The Detroit Lions have tough decisions on the defensive line and secondary, where Chase Lucas, Steven Gilmore and Khalil Dorsey all had big games.
The Detroit Lions have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to pare their 90-man roster to 53 players, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said he won’t need all that time to make most of the moves.
“I don’t see this being one big cut,” Campbell said after the Lions’ preseason finale Friday against the Carolina Panthers. “I think we’re going to need to kind of disperse it a little bit, but I think (Saturday) we’re going to have a real good feel of where we’re at, at least 99% of the roster.”
It’s that final 1% that Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes will spend the next few days wringing their hands over. Do they need 10 or 11 defensive backs? Is there a move to be made on the defense line? And how should they set their receiving corps?
With training camp over and the regular season opener 11 days away, here’s my last best guess at how the Lions set their initial 53-man roster.
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On the roster: Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater, Nate Sudfeld, Hendon Hooker, Adrian Martinez.
Any thought of keeping three quarterbacks likely went out the window Friday, when Sudfeld hyperextended his knee. The Lions have too good a roster to keep an injured third QB around, especially with Hooker due back at some point this fall. I don’t know how serious Sudfeld’s injury is so I can’t say what route the Lions will take with him, but it’s probably best they keep their options open and negotiate an injury settlement in case they need him back down the road. Martinez can function as the scout-team quarterback to start the year.
In: Goff, Bridgewater.
NFI: Hooker.
On the roster: David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jermar Jefferson, Craig Reynolds, Benny Snell, Devine Ozigbo, Jason Cabinda.
I have the Lions keeping three running backs plus fullback Jason Cabinda, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they kept five in the room. Both Ozigbo and Snell have special teams value, and I thought both did a good job in pass protection Friday. Reynolds is the best runner of the group behind Montgomery and Gibbs, though, and likely sewed up a spot with his play against the Panthers.
In: Montgomery, Gibbs, Reynolds, Cabinda (FB).
On the roster: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond, Josh Reynolds, Marvin Jones, Jameson Williams, Antoine Green, Maurice Alexander, Trinity Benson, Chase Cota, Dylan Drummond, Avery Davis, Jason Moore.
Both Green and Drummond made strong cases for roster spots Friday, and I’m willing to bet Campbell and Holmes are weighing Drummond’s steady play this summer against the upside they saw in Green as a seventh-round pick in April’s draft. If the Lions keep six receivers, I think both make the team over Cota. If they go with five, Drummond has been more consistent and contributes more on special teams. I don’t think Holmes fears cutting a rookie draft pick; he did it last year with edge rusher James Houston.
