Monday open thread: Who will be the Lions’ starting nickelback Week 1?

Training camp is always exciting just to be one step closer to real football. It’s also just refreshing seeing your favorite team suit up with the pads and go at each other for the first time in the 2017 season.

But at the heart of every training camp are the positional battles. Players are not only fighting for playing time during the season, but plenty of them are simply fighting for a job. Detroit currently employs 90 players. By the time the regular season rolls around, that number is going to be cut to 63 (53 on the active roster, 10 on the practice squad).

One of the most heated battles will be for the nickel cornerback position. We’ll have more in-depth breakdowns of each position battle when we’re closer to training camp, but for now I want to see what fans currently think.

Today’s Question of the Day is:

Who will be the Detroit Lions’ starting nickelback on Week 1?

My answer: DJ Hayden. The Lions paid an awful lot for DJ Hayden—$3.75 million, to be exact. Of that money, $2.25 million is guaranteed. In other words, the Lions signed Hayden thinking he would play a pretty significant role in his one year with Detroit.

He’ll have to show a lot of improvement over past years and, most importantly, the ability to stay healthy. Hayden has suffered a hamstring, groin and foot injury in his four years in the league that all caused him to miss significant time.

But the hope is that the former first-round pick can maintain his health and build upon a few mediocre years in Oakland. At this point in time he’s still behind Quandre Diggs on the depth chart, but I believe he’ll work his way into the starting job before the preseason is over.

Your turn.