Drafting Okudah a big mistake for Quinn, Patricia
The writing was clearly on the wall.
Play meaningful games or face the possibility of being dismissed from the Detroit Lions.
New Detroit principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp did not mince words when she spoke at her introductory press conference, after her mother Martha Ford stepped down.
Even as far back as last December, Ford Hamp, joined by then principal owner Martha Ford and team president Rod Wood, met with a small group of reporters to explain the decision to retain Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn.
“We expect to be a playoff contender and those are our expectations, which we’ve expressed to both Bob and to Matt,” Ford said.
As a result of the above mandate, heading into the 2020 NFL Draft, Quinn and Patricia believed they needed to acquire a player ready to step out onto the football field and contribute from day one.
It is now clear, however, why other NFL franchises have shied away from selecting cornerbacks as high as Jeff Okudah at No. 3 overall in the draft.
No matter the performance level in college, the position of cornerback requires time to learn, and prospects invariably need to adapt to the pace of the game at the NFL level.
Recall, Okudah played in a man-to-man coverage scheme at Ohio State, which was familiar to Patricia’s defensive scheme.
Quinn even publicly stated that he felt Okudah was best suited to make the jump quickly, based on his performance at Ohio State.
Boy were the two of them wrong.
Okudah struggled from the moment he stepped foot into the Lions’ Allen Park practice facility, regularly losing his footing in training camp.
He did not play in Detroit’s season debut against Chicago due to a hamstring injury suffered in training camp.
Then came his disastrous debut against Green Bay in Week 2. He had the assignment of defending wideout Davante Adams, and regularly looked one step behind and was beaten in coverage more often than not.
To his credit, he’s steadily worked on his craft, and has improved his game. Unfortunately, wideouts have continued finding openings and have continued beating him deep.
For the past month, Okudah has been dealing with nagging injuries, and will miss his third consecutive game Sunday, as a result of shoulder and groin issues.
Ultimately, Quinn and Patricia did not win enough games to keep their jobs.
This is not to say that Okudah won’t have a productive career. But, when an owner states there is a win-now mandate, a defensive back is not the answer.