For the earlier part of February, we’ll be looking at some of the Lions free agents who’s potential of coming back to Detroit seems up in the air right now. We’ll be doing these as pros and cons pieces. So far we’ve covered Jonah Jackson, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Emmanuel Moseley, Josh Reynolds and Graham Glasgow. Today we cover Brock Wright.
Pros
Wright has a ton of experience in Detroit.. He’s been with the Lions though the entire rebuild and he’s played a roll. That roll got bigger in 2022 when the Lions traded T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings.
Wright showed that he could be a pass catcher when he had 18 catches for 216 yards and four touchdowns. The big highlight coming when he took a 51-yard touchdown to the house against the Jets. A score that wound up being the difference in that game.
In 2023 Wright’s role diminished with Sam LaPorta coming in and blowing up, but Wright still showed that he has big play in him every now and again. Specifically against the Bucs in the divisional round when he had a big 29-yard catch and run.
Cons
Wright really struggles in the blocking department. There were multiple times in 2023 where Wright missed a block and it wound up leading to a tackle for loss. Week 2 against the Seahawks was the most notable offense.
He did not grade out well in both run blocking and pass blocking per PFF. He had a run block grade of 45.6 in 2023. That’s 118th in the league among tight ends. Near the bottom. While he did improve slightly as a pass blocker, he had a grade of 63.7. That’s 67th among tight ends.
While Sam LaPorta commanded a lot of the targets at tight end, Wright was basically invisible this year with just 14 targets all season long.
My ruling
I’m kind of in the middle on this one. Wright is a guy that has value for the Lions, but not in the role he’s currently in. The Lions have a superstar tight end in LaPorta, but they need a number two guy that can be a reliable pass catcher and an even more reliable blocker. Wright struggles in both categories. He could be a third guy, but the Lions need a two.
Wright is a restricted free agent so the possibility that he could be back is a very strong one at this point. The ball is totally in the Lions court here.