'He'll put the ball up [and] let them go get it': Lions HC Matt Patricia breaks down the trio of young playmakers in Broncos' pass

[Miles]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Even when Lions head coach Matt Patricia isn't preparing for the Broncos, Courtland Sutton catches his eye.


"[W]hen you're watching other defenses, you can't help but notice how he shows up in a detrimental way against them," Patricia said in a conference call with Denver media on Wednesday. "Great player."


And that's just the start of it. As a defensive-minded head coach, Patricia is well aware of the Broncos' top playmakers, and perhaps no one on the team has impressed him like Sutton.


"This guy is so impressive to me," Patricia said. "He's big, he's strong. He does a great job at the line of scrimmage. If you try to press him, he's going to power through that. His releases really are outstanding. He does an excellent job at the top of the route. I think his ability to get in and out of breaks to create that separation, to be able to burst, that transition, it's really phenomenal. He's got great hands and, certainly, the run after the catch is outstanding. He makes guys miss, he runs through tackles. I really don't think people realize how big he is when he's coming at them."


As for the rookie quarterback who's connected with Sutton for 187 yards and two touchdowns in three games, Patricia has also admired the performance of Drew Lock.


"I think he's stepped right in," Patricia said. "He's a very competitive guy. We spent some time with him coming out of the draft. I know he's ... a guy who does a great job of just coming out every single day ready to go. He's got a strong arm, he's athletic. I think he's getting the ball out quick. I think they're doing a great job of putting him in situations where he can make plays. Certainly, he's doing a great job of getting the ball to his two go-to guys. Courtland Sutton is phenomenal [and] Noah Fant — he'll put the ball up [and] let them go get it, and they're making big plays. i think think the thing about Drew that's so impressive is his athleticism and his speed. I think a lot of guys, you see it on tape, you underestimate how fast he is, how mobile he is as a quarterback, and athletic. You see him just run away from linebackers and safeties. He makes a lot of guys miss when he gets into the open space. I think that's the element that he just adds and becomes even more difficult to defend against."


Patricia also spent time during the draft process evaluating another Broncos rookie in Fant, though the Lions ended up drafting Fant's college teammate, fellow tight end T.J. Hockenson.


"Another guy we spent a lot of time looking at coming out of the draft, and obviously looking at T.J. and Noah together as teammates," Patricia said. "He's a big guy, he's got a huge catch radius. I think he's got great hands. His vertical speed through the defense is very impressive. He does a great job of pushing vertical. He'll run the over routes, he gets open, he can make the difficult catch and then, I think, one of the things that's been most impressive is his ability to run with the ball after he catches it. He's a big guy, he's hard to tackle — a lot of guys bounce off him and he just keeps pushing forward and you really see that speed that he has come on. As a big, physical player, to have that combination of speed is very difficult [to defend]."