Last July we sat down and took a look at the Detroit Lions offense and projected what the statistical outcome for most of the players would be. We came fairly close on some of the projections. Of course some players went over our projections. We’re looking in the direction of Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs on that. Others went under.
We have to brag about being spot on about St. Brown though. We projected he’d have 115 receptions for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns. He would up with 119 receptions for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns. Let’s see if we can hit that again in 2024.
Here’s our final stat predictions for the Lions offense in 2024 ahead of their Week 1 game against the Rams.
Passing
| Player | Completions | Attempts | Yards | TD’s | INT’s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jared Goff |
430 |
625 |
4,725 |
35 |
9 |
We’ve got Goff’s numbers going up this season for a couple different reasons. The first is Amon-Ra St. Brown. He’s gotten better every single season. We’ll have him getting better again in 2024.
Jameson Williams should be getting more production and Jahmyr Gibbs and Sione Vaki will see action too. All of these guys are big play guys that tend to take the ball for some yardage. Then there’s Sam LaPorta who puts up big plays as well. Goff has some options. If he can get one more solid receiver, we could be talking about a 5,000 yard season.
Receiving
| Player | Receptions | Yards | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amon-Ra St. Brown |
125 |
1,600 |
12 |
|
Sam LaPorta |
70 |
775 |
6 |
|
Jameson Williams |
65 |
782 |
6 |
|
Jahmyr Gibbs |
55 |
502 |
3 |
|
Tim Patrick |
38 |
378 |
3 |
|
Kalif Raymond |
35 |
350 |
2 |
|
Sione Vaki |
20 |
250 |
2 |
|
Brock Wright |
10 |
42 |
1 |
|
Isaiah Williams |
15 |
46 |
1 |
A few things probably stick out here. Jameson Williams doesn’t totally pop off like some Lions fans hope he will, Sam LaPorta takes a small step back and Isaiah Williams doesn’t really do much at all.
Jameson Williams is about to become a big part of the offense for the first time ever. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could go out and have a big 1,000 yard season, but it is unlikely right out of the gate for him. Still, this is a really solid season. If Williams walked out with these numbers, you should be happy. He’ll reach the heights you want him to. It’s just probably not going to be this season. Especially with the ball getting spread around.
As for LaPorta, we touched on this once before, he had a historical rookie season. Every single tight end that’s had a season like that took a step back in their second season. That doesn’t mean he flops, it just means he puts up a little less and still has a Pro Bowl caliber season.
As for Williams, we’re predicting that he has a rookie season that’s a lot like Antoine Green’s where the Lions sort of stash him this year and he’s mostly inactive. With Tim Patrick likely to take that X receiver spot, he’ll wind up getting more targets and the Lions are set in every spot that Williams can contribute right now. He’ll come in and get some action during the season, but he’s more of a future asset.
Rushing
| Player | Yards | Touchdowns |
|---|---|---|
|
Jahmyr Gibbs |
1,250 |
12 |
|
David Montgomery |
1,010 |
8 |
|
Sione Vaki |
255 |
2 |
|
Craig Reynolds |
125 |
1 |
A big year for the Lions backfield. Two running backs hitting 1,000 yards. They’ll be only the eighth duo in the NFL history to do so. They came just 55 yards away from doing it last year. This year it gets done. They become the first team since 2019 to have two players rush for 1,000 yards. Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram were the last to do it.
Sione Vaki should be a really fun RB3 for this team. We’ve got him being active for the team in both the run and pass game.
We’ll come back here in January of 2025 and see how close our projections are.