We might have identified the man who will be the Detroit Lions' proverbial offseason hype bunny: Eric Ebron.
As Around The NFL partially covered in Wednesday's version of What We Learned at the NFL Annual Meeting, coach Jim Caldwell said he sees big things coming from the tight end after the No. 10 overall pick struggled his rookie season, catching just 25 passes.
"I'm going to tell you something," Caldwell said, per the team's official website. "His offseason to this point has been pretty impressive.
"I'm anticipating, just because I know what he's been doing and etcetera, and what he's been working at, I'm anticipating a pretty significant rise in his performance."
On the most recent edition of the *Around The NFL Podcast*, NFL Media's Bucky Brooks emphatically argued Ebron will have a bounce-back season after a somewhat disappointing rookie campaign. Brooks cited the complexity of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's system as a reason for Ebron's struggles. Brooks believes the tight end will play more naturally in his second season and thrive.
Caldwell added Ebron has things to improve upon to increase his playing time, including blocking.
"Don't get me wrong, it's not like he's all of a sudden going to be Charlie Sanders, but he's going to be better than he was. But he's working, believe me, he's working hard," Caldwell said.
After struggling with drops and getting open last season, we'll wait until the preseason to hype gushing praise on Ebron, but both Brooks and Caldwell present an interesting case for the young pass-catcher breaking out in Year 2.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast unveils our annual division power rankings and welcomes Bucky Brooks back to the show. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
