Jeff Okudah Has the Potential to Be Lions' Stephon Gilmore
The Lions' secondary played the most man coverage in 2019.
USA Today recently pointed out, "In 2019, the Lions played 336 snaps in man coverage, the most in the NFL. In man coverage, Detroit allowed 23 touchdowns to just three interceptions."
It's the same principle that Lions head coach Matt Patricia has deployed since his time with the New England Patriots.
In New England, Stephon Gilmore emerged as a press cornerback with an elite ability to recognize what opposing quarterbacks and offenses were attempting to accomplish.
Patricia and the Lions are surely hoping that cornerback Jeff Okudah, Detroit's No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, can become as reliable and productive as Gilmore.
"I always love when man coverage and our team gets thrown around a little bit, because that means some of the zone coverages we're playing are disguised pretty good," Patricia recently told NBC Sports. "So I enjoy that, that’s always good for me when that's out there."
Detroit made Okudah one of the rare defensive backs to be selected in the top five over the last two decades of the draft and because of his ability to play man coverage.
"That was really important," Patricia explained. "Talking with (former Ohio State defensive backs coach) Jeff Hafley, some of the things he teaches are very similar techniques and fundamentals that we teach. That was huge for us to be able to know that he’s at least had that background, and some of the things we’re going to be doing are the same sort of things he was doing in college. From that standpoint, it’s just very reassuring."
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