Training camp is upon us and that means not only that Detroit Lions football is here, but it’s also camp battle season. While we’re all comfortably excited about the return of football, 90 players on each team will be competing vigorously for a job, and sadly over 40 percent of those players won’t make their way onto a 53-man roster.
So while it’s a bit morbid to predict who will make the cut and who will be searching for jobs come September, it’s just what we do in the business.
So every week during the preseason we’re going to drop our Bubble Watch predictions. A handful of staff members will predict which players on the bubble will make the roster and who will be cut. Throughout the next month, players will move on and off the bubble, and we’ll be sure to track our confidence in each pick week-by-week.
Without further ado, here is a look at our pre-training camp bubble watch:
Offense
POD staffer | QB Jake Rudock | QB Matt Cassel | RB Ameer Abdullah | RB Zach Zenner | WR Jace Billinglsey | WR Teo Redding | G Kenny Wiggins | G/C Leo Koloamatangi | T Corey Robinson | T Brian Mihalik |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POD staffer | QB Jake Rudock | QB Matt Cassel | RB Ameer Abdullah | RB Zach Zenner | WR Jace Billinglsey | WR Teo Redding | G Kenny Wiggins | G/C Leo Koloamatangi | T Corey Robinson | T Brian Mihalik |
Jeremy Reisman | IN | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | IN | OUT |
Kent Lee Platte | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN |
Justin Simon | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN |
Andrew Kato | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | IN |
Ryan Mathews | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | IN |
Kyle Yost | IN | RETIRE | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | OUT |
There is not much consensus among the staff right now on the offense. Myself and Kyle Yost (who not so coincidentally happen to be Wolverines) think Jake Rudock has the inside track as the backup quarterback, while everyone else has Matt Cassel. There’s a similar split between Ameer Abdullah and Zach Zenner.
The offensive line depth is just as murky. While most believe Kenny Wiggins and Leo Koloamatangi are in, Brian Mihalik is clearly on the bubble right now.
Defense
Staffer | DE Alex Barrett | DE Jeremiah Valoaga | DE Cornelius Washinton | DT Jeremiah Ledbetter | LB Jonathan Freeny | LB Chad Meredith | S Miles Killebrew | S Charles Washington |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Staffer | DE Alex Barrett | DE Jeremiah Valoaga | DE Cornelius Washinton | DT Jeremiah Ledbetter | LB Jonathan Freeny | LB Chad Meredith | S Miles Killebrew | S Charles Washington |
Jeremy Reisman | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | OUT |
Kent Lee Platte | IN | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | IN | IN | OUT |
Justin Simon | OUT | IN | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN |
Andrew Kato | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | OUT |
Ryan Mathews | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN | OUT |
Kyle Yost | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | OUT |
Full disclosure: The original Bubble Watch table featured Al-Rasheed Benton on it, but the undrafted rookie linebacker was waived on Thursday evening. That has left the Pride of Detroit scrambling to find the last linebacker to make the roster. The staff is basically evenly split between former Patriot Jonathan Freeny and rookie Chad Meredith. This is the dilemma the Lions face: Go with the veteran with scheme experience, or go with the young player with much higher upside?
The defensive line is an absolute crapshoot right now. There is absolutely no consensus about the fate of these four players: Alex Barrett, Jeremiah Valoaga, Cornelius Washington, and Jeremiah Ledbetter. Of course, part of the problem is that not many of those players seem worthy of a roster spot, but given Detroit’s weaknesses along the front four, it’s likely a couple of these players will make the initial 53-man roster.
Finally, while the Lions secondary will be battling for playing time, there isn’t all that much controversy on who will make the team. Although Miles Killebrew is coming off a rough year, most of the staff still believes he’ll win a spot over Charles Washington.
What are your thoughts on the roster bubble? Anyone else that should be on this list?