Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions continue to add to their secondary in the wake of injuries and suspensions. According to Jeremy Fowler, the Lions are signing safety Jammie Robinson off of the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad to their 53-man roster.
Robinson was originally a 2023 fifth-round pick for the Carolina Panthers. He would play in 15 games (two starts) in his rookie season, but he was waived from the team last December. He didn’t make it through waivers, though. The Arizona Cardinals claimed him, and while he didn’t make the gameday roster with them the rest of that season, he stayed with the Cardinals throughout all of training camp. When he didn’t make Arizona’s 53-man roster this season, the Chiefs quickly signed him to their practice squad.
In 21 total game appearances with the Panthers, Robinson tallied 20 total tackles over a total of 75 defensive snaps and 366 special teams snaps. In his limited defensive play, he played both nickel and box safety for Carolina.
Robinson has a couple of interesting ties to the Lions. He reportedly met with the Lions at the NFL Combine back in 2023, and prior to that, current Lions linebackers coach Shaun Dion Hamilton was his coach at the Senior Bowl.
Here’s what our own Erik Schlitt wrote about Robinson following his Combine performance:
“Robinson has a compact frame and is as quick as any defensive back in this class. His testing numbers were average, and at times during drills, he looked almost like he was focusing too much on being technically sound instead of staying loose, which led to some rigidity that likely played into those scores.
When Robinson was loose, he displayed incredibly quick feet, rapidly picking them up and down like a typewriter working its way across the page. His focus on technique did help him with efficiency in drills, but when he relaxed, his natural skills took over. One of the best examples of this was in the figure eight drills near the end of the on-field workouts, when he moved with silky acceleration, ramping up, decelerating, and ramping up again at an impressive pace.”
The Lions need depth at safety this week with Brian Branch serving a one-game suspension, Kerby Joseph’s status in jeopardy due to a knee injury, and another safety option—Rock Ya-Sin—possibly helping out with a shorthanded cornerback room.
While this move is not yet official, the Lions did have an open roster spot after cutting safety Loren Strickland earlier this week.
In October alone, the Lions have made a ton of additions in the secondary, including:
