NFC North: Lions rookie CB Jeffrey Okudah off to abysmal start
The Chicago Bears didn’t face Detroit Lions first-round pick Jeffrey Okudah in the teams’ Week 1 matchup, which seemed at the time like a break for the Bears offense.
Maybe Chicago would’ve scored more points had he played.
Okudah was inactive for the opener, and while he did have a hamstring issue in the week leading up to kickoff, his performance at training camp wasn’t what the team expected from the third-overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft.
Now, three weeks into his rookie season, Okudah has become a legitimate liability for the Lions’ defense and is looking less and less like the blue-chip prospect he was lauded as coming out of Ohio State.
The analytics haven’t been kind to Okudah, who’s surrendered 12 catches for 200 yards on 16 targets through two games.
His Pro Football Focus grade is a downright atrocious 28.2 entering Week 4.
There have been few careers off to rockier starts than that from the No. 3 overall pick this year. Okudah missed Week 1 with a hamstring injury before being schooled by Davante Adams and the Packers’ offense in Week 2. This week, he was left grasping at air by the elusive Kyler Murray near the goal line and also struggled to contend with DeAndre Hopkins in coverage.
Overall, he allowed a catch on five of the six passes thrown his way for 79 receiving yards. He earned an ugly overall PFF grade (35.7), but he did at least get himself back in the positive column with an interception later in the game.
This is good news for the Bears, who appeared destined to face a lockdown corner in the Motor City. In fact, Chicago may have come away from this year’s draft with the top cornerback in the class in second-round pick, Jaylon Johnson.
Two games hardly make a career, but Okudah’s been so bad that it’s impossible to ignore the warning signs. The Lions’ 2020 draft class (which includes RB D’Andre Swift, who dropped a potential game-winning touchdown against the Bears) is trending toward being a massive bust.
