Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions’ second preseason game of the 2025 season is in the books, and it’s time to check back in on the players who helped or hurt their stock against the Atlanta Falcons.
For injury or rest purposes, the Lions did not play 31 players in this preseason game of the 2025 season, with another six still sitting out due to being on an injury list (PUP/NFI).
Let’s take a quick look at an overview of the roster with our game day depth chart, noting that the players without a position color did not play in this game. Additionally, if a player’s name is written in red, they came into the game with an injury, but if they were injured in the game, their name is boxed in red (or denser black).
This was a clear separator game for Allen. The veteran signal caller looked poised and confident throughout his opportunities, while Hooker struggled, despite starting the game with more talented players surrounding him.
Allen was willing to take deep shots in this game and was rewarded with a big 68-yard connection with UDFA rookie Jackson Meeks. He also showed solid accuracy on both his touchdown passes, dropping a nice ball to Isaac TeSlaa on a fade route and a line-drive pass to Meeks on an out route at the goal line.
Hooker’s accuracy wasn’t terrible, and you could easily fault Meeks for a drop on third down, but overall, Hooker did not show good ball protection skills and twice put the ball on the ground unnecessarily. He did have a nice, quick throw on a successful fourth-down conversion and scrambled 22 yards for another first down, but that was probably the end of his highlights.
With Vaki unable to play in this game, Reynolds got the start and looked solid, despite the statistics being lower than desired. Small got the next opportunity, but he also struggled to manage much on the ground. Saylors (9 rushes for 35 yards, and 2 receptions for 14 yards) showed more range than we’ve seen in recent practices, producing on inside and outside runs, catching screen and flare passes, and even converted on a fourth-and-3 by rushing for 4 yards.
As mentioned in the quarterback section, TeSlaa (2 receptions for 18 yards, TD)...
