Pride of Detroit
10 Detroit Lions players we’ll be keeping a close eye on during OTAs.
On Wednesday, the Detroit Lions kicked off the first of their Organized Team Activities that will run through the next two weeks. With it being our first look at the 2025 team together all at once, there are several players I’m eager to see when practices open up to the media later this week.
Here are the 10 players I’m most eager to see out there on the field:
The Lions have made it clear this offseason that Hooker will have to go out and earn the backup quarterback job over veteran Kyle Allen. While I fully expect that to happen, I am eager to see what kind of jump Hooker has made from what was essentially his rookie season last year.
Speaking of potentially jumps this season, Vaki enters 2025 with a year of experience learning the running back position full-time. While he’s not going to break the top two in the running back room, an underrated positional battle in training camp will be him vs. Craig Reynolds for the RB3 role.
TeSlaa may not be participating in practices, but if he is, he’ll be one of the most intriguing players out there. Without a doubt the most controversial Lions pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, TeSlaa has his first opportunity to go against NFL talent this week, and we’ll hopefully see how the developmental receiver fares.
The Lions are talking up Jamo big time. So much so that offensive coordinator John Morton is predicting a breakout year.... after Williams posted 1,001 receiving yards and eight total touchdowns last year. It sounds like the offense is really clicking with Williams, so I want to see if that’s noticeable on the field.
Manu’s progress could have a huge impact on the future of the offensive line. If he takes a huge Year 2 jump, it’s possible he could make a case for the starting left tackle job in 2026. If his progress is a little slower, then his ceiling may be the primary swing tackle backup job, and that could leave Detroit with a tough decision for the future at left tackle. When we last heard about Manu’s rookie season progress, he was night-and-day from how he started the year.
It’ll hard to judge any progress without live contact and full pads, but even seeing where he’s repping in the depth chart could be telling.
Like with Manu, it’ll be hard to judge how well Ratledge is playing out there given the limitations of OTA rules. But where will Ratledge be playing? Is he going to be a primary center or guard? Is he with the starters or the second team? And if Frank Ragnow is absent, will we be able to come to any sort of real conclusions with Ratledge?
