Detroit Lions Notes

Lions notes: Offensive and defensive breakout candidates for 2017

Who could be in for breakout seasons in 2017?

By Jeremy Reisman@DetroitOnLion Jun 21, 2017, 2:00pm EDT

Detroit Lions v Indianapolis Colts

Nate Atkins of MLive.com believes that Ameer Abdullah is a breakout offensive candidate for 2017 because of the great production he had in limited carries last year. He also believes Miles Killebrew is a defensive breakout candidate.

You may have thought Sam Martin and former Lions tight end Joseph Fauria had a strong friendship, but Martin took things to a new level with fellow special teamer Matt Prater this week. The two traveled together to the dentist to get their wisdom teeth removed:

Next level special-teams chemistry: Getting your wisdom teeth out together @SamMartin_6 @MattPrater_5 pic.twitter.com/6AGipVal1D
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) June 20, 2017

The Lions made a lot of changes with their secondary this offseason, but the improvement all remains hypothetical:

Did you know?
In his #Lions career,Darius Slay has more career interceptions than every other CB on the Lions roster combined? With only 6.
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) June 21, 2017

Former Lions Cliff Avril and Stephen Tulloch joined a group of other NFL athletes to help build 12 homes and three new schools in Haiti.

Kyle Meinke has a great breakdown of how each Lions rookie performed during OTAs and mandatory minicamp.

Jared Abbrederis missed the last two days of minicamp last week, and now it appears we know why. Congrats to Jared and his family!

So blessed to say Kenzie now has a little sister! Blakely Rae joined the family today, and both her and mom are doing great! She made us wait a week, but it's well worth it! Love having another little daddy's girl!!! God is good!

A post shared by Jared Abbrederis (@abbrecadabra) on Jun 20, 2017 at 6:46pm PDT

MMQB’s Andy Benoit has a fascinating story about former NFL running back Joe Don Looney, who once told Lions head coach Harry Gilmer, “If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union.”

Elsewhere in the NFL, former Jets linebacker David Harris has agreed to a two-year deal with the New England Patriots.

Former Lions defensive end Devin Taylor, who started every game for Detroit last year, only received a minimum salary deal with the Giants when he signed with them back in May:

Giants signed DE Devin Taylor to a minimum salary deal several weeks back. It only includes $40K gtd. Can be "great signing" per source
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) June 21, 2017