Breaking News: Bob Quinn Acts To Shore Up The Left Tackle Spot
Bob Quinn has made moves. In response to the Taylor Decker injury that has him sidelined for 4-6 months, the Lions have traded a 2018 6th rounder for former #2 overall pick Greg Robinson. In a separate move, they also have signed recently cut tackle Cyrus Kouandjio. Kouandjio is 23 and was a high second round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft.
Kouandjio and Robinson have had oddly similar career paths. Both of them were highly touted offensive tackles from the SEC in the 2014 Draft, and neither lived up to the hype. Robinson was hyped as one of the best natural athletes to come into the league at the tackle position, but for whatever reason never put it together at the NFL level. He was buried on new Rams coach Sean McVay’s depth chart when the Lions acquired him. Kouandjio was drafted highly but battled injuries during his career in Buffalo which culminated in a bizarre event with police this April when Kouandjio was found half naked in a field.
As for the vacant position of left tackle, it is now apparent that the battle to be Stafford’s blind side protector will be the talk of training camp. Joining in that battle will be second year tackle Joe Dahl. Dahl was the starter in OTAs after Decker was unavailable and is the most familiar with the Lions’ system. These signings don’t mean Dahl has no chance to start, in fact I expect it will be up to Robinson and Kouandjio to take the job from him.
These moves are exciting and I’m happy to see Quinn addressing issues, however Lions fans can’t expect too much Greg Robinson and Cyrus Kouandjio. It will be good for Robinson to get a change of scenery, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he has been one of the worst tackles in the NFL since entering the league. Kouandjio has never been a consistent contributor, and injuries have plagued his whole career. Kouandjio is still recovering from a hip injury, however he likely will be ready for camp.
Lost in all of this news is the Lions waiving long-snapper Jimmy Landes, who was drafted in the 6th round of the 2016 Draft. It was a weird selection at the time, and now it looks just plain stupid. At least they didn’t take a kicker in the second round though, am I right?
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