As the Detroit Lions enter the second half of the season, John Maakaron evaluates their pass-rush.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 John, as you know, the Lions pass rush hasn't been extremely great up to this point in the campaign.
00:04 What do you have to say about the Lions pass rush at this point though?
00:07 Yeah, at this point in the season it's real interesting. Obviously a focal point is Aiden
00:12 Hutchinson only having recorded four and a half sacks. Many people would have felt that his
00:17 production would be significantly higher, but boy is he pressuring the quarterback at a high rate.
00:21 Just the sacks haven't been there and you look at it many people clamored at the trade deadline for
00:27 the Lions to add another edge rusher to help Aiden Hutchinson. And you look at it when you take a deep
00:33 look at the Lions pass rush, a plethora of their sacks have come in three games against non-mobile
00:39 quarterbacks. Against the likes of Seattle and Baltimore, the pass rush wasn't there and look
00:45 what happened. The defense was torched, the game plan kind of got thrown out the window quickly
00:50 as the Lions against the Ravens just simply were non-competitive. But I look at it like this,
00:55 in the second half of the season I see the Detroit Lions really looking to find any combination of
01:01 using the roster in the best way possible to formulate any pass rush. I think you're looking
01:07 to get more out of Charles Harris who is a true pro and a veteran. Ali McNeil. And here's the
01:12 caveat Vito, here's something that people maybe have forgotten. James Houston at some point maybe
01:18 in late December at some point this season has an opportunity to return. And I think that's the
01:25 key play there that the Lions are banking on in the future when they're making their postseason push
01:30 is that maybe adding a player like James Houston, the development of Ali McNeil and the veterans in
01:38 Isaiah Buggs and Benito Jones, John Kaminski along with Josh Paschal should do enough I think in my
01:46 mind to develop and perform better in the second half of the season. Barring any significant
01:52 injuries I do think the pass rush is going to improve. Now is the sack total going to be
01:58 through the roof? It might not be. But I do think that Aiden Hutchinson, what he brings to the table
02:04 is commanding double teams, a lot of extra attention. And so for the Lions it can't be
02:09 just a one-man show. For Aaron Glenn's defense to have success with the pass rush I think others
02:13 have to step up in the second half of the season and it starts with the next contest against Justin
02:18 Herbert. In any contest Vito, if the defensive line can perform at a high level the defense
02:24 will meet all its goals. Getting James Houston healthy too is crucial in my opinion. John,
02:30 thanks for all the time.