Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell are pulling a Jim Leyland. Hang with me here. In Leyland's first spring training as manager of the Tigers, he told then-GM Dave Dombrowski that he wanted to bring a pair of rookie pitchers north: 21-year-old Joel Zumaya and 23-year-old Justin Verlander. Dombrowski told Leyland, "Well, OK, but you don’t know for sure what they’re going to do."
To which Leyland said, "No, I understand, Dave. And I agree with that. However, I know what the guys that have been here the past few years are gonna do, and they haven’t done too good. I’d rather take a chance on some talent."
So Dombrowksi approved, and Verlander and Zumaya proved Leyland right.
With an exceedingly young group of cornerbacks, Holmes and Campbell are taking a chance on some talent. They knew what 29-year-old Quinton Dunbar was going to do, so they waived him three weeks ago. They knew what 29-year-old Nickell Robey-Coleman and 26-year-old Corn Elder were going to do, so they released the duo Tuesday. As they trimmed their roster to 53 players, they even cut 26-year-old special teams ace Mike Ford.
With the openings, they kept a pair of 23-year-old undrafted rookies who popped in camp in AJ Parker and Jerry Jacobs. They kept another undrafted talent in 23-year-old 'baby fawn' Bobby Price, who converted from safety to corner just a few weeks ago. 25-year-old Amani Oruwariye and 22-year-olds Jeff Okudah and Ifeatu Melifonwu round out the room. It is as high on risk as reward.
With an average age of 23, this is the youngest group of cornerbacks in the NFL. The Falcons have the next-youngest group, with an average age of 23.4. The Lions are one of only two NFL teams without a single corner above the age of 25. The Chiefs are the other. And in the first season of a substantial rebuild, what's the risk for Detroit? The reward is worth pursuing for the rookies in charge.
At the very least, the Lions' secondary won't be any worse. Last year's defense allowed the highest passer rating and the most passing touchdowns in the NFL. To be fair to the defensive backs, it also generated the league's lowest pressure rate. Detroit entered the year with five corners above the age of 25, including starters Desmond Trufant and Justin Coleman. Neither one finished the season. The room was frail from the start and fried by the end.
For this year's group to be better, Oruwariye needs to build on the progress he made last year and Okudah needs to mirror Oruwariye's growth -- better yet, Darius Slay's -- in year two. Parker needs to make the same plays at nickel he made throughout camp, no sure thing when the real games begin. Price, Jacobs and Melifonwu need to pitch in when necessary. Don't sleep on Melifonwu earning a bigger role as the year moves on. And yeah, the guys up front have to get to the quarterback.
Not that he was planning to enter the season with the NFL's greenest group of corners, but this is why Campbell hired defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant. And this is where Pleasant can prove his worth. We know what he did in LA with blue-chip talents like Jalen Ramsey and Lamarcus Joyner, and he's already made an impact on Okudah. But if he can elevate guys like Parker, Price and Jacobs, the way he did an undrafted corner named Troy Hill with the Rams, the Lions can fix this defense sooner than we think.
And that's really how you fix a team. For as much as Detroit's rebuild depends on top-end picks, so does it hinge on unearthing talent. And this is why the Lions hired Holmes, because he showed an eye for talent with the Rams. At a position where playmakers are crucial, Holmes and Campbell are trusting their eyes and taking a chance. They saw enough of the past to bet on the future.