Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions concluded their evaluation of their 91-man roster on Saturday afternoon with their final preseason game against the Houston Texans.
Let’s take a look at the snap counts from the game to see if we can gather any hints about how the Lions may finalize their roster cuts to create a 53-man squad.
The fact that Hooker got three quarters of play and only managed 24 snaps shows how ineffective the Lions offense was all day. Detroit gave Hooker as much time as possible to prove he could lead a productive offense, yet Kyle Allen still managed to move the ball more in just two offensive series.
With Vaki out, it forced Reynolds to start the game, but for the majority of the contest, it was Saylors at running back. He continues to make a strong impression that could land him on the Lions’ practice squad.
“He’s pretty crafty, pretty nifty,” coach Dan Campbell said after Saturday’s game. “He’s got detail to what he does—the runs, the landmarks, the check downs. There’s something there and we like him, and it was good to see him go back in there and play a little bit.”
The first thing that jumps out is how little Jackson Meeks played. He was mostly relegated to the second half, appearing after Lovett, Bell, Kennedy, and TeSlaa had already taken the field. Obviously, with the ineffectiveness of the second-half offense, Meeks didn’t get as many opportunities as the Lions likely hoped, but it sure is interesting to see Meeks playing so late in the game. Were the Lions hiding him? Is he truly that far down the depth chart?
Of course, the other—perhaps more important—thing to note about Meeks is his 11 special teams snaps, leading the entire group. No player on offense had more special teams snaps than him, and that’s where he could justify a spot.
Detroit got a good, long look at Lovett after the rookie receiver missed some time with an injury earlier this preseason. He didn’t make much of an impact on offense, but he, too, got plenty of special teams looks.
Bell is the wildcard of the group. He repped earlier than expected, and he...
