With George Johnson gone, Lions turn to Larry Webster

The Detroit Lions had no clue that a journeyman pass rusher named George Johnson was headed for a breakout season last fall when they spent their second of two fourth-round picks on a developmental defensive end named Larry Webster out of tiny Bloomsburg University.

Webster did not appear in a game as Johnson delivered six of the most unlikely sacks in Lions history, surging past Webster, Darryl Tapp and Devin Taylor on the depth chart.

But after trading Johnson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday, the Lions have opened the door for Webster to earn playing time once again.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said late last season that Webster had made big strides in his development and promised that, "at some point in time, you're going to see that young man take the field for us and perform extremely well."

"Don't be surprised," Caldwell said at the time. "He has made leaps and bounds in terms of strides in his ability to rush the passer. He's tough. The (coaches) do some extra work with him after practice and they've been raving about what he's been able to accomplish and just watching him kind of grow and develop. So at some point in time, he's going to play and play well for us."

Johnson averaged about 30 snaps per game as the Lions' third defensive end last year, and unless the team takes another edge rusher in the draft, his work will be split between some combination of Webster, Tapp, Taylor and perhaps linebacker Kyle Van Noy.

Tapp played as a backup end and spot tackle last fall, but there's little secret about what the 30-year-old is at this stage of his career. Taylor, a fourth-round pick in 2013, seemed to plateau and was used sparingly in his second NFL season. And Van Noy is an edge linebacker whose pass-rush skills are best utilized in special packages.

Webster, 25, has the most upside of the bunch. He got noticeably bigger during the season last fall, flashed in limited action last preseason, and has intriguing bloodlines with a father, Larry Webster Jr., who played 11 seasons in the NFL.

Ziggy Ansah and Jason Jones remain the Lions' starting defensive ends.

"He wasn't drafted as a project," Caldwell said of Webster last December. "Anybody that we draft, we anticipate that they're going to have a significant role within our scheme of things, and we knew he had ability. Obviously, an individual that played some basketball along the way and was explosive. He's got tenacity, tough, all those things, and it just so happened that he's playing behind a group of guys that have been pretty healthy for the great majority of the year. He's really something to behold at this point in time. One of these days, you'll get a chance to see him."

Perhaps this year.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.