Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins will face off over the next two days for a pair of joint practices. Unlike most preseason games, this will be an opportunity for both teams to see their starters face off against another team’s starters. And with that comes some really fun matchups to watch this week.
Here are my five favorites ones I’ll be keeping an eye on during Wednesday and Thursday practices.
Before I get into it, there are some unknown injury situations here. Hill sat out joint practices with the Bears last week with an oblique injury, while Waddle suffered a “minor” injury last Friday in practice. Both are considered day-to-day for Lions joint practices. On the Lions’ side, we’re still waiting to see if cornerback Terrion Arnold will be ready to return from his hamstring injury.
Hopefully, all will get to participate because it could be a really fun challenge for both teams. Hill and Waddle are arguably the best receiver duo in football, while the Lions secondary has gotten off to a really strong start in training camp. This is truly an iron-sharpens-iron opportunity.
Unfortunately, tight end Darren Waller remains on PUP and is not expected to come off of it this week. So if Waddle and Hill are limited this week, it really dampens Detroit’s opportunity to face high-end skill position players.
What better than a pair of highly-drafted rookies going toe-to-toe in the trenches?
Grant, a former Michigan Wolverine and the 13th overall pick this year, has reportedly had a strong start to training camp, and at 6-foot-4, 335 pounds, he’s literally a load to handle. Ratledge has been cutting his teeth by going against 6-foot-3, 330-pound DJ Reader on a daily basis, but it’ll be a nice challenge for him to face off against Grant, who is younger and more athletic at this point in his career.
Last year, Miami had one of the toughest secondaries in football. Jalen Ramsey and up-and-comer Kader Kohou locked up the outside, while Jevon Holland was overseeing it all at safety. Detroit won’t see any of those top players this week. Ramsey was traded in the offseason, Holland signed a big deal with the Giants, and Kohou suffered a season-ending injury.
That leaves the following projected starters:
CB: Storm Duck (3 career starts)
CB: Kendall Sheffield (20 career starts, none since 2020)
NCB: Mike Hilton (56 starts)
S: Minkah Fitzpatrick (101 starts)
S: Ashtyn Davis (22 starts, 6 since 2021)
In other words, this is a big mismatch in Detroit’s favor. Yes, Fitzpatrick is still a Pro Bowl-level safety, but his supporting cast is not what he’s likely used to. It will be interesting to see if Detroit’s offense, which has been off to a relatively slow start, can take advantage.
Dolphins RB De’Von Achane...
