Grantland just published an article about second year Detroit Lions Tight End Eric Ebron and it pretty much says don’t expect a break out year from him.
Now admittedly I’m a big fan of Grantland and I think they are one of the few actual sports sites still doing journalism and not just producing click bait. If you’re expecting a defense of Eric Ebron you’re not going to get that here.
This article by Grantland’s Jason Bailey is spot on. Detroit tried to be the smartest guy in the room and I personally never see him being worth the tenth overall pick in the NFL draft. Just think about it, take away being a Lions fan and consider a tight end drafted with the tenth pick.
Say the Chicago Bears or the Dallas Cowboys make that pick. Lions fans would litter social media with jokes at the expense of those teams. The Lions drafted a guy thinking he could be the next Jimmy Graham. The same guy only had eight touchdowns in 34 career games in college and he dropped 11.4 percent of passes intended for him in his 2013 campaign at North Carolina.
All along I was a skeptical of the selection, Eric Ebron was a player that on most Saturday’s was the best athlete on the field, yet his numbers fail to show that. The piece touches on the fact that Eric Ebron was drafted to be more of a field stretcher and end zone target. And being six feet, four inches tall, weighing 265 pounds, and posting 4.6 40-yard dash times one would think so. That wasn’t at all the case in Eric Ebron’s first season in the NFL.
Eric Ebron was a safety net when used, if used at all. Another problem noted was Ebron’s failure of running with the ball after he did make a catch, generally losing momentum his own self making for an easier tackle. Another interesting note made by Bailey is that those who think quarterback Matthew Stafford didn’t throw Ebron the ball, Ebron was targeted eight times with passes over 20 yards last year compared to another Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew has been targeted 14 times on throws of more than 20 yards in his six seasons.
To be fair tight end is usually a slow position to transition into. Not many players at the spot become truly elite. What hurts is seeing Brandon Pettigrew, who was also drafted in the first round, flirt with possibly becoming elite but as more years go by, we are watching him slowly slide into being just an extra offensive lineman. With the tenth overall pick, the Lions literally had a 90 percent chance of drafting any one of the next ten players selected and it would of had a bigger impact on the 2014 season. Hell, the Lions might of even been able to draft Ebron in the second round if he made it past the Baltimore Ravens.
The hope for Lions Fans is Eric Ebron gets it soon and becomes the elite tight end they drafted him to be.
