Dan Campbell—and Brad Holmes—broke down all of the Detroit Lions’ newest signings in free agency.
One of the perks of the NFL annual owners meetings is that fresh off of NFL free agency, coaches can offer their thought processes on adding new players. While the Detroit Lions had a pretty modest class this year, coach Dan Campbell still offered valuable insight into the new players this year.
Here’s a breakdown of what he said this week.
CB D.J. Reed
Reed was by far the Lions’ biggest offseason signing and is certainly penciled in for a starting cornerback role. In line with our own scouting report of Reed, Campbell immediately pointed to his ability to be a strong presence in man coverage and the run game.
“He’s got cover ability. He can play man-to-man. Let’s start there,” Campbell said. “But then he’ll bite on the perimeter. Right? He’ll come up. He’ll tackle. He’ll squeeze the edges. And then when you see him in press, man, he challenges. He’s not giving you free release. He’ll mix it up. And then he’ll challenge you at the catch point. Man, he’s feisty. He’s competitive.”
Beyond that, Campbell was also impressed with Reed’s ability to recover and put plays behind him.
“One of the best things that I saw—I told him this—they were playing, it was early in the there, crossover tape. He got beat on the play. He actually got beat, all right?” Campbell said. “And to watch him put his foot in the ground, kind of stumble out from one of the rare times he gets beat—but you get beat at corner, that’s part of this league. He gets beat. He puts his foot in the ground, and I mean, he is on an all-out, he doesn’t have time to think about recover. He is just on a B-line to try to angle this guy off. I thought that was one of the most impressive things — ‘Man, this guy doesn’t go in the tank, he’s not worried about what it looks like. He’s just trying to compete and win.’”
DT Roy Lopez
Lopez will be part of the crew that Campbell pointed to who can help early in the season with Alim McNeill is expected to miss some time. Primarily a run-stuffing nose tackle, Lopez should pair with DJ Reader to keep the Lions’ run defense stout.
Lopez is a down and dirty — doesn’t mean he can’t play third down—but he lives in base a lot,” Campbell said. “He’s taking on the double teams. He’s keeping people off the backers. He can get an edge on you. And he’ll just do it time in, time out, again over and over.”
That should help take some load off of Reader, who will turn 31 this summer.
Campbell said that Lopez really stood out when going up against the Lions—and All-Pro center Frank Ragnow—last year.
“Him going against Frank all day. We ran the heck out of the ball. But, man, that guy held his own now and we’ve got a pretty good damn center. That was impressive,” Campbell said.
LB Grant Stuard
It should come as no surprise that Campbell loves everything about Stuard. He’s an underdog story and a gives-your-all type of player on special teams.
“Stuard can do it all, man,” Campbell said. “He’s a guy that’s been counted out. But just continues to make plays in this league. He’s a dynamic special teams player in my opinion. And he can play defense. I mean, he played defense against us.”
Campbell also dropped a little important nugget during his media session, hinting at Stuard potentially getting some time at fullback.
“This guy is an unbelievable special teams player, and he played defense, too. And maybe offense,” Campbell said.
QB Kyle Allen
Campbell was asked about the Kyle Allen vs. Hendon Hooker competition for the backup quarterback role. While he didn’t give any particular insight into Allen, he reiterated what general manager Brad Holmes said earlier in the week: this is a real competition.
“I would say that Hooker, no different than Allen, (is) competing,” Campbell said. “The best way to help guys really reach their full potential is competition. You can say things. You can try to — the best you can — prop them up. But at some point, man, you just gotta go compete, and it’s him or you. I anticipate Hooker is gonna compete. That’s what he does, and I would see him taking another step up.”
CB Avonte Maddox
Campbell didn’t offer any statements on Maddox, but Brad Holmes did earlier in the week. In short, he noted his value as an experienced player, along with his versatility.
“We’re excited to get a guy like Maddox, a veteran that’s got versatility,” Holmes said. “He can compete, obviously, he can play nickel, but he’s got some safety versatility as well that we’re excited about, and he can play on special teams as well.”
Perhaps Maddox can provide some of the support lost by Ifeatu Melifonwu signing with the Dolphins this offseason.
CB Rock Ya-Sin
Again, Campbell didn’t touch on Ya-Sin but Holmes offered a quick thought on the veteran corner.
“Another veteran that’s — look, he fits in terms of he can play man-to-man, he can press up,” Holmes said.
(Sorry, nothing on Kenny Yeboah)
A version of this post was originally published on this site