Pride of Detroit
Looking at players we ranked 50 through 41 on the Detroit Lions’ 2025 roster.
As we continue to move on in our 2025 Detroit Lions roster rankings, we’ve reached the players we believe will start training camp from inside the roster bubble rather than outside of it. Of the 10 players listed below—who are ranked from 50 to 41 in our countdown—it seems quite likely that at least eight or nine of them will make the 53-man roster. Still, there is work to do for a handful of them.
Let’s dive into the players we ranked 50-41 on the Lions’ roster
Note: For methodology and more details, check out the first installment of this series.
Previously:
I believe Hatten jumped higher than anyone else on this year’s list. That’s what happens when you go from second-string long snapper to first. It’s hard to place a value on a long snapper compared to the rest of the roster, but just inside the top-53 seems fair.
Last year’s ranking: N/A
Hassanein has quickly become a fan favorite of the 2025 NFL Draft class due to his relentless attitude, bright personality, and unique story. He’ll also have a crack at making Detroit’s defensive end rotation, with many questions about the team’s depth there. But with him being so new to the game of football, there will be a significant amount of development early in his career.
Of this group, Zylstra may be on the shakiest ground. He likely enters training camp as the favorite for the TE3 position, but the additions of Kenny Yeboah, as well as undrafted rookies Zach Horton and Luke Deal, will be legitimate competition. Still, Zylstra has been with the organization since 2021, so there is some trust built in there.
No one has a wider range of rankings than Manu, which makes sense considering we're in the dark about his development (although the 80 ranking is a huge outlier; most had Manu in the 40s). Coming out of British Columbia, Manu was extremely raw in training camp last year, but the entire Lions organization insisted he made dramatic improvements as the season went on. We’ll have to wait and see if that’s actually true.
Last year’s ranking: N/A
Muhammad was a midseason addition after the Lions had suffered serious injuries at defensive end. With 34 starts to his name, he gave the Lions some much-needed experience at the position, and he delivered some solid play at times. He finished the year with 11 tackles, 3.0 sacks, five quarterback hits, and 24 pressures (per PFF) in nine...
