NFL Training Camp: 10 most intriguing battles in 2023

#2, Detroit Lions – Nose-tackle

Candidates: Isaiah Buggs, Brodric Martin & Benito Jones

NFL Training Camp: 10 most intriguing battles in 2023

This is actually a bit surprising because Alim McNeill was one of the more underrated young players in that role after they drafted him out of N.C. State in the third round of 2021. However, the Lions are supposedly asking him to trim down and play 3-technique this year, in large part because they haven’t been able to find a guy who can fit that responsibility.

The focus for them is improving the run defense, which is where they just finished bottom-six in both EPA per rush and rushing success rate.

With John Cominsky and last year’s second-rounder Joshua Paschal having that flexibility to move inside on passing downs, I expect McNeill to play more over the center in those situations if he does stay on, while the designated nose will NOT be used in that capacity really at all.

So we’re talking more so about a two-down run-plugger who can keep the second level clean, lining up at a more traditional shade-nose on the edge of the center if they run Under fronts (where the 3-technique is lined up to the weak side, as they involve their big nickel more in run fits, after having invested into those profiles and made the switch to that being more of their base personnel over the second half of last year) or at a 2i (meaning the inside shoulder of the guard when they’re in Over looks) and now you have that guy with leverage on the gap, without the center being able to combo on him, when they run towards the strong-side.

Isaiah Buggs started his career as a sixth-round pick for the Steelers in 2019 and while he played either nine or ten games all three years there, his snap percentage increased in each of those. Then last season he played a full 17 in Detroit, starting 13 of those and playing two-thirds of defensive snaps.

However, he actually was more effective against the pass, doubling his career total in prior pressures with 20, while his PFF run defense grade of just 47.0 ranked him 123rd among interior D-linemen who played 100+ snaps last season.

Basically swapping spots with McNeill may not lend itself to improvements in that area, since he’s used to playing at just under 300 pounds.

Brodric Martin was a shocking selection in this year’s draft to me at the end of day two, since they actively moved up for him and actually gave up three picks between 122 and 168. So clearly they envision him having a more extensive role if you’re investing that kind of capital in a true nose tackle. I just hated the value because I didn’t think he was worth a top-200 selection, much less a top-100.

He does have premiere size and length for that role at 6’5”, 335 pounds with 34-and-½-inch arms. You see the anchor ability to hold up versus double-teams for the most part and the upper body strength to pull guys off himself in order to swallow the back, but he doesn’t threaten the edges of blockers at all with quicks and hands. And if you ask him to take on a bigger workload, he has major issues with pad level.

Finally, Benito Jones has a chance to get more playing time in his second destination. He originally came to Miami as an undrafted free agent in 2020 but struggled to get on the field (due to all the big bodies the Dolphins had putting in work on the interior for them, who never get the credit they deserve for stopping the run).

So he logged 48 snaps as a rookie and then spent all of 2021 on the practice squad. However, last season he logged over 300 snaps across all 17 games for Detroit and he had some good moments (actually pretty damn impressive with nearly a 10% rate of pressures per pass-rush snap and didn’t miss any of his 16 tackles).

Yet he finished just below Isaiah Buggs at 127th among the interior D-line in terms of a 46.3 PFF run-defense grade, as somebody who also spent the majority of time in the B-gap. But this is a former top-50 overall recruit, who has shock in his hands to be firm near the point of attack or drive centers backward when offenses drop back, who played almost exclusively at the nose his final year at Ole Miss.

So I think the hope is Martin quickly finds his footing and takes on the majority of snaps for this trio. But I believe what’s most likely is that all three play between 15 and 30% of snaps. Buggs is the most active guy among that group, if they put him a lot at 2i and he can chase from the backside, but Martin and Jones can be more traditional options at re-setting the line of scrimmage and negating space for more at-you gap-scheme type of offenses.

So not only will it be a heavy rotation I believe, but their usage will also be dependent on who they face on a weekly basis. Right now I’d say Buggs starts Week 1 and leads them in snaps, because he’s played the most on passing downs along the front, but specifically as an early-down nose, any of these three could lead them in usage.