It’s time for preseason Week 2 and the Detroit Lions have a big game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. The second to last preseason game has always been thought of as the dress rehearsal, but nowadays it more like the last game for players to show what they got before that third game is the one where guys just get a last chance to get tape out there.
With that in mind, there’s three questions we need to get an answer to on Saturday night. Here they are:
Will a receiver step up?
There’s guys on this roster like Daurice Fountian, Kaden Davis, Maurice Alexander, Isaiah Williams, Jalon Calhoun and Tre’quan Davis who may never get another shot like this ever again. This is a golden opportunity to not only make a 53-man roster, but to be a starter in the NFL.
The Lions’ coaching staff has been dying for one of these guys to set themselves apart. Saturday night is a good night to do it against a pretty deep team.
Will Hendon Hooker play and will Hendon Hooker show enough to nail down the QB2 role?
It’s a two part question because we don’t know for certain if Hooker is playing Saturday. It certainly looks that way, but nothing is written in stone.
If he does play, will Hooker show enough to solidify that the Lions can trust him in that QB2 spot, or will they have to go shopping?
Lions fans may have been mesmerized by that 16-yard run from Hooker last Thursday, but there was still a ton of issues that we’ve seen him go through at camp that were happening on that field at Met Life Stadium.
Previous to that game, Hooker was expected to be QB3 and the Lions would take three quarterbacks into the season. That may not have changed just because Sudfeld had an all time bad night. The Lions may be interested in finding someone else.
If Hooker can ball out on Saturday night, that could make a big difference.
Can Jake Bates secure the job?
Jake Bates hit a 53-yard field goal in the rain last Thursday and just decided he wasn’t going to miss field goals for a few days. He hit everything he kicked on both Sunday and Monday of this week. Then on Wednesday he had some misses again.
Saturday is the night where he can go ahead and secure the job if he goes out and hits whatever he lines up to kick.