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The Detroit Lions kicked off their season this Monday with Organized Team Activities. It was our first look at the full 2019 team practicing together in full 7-on-7, 9-on-9 and 11-on-11 drills.
Well, at least it would have been had the practice been opened to the beat writers. (Don’t worry, Tuesday’s practice is open to the media, and Pride of Detroit will be there).
That being said, the team did offer a one-minute highlight package of Monday’s practice. We already know from the photo gallery that Detroit played around with their offensive line positions, but what can we pull from the highlights? Let’s take a look:
The rookies and the vets working.#OnePride pic.twitter.com/F6Twm5rrAZ
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) May 21, 2019
The first thing that jumps out to me is the two big plays from the Lions’ young secondary. First, Teez Tabor grabs a nice interception, and that is shortly followed by a nice pass breakup from Tracy Walker.
Both of those are good to see for very different reasons. For Tabor, it’s a tiny, tiny sign of improvement for a player that will be fighting for a roster spot. One interception in May isn’t enough to draw any real conclusions, but if Tabor starts stringing those kind of plays together, he could surprise people in 2019.
As for Walker, the second-year safety is very likely to become a starter after having just a very small defensive role last year. Though his rookie year was minimal in playing time, when he was on the field his play was very promising. This short highlight is only going to increase the hype surrounding him.
The rest of the highlight reel is littered with fairly insignificant plays, though it was clear Detroit wanted to show off first-round pick T.J. Hockenson:
There's a new target in town for #️⃣9️⃣! @TheeHOCK8 pic.twitter.com/91Uj9Z8mjJ
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) May 20, 2019
(That Stafford spiral, though)
Hockenson also made a bobbling catch at the back of the end zone to finish off the highlight reel, but the defensive back is holding up his hands like he wasn’t supposed to touch the ball on the play.
Obviously, it’s impossible to draw any real conclusions from such a short video and highlights with no context. We’ll get a clearer view of everything on Tuesday when the media is covering Day 2 of OTAs.