In the 2014 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions selected tight end Eric Ebron out of the University of North Carolina. There was uncertainty around the pick from the moment it happened, but Lions’ fans were holding out hope that new offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi could turn Ebron into a weapon similarly to the way he handled Jimmy Graham in New Orleans.
Ebron’s rookie season was far from shining, as the 6’4″ physical specimen only caught 25 passes for 248 yards and 1 TD. Some of that was due to injury, while some of that had to do with a big learning curve for Ebron coming into his first NFL season.
While he did struggle with drops and keeping in top shape, head coach Jim Caldwell and Lombardi have both seen a change in Ebron so far this year. A change so big in fact, that both of them expect Ebron to be the No. 3 pass-catching option this season behind Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, according to mlive.com.
From the 2nd year tight end’s point of view, he’s going to let his game do the talking. When asked on day 2 of OTA’s if he would show his “haters” that he wasn’t a bust Ebron said, “We’ll find out in August. The whole world will, too.”
