Lions LB Alex Anzalone reminds everyone how unique his skillset is

Detroit Lions LB Alex Anzalone was arguably the best NFL linebacker when it came to this aspect of the game.

It’s no secret that the Detroit Lions like to play man coverage a lot—arguably more than any other team. Typically that discussion is surrounded around the type of cornerbacks the Lions deploy, but don’t forget that linebacker play is also a big part of that gameplan. Our own Al Karsten pointed out that fact on Twitter, noticing that Lions linebackers had some of the highest man-coverage rates of any in the NFL.

Lions linebackers represented three of the four highest man coverage rates among linebackers last year, with Alex Anzalone leading the NFL with 48.5% of his coverage snaps being in man coverage. Anzalone himself saw this, he clearly views this as a badge of honor.

It’s one thing to play a lot of man coverage. It’s another thing to actually be good at it. That’s why Anzalone wasn’t done sharing some statistics. He then went on to tweet out a chart created by PFF’s Judah Fortgang, which measures PFF’s Raw Separation Prevented vs. overall PFF On Ball grade. Anzalone has one of the best combined scores of any linebacker in the chart. Just look at the top right quadrant:

(Note: Jack Campbell is also in the best quadrant)

It’s a good reminder of just how important Anzalone is to what the Lions do on defense. It’s probably not too hard to forget considering how different the defense looked with him in the lineup last year vs. the six games late in the season he missed due to a broken forearm.

Anzalone is entering the final year of his three-year, $18.75 million extension with the Lions. He’ll turn 31 years old in September, so it will be interesting to see what the Lions do moving beyond 2025.