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Detroit Lions Training Camp 2019 Day 2 Stock Report

Two days of camp in the books, so we’re going to keep the reports rolling.

NFL: Detroit Lions-Training Camp Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Day two of camp is in the books (day one, if, for some reason, you’re counting only days I was present) so it’s time to take stock of the team and see where players are moving. As always, there’s no middle ground, we’re only going to have guys going up or down and not going halfsies if they only meet expectations instead of exceeding them or failing them.

Since this is training camp, we’re only going to do quick hits. I might add a longer write up if it’s necessary as we go, but those big write ups are for regular season only. Ground rules in place, let’s jump back in!

Stock Up

Tom Savage, QB: Savage didn’t look great, but after the past couple of seasons watching backups ,he might have looked the best out of a generally poor group (backup QBs). Has the best arm of any non-Stafford QB since 2009.

Matt Prater, K: Prater still knocks it through narrow posts like it’s his favorite past time instead of just his job.

Sam Martin, P: Martin looked fine. Not all these updates are going to be groundbreaking.

Matthew Stafford, QB: Stafford always looks good in camp and he still does.

Andy Jones, WR: Jones looked pretty decent in red zone drills and continues to rep with first and second team. Looks to be battling with Jermaine Kearse for snaps.

Kenny Golladay, WR: Golladay had the most targets of any WR by a decent margin and looks like he’ll build on his strong 2018.

Darius Slay, CB: He didn’t practice, but his absence was felt with the WR, specifically Kenny Golladay, getting to play against lesser coverage talents.

Andrew Adams, FS: Adams repped mostly with the second and third teams, but he was impressive with the reps he got, I felt.

C.J. Anderson, RB: Anderson looked fine, if unexciting. RB can’t really get hit or tackled, so they are tougher to read this early in camp since they get a free ride through the defenses.

Justin Coleman, CB: Coleman looked sticky in coverage, except for one time he had to cover Kenny Golladay. If my calculations are correct, Golladay is approximately seven feet taller than Coleman, so it wasn’t really fair.

Quandre Diggs, DB: Diggs had one of the best pass breakups of the day on Brandon Powell. Diggs just had a child, and he was still back at work making life difficult for receivers.

Teez Tabor, CB: Tabor was up and down all day, but I would say he ended the day with a few more positives than negatives. He struggled covering Golladay, but he did a lot better when he wasn’t facing the team’s best receiver.

Tavon Wilson, SS: I was tempted to put Wilson below, since his reps don’t look like someone who’s threatening to see a 46-man game day roster, but he looked good enough with second team that I think he deserves a nod for keeping it up.

Kerryon Johnson, RB: Johnson looked good, but as mentioned with Anderson this is a tough position to read this early in camp due to contact rules.

Ty Johnson, RB: Johnson looked good in the reps I saw. They had him running behind Nick Bawden a couple times and that could be an interesting wrinkle due to Johnson’s speed and Bawden’s ability to make holes.

Jarrad Davis, LB: Davis looked fantastic on the day, even in coverage. LB can’t tackle yet, which means they can’t miss tackles yet, so he’s still got a lot to prove.

Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB: JRM has been repping with second team, but with Devon Kennard out and Christian Jones later joining him he was able to see the field more. Looked good in what I could catch.

Charles Washington, SS: Washington caught a deflected pass for one of the day’s only interceptions. He isn’t repping very high, but a heads up play like that can only be positive for the special teamer.

Nick Bawden, FB: If I were doing full write ups, Bawden would be one of them. He was awesome in practice and not only as a blocker. Despite the tight ends getting all the press, Bawden had the most impressive catch of the whole day, hauling in an underneath pass with two defenders draped over him and both trying to knock the ball out of his hands.

Amani Oruwariye, CB: Oruwariye struggled early on and I was worried I’d be eating my eval of him on the first day. He settled in as camp rolled on, however, and he nearly came down with an interception twice, dropping the ball each time. That’s not great, but being in position to make a play is half the battle.

Tracy Walker, FS: Walker was impressive in his role at safety and early signs are that the Lions are in good hands after Glover Quin’s retirement.

Don Muhlbach, LS/OC?/Yelling Dude?: Muhlbach is the team’s long snapper, but he also did some work with Matthew Stafford and the guys and I don’t really get why. He also yelled, like a lot, during these drills. It was a lot of fun.

C.J. Moore, FS: Moore is a relative unknown, but he had a pretty strong day of practice and was the one who broke up the pass that Charles Washington intercepted. I would go so far to say it was the best pass break up of the day that wasn’t itself an interception.

Jahlani Tavai, LB: Tavai played every linebacker spot and repped all day with the ones. Due to injuries to Kennard and Jones, it’s tough to say how much of this was just depth but it’s always a good sign to get starter reps in camp. Tavai looked pretty good with the reps he got, though he was beaten twice in the end zone covering T.J. Hockenson. Neither were poor coverage, though the second one wasn’t very tight either (the first was just a perfect pass, Hockenson adjusted to the second one easily because he had room to).

Garret Dooley, LB: Surprise of the day was Garret Dooley repping with the first team. It started in red zone drills and carried over when Christian Jones left with injury. More notable? He looked good in both instances. I’m going to be watching a lot more closely, now.

Graham Glasgow, OG: I didn’t pay close attention to the OL, but Glasgow didn’t rep anywhere but with the starters.

Tyrell Crosby, OT: When the team split their offensive units, Crosby remained with the first team, solidifying his spot as the primary tackle reserve.

Joe Dahl, OG: Like Crosby, Dahl left with the first team when the units split, meaning not only is he the primary reserve interior OL, like we expected, but that he’s probably ahead of free agent Oday Aboushi.

Matt Nelson, OT: Nelson unsurprisingly repped solely with the second and third groups, as he’s almost certainly a practice squad target. He’s a big ‘un.

Taylor Decker, OT: Decker remains the team’s starting left tackle.

Rick Wagner, OT: Wagner remains the team’s starting right tackle.

Ryan Pope, OT: It occurred to me that Pope and Matt Nelson may be fighting for the same practice squad spot, but Pope still has the best shot to make the roster based on where he’s repping and what he was paid.

Leo Koloamatangi, OC: Koloamatangi didn’t do anything of note that I saw, but he was spending a ton of extra time with coaches between team reps and after practice. Could this be the year he makes the roster out of camp?

Frank Ragnow, OC: Ragnow remains the team’s starting center.

Andrew Donnal, OT: In the very little bit of time I spent watching the offensive lines, I came away impressed with Donnal. It was against later roster guys, but he looked comfortable as a pass blocker.

Kenny Wiggins, OG: Wiggins appears to have, at least for now, won the starting left guard position.

Danny Amendola, WR: Amendola looked fine in the reps he got. Very clearly expecting a role in the offense and the team looks to be obliging.

Logan Thomas, TE: Thomas was the best player on the day. Yes, T.J. Hockenson was also awesome, but Thomas was straight clowning those attempting to cover him. He caught so many touchdowns I lost count and it didn’t seem to matter who was covering him. Thomas continues to play like he is, he’ll be hard to keep targets away from.

T.J. Hockenson, TE: Hockenson looked every bit the elite talent his billing and draft status suggests. Caught nearly everything coming his way, never dropped a pass, and came down with loads of touchdowns.

Trey Flowers, DE: Flowers is still the starting end, but on PUP.

Da’Shawn Hand, DL: One of the only line plays I watched today featured Da’Shawn Hand tossing an offensive lineman to the side as casually as a smoker throws his used butt to the pavement.

Austin Bryant, LB: I didn’t see much out of Bryant in terms of play, but he was on the field working and that’s a great sign considering he came onto the roster with injury.

Romeo Okwara, DE: Okwara is still a part of the defense, I’m sure.

John Atkins, NT: Atkins took over nose tackle duties in Snacks’ absence. Repping with first team is always a good thing for a second-year player.

Stock Down

Jonathan Duhart, WR: Duhart repped pretty low on the depth chart and did very little to stand out. Still a practice squad candidate.

Ryan Santoso, K/P: Santoso looked alright. He didn’t do anything that would make you think he could unseat either special teams starter, however.

David Fales, QB: If I had to re-do our 90 man roster rankings, I would put David Fales at 90. I spent the day with a friend (The Respected Madman on Twitter) who said that Fales spends too long waiting for the route to be open rather than anticipating it becoming open and getting the ball there. Was true every time he dropped back.

Brandon Powell, WR: Powell had the worst drop of the day on a perfectly placed Matthew Stafford pass down the sidelines. He would later get a pass knocked out of his hands by Quandre Diggs on the same drive.

Marvin Jones, WR: Jones looked fine, though he wasn’t targeted very often. I think he’s going to take the biggest hit from the tight ends taking a bulk of targets.

Brandon Reilly, WR: Reilly didn’t do anything to stand out and I kept having to peek at who 13 was because his play was so forgettable.

Tommylee Lewis, WR: Any time you’re off the field and not high on the depth chart, you’re just losing time and reps to younger players with more perceived upside.

Chris Lacy, WR: Lacy has been talked up quite a bit, and while he had one nice catch on the far side of the field (that may have been out of bounds, but looked pretty), he was mostly invisible most of the day.

Deontez Alexander, WR: Alexander was hesitant on his routes and looked hesitant catching the football. Looks like a long road to make the practice squad and a longer one to the roster.

Jermaine Kearse, WR: Kearse looked pretty rough running routes, which was surprising since I had thought that was a strength in Seattle. Of the veterans expected to make the roster, he was the least impressive today.

Marcus Cooper, CB: Cooper left practice due to an unknown injury or issue, leaving with trainers mid-practice.

Theo Riddick, RB: Riddick repped exclusively with the second team and unlike years prior, there were few if any specific plays designed for him run in team drills.

Rashaan Melvin, CB: Melvin had one of the only picks of the day where he undercut an underthrown pass and brought it in. On the whole, however, I came away unimpressed aside from that one play. CB2 is a position to watch as camp progresses, and early returns aren’t looking so hot.

Dee Virgin, CB: I spent all day watching skill players and I never saw Virgin once. If he’s not hurt, that’s not a great sign.

Zach Zenner, RB: Zenner split reps with Ty Johnson and Mark Thompson at the bottom of the depth chart. There was little indication the team thinks more highly of him than last season.

Miles Killebrew, SS: Killebrew was a ghost on the day, and the only time I saw him was between reps. Not great to see so few reps.

Andre Chachere, CB: Chachere didn’t do much of note and what little he did was negative (if not bad enough to be noteworthy).

Mike Ford, CB: Ford is repping at the bottom of the depth chart. While he looked alright when I saw him it was always against the very bottom WRs on the roster.

Jamal Agnew, CB: Agnew repped with second and third team almost exclusively, and the only time I saw him on first team was covering Nick Bawden split out wide. He looked alright, but there was no indication he was going to get any reps on defense against more quality opponents.

Devon Kennard, LB: Kennard was absent, missing valuable time on the field.

Will Harris, SS: Despite being one of the five rookies I came into the day specifically hoping to watch, I never saw Harris on the field. This generally means a guy didn’t do anything to stand out, which can be viewed as a positive if you squint a bit.

Mark Thompson, RB: Thompson didn’t do a lot to stand out.

Christian Jones, LB: Jones didn’t lose snaps to Jahlani Tavai, they were often on the field together, but he would later leave with the trainers so that could change quickly.

Malik Carney, LB: I didn’t see much out of Carney that made me think he could challenge for a roster spot and when linebackers were leaving the field it was Garret Dooley who got reps first. (Editor’s note: Carney did not participate in team drills. He spent most of the day with trainers.)

Steve Longa, LB: Longa may still have special teams value, but he wasn’t repping well on defense even when a couple guys went out.

Eric Lee, DE: Lee repped solely with the second and third team, but one rep that really stood out was getting blown up by Andy Jones, a wide receiver he outweighs by over 50 pounds.

Anthony Pittman, LB: Pittman didn’t do much even with the third team he was repping against.

Tre Lamar, LB: I only noticed Lamar twice and both times was him getting stonewalled by a tight end blocking him.

Kevin Strong, NT: I didn’t see much of Strong, but he repped solely with the third team, if he played at all.

Beau Benzschawel, OG: As mentioned, I didn’t watch much of the lines so this isn’t about his play. When the team split into two units, including some backups for each, Benzshawel was with the second group behind Oday Aboushi. If he’s fighting for a spot, he’s behind.

Jonathan Wynn, DL: Wynn remains with second team.

Mitchell Loewen, DE: I thought about putting Loewen higher when I saw he was the first end on the field when second team came out. But while I mentioned I didn’t watch the lines very carefully, the only rep I saw of Loewen he was casually tossed aside by a lineman, so he stays down here.

Luke Bowanko, OL: Bowanko remained with the second and third teams and appears to be the last interior OL on the roster.

Micah St. Andrews, OL: St. Andrews repped with the last group on the roster only.

Oday Aboushi, OG: Aboushi has clearly lost out on the starting job to Kenny Wiggins at the moment and based on reps seems to have also lost out on the primary reserve spot to Joe Dahl. Interestingly, at points during the day Aboushi was repping with the first team at RG while Glasgow moved to 2nd team center. It’s worth noting that Aboushi never repped at LG, only RG.

Jesse James, TE: It’s not that James played poorly or that he repped down the chart. But while T.J. Hockenson and Logan Thomas were getting touchdown after touchdown, catch after catch, James seemed like the odd man out in the passing game.

Travis Fulgham, WR: Fulgham needs a lot of work north of the neckline to become an effective wide receiver, that’s clear. Tools are there, just needs to put in the work. Right now, it’s hard for me to imagine a scenario he sees a day active on game day, and thus makes it hard to imagine him on the final roster.

Tom Kennedy, WR: Kennedy struggled with drops the first day of camp and that carried over into the second.

Jerome Cunningham, TE: Cunningham might be the last tight end on the roster right now, even behind Austin Traylor, who was just signed.

Austin Traylor, TE: Traylor has a hard road to see any kind of consideration for a roster spot, and he did little to challenge that kind of assumption.

Isaac Nauta, TE: Nauta had a nice touchdown catch early in practice in the back of the end zone, but he repped very low on the depth chart and didn’t seem to be used in any kind of creative way that would suggest a larger role.

A’Shawn Robinson, DT: I’m not sure what personal reasons are keeping Robinson off the field, but I hope he gets back soon. Never good to miss time.

P.J. Johnson, NT: When it came time to field a defense that had a nose tackle, it was second-year nose John Atkins and not the rookie seventh rounder. Teams rarely carry more than one nose tackle, and I can’t think of any reason they’d carry a third, so Johnson has his work cut out for him.

Ray Smith, DL: Smith is near the bottom of the roster and reps like it. Long road to even the practice squad.

Darius Kilgo, DT: Kilgo is on the NFI.

Damon Harrison, NT: Harrison, like Slay, missed today while getting back up to speed (likely conditioning). Unlike Slay, I didn’t notice Harrison was gone in the play of the defense. Part of that is simply that the players can’t really hit yet and nobody is going full speed, but it’s still not great for a position that isn’t valued by most teams.

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