Riley Reiff 'On Track' To Play Early For Lions

The big question surrounding Detroit Lions first-round pick Riley Reiff is when he will actually see the field. The plan is for Reiff to eventually become the Lions' starting left tackle, but it seems like that is a year or two away from happening with Jeff Backus returning. It's possible he could start at right tackle in his rookie year, but he would need to push Gosder Cherilus out of a starting job.

Right now, it's not clear where Reiff fits into the Lions' offensive line in 2012. Even so, Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said this week that Reiff is currently "on track" to play early in his career.

"It's still early to say who will play where, but Riley is on track to play a lot of football for us really early," Linehan said. "He's an exceptional talent and a great kid. He's really going to help us on our offensive line. Where he ends up this year really hasn't been determined yet, but we're just happy with what we've seen so far from him."

Seeing where exactly Reiff ends up playing will be one of the more interesting training camp storylines for the Lions. As noted by Dave Birkett, Reiff hasn't practiced at offensive guard at all during the Lions' OTAs, so it seems that he will play at either left or right tackle in 2012. He has been spending time at both spots, and at the most recent OTA open to the media, he was on the left side. Will that be his primary position in 2012? Only time will tell.

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