Detroit Lions wide receiver Kenny Golladay: 'I want a breakout season'

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Detroit Lions preseason: What stood out vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett's takeaways from Detroit Lions exhibition vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Aug. 24, and a look at the regular season.

Kenny Golladay had such a tantalizing start to his NFL career last year, catching two touchdown passes in his first game, that it seems just about everyone is predicting the Detroit Lions receiver for a breakout year this fall.

NFL pundits, fantasy football GMs, even Golladay.

“I want a breakout season myself,” Golladay said earlier this month. “I’m trying to make a whole lot of plays for this team.”

A third-round pick out of Northern Illinois in 2017, Golladay was well on his way to doing that last year when a hamstring injury cost him five games in the middle of the season.

Oh, Golladay still had his moments once he returned. He finished his rookie year with 28 catches for 477 yards, and five of his grabs went for 40 yards or more.

But the hamstring injury that cost him nearly a third of the season left everyone wanting more.

“Expectations for myself are high and I know for these coaches, the expectations they have for me are very high,” Golladay said. "And I’m just trying to surpass their expectations and my own."

What does that mean exactly?

"Me catching a lot of balls," Golladay said, without putting a number on it. "Me catching touchdowns and us having a winning season."

If Golladay takes care of the first and second parts of that equation, it should help the Lions accomplish the third.

He remains third in the Lions’ pecking order at wide receiver, behind Marvin Jones and Golden Tate, but he played in some two-receiver sets opposite Jones during training camp and the Lions, without a true pass-catching threat at tight end, figure to use more three-receiver formations this fall.

More than that, Golladay’s size (6 feet 4, 213 pounds) and downfield ability are a perfect complement to the speedy Jones and shifty Tate, not to mention trouble for opposing cornerbacks.

“Kenny’s an absolute beast,” tight end Mike Roberts said. “He makes plays, he’s always around the ball or in the right position, and like Marv has been our deep threat, obviously, but Kenny’s special and it’s just nice to see him progress (on and off the field).”

Golladay spent part of the summer in south Florida working out with Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett and New Orleans Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis in an effort to better his route-running and expand his game.

And while he has just three catches for 49 yards this preseason, some of his work was on display in last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when he slipped behind a pair of Bucs defenders for a 36-yard gain.

Roberts said the Lions’ passing game will be “trouble” for opposing defenses who have to contend with a pair of deep threats outside in Jones and Golladay, plus the weapons the Lions have underneath.

“You put them two on the same side it’s even more trouble,” Roberts said. “It’s just a well-balanced offense.”

Lions coach Matt Patricia stopped short of predicting how much more explosive the offense can be with a healthy Golladay on the field for 16 games this fall, but he said he's pleased with Golladay's development so far.

“I think his overall understanding of the offense, we’re able to kind of put him in some different spots maybe than what he’s been in the past and his ability to just execute those at a high level," Patricia said. "We’re still, like all of those guys, the consistency part of it is what we need to find, and when you go from one step to the next and you’re learning different parts of the offense or moving into different positions or asked to do different jobs, not only do you have to execute those and just make sure they’re right, but you got to do them at a high level, too. Otherwise, it’s not really worth it to do those things. So we’re continuing to kind of push him in those directions.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!



