Should Trey Flowers Be a Part of Lions' Rebuild?

Read more on whether or not veteran defensive end Trey Flowers should be a part of the Lions' rebuild

Whether or not Trey Flowers should be a part of Detroit's rebuild has been a hot question of late. 

I believe much of it will depend on new GM Brad Holmes, as well as the head coach he hires and what kind of a defensive scheme Detroit will be running moving forward.  

When I look at Flowers' production in 2019 and 2020, it was a tale of two totally different seasons. 

I gave Flowers an "A" grade in '19, but that tailed off to a "B" in ‘20.  

So, what happened?  

Every now and then, a player jumps off the screen at me when I am watching game film. 

Back in ‘19, Flowers was one of those players who got me excited. I gave him a blue-chip grade, and went as far as saying he reminded me of Charles Mann -- one of the best pass-rushers I have seen in my lifetime. 

Flowers grabbed my attention, as I gripped my pen and quickly scribbled notes upon notes during my eight-game film study. 

I had really high hopes for Flowers heading into this past season. Then, something bizarre happened that I did not understand at all -- the Lions fired their defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni and replaced him with Cory Undlin. 

The Lions' defense struck me as being aggressive in nature under Pasqualoni. The move did not make any sense to me initially, and it made even less sense to me as things began unraveling.  

During the ‘20 season, Flowers did not often look like the same player in Undlin’s less aggressive and much more tentative defensive scheme. 

In my early season evaluation of Flowers, Undlin was moving him all around on the defensive line. He lined him up sometimes at nose tackle even, and he even had him standing up and dropping into coverage in Week 1 against Chicago. 

Undlin tried getting all fancy and cute with Flowers, instead of just allowing him to be himself as an instinctual 4-3 EDGE rusher who excels at aggressively shooting the inside gaps to create pressure.  

The philosophical change undoubtedly caused Flowers' production to fall off, before he fractured his forearm in Week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts and proceeded to spend the rest of the season on injured reserve.

Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports

There were flashes of the old Flowers, who has pretty much averaged seven sacks a season since coming into the league. But, clearly he was not the same player. He was not at all the same player in Undlin’s cute bend-but-don't-break defense.  

Flowers vows he is coming back in 2021 stronger than ever -- and so is his bank account that is due for another slightly over $14 million deposit this season. 

It is true that pass rushers are a premium in the NFL and worth every penny. 

I still love Flowers underneath it all, and let me make it clear -- he is not a safety, he is not a corner and he certainly is not a cheerleader.  

This leads us to the real philosophical questions surrounding the future of Flowers in Detroit.  

Who will Holmes hire to coach this team? Who will be the new defensive coordinator? 

Will Detroit run a 4-3 or a 3-4 base defense (four-down defensive linemen and three linebackers or three-down defensive linemen and three linebackers)? 

Will the Lions allow Flowers to be who and what he is, or will they try to pigeon hole him once again into something and someone he is not and then try to claim he is losing it?  

Can the Lions make it work? 

That is the real bottom-line question to me. 

If so, watch Flowers flourish. And if not, do everyone involved a favor, and cut him and watch Bill Belichick bring him back to New England.

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