Jamal Agnew....WR?

So an interesting tidbit wad dropped out of Peter King's weekly Football Morning in America column yesterday in his "Classroom: Lions" series. While listing off the participants on the Zoom call with his WRs that coach Robert Prince was having, King revealed that "...converted DB..." Jamal Agnew was now part of the WR corp for the Lions. There is a possibility that he is attending due to his use in the past as an offensive "weapon" at both WR and RB, but this could also be a full blow position swap to help both the Lions and Agnew in the future.

While this may come as a bit of a surprise, it has some semblance of common sense to it, so lets take a look at both the Pros and Cons of such a move::

Pros

• Agnew has not shown much promise as a CB prospect and position now has quality depth 5-6 players deep

• Lions added multiple players with return game skills in FA and the Draft (Huntley)

• Lions need an Amendola replacement in the near future

• Agnew has always been a play make when ball is in his hands

• NFL is determined to reduce kickoff and Punt plays for safety reasons, hastening the trend that players who are only return guys are purely a luxury item even with expanded rosters

• Agnew is in a contract year, so adding another skillset will make him more attractive to the Lions or as a UFA in 2021

Cons

• Agnew is in a contract year, so its a big gamble to change positions and get out of his comfort zone

• If he becomes a gadget player that can be inserted in the offense, defense or at DB, he will be spread awfully thin, even as a 3-year veteran

• Ball security could scuttle his chances. In 103 career touches, he has fumbled the ball 5 times , which is almost a 5% fumble rate.

Overall, I personally like the move for Agnew and the Lions, as it will give him a chance to lengthen his NFL career along with adding to his potential. He was likely a roster bubble candidate before the move to WR started, so this will give him a shot as both a Return man and possible WR option that should help the Lions with depth and competition. The Lions only have handful of slot guys in Amendola, Hall, Bolden and Kennedy on the roster so the competition to back up Amendola will be between a bunch of inexperienced guys. Bolden (Return Man and 1 career NFL catch), Kennedy (0 games played) and Agnew (3 rec, 4 career Rushes) will likely be chasing Marvin Hall and his 19 career receptions for that backup job.

Will Agnew survive, hard to tell, but a lot will ride on how flexible and productive the player is for the team, and Agnew, if he can catch the ball, may have a great shot at the role.