Danny Shelton: What the Lions are getting in their new DT

Danny Shelton is an easy guy to spot. The new Detroit Lions defensive tackle weighs 340 or so pounds and sports long black hair and distinctive tattoos up and down both arms.

He also happens to be a pretty darn good football player, and the Lions are a better team for adding him as a free agent this week. The five-year veteran instantly bolsters the interior defensive line.

What exactly are the Lions getting in Shelton?

He spent his first three seasons in Cleveland as a first-round pick out of Washington in 2015. In college, he was a versatile nose tackle with a good sense for the ball and an Academic All-American.

For the Browns, expectations were too high based on his draft status. He was a good-not-great contributor on some bad Browns teams. First-round status implies pass rush, fair or not, and that’s not Shelton’s game. He managed just 1.5 sacks among his 11 TFLs in three years before the Browns traded him to New England.

Note the timeline. Shelton did not join the Patriots until March of 2018. That’s two months after Matt Patricia left to coach the Lions. While Patricia and his Lions staff are certainly familiar with his role(s) in New England, they have no real ties to Shelton or history with him.

I say roles in New England, because Shelton’s changed from 2018 to 2019. His first year in Foxboro was a continuation of his Cleveland career, a very good interior run defender with gap integrity and a good nose for the ball but almost no penetration or upfield surge. That changed in 2019.

New England started shading him over a guard or tilting him from being heads-up on the center more. It played to his quick burst and let him get a little more space to operate. He responded by making more plays in the backfield, getting a career-high three sacks and more pressures. It’s akin the jump Damon Harrison made when he joined the Lions in the middle of the 2018 season.

Shelton’s trademark run defense did suffer a bit as a result. Increasing his range led to more opportunities to miss. He’s still a very sure, powerful tackler, but he was more vulnerable to cut and wham blocks in the run game.

Shelton is a quality replacement on the nose for Harrison. If the Lions move to a more traditional 4-man front, and that appears to be the case based on their offseason moves, Shelton will play the 1-tech and play a lot. If he’s more of a 0-tech in an odd front, he won’t make as many noteworthy plays but also won’t be noted missing as many chances, either.

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