The Lions are one preseason game away from making their final decisions on their 53-man roster. We’ve already talked about the three guys that locked up roster spots, now it’s time to talk about three guys that lost a chance at the roster on Saturday.
Daurice Fountain
It really sucks because it was right there. Fountain had a chance to not only make a 53-man roster, but be a starter too. The coaching staff wanted him to show a little more and he just couldn’t find that next gear and now it looks like he’s fallen out of favor. Fountain played 27 snaps on Saturday and we didn’t really see him until the second half. That’s not a great sign.
Steven Gilmore
It really seemed like the Lions had high hopes for him. The team kept him stashed on the 53-man roster all season last year and never cut him, even when they needed to make room for players coming back from IR. He seemed like a lock early on in the offseason.
It just hasn’t worked out and you’ve watched him fall down the depth chart farther and farther every week. He only played 22 snaps on Saturday and that was mostly in the fourth. Maybe the Lions can hold onto him on the practice squad.
Nate Sudfeld
At one point in time it looked like Sudfeld was a better player than he was last year. We all saw it. He looked good in camp. Then we saw that he is clearly not a gamer, because once the lights came on, Sudfeld struggled mightily and reverted to the guy we saw last year.
He has a good mind for the game and is worth having around to develop Hooker, but he just hasn’t shown that he can be a player you can put your trust into if Jared Goff were to go down.