As I get ready to head to Detroit Lions training camp this coming week, it’s a good time for a little reflection. This will be my 11th season as credentialed media for the Lions and my 16th overall NFL training camp I’ve covered heading into my 22nd season reporting on and analyzing the league.
Those years have taught me a few things about training camps. There are some universal truths that come around every summer for every team, but especially the Detroit Lions. This year in Allen Park figures to be no exception, even if the names change and the expectations for the Lions do, too.
Keep these concepts and gleanings from summer’s past in mind over the next few weeks as the Lions report for camp and progress through the preseason and the August 27th roster cutdown deadline. They’ll shape some of the coverage here and elsewhere, too.
NFI and PUP lists
Some players are destined to begin training camp on the NFI or PUP lists. Emmanuel Moseley is a good example of someone who wasn’t ready to roll last summer after having ACL surgery the previous October. Moseley is in the same boat again. Newcomer D.J. Reader sure seems destined for that fate to start his Lions career as he comes back from a torn quadriceps that ended his Bengals tenure.
These are not “breaking news!” or stunning revelations. The Lions knew them going in. They’re expected developments. Many stays on the PUP list don’t last more than a day or two, and it could be something as simple as an MRI that needs a second opinion. There is some shock value in seeing the names, but as long as the injuries aren’t new, there isn’t much to worry about.
Position battles look to be about numbers, not players
Detroit Lions wide receiver Antoine Green makes a catch during joint practice with New York Giants at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, August 8, 2023.
The starting 22 on offense and defense are basically set in stone, with some informational variations that might swap in a third linebacker for a defensive back or an extra tight end for a wideout. That’s a good thing. It’s one of the reasons why these Lions are expected to compete for an NFC title.
The roster battles and bubble watch all concern the depth at several positions, though we already have a pretty good idea of who might win those battles too. The real drama is about the quantity of players the Lions keep at some positions in the final 53-man tally.
Do they keep nine or 10 offensive linemen?
How many wide receivers versus tight ends versus running backs?
What does the positional versatility at EDGE allow them to do with the LB and DL rooms?
Those are the roster bubble questions I have entering camp, and I don’t think Dan Campbell or the Lions themselves have a concrete idea on those answers yet either. That’s why they go through camp!
The camp darling will emerge
It happens every year with every team. Some heretofore unheralded player seizes the summer with a strong training camp and preseason performance, one that makes them a household name in the fan base for a few weeks.
And then they don’t make the team. Or sit on the weekly inactive list before fading to the practice squad and then a different team’s training camp the next summer to try and restart the cycle.
Last year it was Dylan Drummond and Starling Thomas. The year before, Kalil Pimpleton. Tom Kennedy has been one for a few camps now — and could be once again. Andrew Peacock, Jermelle Cudjo, Casey Pierce, the list goes on.
They’re great stories, part of what makes training camp and preseason so worthwhile and entertaining. They’re also extremely unlikely to rocket up the depth chart of a team like these Lions, one competing for a Super Bowl. Remember that when Mitchell Agude finishes the preseason with 5.5 sacks and gets glowing reviews all July and August (as he’s done all spring too). It would be exceptional if he became the exception, but don’t expect it.
Even stars have bad days
Dec 30, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) sits on the bench after the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Players are human. It can be tough to remember that when Amon-Ra St. Brown does everything so expertly so often, or when Penei Sewell grinds would-be pass rushers into the Allen Park turf. Jared Goff will throw a ball behind Sam LaPorta and then Kerby Joseph will drop the interception. Even the greats will have reps where they screw up. It happens to the best of them.
It’s the reality of football. Sometimes the other guy just makes a better play. Other times, a standout could be having a bad day battling a sinus infection or an ankle he rolled the day before. It’s not the end of the world when Frank Ragnow whiffs on a block; it doesn’t mean they’re going to cut him or that fans should worry. Good NFL players are able to bury bad reps and make them fewer and farther between.
Now if Carlton Davis can’t cover Donovan Peoples-Jones day in and day out, or if Hendon Hooker keeps missing pre-snap reads and swing passes, that’s when it’s time to worry.
Who rises up and who falls down?
Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell (46) practices with linebacker James Houston (41) during training camp at Detroit Lions Headquarters and Training Facility in Allen Park on Monday, July 24, 2023.
The Lions use two fields of practice with a defined pecking order between the two fields. One is for the first-team players and primary reserves who are established contributors, while the other is for the guys fighting for practice squad recognition and the final handful of undecided roster spots.
Like most teams, the Lions will experiment with looks and player personnel combinations that might send a player from one field to another. Last year a good example of this was rookie wideout Antoine Green moving to the top field in red zone drills to see what his size could do there. UDFA cornerback Steven Gilmore started getting more and more top field work and it parlayed into a spot on the 53-man roster.
This Lions coaching staff does those sorts of experiments a lot, perhaps more than any I’ve seen. I expect second-round rookie Ennis Rakestraw to bounce between the fields at cornerback and between the slot and outside. I expect veteran LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin to be on the second field a lot even though he doesn’t appear to be in any danger of losing a role. It’s a simple numbers game at times; the Lions only have seven total LBs on the roster and might need four to run a drill or a look.
It’s noteworthy when a player moves from one field to another and stays there beyond one practice session. This happened last summer with James Houston, who started camp getting the first-team reps opposite Aidan Hutchinson at EDGE but was almost exclusively on the second field by the time the Giants rolled in for joint practices. Some of it was a function of a big crowd at his position, but he also wasn’t proving he deserved to stay in the primary rotation in the coach’s eyes.
Optimism is eternal
There isn’t a team in the league right now that doesn’t believe they can win their division in the coming NFL season. Best-case scenarios are all fans–and most coaches and players–want to talk about at this time of the year. Some of those hopeful aspirations will crash to reality fairly quickly, whether it’s a key preseason injury or just the reality that the breadth of talent simply isn’t up to the challenge. Looking at you, New England…
As for the Lions, the reigning NFC North champs were one good half away from making the team’s first Super Bowl. Even the most calloused outside observer, perhaps a Bears sycophant waving their semi-deluded dream flag, acknowledges that Detroit’s defense got better.
Don’t fret the noise from outside. Dan Campbell sure as heck doesn’t.