The Detroit Lions aren’t even a full week into 2026 training camp, but we’ve already seen some surprises when it comes to the roster. The depth chart may not be exactly what we expected, and injuries have forced some roster reshuffling.
For Week 2 of our Roster Bubble series, it’s not surprising that there have been some significant shifts—although most are on defense. Today, let’s re-examine the players on the roster bubble on offense.
Quarterback:
- Assumed in: Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater
- Luke Altmyer: 0 “IN” vote (down 1)
I don’t think there’s anything in particular that has caused the one
vote drop in Altmyer. Based on my personal observations, Altmyer has displayed a strong arm and decent accuracy. However, his progression and defense reading is taking time… like most rookies. That’s enough for him to keep the QB3 a conversation, but I think his camp will make or break with the preseason games.
Running back:
- Assumed in: Jahmyr Gibbs, Isiah Pacheco, Sione Vaki
- Jacob Saylors: 9 “IN” votes (no change)
No change for Saylors here, as he still needs to convince a couple of staffers that he’s worth keeping an RB4. Obviously, this outlook could change after Sione Vaki suffered an injury on Monday morning, but hopefully the poking of the eye isn’t too serious.
Wide receiver:
- Assumed in: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Isaac TeSlaa, Greg Dortch
- Cedrick Wilson Jr.: 10 “IN” votes (up 2)
- Dominic Lovett: 2 votes (down 6)
- Tom Kennedy: 0 vote (down 1)
Cedrick Wilson’s stock is reasonably up after a strong start to camp and some praise from Dan Campbell.
“He just gets it. There’s nothing better than freaking vets, man, true pros that get it. They know how to go about their business, man. They come in here, they compete. They’re not entitled, they just go work, man and that’s what he does. And by the way, his special teams reps are pretty good, too. I mean, for a receiver, he can do some stuff and his tape says that too.”
Wilson’s gain is Lovett’s pain. The second-year receiver had a sluggish start to camp, but he’s admittedly stacked a few good days here recently.
Tight end:
- Assumed in: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright
- OFF BUBBLE WATCH: Zach Horton (cut)
- NEW TO BUBBLE WATCH: Anthony Firkser (0 votes)
- Tyler Conklin: 11 “IN” votes (no change)
- Miles Kitselman: 2 votes (up 1)
NOTE: SOME VOTES WERE MADE BEFORE NEWS THAT MILES KITSELMAN WILL BE OUT FOR “A WHILE.”
Despite not playing yet due to injury, Conklin remains the unanimous pick for the TE3 spot. And with Conklin looking like he’s nearing a return that makes sense.
Unfortunately for Detroit, the main competition keeps getting injured. Kitselman was getting a lot of early reps with the first and second team, but he’s now expected to miss serious time. Anthony Firkser came in and immediately put together two strong practices with some first-team reps sprinkled in, and now he suffered an injury on Monday that caused him to get carted off.
It will be interesting to see if Jackson Meeks starts to get some early reps now and if he can rise to the occasion.
Offensive tackle:
- Assumed in: Penei Sewell, Blake Miller, Larry Borom
- OFF BUBBLE WATCH: Giovanni Manu (injured)
- Colby Sorsdal: 0 votes
- Devin Cochran: 0 votes
With Manu out an estimated three months, the tackle room just isn’t very interesting right now. Sorsdal and Cochran seem a far way from making a case for the 53-man roster. Plus, with Miles Frazier now taking a significant amount of reps at tackle, he could very well be the team’s OT4 going into the regular season without taking up an additional roster spot.
Interior offensive line:
- Assumed in: Tate Ratledge, Cade Mays, Christian Mahogany, Miles Frazier
- Ben Bartch: 11 votes (no change)
- Juice Scruggs: 10 votes (down 1)
- Seth McLaughlin: 0 votes
- Michael Niese: 0 votes
Bartch still has yet to see the field in any team drills, and his health appears to be heading in the wrong direction with two straight absences from practice. Nevertheless, the staff still has him in based on his strong reputation with Campbell. Additionally, there haven’t been a ton of standouts among the depth—although Scruggs still continues to get the majority of first-team reps with Christian Mahogany still being eased back in.
