Pride of Detroit
Over a few short weeks, tight end has gone from a position of strength for the Detroit Lions to a glaring weakness. A season-ending injury to star Sam LaPorta alone threw the position into disarray, but the additional injury to Brock Wright left the Lions with scraps. Entering Week 15, Detroit’s active tight ends are Ross Dwelley, Anthony Firkser, and Hayden Rucci, none of whom were on the Lions roster back in training camp.
With four games left in the regular season, the Lions will be hard-pressed to replicate the production of their missing tight ends. However, it is nonetheless an important position for the Lions’ offensive scheme that cannot be ignored. How can the Lions make do with their current tight end situation?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
My answer: Keep using jumbo packages, activate Shane Zylstra when healthy, and utilize Isaac TeSlaa in a “big slot” role.
Without LaPorta and Wright for the foreseeable future, the Lions are down to the bottom of the tight end barrel. Of the three tight ends on the active roster, Dwelley and Rucci are blocking-oriented, while Firkser is more of a receiving target. However, none of these options are satisfactory for a team on a playoff hunt. As for Rucci, he joins the team off waivers from the Carolina Panthers, but the 2024 undrafted free agent has played in just four career games—he has more career tackles (one) than receptions (zero). Despite being known as a blocker, Dwelley has been graded among the worst on the roster by PFF. Firkser’s last season with more than 10 receptions was all the way back in 2021, standing out very little in any capacity. As for practice squad options, Zach Horton or Giovanni Ricci fall into the same category of minimal immediate upside.
The obvious move is to stick with what works: jumbo packages. Utilizing Skipper as a sixth offensive lineman, the Lions saw significant success against the Dallas Cowboys, running the formation a whopping 36.8 percent of the time. Lining up Skipper at tight end all but eliminates the receiving threat from the tight end position, but as a counterargument, would Dwelley, Rucci, or Firsker threaten defenses anyway? This package is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but it might be Detroit’s best option for extra blocking.
The next choice is to activate Zylstra from the injured reserve. Zylstra has just 116 career receiving yards to his name (fewer than Firsker and Dwelley), which leaves a lot to be desired. However, prior to his Week 2 ankle injury, he was firmly entrenched as the third-string tight end behind LaPorta and Wright. Dwelley was brought in afterwards, and given how he has performed (subpar), it would be very surprising to see Zylstra’s role usurped. Zylstra has also been with the Lions since 2021 and is very familiar with Jared Goff and Dan Campbell, so acclimating himself to a starting role might come more easily than expected....
