Pride of Detroit
The Lions second day in pads packed a punch with intriguing developments
The Detroit Lions’ sixth practice of training camp—and their second in pads—had a bit of a red carpet feel for what they call “Back Together Weekend.” The session included the welcome return of several key players, including linebacker Alex Anzalone, first-round pick Tyleik Williams, and a handful of others who had been nursing minor injuries. The energy was high, the pace intense, and outside of a couple brief post-play moments where things got a little chippy, the practice remained controlled. It was a well-oiled machine moving together with purpose and on a mission.
In this piece, I’ll walk you through a set of additional positional observations and lingering opinionated themes — with an eye toward complementing, not duplicating, the coverage from Pride of Detroit’s two titans, Jeremy Reisman and Erik Schlitt. But before diving in, be sure to check out Erik’s Day 6 observations and catch Erik and Jeremy’s Day 6 video recap on Pride of Detroit Direct.
There’s a growing sense of something formidable brewing up front on the interior—a vibe somewhere between the John Henderson–Marcus Stroud Jaguars (2002–2007) and the Vikings’ Wall of Williams duo (Kevin and Pat, 2005–2010). The svelte DJ Reader and rookie Tyleik Williams are starting to resemble that kind of interior pairing: light on their feet, immovable in the run game, and disruptive enough to command six to eight hands on a given play.
They’re not just space-eaters either. If solo-blocked, they can collapse things quickly. That duo might help unlock more one-on-one opportunities for Aidan Hutchinson, and just as intriguingly, they could serve as vision-blocking wreckers when Kelvin Sheppard dials up Steve Spagnuolo- or Lou Anarumo-style pressure packages.
Reader and Williams, along with a few other stalwarts, completely bottled up the first-team run game on Saturday. Those two had a few rendezvous in the background before the run play could even get going. There were also several instant-pressure blitz calls—six or seven defenders flying in at once—that immediately overwhelmed protection and eroded the pocket. One particularly fun look featured Williams as a stand-up edge rusher before running a defensive line stunt
Speaking of Hutchinson—I’m getting Terminator 2: Judgment Day vibes from that Cyborg. He blew up plays at the point of attack and on backside blow-ups in the run game (you simply can’t leave him unblocked), and registered a few nearly untouched pass rush wins that would’ve resulted in sacks or QB hits in a real game. Hutchinson also capped off practice by running down-backs the width of the field, which turned into a number of other defensive linemen following suit.
Then there’s Marcus Davenport, one of the few players who doesn’t make Hutchinson look physically imposing by comparison. He had a few pass rush reps where he bench-pressed Dan Skipper straight into the pocket. His power is real and gives the Lions true optionality, whether aligned as a big defensive end or kicked further inside.
The group...
