Lions News: 2020 Senior Bowl
The Lions' 2019 campaign has long been over.
Sure, it's been less than a month since the Lions played their last regular season game against the Green Bay Packers on December 29 -- a 23-20 loss.
However, fans were done with the season long before then.
Remember, Matthew Stafford, the Lions' franchise passer, sat out the final eight games with a back injury, and Detroit proceeded to lose all eight of those contests.
It was far from a pretty season -- resulted in a 3-12-1 mark -- and fans began to tune in on a weekly basis less and less as the losses piled up. It was the wisest decision the fans could have made at the time.
And now, it's time to get entranced with what should be a busy offseason for general manager Bob Quinn and the Lions' front office.
It's already been in full bloom with the filling out of the coaching staff under head man Matt Patricia.
Most recently, former Philadelphia Eagles defensive backs coach Cory Undlin was hired to be Detroit's new defensive coordinator.
With the hiring of Undlin, the Lions have three coaching positions left to fill: tight ends coach (replacing Chris White), linebackers coach (replacing Al Golden) and defensive backs coach (replacing Brian Stewart).
Detroit's offseason continues with the 71st annual Senior Bowl, which takes place next Saturday -- January 25 -- in Mobile, Ala.
Patricia and his staff -- which should be completely filled out prior to the first Senior Bowl practice on Monday, according to Senior Bowl president Jim Nagy -- will coach the North team in the college All-Star game.
Let's get ready for Senior Bowl week with the first edition of "Lions News" on SI Lions Maven.
To kick off what will be a weekly feature on this site, let's take a look at an interesting piece on the game from 2019 Michigan sports writer of the year and Detroit Free Press Lions beat writer Dave Birkett:
Birkett - "Here's how Senior Bowl can help Detroit Lions in 2020"
Birkett takes a look at how coaching in last year's Senior Bowl benefited both the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers in 2019.
As he writes, "The 49ers got an up-close look at Deebo Samuel while running the South team at the annual college All-Star game and thought enough of their time with him that they made him a second-round pick. Samuel finished second on the 49ers in receptions this season, and had a team-high 42 yards in last week’s playoff win over the Minnesota Vikings.
The Raiders took their Senior Bowl experience a step further, finishing the season with six players on their roster or injured reserve (and a seventh on practice squad) from the game, including first-round pick Johnathan Abram and No. 2 receiver Hunter Renfrow."
The Detroit News' Lions beat writer Justin Rogers - "15 players who could make sense for Detroit Lions in Senior Bowl"
Rogers takes a look at 15 draft prospects from the Senior Bowl that the Lions could target this April.
As he pens, "The Lions have regularly targeted players who have participated in the Senior Bowl in recent years, including Amani Oruwariye, Will Harris and Travis Fulgham in 2019, and Tyrell Crosby and Nick Bawden the year before."
Non-related Senior Bowl story:
Pride of Detroit's Kent Lee Platte - "East-West Shrine Bowl preview: 11 prospects the Lions should consider"
Platte takes a look at 11 players from tomorrow's East-West Shrine Bowl -- taking place at 3 p.m. EST at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. -- that the Lions should consider taking in this April's draft.
A few of the players highlighted include local products LeVante Bellamy, a running back from Western Michigan, Michael Onwenu, an offensive guard from Michigan who played his high school ball at Detroit Cass Tech, and David Dowell, a free safety from Michigan State.
Related
Stafford Returns to Georgia, Back Appears Okay
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