How Lions Can Best Use Michael Brockers

Read more on how the Detroit Lions can best deploy Michael Brockers during the 2021 NFL season

Solid veteran presence in the locker room. Check. 

Ability to get after the passer. Check. 

Those are just a couple of the intangibles that 30-year-old defensive lineman Michael Brockers will bring to the Lions. 

Brockers comes to the Motor City, after spending the past nine seasons with the St. Louis/L.A. Rams -- the team that drafted him No. 14 overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. 

While with the Rams, he was a three-time captain and an integral member of the organization's locker room. 

He's expected to play the same type of leadership role in Detroit. 

As for on the field, he suited up primarily at defensive end a year ago, and proceeded to accumulate 51 total tackles, five tackles for loss, five sacks and 10 QB hits. 

The Lions' defensive line, especially along the interior, was anemic a season ago when it came to getting pressure against opposing quarterbacks. So, Brockers could add some much-needed help to that unit in 2021. 

He expects to play in multiple spots along the line in his first season in Motown. 

"They (the Lions) definitely said I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing," Brockers told The Detroit News. "I'm really versatile. I can play anywhere, so it really doesn't matter to me. I can play anywhere on the defensive line."

Joe Nicholson, USA TODAY Sports

Detroit, meanwhile, is expected to deploy what will look like a 3-4 defense, with first-year defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn calling the plays. And it's a scheme that Brockers is equipped to play in, after his years of playing in new L.A. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley's version of the 3-4 with the Rams. 

Brockers described his favorite part of the scheme to The Detroit News. 

"The fact that you can get one-on-ones when you have those rushers on the edge and you don't know which one is coming," Brockers said. "Sometimes, we bring both of them, and sometimes, we bring the Will (linebacker). So, you never know which one is coming. They're always standing up on the outside, so you have to respect that. We get a lot of one-on-ones inside, with the guards. Usually, those quick wins inside, beating a guard, is the quickest way to get to the quarterback. Having those one-on-one opportunities definitely set yourself up for success." 

Brockers is going from a team in the Rams that has become a perennial playoff contender to one in the Lions that has only made the playoffs three times since the 2000 season. 

Detroit is also coming off three straight losing campaigns. Yet, as Brockers told The Detroit News, he doesn't want to hear any talk of the Lions being in "rebuild" mode. 

In fact, he believes the Lions could make the jump to playoff contention this upcoming season, just as the Rams did after hiring Sean McVay in 2017. Los Angeles had gone just 4-12 the year before, but in McVay's first season, went 11-5 and won the NFC West. 

"I definitely have seen a dramatic change, a dramatic shift in a team when you have a good coaching staff and great players on a team," Brockers said. "It's more about what a team can do, what the players can do and what the coaches can do together to win games. It's not about I'm bringing this style of coaching, or I'm bringing, you know, let's say the 'Patriot Way' to Detroit. It's not about that. It's about getting together, coming together, coaches, players, staff, media, everybody being of one mind, doing whatever we have to do to win games. I think with that, when you have that accountability between one another, and you put the team at the forefront of each decision you make, I've seen that dramatic shift in a team." 

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