The Detroit Lions have quickly become one of the best teams in the NFL. So it feels a little weird when you complain about someone saying something bad about them these days. Still, ESPN did something so laughable that it had to be complained about.
They had multiple reporters come together to put together a ranking of every roster in the NFL. They ranked the Lions as the fifth best roster in the league. Ok, that’s something you can handle. No big deal. Who are the four above them?
There’s the 49ers at one. That makes sense. Then there’s the Chiefs and Ravens at two and three. Those also make sense. Then it’s the New York Jets and four? What are a we doing here? Let’s break this down.
The Jets have a 40-year-old quarterback that’s play was slipping before he tore his Achilles in 2023 and then skipped mandatory minicamp for unknown, but possibly weird and unimportant reasons in 2024. The Lions have a 29-year-old quarterback playing the best football of his career.
If this ranking is based off total career, then sure, put Aaron Rodgers miles ahead of Goff. It’s not though. It’s based off right now and Rodgers hasn’t had a good season since 2021. That’s just a fact.
The Lions were fifth in rushing yards in 2023 and improved their running back room. The Jets were 23rd in rushing yards last season and largely have the same exact running back room. The Jets are deeper at receiver. We’ll give them that one, but the Lions are stacked at tight end.
Then the Lions have the best offensive line in the NFL. There’s no question about that. Offensive line expert Brandon Thorn just put the Lions in their very own tier in his offensive line tier rankings. They were the only unit to be considered elite. The Jets were a few tiers down the line.
The Jets have a solid defense. There is no doubt that they have some real names on that side of the ball. You have to give it them there. The Lions aren’t wildly behind them though. The Jets were third in defensive DVOA in 2023 and the Lions were 13th. With an improved secondary there’s a shot the Lions could enter that top 10 and beyond in 2024.
You can’t argue the defense, but the Lions offense is a lot better than the Jets. Frankly, I don’t think the Jets should be this high on this list and they probably are just becasue of Aaron Rodgers and the obsession that national media has with Aaron Rodgers. They’re a team that people are wondering about making the playoffs. The Lions are a team that people are wondering about winning it all.