Making sense of the Detroit Lions’ move to waive Anthony Zettel When the Detroit Lions decided to waive Anthony Zettel for waiver claim Romeo Okwara Youth Kerryon Johnson Jersey , it sent shockwaves down the fanbase. It wasn’t all that surprising that the Lions put in a claim for a defensive end, this is exactly the time when a team like the Lions shouldbe searching for players that can help them along the defensive line, and our good friend Brett Whitefield from Pro Football Focus even predicted the Lions would make this move:But the decision to cut Anthony Zettel seemed like a puzzling move, especially considering the young edge rusher was second on the team with 6.5 sacks just last year as a 16-game starter. So what went wrong? Why did the Lions make such a callous move when their defensive line was already so lowly regarded? Let’s break down some theories.Anthony Zettel wasn’t very goodMany point to Zettel’s sack total as evidence he was an up-and-coming defender improving every day. While 6.5 sacks is admittedly pretty good for a second-year, former sixth-round pick, anybody who remembers the 2017 season will also remember how Zettel essentially disappeared in the second half of the season. He had exactly 0.5 sacks in the final seven games, and was definitely part of the reason why Lions fans were clamoring all offseason for some pass rushing help. His overall Pro Football Focus grade was okay (70.7) but his pass rushing grade was not (60.6). He was also just not a very versatile guy. He’s not someone you’d want to drop in to coverage, and we saw plenty of time he had trouble setting the edge—either falling victim to rollouts or play-action.Back during Week 3 of the preseason, head coach Matt Patricia said something very telling.Anthony Zettel could only do one thing on this roster, and to be frank, he didn’t do it an extremely high level. Anthony Zettel wasn’t a scheme fitBouncing off that last quote, it’s clear that Patricia values versatility in his scheme. A defensive end isn’t just expected to pass rush or run defend. He’s expected to be able to line up in the middle of the line or occasionally drop back as an off-the-ball linebacker. The more you can do to make the defense unpredictable, the better. Granted Zettel has only had two years in this league and just an offseason under Patricia’s new scheme Color Rush Taylor Decker Jersey , but it was very clear by the end of the preseason the Lions just did not trust Zettel in multiple role, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. They got a long look at him. Zettel actually started training camp as the starting right defensive end while Ezekiel Ansah worked his way off the Physically Unable to Perform list. They even gave Zettel an extended look in the preseason finale—he had more snaps than any other defensive end. They tried him on the left end, they tried him on the right end, they tried him in a three-tech, five-tech, and just about everywhere else on the defensive line. They gave him a shot, and they clearly didn’t like what they saw.Zettel’s replacement, on the other hand, has already flashed some versatility with the Giants. Just watch this film breakdown of Okwara’s game where he shows both pass-rushing abilities and looks comfortable as a coverage linebacker, too. Da’Shawn Hand is going to get serious playing timeWhile we’re talking about players with promising versatility, Lions fourth-round pick Da’Shawn Hand showed it at every chance he got. Hand got plenty of time playing the interior, the edge and just about anywhere else the Lions thought he may be helpful. Hand has the added benefit of coming from Alabama, where they run a very similar scheme to Patricia Frank Ragnow Jersey , and they even have a defensive line coach familiar with Hand’s game. We had a sneaking suspicion that Hand was going to get a good chunk of playing time when he was out there getting rotational snaps with the starters halfway through training camp, but this move all but confirms the Lions’ confidence in the rookie. But why Zettel and not another position?This was the most common complaint of the move and an understandable one. The Lions aren’t very deep on the defensive line, while it seems like they have a surplus of guys at wide receiver and offensive line, even though the talent there doesn’t seem to warrant the high numbers. So why not add Okwara at the expense of a receiver or offensive lineman. Let’s start with wide receivers, because both Brandon Powell and Bradley Marquez were both a bit surprising to see on the initial 53-man roster. The fact that both remain on the roster is very telling. For Powell, it means the Lions are definitely afraid of losing him to a waiver claim. I don’t really see how Powell factors into the 2018 team—I wouldn’t be surprised to see him inactive on game days—but the Lions clearly like his potential beyond that. However, I think this says a lot more about Bradley Marquez. Marquez made the team based on his special teams contributions, and the fact that he’s still around after a bunch of additions and subtractions since the 53-man roster was created, I think it’s safe to say that Marquez isn’t only here to stay, but he’s very likely to be active on Sundays (or Mondays) as part of the special teams units.Bob Quinn has always made special teams a priority, so maybe this isn’t be as surprising as it seems. With the offensive line, however, it’s a little tougher to justify. Outside of their starting five http://www.authenticsdetroitlions.com/cheap-tavon-wilson-jersey , the Lions have Kenny Wiggins, Joe Dahl, Tyrell Crosby and newly-added Andrew Donnal at their expense. Nine offensive linemen are a lot, especially when you consider the Lions have another on their practice squad (Leo Koloamatangi). But it’s hard to point to the expendable one among the group. They probably still want to see what they have in Donnal, and they aren’t going to get rid of fifth-round pick Crosby. Wiggins and Dahl didn’t have great preseasons, but their position versatility and experience working with the first-team offensive line are valuable right now, especially since we don’t know the current status of starting right guard T.J. Lang, who didn’t play a single snap in the preseason. Overall, cutting Zettel is still a surprising move, but it’s one we should probably get used to. The defensive front seven is definitely in rebuild mode, and it wasn’t really any good to begin with. Nothing should make that clearer than this eye-popping stat from MLive’s Kyle Meinke: DETROIT (AP) — The collapse of the Detroit Lions is essentially complete.There's still one more game to go, but the Lions are now assured of their first last-place finish since 2012 after a 27-9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Detroit actually dominated the first 25 minutes or so, but the Lions allowed Minnesota's Kyle Rudolph to catch a Hail Mary touchdown with embarrassing ease with no time remaining in the first half.That play put Detroit behind for good. "Each game is different. That's part of the frustrating part http://www.authenticsdetroitlions.com/cheap-glover-quin-jersey ," Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "It's not one thing, you say, ‘OK, let's go fix that and we'll be fine.' It's just, it's tough to win games in the National Football League and for one reason or another, execution and playmaking, we haven't done enough of it."Detroit (5-10) will end up in the NFC North cellar for the first time since going 4-12 in 2012 under Jim Schwartz. The Lions fired coach Jim Caldwell after going 9-7 last season, and in the first year under Matt Patricia, they will end up with a worse record than in any of Caldwell's four seasons in Detroit.One of the low points of Caldwell's tenure came in 2015, when Aaron Rodgers threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers with no time remaining to give Green Bay a 27-23 win over the Lions. Detroit seemed ill prepared for that play, and the defense wasn't much better Sunday when Minnesota tried it."We just have to get a little bit better from an alignment standpoint, we have to get some of those guys in better position," Patricia said. "Get the guy who caught the ball boxed out and get him out of there. So Youth Ricky Wagner Jersey , a couple details there."Aside from that Hail Mary, it wasn't a bad performance by the Lions on defense. They held Minnesota (8-6-1) without a first down for the whole first quarter, and Detroit was up 9-0 in the second.The game turned when the Lions left Adam Thielen all alone on third-and-17, and Kirk Cousins found him for a 40-yard gain. That set up a touchdown with 1:32 left in the half.Minnesota got the ball back, and the Vikings made it to the Detroit 44 with 2 seconds left. Cousins had plenty of time to throw to the end zone, and Rudolph made the catch without even falling down.Detroit managed only 74 total yards in the second half. The offense was without rookie running back Kerryon Johnson and receiver Marvin Jones, both on injured reserve.The Lions dropped their opener at home to the New York Jets, 48-17 back in September. Their home finale Sunday was similar."We just have to be better as a team and even next year, it's not going to get any easier," defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois said. "We're going to keep playing playoff teams, now you have to figure out how to beat playoff teams. Don't even look at the season, just look at playoff teams."