Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions will spend the next three days paring down their roster from 91 players to 53. Tough decisions are ahead, and for general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell, there will likely be intense and difficult conversations ahead.
I did my best to create an initial 53-man roster prediction for the 2025 Lions. Erik Schlitt did the same, and you can see his projections here.
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes the player is a rookie
Jared Goff
Kyle Allen
Hendon Hooker
Kyle Allen handily won the backup quarterback job, and coach Dan Campbell even admitted as much after the final preseason game. As for keeping Hooker as a potential third, here was Campbell’s answer on the things they are considering when it comes to Hooker’s roster spot:
How much development do you believe there still is? Sometimes does the player need a change of scenery? What about our own depth in other areas? I mentioned this the other day, relative to that – all right, maybe there is room to grow. Is that worth it for the depth we need at O-Line, D-Line, receiver, DB?
If a change in scenery is being brought up, that doesn’t just tell you that QB3 is out of the question, but it may also mean Hooker won’t be back on the practice squad if he clears waivers.
Jahmyr Gibbs
David Montgomery
Craig Reynolds
Sione Vaki
Jacob Saylors
Deon Jackson
No drama here. The only question was whether Vaki’s injury was serious, and Campbell confirmed Saturday that it wasn’t. Saylors has had a nice preseason and has likely earned himself a spot on the practice squad.
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Jameson Williams
Tim Patrick
Kalif Raymond
Isaac TeSlaa*
Jackson Meeks*
Dominic Lovett*
Tom Kennedy
Ronnie Bell
Jakobie Keeney-James*
Malik Taylor
Seven wide receivers is admittedly hard to justify, but there are two things said this offseason that I cannot get out of my mind. The first was Campbell, back during the owners meetings:
“We would love to bring in more competition, particularly some youth. That would help, and let them all mix it up. Get in there and see where it all falls.”
With Raymond at 31 years old and in the final year of his career, and Patrick about to turn 32, the Lions seriously invested in youth this offseason with not only third-round pick Isaac TeSlaa, but seventh-round pick Dominic Lovett and high-priority UDFA Jackson Meeks. TeSlaa will get a role early, while Lovett and Meeks are pretty close to one-to-one replacements for Raymond and Patrick in a year or two.
In the meantime, they can contribute right away, if you need them to. Which brings me to the second quote, via special teams coordinator Dave Fipp:
“Lovett has shown some things for us on the outside, Meeks has shown some things from the wide receiver position. So, we’ve got some wide receivers contributing on special teams,...
