How the Detroit Lions restored the roar with their new secondary in free agency
In 2022, the Detroit Lions finished with a 9-8 record, just missing the playoffs right at the end of the regular season, and compiling the franchise’s first winning record since 2017. The Lions and head coach Dan Campbell did so despite a defense that ranked 28th in Defensive DVOA, and a secondary that allowed opposing offenses to put up some pretty garish numbers. The Lions’ cornerbacks and safeties allowed 171 completions on 295 attempts for 2,657 yards, 17 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 95.8, which was the fourth-worst in the NFL behind only the Titans, Chiefs, and Panthers. Detroit’s EPA allowed of 28.18 among their secondary was also the NFL’s fourth-worst, behind the Raiders, Bears, and Falcons, and their Positive Play Rate allowed of 47.1% was the NFL’s sixth-worst.
Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes knew that changes needed to be made if the Lions were to take a major step forward in 2023, and with two picks (sixth and 19th) in the first round of the upcoming draft, most everybody has auto-slotting the best available cornerback prospect to Detroit with that first pick in their mock drafts. That may still happen when mocks become reality in the last week of April, but the Lions’ braintrust also knew that they didn’t want to wait until the draft to start sorting it all out — free agency would have to provide more than one piece of the puzzle.
To the credit of that braintrust, the Lions went all-out and got three new members of their secondary; all potential impact players on team-friendly deals.
Cornerback Cameron Sutton signed a three-year, $33 million contract with $22.5 million guaranteed;
Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley signed a one-year, $6 million deal with $2 million guaranteed; and
Safety/slot defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed a one-year, $8 million contract.
And with that, the Lions completely remade their secondary for less than other teams might spend on one really good cornerback. It was a series of masterstrokes by Holmes and his staff, and here’s why these deals will matter so much for defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and his staff.
Emmanuel Moseley: The aggressor
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)
The 49ers signed Moseley as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee for the 2018 season, and after four years in the league. Moseley has never allowed a three-digit opponent passer rating in any season. He gave up a 99.8 rating in 2020, the season after he became more prominent after replacing Ahkello Witherspoon, but he quickly got things back on track over the next two seasons. In 2022, though he suffered a torn ACL and played in just five games, Moseley allowed just 13 catches on 20 targets for 135 yards, 53 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, one interception, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 63.5. Like a lot of players in the 49ers’ defense, Moseley got a lot better once former defensive coordinator and current Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was in charge.
At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Moseley is efficient in both man and zone coverages, and he’s especially adept at taking one receiver through the route and shutting him down. This is not a guy who has to hand things off to better defenders when his more estimable targets go deep.
You can see that on this denial of former Panthers and current Bears star receiver D.J. Moore on a deep over in Week 5…
As long as Moseley stays healthy, he’ll be a great new cog in Detroit’s cornerback group. And he has an old college teammate by his side.
Cameron Sutton: The technician
(Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports)
When Moseley showed up at Tennessee to see if he wanted to commit there, his host for the day was Cameron Sutton, who was already in the Vols’ defensive backfield. Funny how things work out.
“Years later, full circle, we are playing with each other,” Moseley said at his first Lions press conference last Thursday. “That’s pretty cool. He was on one side and I was on one side. I always learned from him, and he learned from me. He’s always been that big brother to me, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to do the same thing here.”
Not that Sutton needs help at this point in his career. The Steelers selected him in the third round of the 2017 draft, and Sutton expanded his snap counts in each of his first five NFL seasons. In 2022, he had his best year in coverage to date with 36 catches allowed on 71 targets for 411 yards, 132 yards after the catch, four touchdowns, three interceptions, 12 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 69.6.
While Moseley is more of a pure outside cornerback, Sutton has experience in the slot, as well — he’s the more versatile player. The slot is where he told Mac Jones that there would be no soup for him on this Week 2 crosser to Jakobi Meyers…
If you want to know how well Sutton handles things along the formation, check out this pass breakup from Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase in that same Week 1 game. Sutton had Mike Thomas outside to start, but he had the acumen to break off and prevent the touchdown against one of the NFL’s most formidable duos.
Sutton might be the glue that holds this new secondary together, but the player who could stand out the most comes up next, and he has quite a bit of experience with Detroit’s current defensive coordinator.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson: The do-it-all guy
(Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)
The Saints got a steal with C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the fourth round of the 2019 draft out of Florida, and at the time, New Orleans had two prominent names on its coaching staff: Dan Campbell as the assistant head coach and tight ends coach, and Aaron Glenn as the defensive backs coach. Glenn’s relationship with Gardner-Johnson goes back to Gardner-Johnson’s high school days, when Glenn coached him at an all-star camp.
“The lesson [Glenn] taught me was that to become a better player over time you have to invest in your craft,” Gardner-Johnson said on Monday after his addition to Detroit’s defense. “That was the best advice I ever took from him.
“It’s like a father-son relationship. When I mess up, even when I wasn’t playing for him, when I messed up, I’d text him and say, ‘Did you see it, or not see it?’ The relationship with him just being there helping me get better every day. I remember him telling me, ‘By the time I get you again, where I’m going to be at, you’re going to be exactly where I need you to be.'”
The Saints traded Gardner-Johnson to the Eagles last August, and I loved that deal for Philadelphia at that time.
I loved it even more for Philadelphia after a season in which Gardner-Johnson, as a safety and slot defender, allowed 41 catches on 52 targets for 338 yards, 170 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three pass breakups, six interceptions (tied for the league lead with three other players), and an opponent passer rating of 79.8.
Every great defense has at least one deep safety who can roll with a cornerback to help erase a top opposing receiver, and on this breakup of a Taylor Heinicke fade ball to Terry McLaurin in Week 10, Gardner-Johnson proved able to fill that role.
The Lions no doubt remember what Gardner-Johnson did to this Jared Goff pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown in his first regular-season game with the Eagles.
How good can this secondary be?
(Syndication: Detroit Free Press)
The inevitable adjustment period for any new group of defenders might be mitigated to a point by Gardner-Johnson’s relationship with this coaching staff, and by the college time Moseley and Sutton enjoyed together. All three players have attributes that place them well in man coverage, which makes sense — in 2022, the Lions faced the NFL’s second-most pass defense attempts in Cover-0, Cover-1, and 2-Man (behind only the Dolphins) with 209, allowing 110 completions for 1,717 yards, nine touchdowns, five interceptions, 23 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 84.6.
Where the Lions really ate dirt was in zone coverage last season — they allowed 175 completions on 250 attempts in Cover-2, Cover-3, Cover-4, and Cover-6 for 2,205 yards, eight touchdowns, three interceptions, seven pass breakups, and a league-worst opponent passer rating of 102.8.
Obliviously, zone defense requires communication, so there might be a few rough spots as everybody gets on the same page. But given where this secondary was last season, the Lions would gladly trade any short-term rough spots for the payoff down the road. And with the personnel they’ve added in free agency, the Lions are wise to bet on the over in improvement.
