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The Detroit Lions begin mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. The three-day set of practices are the only organized team activities between now and the beginning of training camp toward the end of July.
Whereas the past three weeks of OTAs have offered very little in terms of information about the team, all three days of mandatory minicamp will be open to the media. Hopefully that means we will get more thorough reporting from the local Lions beat—who were only allowed to attend three of 10 OTA practices over the past three weeks. With three straight days of access this week, we’ll hopefully get a better insight into Detroit’s plans for 2017.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Lions player would you like to see make the best impression during mandatory minicamp?
My answer: After last week’s news with Taylor Decker, I’d like to get a little peace of mind regarding Detroit’s left tackle situation. While it’s unlikely Detroit will make a final decision on their starting left tackle for the first month of the season—especially since the Lions will remain practicing in a non-contact capacity—it would be nice to hear either Joe Dahl or Cornelius Lucas excelling in individual and team drills at left tackle.
However, since not much can be taken from left tackle play in non-contact drills, I would really like to see Theo Riddick make strides during mandatory minicamp. Riddick didn’t appear to participate in any team drills during OTAs because of a wrist injury that necessitated surgery late last year. The injury didn’t seem that serious at the time, but it has been six months since Riddick first suffered the injury, and I’d like to see him inch towards full participation before the start of training camp. Riddick has been a big part of the Lions offense over the past three years, and it would be a relief to know that he’ll be ready to go for the start of 2017.
Your turn.