Lions training camp: Stock up, stock down from the first week

Year 3 of Jameson Williams has shown a new and improved Jamo in so many facets of the game. Dan Campbell talked about it back in OTAs and it’s carried into late July. There is no more improved Detroit player from 2023 to 2024 than Williams, and the consistency in which he keeps proving it has his blue-chip stock surging upward.

Cominsky has been the odd man out of the revamped defensive line shuffle in the first week. A starter for good portions of the last two seasons, Cominsky is primarily repping with the third-team defense at DE. While “The Commish” is looking good against the third and fourth-team units, he’s going to need to do that in the very limited looks he’s getting when playing higher on the depth chart to make the Lions roster.

Fountain was one of the standouts of June’s minicamp and the lanky wideout has kept the momentum into July. When Jameson Williams wasn’t practicing on Friday, Fountain stepped into some of Jamo’s first-team reps and played well. His blocking and attention to detail on his routes both received audible praise from WR coach Antwan Randle El. He didn’t have a great day on Monday in the first padded practice, proof that stocks are always fluctuating.

Badgley was in what was shaping up as a fierce battle for the Lions kicking job, but unfortunately he lost due to a hamstring injury. Badgley is out for the season.

Rodriguez came into camp as a depth piece on defense, one that needed to find a useful role in sub-packages and special teams to ensure the fan favorite would stay prominent. Rodrigo is off to a great start, moving very well at off-ball LB and answering some questions about his speed and range in coverage. He’s not going to threaten to start, but any worries about Rodriguez potentially being a roster casualty seem hilarious at this point.

Hooker has played pretty well throughout training camp, unquestionably. Yet he gets the “stock down” because he hasn’t seized the No. 2 quarterback job from Nate Sudfeld already, as most (myself included) expected. Sudfeld has been much better this summer than last (stock up!) but Hooker also hasn’t been consistently great enough to prove the better option. Not yet…

Martin is getting the bulk of the first-team nose tackle reps with veteran acquisition DJ Reader still sidelined. After a rookie year where Martin struggled with pad level and hand usage, the 2023 third-rounder from Western Kentucky is showing steady improvement at both, proving that maybe he can get on the field a lot more in 2024.

Barnes is moving from the off-ball LB role he’s played for the last couple of seasons into being the primary SAM backer. That SAM spot more closely aligns with what Barnes played in college at Purdue, a stand-up pass rusher with some chip and short-range coverage responsibilities. Barnes has received nearly all the first-team reps at the SAM, a spot where the usage volume is increasing. It could be a chicken/egg situation with Barnes, who has been very impressive in the role–enough that it doesn’t even feel like a competition anymore.