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We were all prepared to drop our Week 3 Bubble Watch results Monday afternoon, fresh off the Detroit Lions’ preseason game against the New York Giants. But then the team announced a boatload of moves, including putting Steve Longa on injured reserve and cutting defensive end Cornelius Washington. Both players were on last week’s Bubble Watch, meaning that two more players had to be added to this week’s tracker.
So here’s a look at this week’s updated Bubble Watch:
Week 3 Bubble Watch offense
| Player | Jeremy Reisman | Kent Lee Platte | Justin Simon | Ryan Mathews | Mike Payton | Alex Reno | Chris Perfett | Hamza Baccouche | Mansur Shaheen | John Whiticar | Andrew Kato | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Jeremy Reisman | Kent Lee Platte | Justin Simon | Ryan Mathews | Mike Payton | Alex Reno | Chris Perfett | Hamza Baccouche | Mansur Shaheen | John Whiticar | Andrew Kato | Change |
| QB Jake Rudock | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | -2 |
| QB Matt Cassel | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN (sign a Steelers QB, pls) | IN | 1 |
| RB Ameer Abdullah | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | -2 |
| RB Zach Zenner | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | 1 |
| WR Jace Billinglsey | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | 2 |
| WR Teo Redding | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | -1 |
| WR Brandon Powell | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | N/A |
| TE Hakeem Valles | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | N/A |
| G Kenny Wiggins | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | -5 |
| G Joe Dahl | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN | OUT | IN | N/A |
| G/C Leo Koloamatangi | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | IN | IN | 0 |
| T Corey Robinson | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN | IN | 3 |
| T Brian Mihalik | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | OUT | OUT | -3 |
New to Bubble Watch: Brandon Powell (trending up), Hakeem Valles (trending up), Joe Dahl (trending down)
Biggest winners: Corey Robinson (+3), Jace Billingsley (+2)
Biggest losers: Kenny Wiggins (-5), Brian Mihalik (-3)
There was quite a bit of movement this week on offense as it’s very clear the Pride of Detroit staff wants some changes after Friday’s lackluster performance against the Giants.
Last week, Ameer Abdullah was nearing roster-lock status, but after his two fumbles, he’s firmly back on the bubble. Most of the staff still thinks he’s in, but there is no longer a heavy consensus.
Where there is a pretty heavy consensus is at quarterback. Despite a good statistical performance on Friday, there are no more backers to the Jake Rudock train. Everyone believes Matt Cassel will be the Lions’ 2018 backup, except for Mike Payton, who has other plans for the Lions backup quarterback situation.
Hakeem Valles is new to the bubble, and he already has plenty of supporters. Five of 11 staffers think he’s already in, while six still need to see more.
It’s hard to know exactly why there was so much change among everyone’s opinion on the offensive line, but just general mistrust in these players makes sense after two poor performance. Joe Dahl has fallen into the bubble and already has two PODers in support of someone else. And after struggling in T.J. Lang’s absence, Kenny Wiggins has gone from 100 percent consensus in to split right down the middle.
Week 3 Bubble Watch defense
| Player | Jeremy Reisman | Kent Lee Platte | Justin Simon | Ryan Mathews | Mike Payton | Alex Reno | Chris Perfett | Hamza Baccouche | Mansur Shaheen | John Whiticar | Andrew Kato | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Jeremy Reisman | Kent Lee Platte | Justin Simon | Ryan Mathews | Mike Payton | Alex Reno | Chris Perfett | Hamza Baccouche | Mansur Shaheen | John Whiticar | Andrew Kato | Change |
| DE Jeremiah Valoaga | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | 0 |
| DE Alex Barrett | OUT | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | N/A |
| DT Christian Ringo | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | 0 |
| DT Jeremiah Ledbetter | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | 0 |
| LB Jonathan Freeny | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | OUT | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | -3 |
| LB Chad Meredith | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | 0 |
| LB Freddie Bishop | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | IN | IN | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | N/A |
| LB/S Miles Killebrew | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | 4 |
| S Charles Washington | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | 0 |
| S Rolan Milligan | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | OUT | 0 |
New to Bubble Watch: LB Freddie Bishop, EDGE Alex Barrett
Off the bubble: LB Steve Longa (IR), Cornelius Washington (cut)
Biggest winner: Miles Killebrew (+4)
Biggest loser: Jonathan Freeny (-3)
There was almost no change for the defense in Bubble Watch this week outside of the two major roster moves. Understandably, the POD staff believes the Longa injury has drastically increased Miles Killebrew’s chance to make the roster. He is now a consensus IN after last week’s 7 in, 4 out results.
Oddly, Jonathan Freeny’s odds of making the roster went down after the Longa injury. I admittedly don’t understand this line of thinking, especially since Chad Meredith didn’t garner any votes in his first appearance on the Bubble Watch. Maybe the staffers think Detroit will be in the market for a linebacker, but I still think Freeny’s odds are higher than Killebrew’s at this point, though there should be room for both.
Alex Barrett is a clear beneficiary of Cornelius Washington’s release. Already, eight of 11 staffers think he’s the leading candidate for the job in Washington’s place.