Detroit Lions receiver Isaac TeSlaa is entering Year 2 of his young NFL career, but it doesn’t look that way based on how he’s performed in the team’s early spring program. Unlike last year, TeSlaa entered OTAs as a presumed starter. He’s taking all of his reps with the first teams, catching balls exclusively from Jared Goff during individual drills, and, most importantly, he’s regularly making plays during team drills.
While TeSlaa is still making the occasional highlight-reel catches that defined
his rookie season, Lions coach Dan Campbell has been most impressed with the day-to-day consistency that he’s bringing to practice.
“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 is in the spring, Phase II, OTAs and all of that, it has just been very—there’s been nothing like flashy about and that is a good thing.”
There was a clear moment from Tuesday’s practice that highlighted TeSlaa’s progress. Lined up against young cornerback Ennis Rakestraw, TeSlaa ran a pretty ordinary deep post. And while there was nothing extravagant about his route, his break created several yards of separation for an easy catch and a big gain.
Unsurprisingly, Lions wide receiver coach Scottie Montgomery pointed exactly to the attention to detail in his route running as a big point of improvement for TeSlaa this year. But that was just the tip of the iceberg for his development. Montgomery pointed to several areas in which TeSlaa is “not even close” to the same player he was at this time last year.
“Short-area quickness was something that we wanted to improve and that gives him the ability in those one-on-one situations and not just win with length, but to win with quickness and length,” Montgomery said. “That gives of course JG just an even bigger window to throw the football. He’s done a good job of going and getting the football since he’s been here and then now at the top of his breaks, they’re so much cleaner.
“He’s so much stronger. Last year, what I like to do is I like to watch where we were, especially from an athleticism standpoint to where he is now. It’s not even close. He had some knee soreness last year. This year he came in, was able to work on the things before and not after. So we look forward to him really, really growing.”
Combined with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, the Lions now appear to have a three-headed monster at receiver, and Detroit is just scratching the surface of the ways they can utilize all three players at once and lean into each’s strength. That likely means much more on TeSlaa’s plate, after a rookie season that saw just 16 catches for 239 and six touchdowns. But that increase would be warranted, because he’s already ahead of schedule.
“I mean he is just consistent and where we expected him to be at this point this time for year two is exactly where we want him and I would say probably even a little bit more,” Campbell said. “You are impressed, He feels like a veteran right now.”
