The Lions have been having an awful season according to most fans’ standards but there have been some bright spots and some players’ or coaches’ stocks that have been rising and falling so far.
Stock Up – Jeff Okudah
Jeff Okudah has been flat-out phenomenal this season so far, locking up the opposing team’s best player week in and week out. His game against the Cowboys this week may have been his best all season. Jeff Okudah led the team with 15 tackles, the most tackles by a Lions player since Stephon Tulloch in 2012 who also had 15. Okudah played a lot in the box this week and thrived, making a crucial play stopping Ezekiel Elliott but ultimately the lions would lose. Even with the loss, Okudah was clearly the best player on the field for them.
Stock Down – Dan Campbell
Dan Campbell moves to 4-18-1 as the head coach of the Detroit Lions and things could not have gone much worse. Each game leaves more and more fans questioning whether or not Dan Campbell is the right coach for this team and I do not blame them. Campbell has not put together a good gameplan in weeks and something needs to change if Campbell wants a job after this year.
Stock Down – Jared Goff
The clock is ticking for Goff, another sub par game from him. Throwing two picks and not giving the Lions any extra help and failing to put a touchdown on the board for the second straight week things are starting to get bad. You can point to injuries and blame it on them all you want but that is not the issue. The issue is that Jared Goff is not a very talented quarterback and the Lions need to be looking at QB in this upcoming draft. Jared Goff is not the franchise guy and should not be viewed as that by anybody. He can hit the checkdown but can not stretch the field to save his life and his decision making has been terrible.
Stock Up – Aidan Hutchinson
Hutchinson actually looked really good against the Cowboys, tallying up a sack and a half and really showing off some good pass rushing moves. He seemed to disappear the past few weeks but hopefully he can build off this game and continue to power through opposing tackles. Hutch rushed more from a 2 point stance where he had most of his success in college with opposed to the 3 point stance he had been in on most snaps the past few weeks.