Pride of Detroit
Erik Schlitt and Jeremy Reisman put their heads together for their annual pre-training camp Lions 53-man roster projection.
Detroit Lions 2025 training camp practices are set to begin on Sunday, and that means it’s time for another installment of our 53-man roster projection.
As has become tradition, Jeremy Reisman and I collaborate on this projection in an attempt to give you a balanced look at where the roster sits coming out of the summer break. We come together to debate the roster, fight for our favorites, and compromise when possible. We will publish updated collaborative editions of the 53-man projection throughout training camp. Then, at cutdowns, we will each publish our own projections.
Let’s get started.
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes the player is a rookie
Jared Goff
Hendon Hooker
Kyle Allen
Erik: Hooker was the Lions’ QB2 all of last regular season, while Allen was the Steelers’ QB3. The Lions are going to allow the veteran to compete and try to seize the job from Hooker, but both Jeremy and I are leaning toward the incumbent until proven otherwise.
Jahmyr Gibbs
David Montgomery
Craig Reynolds
Sione Vaki
Kye Robichaux*
Jabari Small
Jeremy: Not much drama here, as the Lions’ top-four running backs are pretty well established from last year, and the typically only carry four on the roster.
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Jameson Williams
Tim Patrick
Kalif Raymond
Isaac TeSlaa*
Dominic Lovett*
Tom Kennedy
Ronnie Bell
Malik Taylor
Jakobie Keeney-James*
Jackson Meeks*
Erik: The Lions return their top four wide receivers from last season and drafted TeSlaa in the third round, making him a near lock for the roster. That likely leaves just one open spot for the remaining depth player to compete for. The Lions could go in a lot of different directions with this final spot, but we went with Lovett because we believe he has a chance to find the field on offense and special teams, most notably as a gunner.
Sam LaPorta
Brock Wright
Shane Zylstra
Kenny Yeboah
Zach Horton*
Luke Deal*
Jeremy: We went with the chalk answer here for the third tight end job, because Zylstra has grown in his three years with the Lions, even incorporating some fullback into his game last year. He has legitimate competition this year with the veteran Kenny Yeboah and a pair of UDFAs in Zach Horton and Luke Deal, but until we actually go out there and see them ball, it’s hard to hand them a roster spot.
Penei Sewell
Taylor Decker (Active/PUP: he is not eligible to practice at this time)
Dan Skipper
Giovanni Manu
Colby Sorsdal
Jamarco Jones
