Fantasy Football: Detroit Lions Season Preview

Detroit Lions Season Preview

The Lions finished last season with an 11-5 record while finishing 2^nd in the NFC North Division. They lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs to the Dallas Cowboys 24-20. Detroit looks to make another run for the playoffs again this season. For the last few years Detroit has been a hot bed for fantasy production, and it looks like the Lions are going to supply a lot of fantasy gems this season.

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Quarterback

Matthew Stafford

Matt Stafford finished last year ranked 15^th among quarterbacks in fantasy production with 354.65 fantasy points on the year. Stafford averaged 22.17 points per game, and he had 14 games where he scored 10 points or more, and he had 8 games where he had 20 points or more. I look for Stafford to have similar production this season. Stafford’s fantasy production versus where he’s going to be drafted in fantasy drafts isn’t going to demonstrate the most optimal value for your fantasy team. Stafford is a safe pick, you know you will get high end QB2 to Low end QB1 production, but you’re going to have to pay mid QB1 price for him. There’s going to be quarterback options in your draft that will provide similar production in the later rounds.

Running Back

Joique Bell

Bell finished last season ranked 12^th among running backs in fantasy points with 201.20, while averaging 13.41 fantasy points a game. Even though Bell finished 12^th in fantasy he was very inefficient last season rushing for 3.9 yards per carry. Bell is going to get a lot of pressure from rookie Ameer Abdullah this season. I think the odds are highly unlikely that he finishes in the top 12 this year in fantasy.

Ameer Abdullah

Detroit drafted Abdullah in the 2^nd round of this year’s draft. Look for Abdullah to be used a lot on passing downs, and there’s a good chance that he could be very valuable in PPR leagues. Abdullah should be a good value late in your draft this year.

Zach Zenner

He is an undrafted free agent that Detroit signed right after the NFL draft. Zenner is very athletic and if he gets the opportunity he could compete with Joique Bell for the starting running back spot. Zenner is a player you need to keep an eye out for during training camp.

Wide Receiver

Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson finshed the season ranked 16^th among wide receivers in fantasy points with 229.70, while averaging 17.67 fantasy points a game. Due to injuries Johnson missed or had limited playing time during 5 games last season. Johnson is a stud and is worth drafting early in redraft leagues this season. He is going to start the season healthy, and you can’t predict injuries. If you neglect drafting Johnson this year, because he got hurt last season then you will be serving your team a injustice.

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Golden Tate

Tate finished last season ranked 11^th among wide receivers with 262 fantasy points. Tate averaged 16.38 fantasy points a game. Tate had his biggest weeks last season when Calvin Johnson was out due to injuries. I expect Tate’s fantasy production to regress more towards the mean, unless Johnson gets injured again. Tate is going to be a WR2 on your fantasy team with very high WR1 upside if Johnson gets hurt.

Tight End

Brandon Pettigrew

Pettigrew missed a lot of games due to injuries last season. There’s a good chance that he surrenders a lot of his targets to Eric Ebron, and he was never a stud in fantasy when he was the guy a few years ago. There’s a lot of risk with Pettirgrew I won’t recommend him unless it was very late in your draft. I think he might be a streaming candidate if he is getting a sufficient amount of targets.

Eric Ebron

Ebron was drafted 10^th overall in last year’s draft, and the Lions plan on using him to get the most bang for their buck. Ebron is highly athletic, and he is dangerous with the ball in the open field. Ebron is going to be a popular tight end to draft late in drafts, because of his athletic upside. He is unproven, so he’s a bit of a gamble, but like a lot of late round tight ends, he’s going to be an excellent streaming option this year.

Defense/Special Teams

The Lions DST finished 5^th last season in fantasy production scoring 136 fantasy points on the year. The Lions had 10 games last year where they scored 10 fantasy points or more (ESPN standard scoring). Ndamukong Suh is gone and that’s going to take a lot of the edge away from the defense. I can’t see them finishing in the top-5 again this year, but they should still be a good option in fantasy this season.

Need help making roster decisions? Need help on who to pick off the waiver wire? Need an opinion on that trade offer that’s in your inbox? I’m your guy, follow me on Twitter @bmatz08, and I’ll give you the guidance you need to make the best choice for your fantasy team.

Next: Minnesota Vikings Season Preview

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