With the Detroit Lions moving on from wide receiver Kalif Raymond, there’s a shift in the wide receiver room. The Lions drafted wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the intention of moving up the depth chart and becoming the third option in an offense that has weapons all over. He wowed with his touchdown catches in 2025, but the time to prove himself is in 2026.
Lions General Manager Brad Holmes moved up in the draft to take TeSlaa as a future investment, and the time
for him to prove his worth is in 2026. How will he look with the move up the depth chart and the spotlight shining a little more on him? Let’s take a look at what Isaac TeSlaa’s 2026 could look like.
Previous season previews: RB Jahmyr Gibbs, RB Sione Vaki, OT Penei Sewell, WR Jameson Williams, EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, DL Levi Onwuzurike, CB D.J. Reed, and S Brian Branch
Isaac TeSlaa
Expectations heading into 2025
With the Lions moving up in the draft to take TeSlaa, expectations were a little higher than most third-round picks. Detroit already had three established receivers in Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Kalif Raymond, but could TeSlaa take over that third spot?
At most, he was seen as a possible upgrade over Raymond as another big target for quarterback Jared Goff and a red-zone threat for the Lions. If he moved up, Raymond could focus on being another slot option and special-teams weapon that he was at punt returner. If he couldn’t, well, it could be the fourth option and get a year under his belt to learn the game at the next level and aim to improve in 2026.
Actual role in 2025
17 games (3 starts)
Stats: 16 catches for 239 yards and six touchdowns
Isaac TeSlaa didn’t meet the minimum requirement of 40 targets.
PFF offensive grade: 63.1
PFF passing grade: 63.3
PFF pass blocking grade: 65.7
PFF run blocking grade: 52.3
TeSlaa didn’t have that much of an impact in 2025. He played in every game, but only got three starts and didn’t receive as much attention as people expected from Goff. What he became known for was coming up with ridiculous catches on the field. It started in the season opener as TeSlaa snagged a one-handed catch for a touchdown to try and give the Lions some life before they lost to the Green Bay Packers.
As the season progressed, TeSlaa wouldn’t get much playing time, but he kept finding the end zone, coming up big when the team needed a score. He would wow folks with his great hands, never dropping a pass that went his way. He did the most he could with the time he was given on the field and gave the Lions another head on the beast that was their offense.
After injuries to several tight ends, however, TeSlaa’s role starting to increase drastically. After averaging just 14.4 snaps per game over the first 10 games, he played in 44.0 snaps per game in the final six weeks.
Outlook for 2026
The time for TeSlaa to take over is now in 2026. With the team moving on from Raymond, the Lions have signed two veteran wide receivers in Greg Dortch and Cedrick Wilson Jr, and drafted wide receiver Kendrick Law in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. While Law and Dortch were brought in mostly for special teams, Wilson is the only competition that TeSlaa has to worry about possibly taking his third spot this season. (Law’s season is also now over due to a torn ACL in OTAs.)
I don’t believe TeSlaa will lose that spot, which means more playing time and opportunities for him to shine in 2026. He will be asked to do more and take his game to the next level. Lions head coach Dan Campbell discussed how impressive and consistent TeSlaa is on the field.
“He is just steady, he’s steady, he is consistent for a young guy, he doesn’t get frazzled,” Campbell said. “I mean this as a compliment, what he’s done out here in the spring, Phase II, OTAs and all of that, it is just been very – there’s been nothing like flashy about it and that is a good thing.
“I mean he is just consistent and where we expected him to be at this point this time for Year 2 is exactly where we want him and I would say probably even a little bit more, you are impressed, he feels like a veteran right now.”
Getting called a veteran by your head coach in year two is a good sign for TeSlaa’s progression. Campbell even acknowledged that he could’ve gotten even more playing time and chances back in 2025.
“I almost wish we could have gotten TeSlaa some more touches than he did get (last year),” said Campbell. “But, it wasn’t because of him, his growth took off, and he did, he got a little bit better every week, he became a guy – would tell you by the end of the year we had a lot of trust in.”
With the coaching staff supporting him, seeing his growth over 2025, and now noticing him improve even further in 2026, TeSlaa has a strong chance to be an impactful player for this offense. I don’t think he will upend Williams or St. Brown as one of the top two options in the receiver room, but if he can get over 500 yards and shave a slight increase in touchdowns, it’ll put him on the map as an underrated receiver.
