The Lions could start their 10th different combination on the OL in 15 games on Sunday
There’s no reason for the Detroit Lions to be this bad on the offensive line, not with the money they’ve spent on free agents and the draft picks they’ve invested to protect Matthew Stafford the last two years.
But there is an explanation for why the Lions have struggled so mightily up front: Continuity. Or the lack thereof.
Through 14 games this year, the Lions have started nine different combinations on their offensive line and used a whopping 14 different offensive linemen.
Greg Robinson started the first six games of the season at left tackle, then got cut when the Lions couldn’t stomach him anymore. Zac Kerin made a start at left guard in September. Corey Robinson has started at three different positions this year, and that’s after spending half the season on injured reserve.
At one point, things were so dire the Lions even used the anonymous duo of Dan Skipper (now on the practice squad) and Tim Lelito (now out of the league) for long stretches of games.
„I commend them,“ Lions coach Jim Caldwell said after last week’s win over the Chicago Bears. „I think everybody kind of picks on them once in a while. I’m going to just tell you something, it is not easy to do what they do. They come in, they don’t blink, they line up, they play wherever we ask them to play. They get the job done and well enough for us to get a victory. I commend those guys.“
Caldwell, who typically avoids even the appearance of excuse making, has gone out of his way to acknowledge the Lions’ personnel issues up front over the last week and praise offensive line coach Ron Prince.
Prince, who’s quietly become a target of critics seeking answers for the Lions‘ offensive line struggles, has declined interview requests through the team’s media relations department each of the last two weeks.
„We’ve had more guys in and out on our line than probably as much as anyone, I would assume,” Caldwell said. “But what he does and what the rest of our guys do, they just face the challenge. They prepare extremely hard. Even though a guy may not have gotten a whole lot of playing time previously, we treat him as if he’s supposed to play well and supposed to handle whoever he faces.“
The Lions have done some good things on their offensive line this year.
Left tackle Taylor Decker, after missing the first eight games of the season following June shoulder surgery, has started to return to form in recent weeks. Fill-in guard Joe Dahl shined as a run blocker in his first career start last Sunday. Graham Glasgow is the only player on either side of the ball who’s played every snap this year. And two weeks ago, in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Lions didn’t allow a sack in a game for the first time since Week 10 of 2015.
As a unit, though, the Lions have had their struggles.
The Lions rank 31st in the league in rushing, are one of the worst team’s in the NFL in short-yardage runs, and Stafford is the second most-sacked quarterback in the NFL (43) and on pace for a career-high in that category.
„(The sacks are) something that I’m not real happy about,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. „We have to protect the quarterback better. It starts with me. Could be play calling, could be scheme, could be game plan for the week. But at the end of the day, we do not want our quarterback hit as much as we have been so far this year, and that’s a major point of emphasis for us moving forward.“
The Lions could start their 10th different combination up front Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals as center Travis Swanson (concussion) returned to practice Friday for the time in two weeks and right guard T. J. Lang is out with a foot injury.
Glasgow will make his fourth start of the season at center if Swanson can’t play, and either Dahl or Robinson will play right guard.
Glasgow said the revolving door of personnel has made things „tough“ on the offensive line, but that it’s not something that’s held the unit back as a whole.
„Everybody knows the plays and everybody knows everything that we need to do,“ Glasgow said. „There’s maybe a couple little things, but overall in the grand scheme of things I don’t think it hurts us scheme-wise. I think it’s just more maybe a little execution things. I think that for the most part, guys know what they’re doing and how to do it.“
Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!
