Detroit Lions: Top 5 offseason additions, post 2018 NFL Draft
3. Devon Kennard, OLB (from New York Giants)
The addition of head coach Matt Patricia means a number of things. The Detroit Lions figure to put a lot more emphasis on defense this season. The new coordinator under the new head coach is veteran Paul Pasqualoni, who has made his share of stops when it comes to this game.
This past season, the Lions ranked 27th in the NFL in both total yards per game allowed and passing yards permitted. Detroit totaled a mediocre 35 sacks, more than one-third of those (12) via defensive end Ziggy Ansah. The team went out and signed a pair of veteran linebackers in Christian Jones (Chicago Bears) and Devon Kennard (New York Giants). And the latter could have a profound impact on the pass rush this season.
“I love the opportunity to put pressure on the quarterback,” said Kennard to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press back in March. “I think the greatest play in football is a sack-caused-fumble, in my opinion, so any opportunity to help my team in that way is something I look forward to doing and we’ll see how much if at all I’ll be doing that come season.”
The 27-year old veteran made a career-best 11 starts in 2017. It was a bad year for the Giants, but Kennard managed to total 41 tackles and four sacks. As a rookie in 2014, he finished with 43 stops, 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in only 12 outings. The versatile pro is an ideal addition to the Lions’ defense.
Next: No. 2