On Monday, we examined the Detroit Lions’ roster bubble on offense
. With so much talent on that side of the ball, we only found 15 players we believed were entering training camp on the bubble, and we were probably a little generous with some roster long-shots.The outlook on defense is much more up for grabs. With a lot of roster turnover from last year—plus a lot of rotational roles available—we have the Lions starting training camp with 20 players on the roster bubble.
So before camp officially
kicks off on Wednesday, the Pride of Detroit staff made their predictions for all 20 players. Below is a chart of all of our picks. A discussion on each position follows underneath that.
Defensive end:
- Assumed in: Aidan Hutchinson, DJ Wonnum, Derrick Moore
- Payton Turner: 6 “IN” votes
- Ahmed Hassanein: 3 votes
- Anthony Lucas: 0 votes
As is typically the case, we’re giving the slight edge to the veteran player over the young, developmental option. Payton Turner is a former first-round pick who just hasn’t been able to stay healthy, earning himself a reputation much like Marcus Davenport. He didn’t play at all last year with a rib injury, so expectations should be relatively low, but the potential is high.
Hassanein also didn’t play last year. That was the combination of a pectoral injury and the rest of the season spent on the practice squad. He’s already endeared himself to Lions fans with his infectious attitude and relentless drive, but he’s still very new to the game, and now he’ll have to endure a role change from the rush edge position to the big end position. That’s a tough ask for a young player, so he’ll face an uphill battle this camp.
Defensive tackle:
- Assumed in: Alim McNeill, Tyleik Williams, Levi Onwuzurike
- Tyler Lacy: 11 “IN” votes
- Skyle Gill-Howard: 9 votes
- Jay Tufele: 6 votes
- Mekhi Wingo: 3 votes
- Chris Smith: 1 vote
- Tyre West: 0 votes
- Aidan Keanaaina: 0 votes
This is a tough group to judge, because there are so many different roles within the defensive line. Tyler Lacy (11 votes) and Tyre West (0) may be fighting for the same big end role (with Hassanein). Jay Tufele (9 votes) and Aidan Keanaaina (0) are likely battling for a reserve nose tackle. Skyler Gill-Howard (9 votes) and Mekhi Wingo (3) are both pass-rushing three-techs.
But there’s no guarantee the Lions keep one of each of those reserve positions on the 53-man roster. That makes for some messy predictions, but it’s interesting to see that Lacy is the only unanimous in. I suppose that’s because he stuck around after playing 10 games with the team last year.
Linebacker:
- Assumed in: Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Jimmy Rolder
- Trevor Nowaske: 9 “IN” votes
- Damone Clark: 8 votes
- Erick Hunter: 1 vote
NOTE: These votes were made before the Lions signed veteran linebacker Troy Reeder on Monday.
One of the bigger challenges of predicting the linebacker room is projecting the amount they’ll keep. They’ve previously liked rostering at least six linebackers, but with more nickel formations in this defense’s future, it’s possible they only keep five. The top four seem fairly settled, but there’s a pretty fierce competition brewing for that fifth spot. Nowaske brings some SAM reserve skills. Damone Clark is well experienced both on defense and special teams. And newly signed Troy Reeder is a former special teams captain with a long history of beating the odds.
Cornerback:
- Assumed in: DJ Reed, Rock Ya-Sin, Ennis Rakestraw, Roger McCreary, Keith Abney
- Khalil Dorsey: 10 “IN” votes
- Nick Whiteside: 1 vote
Unless the Lions end up adding a cornerback—which many, myself included, think they should following Terrion Arnold’s waiving—this room is oddly straightforward. It seems quite likely the Lions will have two starters out of Reed, Ya-Sin, and Rakestraw, while McCreary and Abney will fight for the nickel role—although both players have the flexibility to provide depth on the outside.
From there, it’s a matter of what you want in a CB6. Dorsey is the heavy favorite given his value as a special teamer. However, Whiteside has shown brief flashes of solid cornerback play, and Detroit may want to see his development through.
Safety
- Assumed in: Kerby Joseph, Christian Izien
- Assumed out: Brian Branch (PUP)
- Avonte Maddox: 11 “IN” votes
- Thomas Harper: 11 votes
- Chuck Clark: 11 votes
- Dan Jackson: 0 votes
- Loren Strickland: 0 votes
As of right now, POD is unanimous in how they believe the safety room will play out. But that is assuming that Kerby Joseph will eventually come off the PUP list and be ready for the regular season. As of now, that’s a pretty big assumption to make, but we’ll hopefully get some clarity later this week.
The rest of the room is filled with a nice mix of youth (Izien, Harper) and veterans (Maddox, Clark). And Detroit may have enough special teams experience out of Izien (440 snaps) and Harper (312) to make it very hard for Jackson or Strickland to work their way out of the basement.
