Pride of Detroit
Over the past two preseason games, there have been some significant changes to the Detroit Lions’ roster bubble. The quarterback battle has been turned on its head, the wide receiver room is getting complicated, and there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to the depth on this offensive line.
Let’s take a look at which “bubble” players our staff thinks are going to make or miss the roster when it comes to the Lions offense. It’s Week 5 of Bubble Watch.
After another very solid performance, Kyle Allen has taken a commanding lead for the backup quarterback job. Dan Campbell bluntly admitted as much Saturday night.
The question now turns to whether Hendon Hooker has warranted a spot on the roster as QB3. If the Lions still believe there’s enough to be developed there, they may not have a choice but to keep him. A quarterback with as much raw talent will likely attract a team searching the waiver wire. However, our staff has apparently seen enough. Not a single one is keeping a third quarterback, which likely means the Lions may have to search the wire to add a new quarterback to the practice squad, as they typically like having three players in their QB room during the season.
With Vaki returning to action and looking solid on both offense and special teams, this is the most straightforward position on the team.
Jackson Meeks has now produced two strong preseason games in a row, while also consistently making plays in training camp. Combining the Falcons and Dolphins game, Meeks has 10 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Dominic Lovett is just coming back from an injury that sidelined him for about two weeks. In the game, he had another drop, clearly making some on staff concerned about his spot on the roster.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be an “either-or” situation with the two receivers. Three people on staff have the Lions keeping seven receivers—a high number considering they only kept four on the initial 53-man roster last year, but certainly not unheard of for an NFL team. Detroit’s roster at wide receiver is far more young and talented than it was last year, so it makes sense to keep more.
Zylstra remains the favorite to maintain the...
