I’ve been talking about it since Tuesday, while I think the Lions did an excellent job trading for Za’Darius Smith and he was the best possible route that they could go, but this team still needs some more depth on the edge. One guy that’s been pretty successful in the NFL has just become available and the Lions might want to put in a claim for him.
Ngakoue has had a really weird NFL career. On one side of things, this guy has had eight or more sacks in a season in eight of the 10 years he’s been in the league. On the other hand, he’s played for nine different teams. Why is no NFL team bringing this guy back? Only one did and that was the Ravens this year. They are waiving him now to make room, but they do plan to bring him back if he clears waivers.
This offseason I said the Lions should avoid him as a guy that could come in and be a starter, but in terms of being a rotational guy, this would be a perfect time to bring in Ngakoue. The Lions need all the depth they can get.
A group of Za’Darius Smith, Josh Paschal, Yannick Ngakoue, Levi Onwuzurkie, Trevor Nowaske, Mekhi Wingo, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Isaac Ukwu is a pretty decent little group there. The Lions would have some guys that can apply pressure. Perhaps enough to try to manufacture what they lost with Hutchinson.
Ngakoue has played just 87 snaps this year, but he’s had seven pressures and two sacks on those snaps. In Detroit he would play significantly more because the Lions don’t have what the Ravens do.