Jeff Okudah Not Listed as Player Detroit Lions Can Build Around

Detroit Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah will have to perform at a higher level in 2021, as the talented defensive back struggled mightily all throughout his rookie season in Motown.

Okudah, who also battled injuries all of 2020, was thrust into the position, and experienced "baptism by fire" against several of the league's top wideouts.

In a recent Pro Football Focus article listing three players each organization can build around, the 22-year-old defensive back was excluded.

As PFF writes, "Jeffrey Okudah could prove to be a notable omission given the caliber of prospect he was coming out of Ohio State, but his rookie season was disappointing enough (30.9 coverage grade) to leave him off entering next season."

Okudah appeared in nine regular season games last season, starting six of them.

He recorded one interception and 47 total tackles. He was only able to force two incompletions all season.

Okudah allowed 579 total yards in coverage, on only 251 coverage snaps in 2020, the most of any cornerback with at least 200 coverage snaps in the NFL, per PFF.

Production, age and positional value were all considered in creating PFF's three-player core.

Instead, PFF chose to highlight three members of the Lions' offensive line: Frank Ragnow, Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell.

"Detroit’s roster isn’t in great shape, but the offensive line does have several impressive building blocks in place. According to PFF’s Wins Above Replacement metric, Ragnow has been the second-most valuable center in the NFL over the past two seasons," NFL writer Ben Linsey explains. "Decker comes in at 18th among all tackles since 2019 by the same metric. The Lions’ decision to add in Sewell, who earned a 95.8 PFF grade for Oregon the last time that he took the field, only strengthens an already solid unit. Those three will enter next season at just 25, 27 and 20 years old, respectively."

Join the AllLions Community

Become a premium AllLions member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and gets you a FREE subscription to Sports Illustrated! Click on the link below for more

BECOME A MEMBER