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When we last checked in on Bubble Watch, Kenny Golladay hadn’t taken the NFL by storm, Greg Robinson hadn’t established himself as the clear No. 1 left tackle and the Detroit Lions could still sport more than one healthy defensive end.
So as to say, a lot has changed in a week. To see how drastically the positional battles have moved in the past week, we got the Pride of Detroit cast back together to give their opinions on who’s in and who’s out on the Lions’ roster bubble.
Offense
| POD Staffer | QB Jake Rudock | QB Brad Kaaya | RB Dwayne Washington | RB Matt Asiata | WR Jace Billingsley | WR TJ Jones | WR Jared Abbrederis | WR Keshawn Martin | TE Cole Wick | TE Tim Wright | T Storm Norton | OT Cornelius Lucas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POD Staffer | QB Jake Rudock | QB Brad Kaaya | RB Dwayne Washington | RB Matt Asiata | WR Jace Billingsley | WR TJ Jones | WR Jared Abbrederis | WR Keshawn Martin | TE Cole Wick | TE Tim Wright | T Storm Norton | OT Cornelius Lucas |
| Jeremy Reisman | In | Out | In | Out | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | In | Out |
| Alex Reno | In | Out | In | Out | Out | In | Out | Out | In | Out | Out | In |
| Kent Lee Platte | In | Out | In, just get him off returns | Out | In | In | Out | Out | Out | In | Out | In |
| Chris Lemieux | In | Out | Out | In | Out | In | Out | Out | In | Out | Out | In |
| Justin Simon | In | Out | In | Out | Out | In | Out | Out | Out | In | Out | In |
| Mike Payton | In | Out | Out | Out | Out | In | Out | Out | Out | In | In | Out |
| Andrew Kato | In | Out | Out | Out | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | In | Out |
| Ryan Mathews | In | Out | In | Out | Out | In | Out | Out | Out | In | Out | In |
| Kyle Yost | In | Out | In | Out | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | In | Out |
| Change | 0 | 0 | 2 | -5 | -1 | 1 | 3 | -2 | -1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
There were a lot of changes to the Lions’ skill positions after the first preseason game. While Brad Kaaya did nothing to garner faith from our staff, Dwayne Washington sure did. He finished with the most rushing yards in Sunday’s match-up against the Colts and was the first-string kick returner.
As a result, faith in Matt Asiata is plummeting. At this point, it looks like he’s taking a similar path to 2016 Stevan Ridley. His five rushes for six yards is not going to cut it.
At wide receiver, we saw a similar amount of movement. Our staff is almost unanimously out on both Jace Billingsley and Keshawn Martin, while faith in Jared Abbrederis is rising. At this point, it looks like TJ Jones is untouchable, but Wednesday’s development that Kenny Golladay took over first-team reps at practice could affect next week’s Bubble Watch.
Defense
| POD Staffer | DE Alex Barrett | DE Pat O'Connor | DT Khyri Thornton | DT/DE Jeremiah Ledbetter | CB DJ Hayden | CB Johnson Bademosi | CB Quandre Diggs | CB Jamal Agnew | S Don Carey | S Alex Carter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POD Staffer | DE Alex Barrett | DE Pat O'Connor | DT Khyri Thornton | DT/DE Jeremiah Ledbetter | CB DJ Hayden | CB Johnson Bademosi | CB Quandre Diggs | CB Jamal Agnew | S Don Carey | S Alex Carter |
| Jeremy Reisman | In | In | Out | In | In | In | Out | In | Out | In |
| Alex Reno | In | In | Out | In | In | In | Out | In | Out | In |
| Kent Lee Platte | In | In | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | Out | In |
| Chris Lemieux | In | In | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | Out | In |
| Justin Simon | In | Out | Out | In | In | Out | In | In | In | In |
| Mike Payton | In | In | Out | In | In | In | Out | In | In | In |
| Andrew Kato | In | In | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | In | In |
| Ryan Mathews | In | In | In | In | In | In | Out | In | In | Out |
| Kyle Yost | In | In | Out | In | In | Out | Out | In | Out | In |
| Change | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
New to Bubble Watch this week: DE Alex Barrett (on the rise), DE Pat O’Connor (on the rise
Off the Bubble: DE/LB Brandon Copeland (waived), DE Jeremiah Valoaga (unanimous “in”)
We added two new defensive lineman to this week’s Bubble Watch: rookies Alex Barrett and Pat O’Connor. Both were presumed Outs last week, but with the injuries to Kerry Hyder and Brandon Copeland, both are now near-unanimous Ins. That goes to show you just how quickly roster spots can change.
That being said, expectations haven’t changed much in the secondary. Quandre Diggs didn’t do anything in the preseason to gain faith over D.J. Hayden, who had at least one impressive play against the Colts. Pride of Detroit continues to be split about the future of veteran special teamer Don Carey, while Alex Carter still has a lot of believers.