Last season, the Detroit Lions‘ defense ranked 27th in the NFL. They were 27th against the pass, 18th against the rush. It’s one of the reasons the Lions opted to hire former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as their new head coach in the offseason.
Patricia brought in Paul Pasqualoni as the Lions’ new defensive coordinator. And the ex-Patriot brought with him an impressive playbook that employs multiple schemes, looks, and coverages that requires versatile defenders to execute it.
Patricia and the Lions’ front office went to work adding players with position-flex to the roster.