When it comes to the play on the field, spring practice doesn’t provide much opportunity for true evaluation. The majority of each practice involves a lengthy walkthrough session, and a lot of the team drills are meant to put players in different positions and try out new looks and formations.
So after OTAs and minicamp, it’s hard to really tell which players are improving or getting worse.
That said, OTAs and minicamp weren’t just about the play on the field. For the media, we also got to talk to Dan
Campbell several times, every single coordinator, and every position coach. Those subsequent comments and insights were honestly more valuable in getting a sense of where some players currently stand a month away from training camp.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Lions position battle will be the most interesting in training camp?
My answer: The easy answer is left guard. As of right now, it seems like it’s Christian Mahogany’s job to lose, as he took the most reps there in spring practice. But Campbell said it’s an open competition, and when Ben Bartch returns from injury, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get some work there.
However, after spring practices, I actually think safety may be the more interesting competition to witness. Obviously, we’re all still on Kerby Joseph watch, but even beyond that, Detroit has a stacked set of reserves.
Before OTAs began, I figured Avonte Maddox and Thomas Harper may have the leg up, since they were with the team last year and played well enough. However, starting for nearly all of the spring were Chuck Clark and Christian Izien. Now, Lions safeties coach Jim O’Neil clarified this week that was intentional to get both players up to speed on the defense, but the way coaches have talked about Clark has me reconsidering. His veteran, calming presence could be exactly what the team needs to avoid giving up the big plays.
Izien brings some youth and potential development to the position to compete with the same positives about Harper. Even the guys not expected to win a starting job—Dan Jackson and Loren Strickland—will have strong cases to make the 53-man roster due to their special teams abilities.
In short, I think that safety room is going to be extremely interesting to follow throughout training camp.
Which positions are you most interested in? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
