Last season, no Detroit Lions' edge rusher besides Aidan Hutchinson (11.5 sacks) had more than two sacks. So that remaining group was ripe for an overhaul this offseason. Julian Okwara (Philadelphia Eagles), Romeo Okwara (retirement) and Charles Harris (still a free agent) are notably gone.
As could have been expected, the Lions did not make a big, potentially costly move to add an edge rusher. They're coming at the situation for the edge opposite Hutchinson with depth of options, including free agent addition Marcus Davenport.
Davenport is familiar to Lions head coach Dan Campbell and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who were on the New Orleans Saints' coaching staff during his first three NFL seasons. Detroit feels like a good spot for him to re-emerge after playing just four games for the Vikings last season. He's actually going to cost the Vikings more money than he will the Lions this year.
Marcus Davenport predicted to be a bust for the Lions this year
As mentioned, an ankle injury cost Davenport all but four games with the Vikings last season. He played 15 games in 2022, but registered just half a sack over 490 defensive snaps. His best season came in 2021 with the Saints, as he had nine sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles over 11 games as Pro Football Focus graded him out as their sixth-best edge defender.
As the offseason winds down, Davenport's durability issues are something the Lions may have on their mind. Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer and Colton Pouncy of The Athletic have both pointed to concerns there, with Breer suggesting a final all-in move to add a veteran edge rusher to protect against Davenport's injury history.
David Kenyon of Bleacher Report has taken a run at predicting a bust player for each NFL team this year. With few realistic options, Davenport seemed to become a pretty easy choice for the Lions.
"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 played more than 500 defensive snaps in a season once. He had five surgeries after his best season (two on his shoulder, three on his left hand), and in the subsequent two seasons he has either been unproductive or mostly unavailable.
The real question is what Davenport being a bust this year would look like. He has actually shown what that looks like in each of the last two years, on each end of the availability spectrum, with a total of 2.5 sacks in 19 games.
The Lions were the team who took the flier on Davenport in free agency. Even with that reasonable investment in mind, it will end up being regrettable if the former first-round pick can't stay on the field yet again.
