After a rough rookie season, things may be looking up for the No. 3 overall pick of the 2020 draft.
Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah played only nine games with six starts last year, before undergoing season-ending groin surgery in December. But when he was in games, he often struggled in coverage.
But now? Okudah has become one of the reasons head coach Dan Campbell said on Thursday morning that he’s “fired up” about Detroit’s secondary.
“Okudah, I think he’s really starting to come on,” Campbell said in his press conference. “He’s playing like, ‘Alright man, I am a bad dude. And I dare you to throw it over here’ — which is what we want.”
Campbell added that he’s liked the communication throughout the secondary through the first part of training camp.
If Okudah is making that kind of progress, that’s good news for a Detroit defense that finished last in yards allowed and points allowed in 2020.