The Detroit Lions made several additions to their defense during the 2024 offseason, with the signing of veteran edge rusher Marcus Davenport being among them.
The Lions signed Davenport with the hope that he can contribute to the pass-rush and help take some pressure off third-year defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who had to carry the load in Detroit's pass-rush last season.
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However, Davenport isn't a lock to contribute. After all, he has never played a full season in his career, and he's coming off a campaign in which he played just four games for the division rival Minnesota Vikings.
Knowing that, it's not much of a surprise that Bleacher Report's David Kenyon thinks Davenport is the team's biggest potential bust for 2024. Here's what he had to say:
Considering the overall strength of the team—still a wild thing to say about Detroit—taking a flier on Marcus Davenport was a sound decision. If he works out, great! If not, it was a one-year deal. Unfortunately, the latter is quite possible. Davenport has routinely struggled with injuries and volatile production in six NFL seasons.
Davenport has shown he can be an impact pass-rusher if he can stay healthy after posting two seasons of six-plus sacks during his career, including a career-best nine sacks in 2021. He also had two sacks in just four games in 2023.
But the injury issues and inconsistent production over his career are two major issues and the Lions should be looking to add another edge rusher before the start of the season as a result.
One player we've been banging the table for is Emmanuel Ogbah, who can play on the edge and inside, giving Detroit an insurance policy at multiple positions upfront.
