One year ago, Week 1 was a nightmare for Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah. Barely one half into Detroit’s opener in 2021, Okudah tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season.
It’s been a long road back to the lineup. Okudah worked and rehabbed very hard, and he earned the starting outside CB job once again as a result. He played well — mostly — during training camp and preseason, but the first real test came in Week 1 of 2022 against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles.
I went back over the game tape and charted every single defensive play from Okudah. I took notes on what No. 1 did on all 67 of his defensive snaps (he sat out nine plays).
Cornerbacks are not involved on every play, so I whittled out those reps. That left 21 plays where what Okudah did have an impact on the offensive play. I graded each of those with a simple plus or minus.
Okudah wound up with 14 plusses and seven minuses. Five of the plusses came on plays where Eagles QB Jalen Hurts wanted to throw the ball to the receiver Okudah was covering, but the good coverage forced Hurts to look elsewhere. Four of the minuses came in run defense or tackling after the catch, including one missed tackle and one blown run contain responsibility. Okudah did earn two plusses for successfully playing outside run contain and forcing the runner into a tackle.
I had Okudah on the hook for three completions allowed during the game on plays where he was clearly the person in coverage. One was an early third-down pass to A.J. Brown where Okudah played too far off and gave up the 10-yard conversion. The only other time Brown caught a ball with Okudah in coverage, No. 1 tackled him immediately for a loss of a yard. The officials generously spotted the ball back at the original line of scrimmage even though Brown never sniffed that progress.
He allowed one completion for sure to TE Dallas Goedert, an 11-yard gain where Okudah was late to recognize his underneath responsibility in zone that gained 10 yards. That makes three catches for 21 yards directly on Okudah’s ledger by my accounting.
The only other completion that could possibly be on Okudah was a screen to Goedert where he might have been the closest defender at the time of the pass while in zone coverage. I’ve seen the Lions practice this look several times and it’s generally the play-side LB who is responsible in coverage here, but rookie Malcolm Rodriguez got hung up inside on a fake. It’s understandable that outside analysts like Pro Football Focus would chart this one on Okudah, but my experience with the defense is that it was not his coverage mark. He happened to sniff it out well and his quick reactions actually became a negative in outside grading. Okudah didn’t play the run-after-catch well regardless and it earned a minus from me for that.
Against Devonta Smith, who was his primary coverage mark most of the game, Okudah did not allow a single completion on four attempts, including a pass defended on an early third down. Twice on the Eagles’ opening drive, Hurts wanted to throw to Smith but Okudah had him locked down. Hurts eventually stopped looking there, and Okudah deserves some credit for that alteration to the Eagles’ offense.
Overall, it was a strong day for Okudah in his return to the field. He did not allow a single big play. Okudah played with confidence and physicality against a really good Eagles offense. Hard to ask for more from No. 1 than how he played in Week 1.
