Teez Tabor Struggled To Find The Field In His Rookie Season And Is Struggling On The Field In His Second Year. Is It Time For Detroit Lions Fans To Be Worried?

Teez Tabor was a divisive pick by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. The pick only became more divisive as Teez failed to find much meaningful playing time in his rookie season.

Some fans believed that he just wasn’t cut out for the NFL game. Some believed that he was struggling to adjust to the speed and complexities of the NFL.

Others believed that the Lions were simply letting him develop during his rookie year and that 2018 would be the year that fans would finally have the opportunity to see the true potential of the former second-round pick.

Tabor was a player that had some really good tape in his time at the University of Florida. He was one of the top-rated corners on many analysts’ boards.

That all changed when Tabor turned in a putrid 4.62 40 yard dash time. The question became, how do you use a cornerback that simply doesn’t have the long speed to run with most NFL wide receivers? Sure, 40 times are overrated, but there is a threshold of what is acceptable, and Tabor almost certainly crossed that line.

Many fans pointed to Richard Sherman as a case of a corner that had a poor top-end speed that was able to excel in the NFL. Sherman is the exception, not the rule. That much was clear, but many hoped that Teez’s strong tape from Florida would translate and prove that Tabor was another exception.

Teez Tabor has played 88 snaps so far in 2018. 32 of those snaps came in the Lions week five victory over the Green Bay Packers.

88 snaps is a small sample size, but Teez tabor has really struggled so far this year. Hopefully, he just needs time on the field to adjust to getting real playing time rather than getting reps at practice, but he needs to start learning quickly. He hasn’t taken the leap that fans were hoping for after his rookie season.

Some things can be taught but unfortunately, speed is not one of them. Tabor was burned deep against the Packers on Sunday and it highlighted the fact that it is dangerous to leave Tabor manned up on a receiver without giving him safety help over the top. The deep ball is only one aspect of the game, but it can be a game-changing one. His speed limits his utility to the defense and either forces the defense to adjust to his weaknesses or allows the offense to exploit them in a big way.

Is it time to worry about Tabor?

Maybe.

I think that if Tabor doesn’t show significant improvement over the remainder of the 2018 season, this might have just been a poor pick by GM Bob Quinn and the Lions. Hopefully, he takes that next step over the next 11 games.

Thanks for checking out the article everyone. Go Lions! You can follow me on Twitter @Lanny1925 and be sure to join the community on the Detroit Lions subreddit.