PX1 VIP Lions Season 15 Preview

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Season 15 of the PX1Sports VIP league will be the 3rd season for the current ownership of the Lions. They have made improvements in each of the seasons since taking over and look ready to take the next step. Of course, winning in the very difficult NFC North is the first and most important step to make this happen. Last season, the Lions were 0-4 against the Vikings and Bears respectively, and the Packers seem to be reinvigorated with new ownership recently taking over. Somehow, the Lions have got to learn to win division games.

Here is a breakdown of the depth chart for the S 15 Lions:

QB - Josh Rosen - The 22 year old 2nd year player is hoping to build off of his successful rookie campaign. He finished with 3950 yds, 22 TDs and 19 INTs. He won the NFC ROTY award from EA Sports but to the dismay of many, he finished 2nd in the VIP ROTY vote. To build off of his rookie campaign he will need to cut down on the INTs. After watching each of his starting WRs miss at least 4 games each last year, hopefully they can stay healthy and that will cut down on the turnovers.

Jimmy Garoppolo will return as the backup. Hopefully he won't be needed but the Lions are confident in his abilities if he is.

HB - Ameer Abdullah - Abdullah rushed for 1112 YDs and 9 TDs last year and is in the prime of his career. Expect him to continue to be a big part of the Lions offense.

Keith Marshall - Marshall is a young, speedy running back that needs to find more touches this year. He has breakaway speed that can score on any given play. Look for him to have an increased workload which will also keep Abdullah fresh towards the latter part of the season.

Spencer Ware - Ware is a tough, downhill runner who is often used in the short yardage situations. He is also a good receiver out of the backfield and completes the three-headed running game the Lions plan to use.

WRs:
Allen Hurns - In 11 games last year, Hurns had 55 catches for 914 yards and 5 TDs. When healthy, Hurns has the ability to be a top tier receiver. Let's just hope this is the year it comes together for him.

Marvin Jones - With Tate and Hurns both injured for a good part of the season, Jones looked to be on pace to be one of the top receivers in the NFL until the injury bug bit him too. He ended up missing the last 4 games but still finished with 72 catches for 960 with 2 TDs.

Jefferey Session - The rookie from USC has already been thrown into the vacancy left from Tate and has looked every bit the part. We expect him to continue to improve and be an integral part of the offense all season.

Cooper Kupp - The sure-handed Kupp is continuing to mature and was one of Rosen's most reliable targets at times down the stretch with only two drops all season long. He is not an every down player but is always ready when he is called on.

Josh Malone - Josh's development has been slow but he is working to get better and we will have to wait and see how much playing time he will get.

TE - Eric Ebron - Ebron had 53 catches for 1024 yards and 7 TDs. He is one of the best TEs in the league and the Lions look to get him even more involved this year. He presents a match-up nightmare for the majority of LBs so look for the new offensive scheme to include him early and often.

The offensive line returns all five starters and a big emphasis has been placed on better pass protection. Rosen was sacked 44 times last season which can't happen this year if the Lions are going to win. The coaching staff has brought in a new O-line coach to try to improve in this area so let's hope this plan works.

The defense is returning every starter and looks to continue to build on the success of last year. The stats were mentioned in the season wrap-up so we won't repeat all of them but here's a small sampling of what the defense has in store.

Ansah and Garrett combined for 30 sacks and have had a tremendous off-season and hope to continue to wreak havoc in opposing backfields. The DTs Floyd and Robinson combined for 13 sacks but excelled in the run game holding opponents to less than 70 yards per game ranking 5th in the NFL. The defensive line overall is hungry and ready to improve on a stellar season last year.

The secondary was led by NFC DB of the year Darius Slay who finished with 7 INTs. Gareon Conley also continues to improve and both have worked hard on their man and zone coverage skills this off-season. If the D-line can pressure the QB, look for these guys to have even better seasons this year. Unfortunately at the time of writing this, both SSs Hooker and Killebrew are injured. Hooker will miss the first 5 and Killibrew the first 6. This leaves FSs Quinn and Gilchrist as the only active safeties on the roster. Thankfully, both are veteran players who the Lions are confident can fill that void.

Linebackers Ogletree, Levy and Whitehead are back as well. None of these guys had incredible numbers or won any awards but they are solid at what they do and will continue to shore up the Lions defense for another season.

If Rosen can stay healthy and cut down on the mistakes, he is surrounded by play-makers that can make the Lions offense fun to watch.

It has taken 2 years to get to this point but the Lions are where they want to be to take their game to the next level. No more excuses... The talent is here and it's time to win and win now. Can they overcome the difficulties they've had in division games?

Whatever the case, the good news is....Football is back! Let's make it happen Lions!

As always, for everything PX1 Lions, we are the Lions Report.
 
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