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Detroit Lions film review: Returning Ifeatu Melifonwu offers immediate reminder of potent versatility
Justin Rogers
Dec 24
Paywall article.
Detroit Lions defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu hasn't had much luck since joining the team as a third-round draft pick in 2021.
As a rookie, he suffered a quad injury in his first start, which landed him on the shelf for 10 of the next 11 games. The following season, it was hamstring and ankle issues that sidelined him for seven games. And last year, just as he was slated to enter the starting lineup, he broke his hand in practice, keeping him in a reserve role for a few extra weeks.
When he finally got his shot in 2023, he proved to be an electric playmaker, a true difference-maker down the stretch, even earning the NFC's Player of the Week honors after recording 2.0 sacks and the game-sealing interception in the team’s division-clinching win over Minnesota.
Despite finishing on a heater, Melifonwu’s role was unclear entering this season. The team was committed to moving Brian Branch from nickel to safety, ensuring the dynamic second-year man had an every-down role. Plus, the early slot work went to Emmanuel Mosely, Amik Robertson and rookie Ennis Rakestraw.
The practice reps pointed to Melifonwu reprising a reserve role heading into the 2024 season, at least until another in a long line of injuries took him out of commission. An ankle issue, reportedly tied to agitation with his Achilles, knocked him out the first half of the year. And when he was on the cusp of returning, he suffered a finger injury in practice, reminiscent of last year’s broken hand. That required a second stint on injured reserve, adding a month to his aggravating wait.
In total, Melifonwu missed the first 14 games. If you were starting to wonder if he’d suit up for the Lions this season, or ever again given he’s in the final year of his rookie contract, you weren’t out of bounds.
But there he was Sunday against the Chicago Bears, on the field for the game’s opening snap, despite banking just three practices before the contest. He’d end up playing more than 50 reps in his return to action, necessitated by the loss of cornerback Carlton Davis III to a long-term jaw injury a week earlier.
“We need him,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said about Melifonwu. “We have to have him. There is no other choice, there is no other option, you have to be able to go, so he did. I thought for not having played since training camp, it was solid. It really was. Now, it was rusty, he’s got improvement to make, he knows that, and he will improve.”
After taking a closer look at rookie offensive lineman Christian Mahogany’s first start in our earlier film study, we’ll put a bow on the Bears game by evaluating how defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn chose to deploy Melifonwu on Sunday.
Possession 1
Three plays, 1 yard, punt
Melifonwu was on the field for all three plays of the opening series, aligning as an overhang defender on first down, off the ball but in the box on second-and-10, and at the line of scrimmage in a press-man look over tight end Cole Kmet on third down.
The Bears passed on first and third down with Melifonwu blitzing on both. On the first, Melifonwu was picked up by running back D'Andre Swift as quarterback Caleb Williams got rid of the ball quickly.
But on third down, Melifonwu was highly effective, even though he couldn't finish. Disguising his intent by staring down Kmet until the snap, the defensive back fired into the backfield around right tackle Darnell Wright (58), only for the elusive Williams to step back at the last moment to avoid the sack. The QB was still forced from the pocket, and after avoiding a second tackler, threw the ball away, leading to a punt.
Possession 2
Two plays, 5 yards, fumble
Melifonwu technically started the series on the sideline, but the play was wiped out by a defensive offside penalty.
Lining up off the ball and just outside the box on first-and-5, the Bears ran an end-around with D.J. Moore to Melifonwu’s side. The defender took on the lead block of running back Roschon Johnson (23), and was able to shed it, but showed some rust on a sloppy tackle try, requiring linebackers Jack Campbell and Ben Niemann to clean it up after a short gain.
On second-and-3, Melifonwu aligned in off-coverage over the slot, but slid into the box as an adjustment to late motion. The handoff went to the motion man, rookie receiver Rome Odunze, who couldn’t handle the exchange.
The fumble was quickly recovered by defensive end Josh Paschal. Melifonwu had no impact on the result of the play.
Possession 3
Four plays, 31 yards, fumble
Melifonwu again started a possession off the field, but joined the fray on the second play, filling his run gap as a box defender, helping force Swift to bounce the carry outside where the Bears committed a holding infraction.
Now facing first-and-19, we see Melifonwu drop from the box into a deep zone for the first time, halving the field with Kerby Joseph in Cover-2, which allowed Branch to blitz from the slot.
Then, on third down, Melifonwu played man coverage for the first time in the contest, picking up Kmet’s crosser from the slot. The play’s design called for a throw to the opposite flat to Odunze, who fumbled for a second time on the play.
Possession 4
Four plays, 21 yards, punt
On the bench for the first two snaps as the Bears dug themselves into a first-and-20 hole with another holding penalty, Melifonwu demonstrated an ability to communicate, relaying a late coverage switch to cornerback Terrion Arnold to counter Chicago’s pre-snap motion. That led to Williams turfing the ball on the play.
Melifonwu would have deep, split-field safety responsibilities on second and third downs. On the first, he played a critical role in the defensive stop, dropping 12 yards from an 8-yard, pre-snap depth and combining with Arnold to take away Williams’ first read, a deep out route to Kmet.
Possession 5
14 plays, 70 yards, touchdown
Not only did Melifonwu remain on the sideline for the first two plays of this possession, but he also gave way to three-linebacker packages the final five snaps as the Bears moved into the red zone.
Melifonwu’s first action during the series came on a third-and-8 snap where he was in man coverage on Kmet, who initially stayed in to protect on the pass play. Melifonwu showed good awareness, avoiding Chicago's attempt to use him as a natural pick on Branch, defending a crossing pattern.
For the most part, Melifonwu wasn’t in on most of the plays. He did have a run stop from a box alignment, shedding Odunze’s lead block to drag Swift down after a 7-yard gain up the gut.
I thought Melifonwu's best play during the series was a Cover-2 snap where he dropped from the box to a deep zone, handing off Onduze’s go route to Joseph, then driving to take away Moore (2), who had stemmed his crossing route vertically, before coming up to make the tackle on a screen to Swift.
Possession 6
Three plays, 70 yards, touchdown
Melifonwu was on the field all three snaps during this two-minute drive, with deep zone responsibilities for each. The throw on first down was batted down at the line, while Williams’ subsequent, 25-yard dart to Moore down the middle was to the opposite side of the field.
With a fresh set of downs at Detroit’s 45-yard line, and 46 seconds remaining, Williams went hunting for a big play. It appears the Lions are in Cover-2 man, with Melifonwu lining up deep and responsible for the left half of the field.
Arnold bit hard on Keenan Allen’s double move (at the top of the screen) and Melifonwu got caught flat-footed with his help over-the-top, resulting in the long touchdown.
Possession 7
10 plays, 58 yards, field goal
Melifonwu opened this series with a couple good plays against the run, shutting down the backside lane on one where Swift was dropped for a loss and aggressively filling an inside gap on another to force the carry outside where Swift gained a single yard.
Melifonwu would transition into a series of deep zone snaps where he wasn’t involved in the play’s result before doing a nice job covering up Kmet man-to-man on fourth-and-1 where Williams connected with Allen deep on a 50/50 ball over Amik Robertson.
On the next play, Melifonwu made his best tackle of the game, shedding the block of Allen on the perimeter to stop a wide receiver screen to Moore after a gain of 1 yard.
That led to a third-and-11 from Detroit’s 16, where Melifonwu, as the deep safety, took over coverage responsibilities on Kmet’s deep crossing route as part of a collective blanketing that complemented a pocket-crushing pass rush and forced Williams to scramble.
Notably, those were Melifonwu’s first red-zone snaps of the game.
Possession 8
10 plays, 45 yards, punt
Even though he never suffered consequences for the misplays, this should be viewed as Melifonwu’s worst series of the contest.
The strangeness started when Melifonwu blitzed and got tripped up by eye candy on an end-around for Moore that the receiver fumbled.
Later in the drive, Melifonwu surrenders inside leverage down the middle on a skinny post pattern for Odunze (15). If pressure from Detroit’s front doesn’t prevent Williams from seeing it, there’s a good chance it’s a touchdown.
Two snaps later, Kmet gets quality separation against Melifonwu’s man coverage, running a crossing pattern from the right slot. But it didn’t end up an issue as Al-Quadin Muhammad quickly broke through the blocking for Detroit’s first sack of the game.
Possession 9
10 plays, 54 yards, downs
After hardly blitzing after two rushes on the game’s first three snaps, Melifonwu got a couple of opportunities to get after the quarterback on Chicago’s final series.
On a first-and-10 snap, rushing from off-the-ball, Melifonwu managed to loop around an effective bull rush from Josh Paschal (93) and trip up Williams for a sack as the QB tried to bail from the pocket.
The Lions tried that same blitz later in the possession, with Mitchell Agude rushing in Paschal’s place, but the ball came out too quickly for Melifonwu to impact the pocket.
Regardless, on the next snap, Melifonwu found an inside lane and hit Williams as he released a pass that was broken up in the end zone by Branch.
Concluding thoughts
Melifonwu saw more playing time than I anticipated. I appreciate the versatility of the role Glenn crafted with pre-snap alignments in the box, in the slot and deep.
His standout contributions came as a communicator and a blitzer, carrying over last season's success in that area. On five rushes, he recorded a sack, a hit, and a pocket-flushing pressure on third down that resulted in an incompletion. You can't do it every play, obviously, still, it's a challenge to imagine the Lions won't look to use his blitz ability more down the stretch.
Melifonwu put a lot of work into being a vocal communicator as he settled into safety ahead of the 2023 season and that showed. You could sense his deep understanding of the scheme with how he confidently navigated bunch formations and pre- and post-snap coverage switches.
The rust both he and coach Campbell mentioned showed up in a couple areas. The tackling was subpar in the first half but improved as the game progressed. And there were a couple slow reactions/missteps in zone coverage that left the Lions exposed deep. That’s understandable after an 11-month layoff.
Overall, Melifonwu provides a huge and needed boost to Detroit’s secondary, allowing the team to do more with Joseph and Branch, both in the back end and rushing the passer.
Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net
X: Justin_Rogers
Bluesky: Justin-Rogers
Justin Rogers
Dec 24
Paywall article.
Detroit Lions defensive back Ifeatu Melifonwu hasn't had much luck since joining the team as a third-round draft pick in 2021.
As a rookie, he suffered a quad injury in his first start, which landed him on the shelf for 10 of the next 11 games. The following season, it was hamstring and ankle issues that sidelined him for seven games. And last year, just as he was slated to enter the starting lineup, he broke his hand in practice, keeping him in a reserve role for a few extra weeks.
When he finally got his shot in 2023, he proved to be an electric playmaker, a true difference-maker down the stretch, even earning the NFC's Player of the Week honors after recording 2.0 sacks and the game-sealing interception in the team’s division-clinching win over Minnesota.
Despite finishing on a heater, Melifonwu’s role was unclear entering this season. The team was committed to moving Brian Branch from nickel to safety, ensuring the dynamic second-year man had an every-down role. Plus, the early slot work went to Emmanuel Mosely, Amik Robertson and rookie Ennis Rakestraw.
The practice reps pointed to Melifonwu reprising a reserve role heading into the 2024 season, at least until another in a long line of injuries took him out of commission. An ankle issue, reportedly tied to agitation with his Achilles, knocked him out the first half of the year. And when he was on the cusp of returning, he suffered a finger injury in practice, reminiscent of last year’s broken hand. That required a second stint on injured reserve, adding a month to his aggravating wait.
In total, Melifonwu missed the first 14 games. If you were starting to wonder if he’d suit up for the Lions this season, or ever again given he’s in the final year of his rookie contract, you weren’t out of bounds.
But there he was Sunday against the Chicago Bears, on the field for the game’s opening snap, despite banking just three practices before the contest. He’d end up playing more than 50 reps in his return to action, necessitated by the loss of cornerback Carlton Davis III to a long-term jaw injury a week earlier.
“We need him,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said about Melifonwu. “We have to have him. There is no other choice, there is no other option, you have to be able to go, so he did. I thought for not having played since training camp, it was solid. It really was. Now, it was rusty, he’s got improvement to make, he knows that, and he will improve.”
After taking a closer look at rookie offensive lineman Christian Mahogany’s first start in our earlier film study, we’ll put a bow on the Bears game by evaluating how defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn chose to deploy Melifonwu on Sunday.
Possession 1
Three plays, 1 yard, punt
Melifonwu was on the field for all three plays of the opening series, aligning as an overhang defender on first down, off the ball but in the box on second-and-10, and at the line of scrimmage in a press-man look over tight end Cole Kmet on third down.
The Bears passed on first and third down with Melifonwu blitzing on both. On the first, Melifonwu was picked up by running back D'Andre Swift as quarterback Caleb Williams got rid of the ball quickly.
But on third down, Melifonwu was highly effective, even though he couldn't finish. Disguising his intent by staring down Kmet until the snap, the defensive back fired into the backfield around right tackle Darnell Wright (58), only for the elusive Williams to step back at the last moment to avoid the sack. The QB was still forced from the pocket, and after avoiding a second tackler, threw the ball away, leading to a punt.
Possession 2
Two plays, 5 yards, fumble
Melifonwu technically started the series on the sideline, but the play was wiped out by a defensive offside penalty.
Lining up off the ball and just outside the box on first-and-5, the Bears ran an end-around with D.J. Moore to Melifonwu’s side. The defender took on the lead block of running back Roschon Johnson (23), and was able to shed it, but showed some rust on a sloppy tackle try, requiring linebackers Jack Campbell and Ben Niemann to clean it up after a short gain.
On second-and-3, Melifonwu aligned in off-coverage over the slot, but slid into the box as an adjustment to late motion. The handoff went to the motion man, rookie receiver Rome Odunze, who couldn’t handle the exchange.
The fumble was quickly recovered by defensive end Josh Paschal. Melifonwu had no impact on the result of the play.
Possession 3
Four plays, 31 yards, fumble
Melifonwu again started a possession off the field, but joined the fray on the second play, filling his run gap as a box defender, helping force Swift to bounce the carry outside where the Bears committed a holding infraction.
Now facing first-and-19, we see Melifonwu drop from the box into a deep zone for the first time, halving the field with Kerby Joseph in Cover-2, which allowed Branch to blitz from the slot.
Then, on third down, Melifonwu played man coverage for the first time in the contest, picking up Kmet’s crosser from the slot. The play’s design called for a throw to the opposite flat to Odunze, who fumbled for a second time on the play.
Possession 4
Four plays, 21 yards, punt
On the bench for the first two snaps as the Bears dug themselves into a first-and-20 hole with another holding penalty, Melifonwu demonstrated an ability to communicate, relaying a late coverage switch to cornerback Terrion Arnold to counter Chicago’s pre-snap motion. That led to Williams turfing the ball on the play.
Melifonwu would have deep, split-field safety responsibilities on second and third downs. On the first, he played a critical role in the defensive stop, dropping 12 yards from an 8-yard, pre-snap depth and combining with Arnold to take away Williams’ first read, a deep out route to Kmet.
Possession 5
14 plays, 70 yards, touchdown
Not only did Melifonwu remain on the sideline for the first two plays of this possession, but he also gave way to three-linebacker packages the final five snaps as the Bears moved into the red zone.
Melifonwu’s first action during the series came on a third-and-8 snap where he was in man coverage on Kmet, who initially stayed in to protect on the pass play. Melifonwu showed good awareness, avoiding Chicago's attempt to use him as a natural pick on Branch, defending a crossing pattern.
For the most part, Melifonwu wasn’t in on most of the plays. He did have a run stop from a box alignment, shedding Odunze’s lead block to drag Swift down after a 7-yard gain up the gut.
I thought Melifonwu's best play during the series was a Cover-2 snap where he dropped from the box to a deep zone, handing off Onduze’s go route to Joseph, then driving to take away Moore (2), who had stemmed his crossing route vertically, before coming up to make the tackle on a screen to Swift.
Possession 6
Three plays, 70 yards, touchdown
Melifonwu was on the field all three snaps during this two-minute drive, with deep zone responsibilities for each. The throw on first down was batted down at the line, while Williams’ subsequent, 25-yard dart to Moore down the middle was to the opposite side of the field.
With a fresh set of downs at Detroit’s 45-yard line, and 46 seconds remaining, Williams went hunting for a big play. It appears the Lions are in Cover-2 man, with Melifonwu lining up deep and responsible for the left half of the field.
Arnold bit hard on Keenan Allen’s double move (at the top of the screen) and Melifonwu got caught flat-footed with his help over-the-top, resulting in the long touchdown.
Possession 7
10 plays, 58 yards, field goal
Melifonwu opened this series with a couple good plays against the run, shutting down the backside lane on one where Swift was dropped for a loss and aggressively filling an inside gap on another to force the carry outside where Swift gained a single yard.
Melifonwu would transition into a series of deep zone snaps where he wasn’t involved in the play’s result before doing a nice job covering up Kmet man-to-man on fourth-and-1 where Williams connected with Allen deep on a 50/50 ball over Amik Robertson.
On the next play, Melifonwu made his best tackle of the game, shedding the block of Allen on the perimeter to stop a wide receiver screen to Moore after a gain of 1 yard.
That led to a third-and-11 from Detroit’s 16, where Melifonwu, as the deep safety, took over coverage responsibilities on Kmet’s deep crossing route as part of a collective blanketing that complemented a pocket-crushing pass rush and forced Williams to scramble.
Notably, those were Melifonwu’s first red-zone snaps of the game.
Possession 8
10 plays, 45 yards, punt
Even though he never suffered consequences for the misplays, this should be viewed as Melifonwu’s worst series of the contest.
The strangeness started when Melifonwu blitzed and got tripped up by eye candy on an end-around for Moore that the receiver fumbled.
Later in the drive, Melifonwu surrenders inside leverage down the middle on a skinny post pattern for Odunze (15). If pressure from Detroit’s front doesn’t prevent Williams from seeing it, there’s a good chance it’s a touchdown.
Two snaps later, Kmet gets quality separation against Melifonwu’s man coverage, running a crossing pattern from the right slot. But it didn’t end up an issue as Al-Quadin Muhammad quickly broke through the blocking for Detroit’s first sack of the game.
Possession 9
10 plays, 54 yards, downs
After hardly blitzing after two rushes on the game’s first three snaps, Melifonwu got a couple of opportunities to get after the quarterback on Chicago’s final series.
On a first-and-10 snap, rushing from off-the-ball, Melifonwu managed to loop around an effective bull rush from Josh Paschal (93) and trip up Williams for a sack as the QB tried to bail from the pocket.
The Lions tried that same blitz later in the possession, with Mitchell Agude rushing in Paschal’s place, but the ball came out too quickly for Melifonwu to impact the pocket.
Regardless, on the next snap, Melifonwu found an inside lane and hit Williams as he released a pass that was broken up in the end zone by Branch.
Concluding thoughts
Melifonwu saw more playing time than I anticipated. I appreciate the versatility of the role Glenn crafted with pre-snap alignments in the box, in the slot and deep.
His standout contributions came as a communicator and a blitzer, carrying over last season's success in that area. On five rushes, he recorded a sack, a hit, and a pocket-flushing pressure on third down that resulted in an incompletion. You can't do it every play, obviously, still, it's a challenge to imagine the Lions won't look to use his blitz ability more down the stretch.
Melifonwu put a lot of work into being a vocal communicator as he settled into safety ahead of the 2023 season and that showed. You could sense his deep understanding of the scheme with how he confidently navigated bunch formations and pre- and post-snap coverage switches.
The rust both he and coach Campbell mentioned showed up in a couple areas. The tackling was subpar in the first half but improved as the game progressed. And there were a couple slow reactions/missteps in zone coverage that left the Lions exposed deep. That’s understandable after an 11-month layoff.
Overall, Melifonwu provides a huge and needed boost to Detroit’s secondary, allowing the team to do more with Joseph and Branch, both in the back end and rushing the passer.
Email: jrogers@detroitfootball.net
X: Justin_Rogers
Bluesky: Justin-Rogers
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