One area Lions QB Matthew Stafford significantly altered was his willingness to attack opposing defenses downfield. In 2014, he attempted just 63 passes that traveled 20 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage. At just 10.5 percent of his total pass attempts, it was the lowest rate of deep shots in his six-year career.

A number of factors contributed to Stafford holstering his cannon more often than not last season. It starts with the conscientious effort to reduce turnovers. Then there was the decreased time in the pocket due to inferior pass protection. And you can't discount the injury issues which hampered top downfield weapon Calvin Johnson much of the season.

The Lions made a serious effort to improve the blocking up front this offseason, using the team's first-round draft pick on guard Laken Tomlinson. Detroit also parted ways with long-time center Dominic Raiola -- an average pass-blocker last season -- making way for last year's third-round pick, Travis Swanson, to take over at that spot.

In addition to the investment in the offensive line, Johnson should be back at 100 percent to start the season. In the first three games last year, before the star receiver first injured his ankle, Stafford attempted five deep passes per game. That dropped to 3.6 attempts the final 13 weeks.

Stafford finished as the #17 QB last season, but in the three previous seasons he didn’t finish outside the top 10. Stafford tends to struggle when Calvin Johnson isn’t fully healthy, as was the case last year. Stafford is a serious threat to finish with QB1 numbers, though we have more confidence in the passers ranked ahead of him.

“I think as a runner he has great balance,” Lions QB Matthew Stafford said of RB Ameer Abdullah after a recent OTA practice. “He’s obviously a low-to-the-ground guy. He seems to hide pretty well behind there and he’s got good vision.

“Out of the backfield, catching the ball, he’s great. He’s got great hands. He has a good feel for route running."

Most scouts seem to agree that Abdullah doesn’t project to be an every-down back, so most of Joique Bell’s between-the-tackles role should be safe, at least for this season. On the other hand, Theo Riddick’s role as the Lions’ third-down back is in serious jeopardy. If things break his way and he sees significant time on passing downs, Abdullah could ultimately post top 25 numbers in PPR formats.

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford had breakfast with wide receiver Lance Moore last Tuesday after he passed the team physical.

In 2015, the Lions hope a veteran like Moore can help Stafford feast on opposing defenses as he brings plenty of familiarity with offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's scheme.

"He seems like a great guy," Stafford said last week at Taste of the Lions. "He obviously has knowledge of the system. It's changed a little bit. We talked about that, but not too much to where it's going to be tough for him to learn it."

Moore is turning 32 this summer and it's not clear how much he has left in the tank. He was only targeted 26 times last season as the Steelers' WR4, but he does seemed to be a handpicked choice for Lombardi's offense. He could serve as the team's WR3 if he has a good summer.

After his disappointing first season, OC Joe Lombardi said TE Eric Ebron is working with quarterback Matthew Stafford on chemistry and route running.

"I think that's going to be a big key to our growth is to get more production from Eric, and I think he's ready to do that," Lombardi said Tuesday, per the Detroit Free Press. "I know he's been making some trips to Atlanta to work with Matt already this offseason, so he's -- the thing you like about Eric is he's a bright kid and he works hard and he wants to be good. So we expect very big things from him moving forward."

"There's a big learning curve, obviously, for any rookie, and the tight end position is one that requires a lot," Lombardi said. "As you look back, if you're self-critical, you might say maybe we asked a little bit too much of him, from that perspective. So I think there's just a volume that he struggled with early, but he was productive and, again, for anybody, the second year's always where you see the biggest jump."

Ebron turned 3.8 targets into 1.9 catches for 19 yards and 0.08 TD as a rookie. He played half the snaps, so his lack of production is somewhat alarming. Tight end is a tough position to learn as a rookie, so there is some reason for optimism given Ebron's skill set.

While Lions play-caller Joe Lombardi remains knee deep in Detroit's game tape from a season ago, one theme has already emerged from his studies: It's time for more big plays from Matthew Stafford.

"Our biggest thing is, in order to win football games, you've got to first not lose them, and I thought that he played smart football, and sometimes to a fault," Lombardi said Tuesday, per Ashley Dunkak of CBS Detroit. "We'll look for him to maybe take a few more chances this year with the football. He's got the arm to do it. He's got the receivers to throw it to."

After three straight top 10 finishes, Stafford was the #17 QB in 2014, though he was only a couple of touchdowns out of the #13 spot. As the 10th QB off the board in early drafts, it's possible that Stafford is being overdrafted, though if he's being encouraged to take more chances, it could boost his fantasy numbers.

Sunday marked Lions WR Golden Tate's third consecutive contest with 100 or more receiving yards, the first time he's accomplished that feat in his career.

Tate did much of his damage when Johnson was sidelined three weeks with a high ankle sprain, posting the two highest receiving totals of his career against the New Orleans Saints (154 yards) and Atlanta Falcons (151 yards).

During that time he was able to rapidly develop chemistry with quarterback Matthew Stafford.

"Having Calvin back certainly changed the dynamics a little bit, but you still see the little guy comes up big and played extremely well," HC Jim Caldwell said. "And I think with Calvin just being absent those few weeks, the rapport that was developed between Golden and Matthew is something that is certainly going to help us down the stretch."

Tate's recent stretch has been so impressive, he surpassed one of Johnson's many team records in the victory. The 11-catch performance is Tate's sixth consecutive game with seven or more receptions, besting a mark he came into the day sharing with Johnson and Brett Perriman.

This is great news for Tate owners. It was natural to expect a bit of a drop in Tate's numbers with the return of Johnson this week. But Tate had another big day and it looks like the time he had to develop with Stafford will pay off down the stretch. He should remain on the WR2 fantasy radar.

Lions WR Calvin Johnson looked crisp in practice and seems to be as close to 100 percent this far into a season as he has been in a long time. The impact should be massive. With Johnson out, QB Matthew Stafford and WR Golden Tate found a strong connection. Now teams will have to account for Tate and Johnson, along with the potential of the Lions' running backs. That's a lot to deal with for any defense.

We're expecting Johnson to be his usual self in Week 10, though the matchup with a streaking Dolphins defense is a tough one.