Getty Jalen 'Teez' Tabor running at the 2017 NFL combine.
The Detroit Lions have had so many draft mishaps through the years that it could be difficult to figure out which ones are worse than any others given the sheer volume that the team has had.
With that being said, the Lions have had more than a few misses stand out lately, and the mistakes are easy to spot when analysts look a bit closer at things with a narrow scope. To that end, Bleacher Report seems to have the best choice for the Lions recently in the form of Teez Tabor as their worst draft pick in the last five years.
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Writer Maurice Moton didn’t hesitate calling out Tabor for being a failed experiment at pick 53 in 2017. As Moton explained, Tabor was an early draft pick for Bob Quinn that struggled for the Lions, and as a result, found his way off the team even when Matt Patricia joined as coach. The reason? Poor play.
“In Patricia’s first year with the Lions, Tabor appeared in 12 contests and started in four of those outings, but he finished the season in a backup role because of his poor performances,” Moton reminded in the piece.
Overall, Quinn had some significant misses as general manager around some hits, and one of his biggest whiffs had to be Tabor. Not many thought he was a legitimate second round prospect when he was selected, and his bumpy play on the field thereafter soon proved that to be the case, making him a big bust.
Tabor’s Stats & Highlights
Coming into the NFL, there were significant questions about whether Tabor would be ready for the NFL considering he had trouble with his testing at the combine and pro day. Speed as well as the measureless were not Tabor’s friend coming into the league, and as a result, many saw him dropping in the draft process. That was in spite of some decent numbers in college given 104 tackles, 8 interceptions and 3 touchdowns in his career with the Gators. Here’s a look at what the video showed:
In the NFL, though, Tabor has not lived up to these same expectations at all which led to him being a second-round pick. The cornerback only tallied 50 total tackles to this point and doesn’t have a single interception to his credit. He bounced around after being cut in Detroit, landing in Chicago and then most recently Atlanta. It seems Tabor could be living on borrowed time in the league, though, given some of his struggles.
Lions’ Defensive Backfield Endured up and Down Season
Ideally, if things had gone as planned, Tabor would still be playing a big role for the Lions and solidifying the team’s second level. By now, he would have come into his own and been a key piece for the Lions secondary. When that didn’t happen, it put the team behind a bit to the point where they have struggled in recent years. Detroit’s secondary struggled at times, but was one of the groups to improve as the season pressed on in a big way. After losing Jeff Okudah in the first game of the year and losing other key players such as Jacobs and Amani Oruwariye, the Lions still improved significantly most of the year. Oruwariye was a weapon intercepting the ball, and has become a player to watch for the team moving forward given how good he has been.
Outside of that, Aubrey Pleasant and Aaron Glenn are developing future studs such as Jacobs, AJ Parker, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Will Harris and others. There is serious hope for this group heading into 2022, especially if the team can make a few well-placed additions in the draft to go with Mike Hughes, whom they signed this offseason.
The arrow finally seems to be pointing up for the team’s defensive backfield, and that’s good news after some of the mistakes like drafting Tabor.
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