ALLEN PARK -- After talking about finding more snaps for first-round defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, the Detroit Lions delivered.
Williams played 36 defensive snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles, his second-highest usage rate of the season. But they moved around some pieces to make that happen, while still using Roy Lopez even more on the defensive line with 24 plays.
Alim McNeill started on the edge and added 15 of his 45 defensive snaps from the outside. Williams even added five snaps from the edge, as the Lions beefed up their defensive line to combat the Eagles.
When MLive asked Kelvin Sheppard what he liked about those looks, the defensive coordinator stopped and said, “I loved it.”
“I think Mac (McNeill) is an ultra-athlete. He’s not just a defensive tackle,” Sheppard said. “When you’re dealing with a player of his caliber, and it kind of trickles to a player of Tyleik’s caliber, of (DJ) Reader’s caliber, of Roy’s caliber. All right, well, how are you going to get these guys on the field? And it’s our jobs as coaches to find those ways.
“And nothing getting crazy going outside of the realm of what we do as a unit and our principles, but finding ways to kind of put these guys in those spots where you see fit.”
Sheppard said he went to McNeill with the thought of more snaps on the edge about a month ago. McNeil’s face lit up at the idea, to the point the defensive coordinator had to tell him, “Don’t get too comfortable out there, you’re still a defensive tackle.”
One change was that Al-Quadin Muhammad’s defensive snaps were down for the second straight week. He still played more than 20 plays, but the Lions were tinkering with the rotation, embracing size and leverage, and well, it worked really well.
They stopped Philadelphia’s “tush push” five times, including on back-to-back plays late in the game to give the offense another chance. Sheppard’s defense even held Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts and the rushing attack to a 3.7-yard per carry average across 40 attempts on Sunday night.
A lot was made of McNeill ranking 118th out of 138 interior defenders with enough snaps to qualify from Pro Football Focus during pre-game introductions. But he’s only four games into action from a lengthy ACL recovery process. He’s created nine pressures in those four games and has missed two tackles, and PFF is known to drop grades for those whiffs.
That said, much like the connection between Jared Goff and Amon-Ra. St. Brown struggling in Philadelphia, the Lions have supreme confidence in McNeill being an impact player without some grand intervention or discussion. With Williams and Lopez joining Reader and McNeill in the rotation with beefed-up roles, it’ll be interesting to see how the Lions tinker with them.
McNeill should still get opportunities to play on the edge opposite Aidan Hutchinson, too. Sheppard said he’s seen that ability in him since his rookie season, while he was still coaching linebackers.
“We called him a dancing bear. He’s light on his feet, he’s explosive,” Sheppard said. “His first steps, just as fast as our defensive end room. Yeah, I said it. It’s just as fast. So, when you see a player like that -- again, not trying to force anybody on the field. But if there is a why and a legit reason behind it, we’ll make it happen.
“The whole plan is to put your best 11 out there, and I’m afforded the opportunity to coach at an organization that believes in that as well. They don’t care. Dan (Campbell) has never said one time, ‘Why is this guy (playing)? Why didn’t that guy play?’ He has full faith, trust, and belief that we’re going to put these players in the best position possible.”
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