The Detroit Lions 2019 season went south pretty quickly. It all started out decently enough. They were 3-4-1 through the first nine weeks. Nothing special, but they were alive in the playoff picture.
Then superstar quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered an injury and was out for the rest of the year.
From there, Detroit did not win another game. That's right, they went 0-8 without Stafford.
The Lions ended with a 3-12-1 record, third-worst in the entire NFL.
2020 could be different though. They have added some nice pieces, and Stafford will be back healthy.
Even with that in mind, they will need some breakout players however. So who is it going to be?
Here are three potential breakout players for Detroit in the 2020 NFL season.
Lions breakout candidates: 3. Bo Scarbrough
The Lions drafted D'Andre Swift in the 2020 NFL Draft. And he is expected to be the star of their running back group.
That being said, he is not the only exciting player in that unit. In fact, you could make very strong arguments for both Kerryon Johnson and Bo Scarbrough.
Johnson had some issues in 2019 though. That included injuries and production.
Meanwhile, Scarbrough started to breakout last season. Due to that, he should have carved out a decent role this year. A role that might be more pronounced than Johnson's.
Scarbrough looked like an absolute bruiser last season. He's definitely poised to continue that in some capacity of a role in 2020.
2. Geronimo Allison
Geronimo Allison spent the first four years of his career in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, one of the biggest rivals of Detroit.
In those four years, Allison never really broke out as a wide receiver. That is despite many expecting it to happen basically every year.
Now, you could say this is just setting the expectations too high once again. You could argue that he's not even in as good of a spot.
I mean, Green Bay had Aaron Rodgers throwing him the football and Davante Adams taking attention away, right?
Well that could actually be exactly why he breaks out. Yes, the Packers had Rodgers and Adams. That's about it though.
Allison was seen as the most threatening receiver after Adams by a lot. Or at the very least right behind Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
That is not really much protection for Allison.
In Detroit, he's going to still have a great quarterback in Stafford. However, now he will have Marvin Jones, Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola (as well as some others).
Allison is going to be far from the focus of any opposing defense. That could lead to him putting up career numbers in 2020.
1. T.J. Hockenson
Remember that (as well as some others) comment I made when talking about Allison? T.J. Hockenson was “others”.
The tight end was a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Not only was he a first rounder, but Hockenson went eighth overall. Due to that, the expectations were extremely high for the tight end.
However, people were also made aware that tight ends tend to not put up the biggest of numbers in their rookie years.
Hockenson stayed true to that tradition, recording 32 receptions for 367 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games.
The rookie year is over though. Now it is time for his sophomore campaign. And with all the weapons on this team, he is poised for some big numbers.
Hockenson now has some time in with Stafford. He also has a decent amount of experience now, and should be used to the speed of the NFL game.
There are a few different players that could enjoy massive breakout years in 2020 for Detroit. Hockenson leads the bunch though as the tight end is in a perfect position to take the league by storm.
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