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Considering summer just officially started, the outlook of the Detroit Lions' 53-man roster could change quite a bit in the coming months. Training camp and the preseason need to take place before the final round of cuts arrives, meaning we are still working on rather limited information at this point in time.
Despite this, with the Lions holding their mandatory minicamp and wrapping up their offseason training program last week, now is a good time to take another stab at predicting their 53-man roster. Here's my latest guess (my picks to make the team are bolded/underlined):
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QB Matthew Stafford QB Dan Orlovsky QB Kellen Moore QB Garrett Gilbert RB Joique Bell RB Ameer Abdullah RB Theo Riddick RB George Winn RB Zach Zenner RB Desmond Martin FB Michael Burton FB Emil Igwenagu WR Calvin Johnson WR Golden Tate WR Lance Moore WR Corey Fuller WR Jeremy Ross WR Ryan Broyles WR TJ Jones WR Greg Salas WR Andrew Peacock WR Vernon Johnson WR Jarred Haggins |
TE Brandon Pettigrew TE Eric Ebron TE Joseph Fauria TE Jordan Thompson TE Casey Pierce TE David Ausberry OT Riley Reiff OT LaAdrian Waddle OT Cornelius Lucas OT Corey Robinson OT Michael Williams OT Xavier Proctor OG Laken Tomlinson OG Larry Warford OG Manny Ramirez OG Torrian Wilson OG Al Bond C Travis Swanson C Taylor Boggs C Darren Keyton C Braxston Cave |
DE Ziggy Ansah DE Jason Jones DE Darryl Tapp DE Devin Taylor DE Larry Webster DE Corey Wootton DE Phillip Hunt DE Kerry Hyder DT Haloti Ngata DT Tyrunn Walker DT Gabe Wright DT Caraun Reid DT Jermelle Cudjo DT Roy Philon LB DeAndre Levy LB Stephen Tulloch LB Tahir Whitehead LB Josh Bynes LB Kyle Van Noy LB Travis Lewis LB Julian Stanford LB Brandon Copeland LB Jerrell Harris LB Kevin Snyder |
CB Darius Slay CB Rashean Mathis CB Alex Carter CB Nevin Lawson CB Quandre Diggs CB Josh Wilson CB Chris Owens CB Mohammed Seisay CB Crezdon Butler S Glover Quin S James Ihedigbo S Isa Abdul-Quddus S Don Carey S Nate Ness S Isaiah Johnson S Brian Suite S Taylor Mays K Matt Prater K Kyle Brindza P Sam Martin LS Don Muhlbach |
The main question marks I had on offense were at running back, wide receiver and offensive tackle. At running back, for example, should I keep George Winn or an intriguing undrafted player like Zach Zenner? Ultimately, I went with Winn because of his proven abilities on special teams.
At wide receiver, meanwhile, it was tough to leave Ryan Broyles and TJ Jones on the outside looking in, but this once again comes back to special teams. I do expect Jeremy Ross to slip down the depth chart at receiver, but his ability to contribute on special teams both as a returner and a cover guy just gives him more value than Broyles and Jones for now. I personally would rather see Broyles or Jones stick around than Ross, but I put this prediction together based on how the Lions seemingly view these players.
Moving on to offensive tackle, the biggest question mark is LaAdrian Waddle's health. There's a lot of speculation that he will start the regular season on the PUP list, but I don't expect the Lions to make that move since it would automatically keep him out for the first chunk of the season. He may not be ready Week 1, but I can't imagine he will be out for the first month and a half of the season. As a result, I kept Waddle on the 53-man roster, leaving a tough call between Corey Robinson and Michael Williams for the final spot at tackle. Perhaps both players could make the team as extra insurance even if Waddle isn't on the PUP list, but keeping Torrian Wilson at guard means there's only room for one. This is a coin flip type of decision right now and one that will really be decided by how they play in the preseason, so let's just go with Robinson for the time being.
On the defensive side of the ball, things are a bit more straightforward at most positions. The top five at defensive end and top four at defensive tackle are pretty clear, for example, and the only real question mark at linebacker is about who will perform the best on special teams to win the sixth spot (I decided to go with Travis Lewis). In the secondary, meanwhile, the logjam at cornerback has been cleared up a bit with last week's release of Bill Bentley, so even that position has a pretty clear top six right now.
I suppose the biggest question mark on defense at this point is if the Lions will be able to find room for Corey Wootton on their 53-man roster. They did keep 10 defensive linemen last year, and he could be valuable to have around given that he can play both defensive end and tackle, but I just don't see room for 10 DL based on how the roster is currently constructed.
Of course, as always, a lot can and probably will change once training camp begins and the Lions actually hit the field for the preseason. In the meantime, though, what does your 53-man roster look like right now?