The 5 Biggest Issues Facing Detroit Lions with OTAs Wrapped

In my best Entourage-inspired voice: What if I told you that the Detroit Lions could be the 2016 Super Bowl champions? Is that something you'd be interested in?

And what if I said there were just five issues that need to be addressed; and if they were, the team would go from a Ford Focus to a drop-top Maybach?

(If you didn't get that joke, wait until the last slide. Or skip to it now. What do I care?)

Anyway, the Lions are that close. Pro Football Focus recently rated their roster as the seventh-best in the league based on their data, which hammers home a point I've been making for months—Detroit has talent everywhere.

It doesn't take years of postseason advancement to all of a sudden put together a title team. Neither of the New York Giants' recent Super Bowl trips was preceded by deep runs in the playoffs. In fact, those two Lombardi-laden postseasons include all of the franchise's playoff wins since 2000.

So now that your blood is flowing and your eyes are clouded with visions of victory, click through to find out what five issues the Lions must handle to make any of this possible.

Can Eric Ebron Hold On?

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

It was a tough two weeks for beleaguered Eric Ebron supporters. Their Twitter timeline was littered with tweets like this one from Kyle Meinke of Mlive.com:

"

Two more drops for Eric Ebron (that I saw)

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) June 4, 2015"

Or this one from Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

"

Had 3 in practice the other day. Still an issue https://t.co/9aFQGDWPwv

— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) June 1, 2015"

His hands were the major knock on his stock before the 2014 NFL draft. He didn't do much to alleviate that problem last year with a catch rate of 13.79, which means he dropped just under 14 percent of the catchable balls thrown his way, per Pro Football Focus.

Detroit is counting on Ebron to emerge as the powerful third option behind Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. And an upturn in production will make the drops more palatable, although not excusable.

There is some hope that he can resolve this issue. He did have the third-highest catch rate (using receptions and targets) on the team last year, per Kent Lee Platte of SideLion Report.

Plus, Tate told Birkett that Ebron has been better in the third week of OTAs and that "Eric's hungry and, this week, specifically, he's been phenomenal catching the ball and after the catch." 

Hey, it's a start.

Will Haloti Ngata Hold Up?

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

General manager Martin Mayhew moved quickly from the loss of a certain defensive tackle and traded for Haloti Ngata to fill the void. No, he isn't the Lion formerly known as No. 90, but he is—at the very least—a competent replacement who could still border on great.

But while Ngata "love[s]" the new scheme and thinks "it's awesome," he does have a concern or two that he shared with Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

"

It's definitely difficult. You're going to, when you get fatigued, you get back to your old technique, your old ways of doing things. I saw it on film (Tuesday) -- I just kind of seen some of my technique going back to what I used to do in Baltimore. So just knowing that once I'm fatigued, I've got to still focus, understand what my technique is, what they want me to do on the defense and try to attack all the time.

"

Hidden in the statement is an issue that's yet to be addressed. The Lions lost 1,675 defensive-tackle snaps, per Pro Football Focus, and will rely on Ngata to handle a large chunk of them.

He has handled large workloads before. In 2012, he racked up 1,071 snaps, which would obviously be huge for Detroit here. The issue, however, is the style of play is new to Ngata. It's possible that he isn't up to the task of handling a ton of snaps in an attacking defense.

Granted, Detroit uses a rotation at the position, but the other three defensive tackles slated to rotate with Ngata are unproven. If he can't contribute often, the defense will take a bigger tumble than even the biggest pessimists are envisioning.

Will LaAdrian Waddle Be Ready to Go?

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

The story remains the same with LaAdrian Waddle. Nobody knows anything, and it's too early to start guessing when he'll be back, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN:

"

@BigRed6810 Yeah, he's still recovering from his knee injuries that ended his 2014 season. They were pretty rough. Not sure when he returns

— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) June 4, 2015"

Aside from age, injuries to the right tackles were the biggest causes for the offensive line's poor 2014 performance. Detroit relied on a combination of veteran Garrett Reynolds and then-undrafted free agent Corey Lucas with generally disastrous results.

That's why Waddle's health is such a point of contention for fans (as you can see above). He played decently considering he was always dealing with one injury or another, finishing with a 1.9 grade (31st in the league) on Pro Football Focus.

The hope is Lucas' time spent working on his right-side technique will help ease any transitional period. Yet the Lions would rather find out how far he's progressed in a reserve role rather than as a starter.

Will the Nickelbacks Bounce Back?

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

The Lions' lack of health was an issue on the defensive side of the ball as well. Once nickelbacks Bill Bentley and Nevin Lawson went down for the season, Cassius Vaughn was the next man up. It did not go well. Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys targeted him often in the Wild Card Round, racking up 101 yards and a score.

At least Bentley has made his way back to practice now, per the Lions' official Twitter account:

"

CB @BB5LIVE is grateful to be back on the field with his teammates. More from @ttwentyman: http://t.co/elHwhsIvHn pic.twitter.com/hBOtcBESf5

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) June 1, 2015"

Will he be able to play more than a handful of snaps or games? He's never played a full season, with two of his three years ending in the first month.

And Lawson could be a completely different story. Kyle Meinke of Mlive.com reported that Martin Mayhew has "never seen that injury [Lawson] had in the 20-plus years [he's] been around the NFL." Therein lies the problem. With no precedent, it's tough to assess how long it will take to heal or if he'll be as explosive once he returns.

For these reasons, Detroit drafted Quandre Diggs in the sixth round. He gives them insurance and is probably the best bet, as this point, to win the job. But Detroit would rather have all of its options available. For now, we're not sure when that will happen.

Can Matthew Stafford Put It All Together?

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi recently spoke to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com about how much he learned in 2014. He said that "[g]uys know where to go and I think a lot of the second-level thinking that happens when you’re running routes and stuff is coming more natural for these guys. It’s been a lot smoother.”

Second-string (for now) quarterback Dan Orlovsky backed up his offensive coordinator and shed some light on Matthew Stafford's relationship with the former New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach:

"

I said this last year, I’ve been incredibly impressed with Joe. There are often times were we go to Joe and say, ‘Hey, we like it this way’ – especially when it comes to Matt (Stafford). Joe’s been really, really good at listening, and listening and applying. He’s been as good a guy as I’ve ever been around.

He does a good job of adjusting and molding stuff to what our guy likes to do.

"

This is encouraging news for Lions fans. The entire season—and any legitimate Super Bowl hopes—rests entirely on No. 9's shoulder...and arm slot.

You always have to discuss the angle from which Stafford throws the ball when you mention him.

In all seriousness, Stafford did win three straight games with late heroics and, of course, a beautiful side-armer to Theo Riddick. But—there's always one—too often the defense had to win games despite the offense.

While the team has to address issues with the offensive line, the main concern heading into training camp will be the progression of Stafford. If he can make his reads quicker, step into throws and deliver with better accuracy—and ultimately raise his touchdown totals while keeping his turnovers down—this team doesn't have a built-in ceiling.

Per the report above and the performances we've seen in the past, Stafford is capable. Now he just needs to put it all together.

All advanced stats, grades and positional rankings are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.