Isaac TeSlaa will never be the No. 1 man in the Lions' offense. Or the No. 2 or No. 3. Or the No. 4, as long as everyone else is here.
But even as option No. 5, he should be able to draw more than one target in a given week, especially while playing 52 snaps and running 32 routes as he did in the Lions' season-opening win over the Saints. The only pass that came TeSlaa's way was tipped at the line by defensive end Chase Young.
The Lions aim to find more targets for TeSlaa on Thursday night against the Bills. And TeSlaa can help his own cause by finding -- creating -- more openings in coverage.
"Yeah, we’d like to get him going a little bit, we’d like to get him a couple more opportunities here," Dan Campbell said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket. "Especially, man, he did so much dirty work the other day, 50 plays and he’s blocking his rear off the whole game. He doesn’t ever complain or bitch about anything. So he’s earned that right to get a couple throws here.
"Yeah, he’s on our mind. We’d like to have him a part of this thing in the pass game. Yeah, we see him, we get it."
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TeSlaa's work on the ground indeed helped the Lions rush for 165 yards in their 31-30 overtime win over the Saints. But that shouldn't be his only role on offense. Put the draft capital the Lions invested in him aside. TeSlaa brings too much to the table as a big-bodied, sure-handed receiver, especially on third down, where the Lions went 5-for-13 in Week 1, and doubly so in the red zone, to be reduced to a blocker running empty routes.
This is partly on TeSlaa, to be sure. He dedicated the offseason and training camp to honing his short-area quickness and his ability to win at the top of his routes. It's yet to consistently show up in live action, be it practice or games. Jared Goff isn't inclined to throw to covered receivers, even those like TeSlaa who can make contested catches, when other weapons like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Sam LaPorta are often getting open.
That's to say nothing of running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who could very well see 100-some odd targets this season himself.
TeSlaa had 28 targets in 16 games last year, one or fewer in 12 of them. His usage and production spiked in the second half of the season when Campbell took over play-calling and made it a point to get TeSlaa more looks, which fueled optimism of a breakout in year two. In the three games where he ran at least 30 routes last season -- the Packers on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys a week later, and the Steelers in Week 16 -- TeSlaa had eight catches on 11 targets for 107 yards and three touchdowns.
He said this summer he was entering the season with some "lofty goals."
It's worth noting, though, that his role also expanded last season at the same time that LaPorta went down with a back injury. LaPorta's routes and targets had to go somewhere. Now that he's back, there's less to go around. LaPorta had eight targets and five catches in Week 1 while looking like his old self.
It will be an uphill climb for TeSlaa to get even moderately involved in the passing game -- say, three to four targets a game. Goff threw 39 passes in Week 1 -- five more than his average last season -- and only one went to TeSlaa. St. Brown, Williams and LaPorta accounted for 31 of them.
If injuries arise in the receiving corps, TeSlaa could become much more valuable as a pass-catcher. Barring that unfortunate circumstance, his clearest path to more targets is by creating more separation and hoping that Goff looks his way.
Campbell on Tuesday also touched on his faith in Williams after the speedy receiver dropped a deep ball from Goff in the opener, muffed Goff's pitch on an end-around, and failed to corral a couple other catchable passes on third down. To wit: "I'm not concerned."
Despite the shaky performance, Williams delivered a clutch catch on a deep out route in overtime that set up the Lions' go-ahead touchdown, looking more like the receiver who shined throughout training camp.
"Look, nobody’s more frustrated than he is about it," said Campbell. "But what I love is -- and this just shows his growth -- he bounces back and gets back in the huddle, he’s not sulking, he’s not pouting about it, he’s not letting himself go in the tank. All you can do is reload, regroup and go back for more, and that’s what he’s done a good job of.
"Listen, nobody had a better camp, a better spring than Jamo this year. He’s going to be fine. We get him a couple balls here, a couple throws, let him take off, he’s going to be just fine. So I’m not concerned — at all."
