Lions minicamp notebook for June 5: Hooker, Jamo, Manu and more

Last week’s OTA session was my first extended look at Hooker at the helm of the Lions offense. That was a baseline to work off for watching him today. And unfortunately, the line went down for the second-year QB a little today.

Accuracy remains scattershot. For every needle he threads, and Hooker definitely had some great throws, he has some passes that are simply off-target–occasionally way off target. The same drill from last week where he had to quickly pivot after getting the snap and throw the ball into a net was again a struggle. In five throws, he missed the entire target net twice and had another that grazed the bottom.

The inconsistency carried into drills. He was behind Antoine Green on one rep, far too low for Tom Kennedy on another. Again, these are interspersed between precise rifle shots. It’s frustrating for those of us watching, for Hooker himself and for OC Ben Johnson.

Hooker earned an excoriation from Johnson in a beat-the-block drill where he held the ball too long and then threw a short pass over the middle, a definite no-no to Johnson. There were a few times when Hooker simply held the ball too long. Yet when he gets the ball out with confidence, it’s easy to see why the Lions loved him as a prospect and keep talking up his progress.

Jameson Williams continues to have an up-and-down performance. As was the case in last week’s OTA session that was open to the media, Jamo made a couple of outstanding catches and showed real progress in developing as an all-around receiver.

One particular play in team drills stood out for No. 9. He accelerated behind the defense down the right sideline and did a great job tracking a Jared Goff throw over his inside shoulder. The throw hung up a bit, but Williams nicely adjusted to both the ball and the closing defensive back and hauled it in with two hands for a long TD strike. The ball tracking and in-flight adjustment are definite positive developments with his game that weren’t present other than occasionally in the past. He’s doing this much better, much more frequently in the practices that have been open to the media this spring.

There were also some drops that stood out. The Lions run a drill where a bevy of assistants throw objects (towels, gloves) at the receivers at the catch point in order to distract them from securing the catch. Williams had two reps in a row bounce off his hands, though one of the throws from Goff was a little lower than expected. For context, the only other wide receiver to drop a pass in the drill (min. 3 reps each) was UDFA Jalon Calhoun. Williams took an extra two reps after everyone else had completed the drill and successfully hauled them in.

Later in drills, a Goff fastball ricocheted off Williams’ shoulder pads a good five yards on a comeback route. But Jamo offset that with an excellent sliding catch in the hurry-up drill, getting both hands under the ball just above the grass. He also made a good catch over his head on a deep out route that beat CB Carlton Davis earlier in that drill, making sure he got both feet down. The footwork on the route and adjustment to the high throw were exactly what offensive coordinator Ben Johnson wanted to see, and Johnson made sure the media within earshot heard his praise, too.

During the team drills when he was in the action, my focus shifted squarely to Giovanni Manu. The team’s fourth-round rookie offensive lineman is a definite curiosity as a developmental project.

A day after his head coach indicated he was “swimming” in minicamp, Manu was definitely flailing in some very deep water. Playing left tackle with the third-team offense, Manu really struggled. He lost in a variety of assignments and to a cadre of different depth defenders.

When Campbell talked about building up Manu’s technique and football knowledge from scratch, he wasn’t kidding. Even on a play-to-play basis, Manu’s hands and feet are incredibly inconsistent. He missed too high with his hands and got beat on a basic dip move from UDFA EDGE Nate Lynn. His feet got too close together as he tried to ride UDFA EDGE Isaas Ukwu around the outside and gave up the inside tack to the QB. He was late to get his hands out in a run blocking assignment on a play that went the other direction, barely touching the backside LB.

There were a couple of wins. On a stretch run to his side, Manu showed great athleticism in getting out in front and getting a shoulder into UDFA CB Morice Norris. No. 59 also showed some recovery athleticism in getting a solid shove on a defender after initially getting beaten to his inside shoulder, giving QB Hendon Hooker a lane to step into. Baby strokes in the swim to get in the flow of being an NFL offensive lineman.

Cornerback Khalil Dorsey continues to make plays on defense. For the second day in a row, Dorsey seized a pick-six off the offense on almost exactly the same route. He also smartly sniffed out and crashed a B-gap run during team drills in conjunction with LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Unfortunately for Dorsey, he left practice early with a leg injury.

First-year WR Kaden Davis made the best catch of the day, a one-handed stab on the dead run during drills on a perfect throw from Hooker on the right sideline. Davis didn’t even break stride and kept both feet inbounds on the speedy tightrope.

Defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike isn’t exactly a secret as he enters his fourth season, but No. 91 had himself a very good practice right after head coach Dan Campbell effusively praised him before the session. Onwuzurike destroyed a Hooker bootleg to the right, which would have resulted in a huge loss (John Cominsky also wasn’t fooled and was right there too). Onwuzurike had pass rush wins aligned at RDE and LDT–though remember, it’s not padded practice yet.

A few players were in attendance but not practicing:

RB Jahmyr Gibbs

DB Brian Branch

S Kerby Joseph

DT DJ Reader

EDGE Marcus Davenport

Not spotted (doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not present)

OT Taylor Decker

OG Kevin Zeitler

CB Emmanuel Moseley

–Even with no pads and their roles firmly established, the rep battles between Aidan Hutchinson and Penei Sewell are definitely charged up. Hutchinson scored a win with a sweet ghost-leg move and Sewell was very angry with himself for losing the rep. Iron sharpening iron.

–Kicking competition: Michael Badgley hit 4-of-5 field goal attempts in a drill, missing wide left from 55 yards. He made from 54 and 56 with no doubt. James Turner did not miss any of his attempts from the exact same spots, and his 52-yarder landed some 20 yards beyond the goalposts.

–In a hurry-up offensive drill, Jared Goff’s first six passes were all thrown to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Carlton Davis broke one up and probably could have had an INT had he turned his head a half-count earlier. The rest was money in the bank for the offense.

–Mitchell Agude continues to get reps with the second-team defense at EDGE, often alternating the spot with James Houston. No. 50 is powerfully built and has consistently shown he can win inside and outside as a pass rusher. He’s not even mentioned in most 53-man roster projections, but Agude has impressed all offseason.

–Speaking of charged up, a minor fracas broke out between Dan Skipper and Derrick Barnes after a rep. Skipper continues to be the epicenter of intensity as if he’s embracing the role of being the offense’s enforcer. He wears it well.

–As we walked back from the practice field to the media room, a few of us in the media were treated to the sight of a large bald eagle carrying what appeared to be a rabbit over the trees at the edge of the parking lot. Insert your interpretation or symbolism here…