How WR Kendrick Law will impact the Detroit Lions

What’s interesting about Law’s production at Kentucky is that, of his 540 yards, 505 were yards after the catch (YAC), illustrating how Kentucky prioritized getting Law the ball early in routes and letting him use his athleticism (9.6 RAS) to gain yards.

“Once I get the ball in my hand, I just let my lower body half just kind of do the work and just I see angles, learn how to create space and just continue to accelerate.”

But Law doesn’t feel his game is limited to just what he did at Kentucky. He believes he can bring more to the table in the NFL.

“I can stretch the field, and I feel like that’s just something that the Lions will every day get to see from me. ‘Hey, this guy is not only just a medium-type guy, package-type weapon, but he’s also a vertical threat. We can use him down the field, we can use him intermediate, or we can use him in range.’ And that’s what kind of kind of guy I feel like I am.”

While Law didn’t show that field-stretching ability, his short/medium game is loaded with ways he can be deployed as a weapon and has caught the attention of several analysts.

Quote from Dane Brugler’s The Beast:

“He is lightning quick in short areas and can destroy the balance of open-field defenders with speed to stretch. He is dynamic on slants and stick-and-nods, although his routes show more freelancing than nuance and he is unproven as a downfield target.“

Roster impact

With Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Isaac TeSlaa locked into starting roles, the Lions will be looking for two or three reserves from their remaining six rostered players.

The biggest hole the Lions need to replace is that of Kalif Raymond, who departed in free agency. In addition to Law competing for that job, the Lions returned Dominic Lovett (last year’s seventh-round pick), re-signed Tom Kennedy and Malik Cunningham, and signed Greg Dortch in free agency. Of this group, Law and Lovett are the fastest, while Dortch’s quickness and experience should give him an edge over the two younger players.

That being said, this competition figures to be a fun training camp battle to follow, and there’s a fair argument to be had that Law could be a frontrunner for a WR5 role.