Detroit Lions plan to feature Eric Ebron more this year
By Jon Dove
As the Detroit Lions look to replace Calvin Johnson the plan might be to feature Eric Ebron more often.
A report from the Lions official team site says that Eric Ebron is going to get more targets this year. It appears that the Lions are looking to replace Calvin Johnson’s production by spreading the ball around.
They still have Golden Tate on the roster and signed Marvin Jones in the offseason. Ebron has always had elite talent, but is extremely inconsistent. His issues include questionable route running, lack of focus and dropped balls.
The Lions obviously want to get the most out of Ebron’s talent, but may need to go in a different direction if his struggles continue. This maybe one of the last chances for him to establish himself and live up to his high draft status.
If Ebron is able to take a step forward in his development it would be huge for Detroit’s offense. Tate and Jones are speed receivers that lack great size where Ebron has the height and length to high point the football.
Matthew Stafford needs a bigger target capable of creating mismatches. Detroit has plenty of receivers capable of working the underneath routes and picking up yards after the catch. They lack that receiver capable of out jumping the defender and making the tough catch in traffic.
It’s a lot to ask of Ebron to go from a raw and inconsistent player to someone capable of filing the shoes of Calvin Johnson. However, Detroit used an early 1st round pick on him to get that type of production.
There are a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Lions offense this year from issues along the offensive line, lack of a ground game and losing the face of the franchise. They need the offense to perform at a high level if they want to get into the playoff hunt.