Saturday saw the preseason finale for the Detroit Lions take place at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts. The Lions would come away with the victory, 25-16, but the final score from an exhibition isn’t the main takeaway from this one. With so much at stake for the player’s competing for a spot on the team’s 53-man roster, this was the last chance for those on the roster bubble to make an impression.
Jacob Saylors leaves no doubt about his spot on the final roster
After being one of the most productive running backs this preseason, Saylors has firmly
stamped his spot on the 53-man roster. He had 14 touches across the 38 plays the Lions ran on offense in the first half—and two additional targets—which means he was the guy Detroit went to on nearly half of their plays to start the game. His 12 carries in the first half went for 67 yards, and his two catches resulted in 12 yards, but had Joshua Dobbs put a little more touch on a pass near the goal line, Saylors could have added a touchdown on his day.
“Saylors is making a lot of runs,” Dan Campbell said during his halftime talk with Patti Cesarini. “All those guys have had some runs, but Saylors is taking advantage of that and he’s finding those creases.”
Jabari Small suffered an injury on a kick return in the first quarter that required him to leave the game after spending time in the blue medical tent, so Saylors’ workday continued into the second half. Saylors’ strong play carried over into the second half where he continued to take advantage of the Colts’ depth defenders and the Lions push up front, finishing the game with 17 carries for 100 yards.
If the Lions are as shorthanded with injuries at the running back position as they are right now, Saylors could very well be in line to be a part of the offense in Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints.
Luke Altmyer, Josh Dobbs make their final QB2 cases
For the second game in a row, the first drive for the Lions offense resulted in another turnover. Luke Altmyer’s interception looked very similar to Dobbs’ mistake the previous week: rolling out to their right and throwing the ball back across the middle. The replay revealed that Lucky Jackson, who was blocking Sauce Gardner downfield and must have thought it was a run play, put him directly in the way of Thomas Gordon’s route—the intended receiver. To Altmyer’s credit, the UDFA bounced back on the very next series. He made some good throws, a balance of quick, decisive strikes to Greg Dortch and Tay Martin, as well as a pass to Lucky Jackson on third-and-9 for 19 yards that demonstrated Altmyer’s patience and feel. Leading a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Trayveon Williams.
The first play for the other quarterback vying for the backup job was nearly as disastrous when Mason Miller and Dobbs failed to cleanly exchange the ball under center. But much like Altmyer, Dobbs shook off the early misstep and outside of one missed throw to Saylors, the veteran arguably played even better than the UDFA. Dobbs was nearly perfect in the first half, completing 12 of 14 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Altmyer’s second half resulted in another turnover when he held onto the ball too long, a problem that often plagues rookie quarterbacks. Campbell had made mention of wanting to see Altmyer make his way through progressions more confidently and concisely, and that will undoubtedly be a part of the young quarterback’s development, but have the Lions seen enough from Altmyer this summer to see his development through?
Lucky Jackson shines as the WR5/6 battle comes down to the wire
Lucky Jackson’s early gaffe that contributed to the Lions’ first turnover wasn’t going to define the receiver’s afternoon. Jackson immediately bounced back on the next drive, creating an explosive play for the Lions offense on third-and-9. Then, on Detroit’s final drive of the half, hauled in a one-handed catch for 35 yards, putting the Lions offense on the Colts’ 2-yard line.
Jackson was the leading receiver on the day, catching all five of his targets for 94 yards. Martin caught four passes for just 16 yards, but was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass from Dobbs, set up by that highlight-reel grab from Jackson. Dortch caught a couple of passes for 22 yards and nearly broke a punt return for a touchdown, and he’s set to be the team’s WR4. After Saturday’s game, it’s going to be a tough decision for Detroit when it comes to the WR5/6 spots.
Skyler Gill-Howard puts exclamation point on impressive preseason
If you haven’t heard about Skyler Gill-Howard yet, you must not be watching the games either because all he’s done this preseason is make one splashy play after another. Gill-Howard put the finishing touches on a very impressive summer by recording his first sack of the preseason, bringing down Anthony Richardson on third-and-5 to force a punt and end the Colts’ third drive of the afternoon.
In addition to Gill-Howard, some other young players along Detroit’s defensive line made an impact on Saturday, including Eric O’Neill and Ahmed Hassanein. Both players recorded multiple pressures and each notched a quarterback hit on the day. Detroit’s depth along the defensive line will force the team to have some tough conversations before cutdowns tomorrow, but hopefully there’s an opportunity to keep some of these players developing with the team’s practice squad.
Ennis Rakestraw caps roller-coaster preseason with a big play
No Lions player has experienced the highs and lows of the summer quite like cornerback Ennis Rakestraw. After the way things ended in Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, you would have wondered if Rakestraw was going to be healthy enough to compete for a spot on the final roster. But after stringing together some strong play in practice, and a better performance against the Washington Commanders in Week 2, Rakestraw had this final game to make his case.
It wasn’t all perfect for Rakestraw against the Colts on Saturday. He got picked on a couple of times during the Colts’ fourth drive on offense, allowing a 25-yard completion on fourth-and-6 and a 14-yard completion on the very next play to set up the only touchdown for Indianapolis on the day. But after Trayveon Williams fumbled the ensuing kick return, Rakestraw jumped a route on third-and-10 and picked off a pass from Riley Leonard to keep the Colts off the board and flip the field back in Detroit’s favor.
With all of the uncertainty in Detroit’s secondary due to injury—Nick Whiteside almost exclusively played safety Saturday—things have certainly turned in Rakestraw’s favor since the start of training camp.
