There’s a bit of sadness to the reason we’re writing this today, but it is what it is. The Detroit Lions waived cornerback Craig James on Tuesday and the reaction from part of the Lions fan base was that they just didn’t know who he was.
It’s understandable because James never played a game for the Lions. He was signed to the team in December and the idea was that he could potentially be a special teams guy if needed. He spent two years with Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp in Philadelphia.
This gave me some thought. There’s a few guys on the team that Lions fans may not recognize and that have a real chance to sneak onto the 53-man roster this year after a good training camp and preseason. Let’s go deep under the radar and talk about these guys.
G Matt Farniok
Farniok was signed to the Lions practice squad last December. The idea being that the Lions had some extra guard depth in case they needed it. Farniok played 19 games for the Cowboys and started two of them. Farniok is still relatively young at 26-years-old and there’s must have been something the Lions saw in him. That’s why they signed him to a futures deal after the season. We’ll see how he does in camp.
The Lions could use some solid guard depth with Sorsdal going back to tackle. Mahogany is expected to be pretty good, but the Lions may initially look to someone with more experience to start out. That is if they ever need to.
WR Daurice Fountain
When the Lions added Fountain to their practice squad last August, I got a DM from a Bears writer who was letting me know how good Fountain is and that he was shocked the Bears let him walk. Especially when they needed receiver help.
Fountain is one of those guys that can put up some plays that make you wonder why he’s a practice squad guy.