The Detroit Lions will get their first chance to prove that their depth is better than it looked during last week’s preseason opener in the Hall of Fame Game. On Friday, the Lions will take on the Atlanta Falcons in their second of four exhibition matches to get ready for the 2025 NFL season.
The Lions are not expected play many—if any—starters on Friday night, but as we have learned from seasons past, depth is drastically important to a team’s overall success. And while there are certainly some depth concerns at specific positions, I don’t think Detroit’s reserves are nearly as bad as they looked last Thursday.
So on this week’s PODcast, we went position-by-position and looked at the biggest storylines, most important players, and broke down exactly what is on the line for these players against the Falcons.
For example, three camp battles appear to be heating up the deeper we get into training camp. The backup center job remains very much undecided between three players: Michael Niese, Kingsley Eguakun, and Tryston Colon. The third tight end job has seen both Kenny Yeboah and Zach Horton gain ground on Shane Zylstra. And with the news that Dan Jackson suffered an injury that landed him on injured reserve, suddenly the battle for the fourth safety spot between Loren Strickland, Morice Norris, and Ian Kennelly is a big one.
We also break down the latest news regarding Ennis Rakestraw’s injury, the Lions’ interest in Za’Darius Smith, and a lot more in this week’s episode.
You can check out the episode in the Spotify player below, or on whatever podcasting platform is your favorite. Just search “Pride of Detroit.” And don’t forget to leave a review!
You can also watch the PODcast live or via replay on our YouTube and Twitch channels. That content features over an hour of bonus between-segments content that includes more Lions talk and a lot of non-Lions talk.