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It was clear after Thursday’s preseason performance, the Lions need a littttttttttttttttle bitta depth improvement.
Reserves on both the Lions and the New England Patriots took the field to battle it out for positions and roster spots last week during the first preseason game. Things got a little rough in the Lions 31-3 loss, exposing some weaknesses in a few key areas.
The Patriots are known for scouting for talent during joint practices with other teams, so it’s not that surprising that the Lions began doing it too. Last year, they signed defensive end Romeo Okwara off waivers after seeing what he’s made of during joint practices with the New York Giants.
So, The Detroit News’ Justin Rogers took a look at seven Patriots who could potentially help the Lions roster. Read that first, then check out some clips I found of some of his choices.
1. Wide receiver Dontrelle Inman
Dontrelle Inman tape: blaze out, might be post/corner. CB is playing off w/inside leverage so Inman runs at the CBs outside shoulder forcing him to open towards the sideline. Inman takes two steps to sell inside break then breaks out and the CB falls down. Dirty. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/KFg1bOgQRf
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) May 14, 2019
2. Offensive tackle Tyree St. Louis
El set de pase de RT Tyree St. Louis es muy prometedor. Buena reacción al snap, rápido kick step, muy amplio, le permite ganar mucha profundidad contra speed rush. No tiene slide pulido, pero trabaja con base amplia y es paciente en el punch. Ojo a Tyree!pic.twitter.com/gnuriHuPDn
— NE Patriots Hispano (@catanovski) August 11, 2019
The Spanish is roughly translated (I know very little Spanish, much to my own annoyance) to: “The RT Tyree St. Louis pass set is very promising. Good reaction to the snap, fast kick step, very wide, allows you to gain a lot of depth against speed rush. He has no polished slide, but works with a broad base and is patient in the punch. Eye to Tyree!”
3. Linebacker Elandon Roberts
And another. Elandon Roberts smoked Melvin Gordon at the goal line. pic.twitter.com/CZrP2nHCzi
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) January 14, 2019
For the rest of Rogers’ list head to his article on The Detroit News
And with that, onto the rest of your notes.
- While we’re on the subject of the Lions-Patriots relationship, which is pretty much always, Yahoo Sports senior NFL writer Terez Paylor spoke with Bob Quinn in his recent piece, “Lions rookie doesn’t have to be Rob Gronkowski clone to justify high draft selection.”
- Both Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press and Justin Rogers featured wide receiver Chris Lacy. Spending most of last season on the practice squad, he received some pretty high praise from Darius Slay, including: “He made me a better player.”
- The Lions select safety Grant Delpit from Louisiana State University in Michael Renner of Pro Football Focus’ 2020 mock draft.
The #Lions select LSU Safety Grant Delpit in @PFF_Mike’s first preseason mock draft
— PFF DET Lions (@PFF_Lions) August 12, 2019
What do you think of adding some talented versatility to the secondary? https://t.co/fAa2VSlvWA
- Dave Birkett with what he calls an unpopular opinion, that Kenny Wiggins and Joe Dahl, competing for the starting left guard spot, played relatively well in the Lions preseason debut.
- For anyone who doesn’t feel like thinking about last Thursday, the folks over at the Freep decided to rank the top 100 Lions players of all time.
- Speaking of legends, 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Gil Brandt visited Saturday’s practice. File that under things I like to see on my feed.
2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) inductee Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) took in today's @Lions practice.
— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) August 10, 2019
Pictured here with Lions Team President Rod Wood (@RodWood_Lions), Brandt revolutionized the @NFL's system of scouting and evaluating personnel. pic.twitter.com/vfmdP4MKTw
Big thanks to the Detroit Lions and GM Bob Quinn for the personalized jersey and warm welcome. Looking forward to our Lions Training Camp show on @siriusxmnflradio Sunday from noon to 3 ET. pic.twitter.com/bbACmSxoOC
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) August 10, 2019
- The Lions launched “Touchdown in Your Town,” surprising five high schools across Michigan with a $10,000 grant for their football program. (We had a feature on this back in June)
- Also Kerryon Johnson got this incredible tweet. I emphatically stan this young genius.
@AyeyoKEJO My kid @haille11 found this while cleaning her room today. #SpreadingTheChickFilAGospel pic.twitter.com/4HKwxOfDIv
— Kane Bell (@kanebell11) August 10, 2019