Great reason to be optimistic about the Detroit Lions Project

ALLEN PARK – Detroit Lions fans are skeptical about everything this team does. And after 61 consecutive years in various trivia, this skepticism is well deserved.

But in the hours following an NFL project that seems disappointing for many, let me offer that bit of optimism: General Manager Bob Quinn is improving.

His first project calling the shots, in 2016, could have been his worst. The class of 2017 was a little better. And after only one season, his class 2018 already seems to be his best.

Frank Ragnow was a day 1 starter who managed to get rid of his rookie debut to behave really well in the far right. Quinn liked Kerryon Johnson so much that he traded the board against him in the second round – and Johnson averaged more yards per run than all the other running backs, resurrecting almost on his own a floor game that was remained dormant for the better part of two decades.

On Day 3, the Lions added Da'Shawn Hand, one of the country's No. 1 rookies who fainted during a disappointing career in Alabama. Still, he became the league's best rookie domestic defender last year, according to ProFootballFocus, and the 13th overall defender. Not bad for the 114th player taken in this project.

These are three quality starting points, which is what most teams hope to have in the life of a draft class. Detroit has had it in a year. And that does not count for Tracy Walker, who was so talented that he started pushing veteran Glover Quin to save time. He is now ready to begin his second year training.

The preliminary round of 2018 seems to be able to get the most out of Detroit since its famous feat of 2013 – and what is crazy is that Quinn made only six choices, tied with the least possible since 1998.

Of course, it is perhaps not surprising that Quinn's preliminary classes have gradually improved. People usually improve something after doing it many times, after all. Most importantly, Quinn is recruiting players for a head coach with whom he has worked for 13 of the last 15 seasons.

When Quinn was hired in 2016, he was trying to build a list of coaching staff that he was unaware of, that is, that he was running programs that he did not know about. had only a basic understanding. He is now acquainted with his long-time friend, Matt Patricia, who has also imported the Patriot Way to Detroit. Quinn knows this system as well as anyone else, as he has spent almost two decades progressing in almost every level of the Patriots' scouting service in charge of finding players.

"I grew up in the business of my former team, that's the kind of players, at least on the defensive side, for which I've always known how to spot and I'm not sure what to do. I grew up learning to track, "said Quinn. "When I arrived here in 2016, our defense was obviously very different in terms of style, so I tried to adjust as best I could, and then when Matt arrived, we were quickly back to this style.

"To be quite honest, I feel more comfortable rating and rating players for this system simply because I've been doing it for much longer."

So here is. So it makes sense that the performance of Quinn's project improves if he finds actors for a system he actually knows. You saw better production from rookies last year. You also saw a guy like A'Shawn Robinson (promotion 2016) become instantly better than he was under the previous regime.

I think it's important to keep in mind what's going on during the evaluation of the 2019 promotion, because the biggest problem people seem to have with it is that they do not understand it. But Lions have a very specific system that they are trying to put in place and this system requires specific actors. This often means that big players, like Will Harris's third round pick, will be far from Boston College. Or Amani Oruwariye, fifth round pick, a 6-foot-2 corner at Penn State.

The second round choice of Jahlani Tavai is a good example. Hawaii's linebacker was not very popular with most of the selection experts, so her selection was a shock. But the fact is Detroit did not have a strong linebacker to help manage this defense. A guy like Dont'a Hightower, or Tedy Bruschi, or Rob Ninkovich, or even a Kyle Van Noy. New England has been very successful with all these players. Van Noy was so bad in Detroit that the Lions traded almost nothing – literally, just an exchange of choice for the seventh round. And now he is a good player for a good defense and has several jewels to show him.

But Tavai is built in this mold. At 6 feet 2 inches and 250 pounds, he instantly becomes Detroit's second linebacker (not to mention Devon Kennard, who plays almost exclusively at the limit). And its addition could unlock entire dimensions of the game book that were previously inaccessible because Detroit just did not have his body type at the position.

Could the Lions have landed in Tavai later in the project? Perhaps. Will he be working? I do not know But with the way Bob Quinn seems to find his pace, especially now that he's paired with a coaching staff and a ploy he knows, I will not bet against him.