Cliff Avril, Stud Or Dud?

One of the things the Detroit Lions have missed in recent years is a good consistent pass rush. Nothing has worked. Many people point to Cliff Avril as one of the problems, he was supposed to be a stud and put up 10 sacks for us. In 2 seasons so far, he's barely put up over that. So is he a bust?

Hold on with that bust talk. Cliff Avril leads all 2nd year DEs in sacks and all 2nd year players in forced fumbles. Even ahead of highly hyped Chris Long and Calais Campbell. Now you could counter that with the fact that the draft class could be weak, and there isn't much proof otherwise. But from a pure statistical point (sacks/forced fumbles) we really couldn't have gotten a better deal out of that draft class. I'm sure if we redid that draft, Avril would be taken in the late first early second now. Not a bad place to be.

Since we started discussing his stats, let's really look into them. He has 10.5 sacks in 2 seasons? Why? Well first off, both seasons he was either behind someone on the DC (DeWayne White) or playing the wrong side for his skill set (LDE). Secondly, add in the fact that he received no help from the DTs, which allowed the QB to step up into the pocket. Follow that up with he didn't play all that much early in his rookie season, and his second season he was injured, you can only imagine what his numbers would have been if he had started all 32 games. Or even if he was in on just all the passing downs.

What about his run support? He sucks versus the run! Well that may be true, but he still came in #13 and #8 in tackles compared to the rest of his defensive line draft class. He isn't atrocious in the run, but he could use a step up in his game, and he will earn that with experience.The more he plays, the better he will become. Will he be a stout run defender ever? Probably not, but we drafted him to get to the quarterback.

All things being said, I think Avril is a great player with enormous potential. Will he ever reach it? Only time will tell.