The big question for Isaac TeSlaa entering year two with the Lions: how often will the ball come his way?
It was an infrequent sight in year one. TeSlaa got one target or fewer in 12 games. He finished with 27 targets total, and one fewer catch (16) than games played. It was an unsatisfying output for a player on whom the Lions spent three third-round picks.
It was also the reality for a raw rookie receiver stepping into an offense loaded with weapons. It wasn't that Jared Goff didn't trust TeSlaa; it was that he trusted so many other players ahead of him, and that TeSlaa was generally the third, fourth or fifth option on most of the routes that he ran.
"Last year before we started the season it was always my goal to get as many repetitions with him as I can and even during the season and after practice, getting with him and a couple other receivers, because everything just comes down to timing and trust," TeSlaa said during a recent appearance on Good Morning Football. "If I can be available and I can be where I’m supposed to be at when he thinks I’m going to be there, the biggest thing to JG is just timing."
The 10th receiver off the board last April, TeSlaa finished 17th in targets and 15th in catches among rookies at his position. He finished seventh on the Lions in both, behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Kalif Raymond and David Montgomery. All but Raymond and Montgomery are back, and the Lions brought in veteran replacements for both in Greg Dortch and Isiah Pacheco.
So, TeSlaa still has some climbing to do. And no pass-catcher on the Lions can climb the ladder quite like TeSlaa, who used his 6'4 frame, long arms and sticky hands to come down with six touchdowns last season, a couple of them of the spectacular variety. The TD's placed TeSlaa second among rookie receivers, behind only eighth overall pick Tet McMillan of the Panthers.
When the ball finds him, TeSlaa has shown what he can do. His aim ahead of this season is "to just continue to work to get everything as precise as I can. Whatever that means is what I'm going to do."
"Because obviously," he said, "16 receptions is great, six touchdowns is awesome, but I have bigger goals than that this coming season, so I’m really looking forward to getting out there on the field."
TeSlaa's role did expand as last season wore on and he started to master the playbook. And it's worth noting that he saw significantly more action after Dan Campbell took over for former OC John Morton as play-caller. This also coincided with a season-ending injury to tight end Sam LaPorta, whose targets and routes had to go somewhere, but the splits here are extreme:
In the first eight games with Morton calling plays, TeSlaa averaged 13 offensive snaps and caught three passes on six targets for 54 yards and two touchdowns. In the last nine games with Campbell calling plays, TeSlaa averaged about 37 offensive snaps and caught 13 passes on 21 targets for 185 yards and four touchdowns. His workload nearly tripled, and his production spiked with it.
New OC Drew Petzing said last week that "those highlight plays are going to show up" for TeSlaa, simply by virtue of his catch radius. What could push him to the next level this year is "the consistency that he pushes for every day of just getting in and out of his brakes, of using his body and his size to his advantage because it's certainly one of the things that separates him from a number of players in this league, and then just carving out any role you can," said Petzing.
"That's everybody's job, is figure out what you do well and do it to a really high level, and then it's our job as coaches to make sure you are put in that position to go help us win," Petzing said.
