Pride of Detroit
Breaking down the Detroit Lions’ first rookie minicamp of 2025 and how each draft pick performed.
The Detroit Lions rookie class took the field on Friday morning for the first of three rookie minicamp practices. This was the only of the three that will be opened to the media, so I took as detailed notes as I possibly could.
Here are my biggest takeaways from practice, particularly with Detroit’s seven 2025 draft picks.
Note: For a full list of participants, check out this earlier story on the UDFA signings and tryout players.
As pointed out in an earlier article, Williams was quite limited in his time on the field due to a plan laid out by the Lions. He only participated in a handful of sped-up walkthrough reps before working with a trainer on the hill at the back of the practice field.
In what limited action we saw, Williams did stand out because of his size. Listed at 334 pounds on the Lions’ roster, no one else on the field looked even close to matching his size. He did line up at both nose and three tech from what I saw.
Most notably, Ratledge was the primary center when the team began practices with full-team walkthroughs. It was hard to tell definitively, but I would say he came close to splitting those reps with undrafted rookie Leif Fautanu. During the other half of his time, Ratledge played right guard.
Here are the two offensive line lineups I noticed during the opening walkthrough—the only time the offensive line did full-team work:
Team 1:
LT: Bryce Benhart
LG: Leif Fautanu
C: Tate Ratledge
RG: Miles Frazier
RT: Mason Miller
Team 2:
LT: Bryce Benhart
LG: Kingsley Eguakun
C: Leif Fautanu
RG: Tate Ratledge
RT: Miles Frazier
While TeSlaa did get some work in the slot, the high majority of his playing time was spent on the outside during Friday’s practice. During walkthroughs, the Lions did not throw the ball, but he was heavily featured when Detroit went to 7-on-7 drills.
In fact, all three of the first passes of practice went to him, with the rookie catching two. The first catch was a nice adjustment from TeSlaa, coming back on a ball that was thrown back shoulder on the sidelines. On the other, he cleanly beat the cornerback on an out route, where he took a stab inside that slowed the corner down. The one incomplete pass was broken up by the defender, although there was a pretty clear jersey tug during TeSlaa’s break.
What was most interesting was how the Lions challenged him defensively. For most of practice, they lined up six-year NFL veteran Duke Shelley opposite him, and it’s clear the Lions coaching staff wanted him to play press-man coverage on TeSlaa—something he didn’t deal with much at college.
It was a strong start to practice for TeSlaa, but it was overall an up-and-down day for him....
