How many top-five players do the Detroit Lions have at their respective positions?
The Detroit Lions have built themselves a talented roster, but how talented is it amongst the league’s best?
Preseason football is still months away, and we are in limbo between seasons. Some folks are focused on the season to come, making OTA observations and roster analyses. Some are still looking at the year that was, and that is what we will be focusing on today.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) has been sprinkling out their top 10 positional lists, and one list caught the attention and ire of many Lions fans. On the list of top offensive tackles today , the Lions’ All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell came in at sixth, behind Jordan Mailata, Tristan Wirfs, Rashawn Slater, Trent Williams, and Lane Johnson. PFF has (at times questionable) methods to their madness, but leaving Sewell outside the top five is absurd. Mailata and Wirfs are certainly talented, and I think you could make a fair (but wrong) argument to put them ahead of the Lions star offensive tackle, but ranking Sewell behind Slater and two other tackles older than 35 years of age?
PFF has a few additional lists with other Lions, including Sam LaPorta as their fifth-ranked tight end , Jahmyr Gibbs as their fourth-best running back , and Aidan Hutchinson as their fifth defensive end . However, I want to look at the entire Lions roster and see how many top-end talents they truly have.
Today’s Question of the Day is:
How many top 5 players do the Detroit Lions have?
My answer: Nine.
On offense, I would go with the aforementioned Sewell, Gibbs, and LaPorta. Additionally, Frank Ragnow deserves a nod not only as a top-five center in the league but arguably the number-one spot. Amon-Ra St. Brown is also a top receiver in my eyes despite some lofty competition at the position.
On defense, Hutchinson gets an obvious spot in the top five, as does Kerby Joseph at safety. It may be bold, but I would also throw Brian Branch into the conversation as well—the Lions truly have two elite safeties. Jack Campbell is turning into a talented linebacker, but I need another year of production before ranking him that highly. The elephant in the room is Alim McNeill. When healthy, he certainly warrants a spot in the upper echelon of defensive tackles, yet due to his injury, how soon can he return to form? For now, I would consider him just a top-10 interior lineman.
Special teams are also an interesting discussion. I believe that Jack Fox is an elite punter without question, but can you put any of the other specialists into the same category? For Jake Bates and Hogan Hatten, I would need another year of great performances before crowning them among the league’s best. If you want to separate positional players, you could also make an argument for Kalif Raymond and Sione Vaki to be the best punt returner and special teams tackler in the league, respectively. For my purposes, I will not, but they deserve some praise nonetheless.
All together, that brings my tally to nine of the top-five players at their respective positions for the Lions, with a fair argument for many more. Do you agree with my count? Let us know in the comments below.