The Detroit Lions final preseason game is Saturday and there’s a few guys on this team right now that everyone is watching and waiting to see if they’re able to make it onto the Lions 53-man roster.
There’s some spots left on the roster right now that need to be filled. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday that there’s about six spots to be exact.
we’ve gone through the roster and picked out those six players that could make it if they have a big game Saturday.
S Loren Strickland
The path is violence. We already know that Strickland has Dan Campbell’s attention, it’s time to make sure he keeps it by continuing to get big stops on special teams and when he gets a chance to be on defense. The Lions are likely to carry four safeties into the season, if Strickland can do something like force a turnover with that big hit ability than he could net himself a spot on the roster. He’s one forced fumble away.
Even if he doesn’t get that, he’s super hard to say no to. This is one that we’re watching very closely here at A to Z Detroit.
LB Ben Niemann
Niemann has been really good for the Lions in both camp and preseason. He was all over the place last Saturday against the Chiefs. It felt like you heard his name every couple minutes because he was getting a stop. Special teams is where he shines the most and the fact is that he’s better than Malcolm Rodriguez there. With Parker Hesse taking the fullback spot from Rodriguez and Niemann being the better special teams guy and showing some good stuff on defense, he’s likely to make the roster over Rodrigo.
Edge Isaac Ukwu
Ukwu is definitely someone to watch because he’s played well in camp and in the preseason, but also because when Campbell talked about these six open spots, it was Ukwu that he brought up completely unprompted. Campbell has been impressed by the growth that Ukwu has shown during camp and if he balls out again on Saturday, it’s going to be hard to say no.
TE Parker Hesse
We sort of talked about Hesse already. When you’re tying to get one of these final spots on the roster, it’s all about bringing value by showing that you can do more than one thing. Hesse is doing that. He can play tight end and block really well, but it’s his fullback ability that’s going to get him the spot. He’s been running fullback all summer long when the Lions chose to use one. That’s going to net him a spot. Plus he can be on special teams and in an emergency, he can play defensive end.
Nate Sudfeld
This is understandably not going to generate a ton of excitement, but the fact is that the Lions just don’t seem to trust Hendon Hooker in that QB2 spot yet and that there’s a really good chance the team carries three quarterbacks into the season. Sudfeld would be that third guy unless an opportunity presents itself after cutdowns.
Kyle Peko
For a long time I considered Peko to be a camp body. That was wrong of me. Peko has been pretty consistent for the Lions this summer and he’s earned a spot on this roster and in the rotation. It’s clear that Brodric Martin is on his way, but he’s not quite there yet. 2025 is gonna be huge for him. For now Peko can take on a role and even continue to get Martin ready for a his big season.