On Thursday, Detroit Lions training camp will come to a close.
It’s been a busy month, with players shooting up and down the depth chart, injuries forcing the Lions’ hands, and some late additions who have made strong cases for the 53-man roster. Yet, despite the furious amount of information coming Detroit’s way, their front office will have just 72 hours following their final training camp practice to decide which players will make the 53-man roster and who will be on the outside.
“This is difficult,”
coach Dan Campbell said on Wednesday. “So, you have got to have a pretty good idea where you’re at before you go into that (preseason) game, knowing there’s a few spots left. But you better have a pretty good idea because it’s a quick turnaround.”
Despite there being one more practice left, let’s look at the entirety of training camp, and decide…
Who has been the biggest surprise of Detroit Lions training camp?
My answer: I’m going to list my top three.
WR Tay Martin
Martin is now the leading candidate for the Lions’ WR5 job. Now, he’s been aided by some unfortunate injuries (Kendrick Law, Cedrick Wilson), but he also deserves a ton of credit. The player who our staff ranked literally 90th out of 90 players (I had him 88th), we clearly underestimated Martin’s productivity in the UFL this year (42 catches, 483 yards) and his skillset on special teams.
EDGE Ahmed Hassanein
Hassanein has always been a great story and an intriguing player, but realistic expectations for him in 2026—after missing most of his rookie season with an injury—was a fringe roster bubble player who would mostly play on special teams this season. Instead, he’s been fantastic for nearly all of training camp, and has worked his way into roster-lock territory. He’s now expected to play some sort of defensive role on gamedays, and he’s just scratching the surface while he continues to -learns the nuances of the big end position.
QB Luke Altmyer
I had very little expectations for an undrafted rookie quarterback. Not because of anything Altmyer did in college, but because the Lions have almost always preferred their backup to be a veteran. Even before Teddy Bridgewater’s sudden retirement, Altmyer was looking like he could push for the job with steady play, decent accuracy, and a good enough arm. Now with Bridgewater’s retirement and a slow start from Josh Dobbs, we’re near a very real reality where Altmyer could be Jared Goff’s backup on Day 1.
What have been your biggest surprises of Detroit Lions training camp thus far? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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