up the defense first and then circling back to boost the offense for the second or third round could be the ideal way to tackle the draft. A lot will also depend on free agency, where the Lions have a bit of money to spend. If they added bigger-ticket players there, that could alter the draft plan slightly.
Even such, the Lions have the sixth-overall pick as well as pick 18. That offers them a great chance to get a couple of game-changers that can help the team out at their weakest spot on the field. Jacobs seems to understand that looking at the situation.
Lions Defense Needs 2023 Upgrades
Jacobs is not wrong when it comes to the team’s biggest need. Detroit struggled on defense this season, and has the stats to prove it with regards to both the line and the back end.
Detroit finished 30th in pass defense, allowing 26 touchdowns and over 245 yards per-game on average. Worse, they allowed a total of 4,179 yards through the air. That points to a group that simply didn’t get much going all season long.
Jeff Okudah, who posted 73 tackles and one interception was the most consistent player of the group, and by the end of the season, he was struggling to find consistency as well. The Lions have solid pieces like Jerry Jacobs, but not nearly enough depth at the position, which proved itself to be the case most of the year.
Free agent Amani Oruwariye figures to be on the outs after a very tough season in 2022, and Mike Hughes may not have done enough to stick around as a must re-sign player. That could lead the Lions to prioritize the spot heavy in the draft.
The team’s defensive line could need a boost in the trenches as well, given they weren’t much better statistically there. Detroit finished 29th in rush defense, allowing 146.5 yards per-game and 22 touchdowns. That could point to a need for more beef up front.
Getting some veteran players along with a few more young bodies could be the key toward helping the Lions turn things around for the future. Early on, it seems as if the draft is going to fit the Lions and their needs in the defensive backfield in a big way.
Jacobs a Defensive Building Block for Lions
No matter what happens from an upgrade standpoint, Jacobs has made a clear case for himself to be considered one of the players the team can build around on defense.
During the 2021 season as an undrafted rookie free agent, he managed to put up a total of 34 tackles before going down with an ACL injury. Beyond any statistics, though, best asset he constantly brought to the mix was his spirit and his grittiness. Those are the attributes which got Jacobs into the league, and at times, the Lions seemed to miss them early in the 2022 season as he continued to recover from his offseason surgery.
After coming back, Jacobs rebounded to post 42 total tackles, eight passes defended and one interception. The pick against the New York Jets on first-and-10 early in the third quarter of Detroit’s eventual 20-17 win was the first that Jacobs has made in his career:
The fact that a player like Jacobs recognizes the team’s need for defensive help and is willing to talk about it is significant. Already, it shows that the team understands where they must improve, and are ready and willing to accept reinforcements.
Jerry Jacobs Unveils His Ideal 2023 1st-Round Draft Plan for Lions