The Detroit Lions made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game this season, and although they suffered a crushing loss, the future certainly looks bright in the Motor City.
Fortunately, the Lions will have significant cap room going into the offseason, so they should be able to seriously improve what is an already impressive roster.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus sees a great potential target for Detroit: wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
“Westbrook-Ikhine is the vertical field-stretcher with good run-blocking chops that could be a nice complementary piece in Detroit’s offense, and with big paydays looming for Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and many others, they need to start filling out the roster with good value additions that fill a specific role well,” wrote Spielberger.
Westbrook-Ikhine, who played his collegiate football at Indiana, went undrafted but ultimately landed with the Titans as a free agent in 2020.
He had a very limited role during his rookie campaign, playing in 10 games and logging just three catches for 33 yards. The following year, however, Westbrook-Ikhine carved out a solid niche in Tennessee, catching 38 passes for 476 yards and four touchdowns.
Since then, the 26-year-old has remained an auxiliary option in the Titans’ aerial attack. He snared 25 balls for 397 yards and three scores in 2022, and this past season, he registered 28 catches for 370 yards while reaching the end zone three times.
Behind St. Brown, the Lions have impending free agent Josh Reynolds, former first-round pick Jameson Williams and Kalif Raymond in their receiving corps. If Reynolds walks this offseason, Detroit will need to add some depth, and Westbrook-Ikhine should represent an affordable, bang-for-your buck option.
Offense wasn’t really an issue for the Lions this year, but you can never have enough depth, and Westbrook-Ikhine could end up flourishing with Goff throwing him the football.
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