Buy or Sell: Lions Will Have a Top-10 Offense in 2020

Our Vito Chirco opines on whether the Lions will have a top-10 offense in 2020

Matthew Stafford will have a myriad of weapons at his disposal in 2020.

Via the draft alone, Detroit added five players on the offensive side of the ball: running back D'Andre Swift in the second round, guards Jonah Jackson and Logan Stenberg in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, and wide receiver Quintez Cephus and running back Jason Huntley in the fifth round.

The Lions also return 2019 Pro Bowl receiver Kenny Golladay and fellow veteran wideouts Marvin Jones Jr. and Danny Amendola, to go along with second-year tight end T.J. Hockenson, backup TE Jesse James and undrafted free agent Hunter Bryant.

In the backfield, Swift joins third-year pro Kerryon Johnson and Bo Scarbrough, a midseason acquisition last year, forming a trio of talented backs that all have SEC ties -- Swift hailing from Georgia, Johnson from Auburn and Scarbrough from Alabama.

With a healthy Stafford, the Lions should be equipped with an extremely productive offense that is able to overcome a subpar defense, at least on occasion.

But, will it translate to a top-10 offense for the Lions in 2020?

CBS Sports' Jared Dubin doesn't quite think so.

In his post-NFL Draft offense rankings, he has Matt Patricia's squad ranked No. 12 along with the Atlanta Falcons.

As Dubin writes,

"Detroit using a second-round pick on D'Andre Swift might not be the best use of resources, but it's likely to help their offense in 2020. The latter is also true of guard Jonah Jackson, who could step into the starting lineup right away if he has a good camp (assuming camp happens)."

Swift, at the very least, should be a nice complementary piece to Johnson during his rookie campaign.

Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press

Meanwhile, Jackson and Stenberg both have a solid shot of starting at right guard come Week 1 of the regular season, filling a major void at the position.

So, credit Detroit general manager Bob Quinn with selecting them before they were snatched up by another organization.  

Despite all of the nice offensive pieces that Quinn has put in place, though, in order for the Lions to join the list of the top-10 offenses in the league, they will need a little help from the opposition.

Simply, other teams in the league will first need to experience a drop-off in production.  

Detroit finished tied for 18th with the N.Y. Giants and Carolina Panthers in points per game a season ago (21.3).

It adds up to the Lions needing to jump seven teams in order to, at the very least, become one of the league's top-10 scoring offenses in 2020.

Sure, there are teams that scored more points last year than the Lions, like the Patriots which enter 2020 without six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady for the first time in two decades, that are bound to take a dip in the department.  

However, for every team like the Patriots, there are teams like the Ravens, 49ers, Saints, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Cowboys -- ranked No. 1-6 in points per game last season -- that aren't dropping outside of the top 10.

So, while it can be expected for the Lions to be more prolific offensively and to average more points per game this upcoming season, there appears to be a handful of teams that stand in their way of becoming a top-10 offense.

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