Now that the 53-man roster is set, the depth chart is taking shape as well. Below is nearly the same thing that is on the Lions' official website. The reason it isn't exactly the same is because I made one or two changes to reflect what has been said in the papers and also took injuries into account. Take a look.
First let's look at the quarterback position. Jon Kitna is the obvious starter, but after that there are some questions as to who will back him up. Right now, J.T. O'Sullivan is the #2 QB, especially since Dan Orlovsky is injured, but keep an eye on that battle throughout the season.
At running back, Kevin Jones is at the bottom of the depth chart since he is still injured. Once he gets back to practice and back out on the field, I expect him to move up fairly quickly.
No injuries here, but one slight surprise is the fact that first-round draft pick Calvin Johnson isn't a starter yet. Furrey is still ahead of him, which isn't a bad thing considering the great year he had in 2006. I would obviously expect that the TE and FB end up with less playing time in order to get Furrey, C.J., and Roy Williams all on the field at the same time. That is the most effective way to run the offense in my mind.
Shifting to the defense, specifically NT, Shaun Rogers is also at he bottom of the depth chart at his position due to an injury. Since he really hasn't had a lot of practice in pads yet, he isn't officially the starter. I would be surprised if he didn't start on Sunday, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Finally, let's get to special teams. The only positions to talk about are punt returner and kick returner, and both have the same starter. Stepping in to replace Eddie Drummond is Troy Walters, who actually can play receiver as well.
I would predict that in a few weeks we'll see a different depth chart. Maybe not extremely different, but we'll see some changes here and there. Injuries will play a big factor as players will return and leave because of them. Plus, some players will step up to move ahead on the depth chart. Hopefully we'll see Calvin Johnson be one of them to make a first-round draft pick of a WR worth it for a change.