If there's one thing that we've been talking about all offseason with the Detroit Lions it's that they need receiver help. It's not just us at A to Z Detroit, ESPN analysts say the Lions biggest remaining need is receiver, the Athletic said their biggest concern with the Lions is the hole in the receiving group.
This isn't just something that we were suggesting for fun. The Lions truly have some issues at receiver right now. Especially after losing Josh Reynolds to the Broncos. Don't let the two drops in the NFC Championship game make you think that was an easy loss. He had 40 catches in 2023 and 32 of them were for first downs. He was a massive part of this offense.
Lions GM Brad Holmes was 97.1 The Ticket last week and he was asked about the receiver room. He said that he was confident in the group the Lions have now.
That's fair. Some level of confidence should be had, but when you look at the Lions receiver group outside of Amon-Ra St. Brown, there's a lot of hoping and wishing there instead of certainty.
You hope and you wish that Jameson Williams turns out to be the player that you thought he could be, but we're going into year three and we haven't really seen that yet. There were some reasons for that of course. Those reasons should taken into account.
What else should be taken is that he still has trouble tracking the ball in the air and it causes him to slow down or hesitate. I know some Lions fans want to blame Jared Goff for that, but watch Williams' head on these plays. He's looking back over both shoulders and he's trying to find where the ball is in relation to where he is. It doesn't happen all the time, but it happens enough to where it's noticeable.
Then there's Donovan Peoples-Jones. Look, when he got traded here I thought he could be definitive number two guy. He has a lot of the similar traits to what Josh Reynolds has. So there's the thought that he could play that same role now that Reynolds is gone. The Lions didn't use Peoples-Jones a lot in 2023, but he should definitely see the field in 2024. you hope and you wish that he turns out to be the Reynolds type guy.
Antione Green is likely to get a shot to get some serious playing time in 2024. We don't know what he is at this point becasue the last time we saw him play was during the pre-season and it seemed like he might be the odd man out at that time.
Kalif Raymond has become more of special teams and gadget guy. Don't see a whole lot of reasons why that could change.
The Lions had chances to get a receiver in free agency and the draft. They didn't do it in either phase. There's still time to add one, but if they don't, it could burn them in 2024.
The Lions offense was very good in 2023, but that doesn't mean you just don't have to get better. Especially when you lose a piece of that made that offense so good.
Holmes mentioned in that 97.1 interview that the Lions could still look to add there.
"That’s not saying that we won’t add. That’s a position that, especially when you get into camp, those guys put a lot of yardage on the field,” Holmes said. “So you always gotta at some point, you need to add a guy here or there when some attrition comes.”
We'll see what happens in the coming months, but the Lions could use some help there and they could use a player that they could have a little more confidence about without having to hope or wish an idea pans out.
More must-reads: