The Detroit Lions secondary is about to become stronger, as Jamal Agnew was added to the 53-man roster before to practice on Wednesday.
After emerging from training camp as an All-Pro return guy in 2017, Agnew was selected as Detroit’s starting slot cornerback this season. But when he hurt his knee playing defence against the Packers in Week 5, that was the end of it.
The Lions secondary has been negatively impacted by the injury. Agnew was compelled to move inside, leaving one of the outside places unoccupied for Nevin Lawson. Despite being in coverage for four touchdowns and allowing 20 catches on 23 targets, Teez Tabor had the first opportunity. During Week 10, he was benched after drawing six flags and continuing to allow a perfect QB rating on balls thrown his way.
In terms of positional rankings on ProFootballFocus, he would be the lowest-graded cornerback in the whole game if he got enough snaps.
In recent weeks, undrafted rookie Mike Ford has taken Tabor’s spot, albeit he has performed just marginally better. QBs who target him have a passer rating of 132.1. He has given up 23 catches on 25 targets.
Lawson could move back outside if Agnew goes back to the slot, which would help address one of Detroit’s biggest defensive shortcomings. Furthermore, it will provide a young player more time to mature before the games become relevant once more in 2019.
Coach Matt Patricia stated, “I think he’s someone that works really hard and has really done everything we’ve asked to push through his situation.” It was encouraging to observe the amount of progress and improvement that was made there in the first few months of the year and the spring, both on special teams and on defence. He was one of the guys that helped us out early in the season, or at least placed us in a competitive position, which was beneficial.
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