Detroit Lions intend to stick with their rotation following a strong debut for new CB

admin | December 13, 2023 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Kindle Vildor saw action against his former team last weekend, and it appears like the new Detroit Lions cornerback impressed enough to earn more defensive opportunities in the future.

Jerry Jacobs began the game and finished with 53 snaps. However, Vildor took his position for a couple of series, earning 17 snaps in his club debut until cramps terminated his day.

Jacobs has been stuck in a rut for a long time, and opposing quarterbacks have made it a point to feed that side of the field. He’s been targeted seven times more than any other Lions defender, and he’s given up eight more catches.

Jacobs was the lone defender targeted at least five times in Chicago, and he also led the way in New Orleans. On Thanksgiving, the Packers threw the ball nine times to Jacobs, and you get the idea.

Aaron Glenn, the defensive coordinator, has had a difficult situation. With Emmanuel Moseley and Ceedy Duce, the Lions attempted to replace those holes in free agency. However, Moseley is gone for the season, and Duce is unlikely to return until late December or January, if at all, relegating Jacobs to a near-every-down starting position on defense.

This is when Vildor comes into play. Even with Steven Gilmore and Khalil Dorsey at Allen Park all season, he’s the first player to crack the outside cornerback rotation this season. Vildor, on the other hand, put up some solid numbers against the Bears. Vildor was regarded as the team’s best coverage defender by Pro Football Focus, allowing three catches for only 11 yards in coverage. PFF ranked Vildor as the team’s third-best defender on the day, excluding snap limits.

“I thought it was solid.” On Monday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Vildor, “He did some good things for us.” “There are a few things that we need to get him caught up on, just getting him up to speed with our terminology and how we do things.”

“But, overall, I thought he was what we expected him to be.” He’s competitive, intelligent, and rather crafty. So, yeah, I still see him and Jerry (Jacobs) working together in there a little bit.”

Jacobs has seen a lot of action over the last three seasons. Despite his difficulties, understanding the system and language is where he has an advantage over the rest of the room behind CB1 Cam Sutton. Those struggles left the door open, and Vildor was given the opportunity to keep it open moving forward.

Vildor, a fifth-round pick in 2020, started 22 games in three seasons in Chicago, so he’s had plenty of live reps. And, with this defense in desperate need of someone with ball skills, his nine interceptions over three seasons at Georgia Southern are difficult to overlook.

According to PFF, Jacobs ranks 95th out of 129 cornerbacks with enough points to qualify, while Sutton ranks 89th.

“I felt like there were some good performances by all of those guys that played,” Campbell remarked following the game on Sunday. “However, I won’t know enough until I observe everything for myself.” But, look, our guys are aware that we are constantly on the lookout for new talent, and that men are constantly competing here. But it’s the same thing. I’m not in a panic. I’m not losing faith. I’m not, and we’re fine.

“There are four of us here. And all we have to do now is regain our discipline and keep fighting, because, look, it wasn’t our day today, guy. We couldn’t deal with it. That’s what happens when you do that to yourself against a good team, and this is a terrific squad. So, well, we’ll clean everything up and go on with it. That’s what rivals do. That’s what effective teams do.”