Detroit Lions training camp scrimmage: 5 things to watch

The Detroit Lions training camp moves downtown Detroit and Ford Field Friday evening for their annual scrimmage game. The official Detroit Lions Family Fest will be held at 6 p.m. ET, and should be a nice change of pace for Lions players who have become accustomed to the sunny practice field in Allen Park.

There should be a pretty good group of fans on hand for the evening’s festivities. If you’re coming to Ford Field tonight, here are five things you should be looking for:

1. Will Amani Oruwariye continue to get first-team looks?

One of the most interesting developments from training camp took place on Thursday, when Detroit Lions fifth-round pick Amani Oruwariye began to share first-team reps with Teez Tabor as one of the two starting cornerbacks.

Right now, it appears both are still behind Rashaan Melvin for the CB2 job, but Darius Slay is not expected to play on Friday. That means more snaps for other cornerbacks with the starters. The scrimmage will provide a great opportunity for either Oruwariye or Tabor to prove their talents on a bigger stage than the training camp practice field.

2. Can the top-two rookies keep it up?

Through a week of training camp, both T.J. Hockenson and Jahlani Tavai have looked quite impressive, and it’s clear both will play a significant role this year. But how will they play under the lights?

Hockenson has caught just about everything thrown in his direction at camp, and Tavai has flashed both as a pass rusher and in coverage. With an increased intensity at Friday’s practice, the two will face their first real “pressure” situation in the NFL.

3. Offensive line mixing up

Throughout training camp, the team has pretty much rotated between two offensive line setups with the first-team offense:

Lineup 1: Taylor Decker, Kenny Wiggins, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow and Rick Wagner
Lineup 2: Taylor Decker, Joe Dahl, Frank Ragnow, Oday Aboushi, Rick Wagner

It certainly feels like Lineup 1 has the true starters, but how the Lions utilize their players during the scrimmage should be a good indication where the players currently stand.

4. Who will emerge from the receiving corps?

At this point, there is no smart money on who the Lions will keep beyond Marvin Jones Jr., Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola among their receiving corps. There has been little consistency among the likes of Jermaine Kearse, Brandon Powell, Travis Fulgham, Chris Lacy, Andy Jones, and others.

Friday night will present a great opportunity for those players to shine. Who will rise to the occasion?

5. Will any UDFA make an impact?

It’s been a very disappointing camp for the Lions’ undrafted rookies. Every year, there seems to be one camp darling, but we haven’t really identified one yet. The closest to fitting this bill is former UTSA defensive tackle Kevin Strong (#62 in your playbook). Strong has made a few plays in camp with the additional opportunities given by the absences of Damon Harrison Sr., A’Shawn Robinson, Da’Shawn Hand and others.

How about Ryan Pope? What about Beau Benzschawel or Anthony Pittman? Those players came in with a fair amount of promise, but have only really made an impression in all of the bad ways. Will anyone turn it around on Friday night?

Bonus: Stay healthy

Just because I know there will be at least 10 comments between here and social media that say “I just want everyone to come out healthy,” I want to say that I, too, am hoping for no injuries.