The Detroit Lions are coming off a very good year in which they went 11-5 and made the playoffs as the second wild card in the NFC before losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the first round. This season they are looking to take another step forward under head coach Jim Caldwell and one of the ways they plan to do that is with an up-tempo offense. The keys to this will be having Calvin Johnson healthy and a major improvement from tight end Eric Ebron who has reportedly been turning heads at Lions training camp, according to Albert Breer of NFL.com.
After the two stud wide receivers Johnson and Golden Tate, the Lions don't have much in the form of pass catchers. Johnson struggled with health issues all of last season so for much of the year it was Tate or bust for Matthew Stafford and the offense. Ebron was drafted with the tenth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft to be another big-time weapon for Stafford but was disappointing as a rookie.
Coming out of college at North Carolina Ebron was considered to be the next big thing at tight end drawing comparisons to Jimmy Graham. The thought was that Ebron would be one of the new wave tight ends that lines up as a wide receiver but at 6 foot-4, 250 lbs. he would create matchup nightmares for defensive backs or linebackers but that didn't pan out in his first season as he only caught 25 passes for 248 yards and one touchdown.
Ebron dealt with injuries of his own last season but is now healthy and looking to be the guy the Lions thought he would be when they drafted him. The former Tar Heel is still only 22 years old so he has time and room to grow but the Lions have high expectations for him this season. Assuming Johnson is healthy Ebron will be relied upon as the number three option in the passing game and could see a lot of one-on-one coverage if teams double team Tate and Johnson.
Based on what people inside the Lions organization are saying Ebron is having himself a fine camp and looks to have made the improvements they had hoped for. The Lions are looking to play a fast-paced offense this season so Ebron might just be in for a huge year as long as he can stay on the field and continue to make improvements.
