Stock report: Matt Patricia, Taylor Decker trending down after Lions loss

By Kyle Meinke | kmeinke@mlive.com | Posted August 18, 2018 at 06:05 AM

DETROIT -- The Lions lost 30-17 on Friday night in an exhibition against the New York Giants. And the only reason it was even that close were two fourth-quarter touchdowns that came with the game already decided, and the starters long since departed.

So, naturally, a lot of guys are trending down. Including the coach himself. Here's this week's stock report:

STOCK UP

RB LeGarrette Blount

Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

RB LeGarrette Blount

Eleven carries for 32 yards might not sound like much, but if you saw that offensive line play -- and Lord help you if you did -- then you know Blount must have been a magician to muster even that much. And that's pretty much what he was in the third quarter, rushing nine times for 30 tough yards and moving the chains on a third-and-1 despite some really poor blocking. But that blocking caught up with him later in the drive, and he was stuffed for a loss on fourth-and-1.

RB Theo Riddick

Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

RB Theo Riddick

He didn't play a whole lot, yet still caught three passes for a team-high 50 yards, plus ran the ball once for 6 yards. His best play occurred in the first quarter. With Detroit's offense really struggling -- it went three-and-out on three of its first four series -- Riddick finally got something started by getting behind Alec Ogletree and then sprinting 42 yards downfield. The Lions starters have been lifeless on both sides of the ball, so it's good to see someone still has a pulse.

DT Ricky Jean Francois

Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

DT Ricky Jean Francois

I can't help but think of Rashean Mathis here. Mathis was a mid-camp signing in 2013 who proved to be a valuable veteran influence off the field -- perhaps nobody was more instrumental in Darius Slay's early development -- but also played some pretty good ball on it. Enter Francois. He wasn't signed until the eve of training camp, but his impact was immediately felt away from the field. He was instantly leading drills for other linemen after practice, especially rookie Da'Shawn Shead. Then both started against New York, and Francois played especially well, including forcing what appeared to be a Davis Webb fumble that Hand returned to the goal line. The play was overturned after a review, but it was still good to see some long-awaited and badly disruption up front.

STOCK DOWN

LT Taylor Decker

Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

LT Taylor Decker

Boy, what happened here? Decker's a good player, and he's been fine in camp. But he had a forgettable performance against the Giants, including allowing one of Matthew Stafford's two sacks. Of course, Kerryon Johnson and Frank Ragnow also had chances to slow Olivier Vernon on the play, so it's not like it was just Decker. But Decker was brutal a couple times, and so was the offensive line overall, which allowed Stafford to be sacked twice and hit his hand on another play. Jake Rudock and Matt Cassel also took sacks, and Cassel nearly threw a pick when he was hit as he fired the ball into the end zone. Joe Dahl was to blame on that play, and there was plenty of that -- blame -- to go around for the protection issues. Decker is singled out here because you just expect more out of your starting left tackle.

LB Jarrad Davis

Mike Mulholland | MLive.com

LB Jarrad Davis

Davis had tackles for loss on two of the game's first three plays. But we already knew Davis could run downhill and hit a guy holding a football. It's the other stuff with which he's struggled. Like, you know, covering guys trying to catch footballs. He was so bad last year, he lost his full-time role until he could get a handle on his coverage. And he looked no better at the end of Detroit's second defensive series tonight. The Lions tried to double-cover Evan Engram, who had already caught a couple tough balls, but that left Davis in single coverage with Wayne Gallman. And Gallman torched him for an 8-yard touchdown. That's really concerning. Hard to be a three-down linebacker when you're still struggling to cover the pass.

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