Detroit Lions bubble watch: Big shifts in DL, DB roster predictions

The opening preseason game is always a good display of how the Detroit Lions view the hierarchy of their own players. Which players rest, who is in the first half, and who is still in there during the final quarter are all very telling signs of where those players’ roster chances currently stand.

Injuries are also the ultimate equalizer. You can make as many plays as humanly possible during camp, but if you’re not healthy enough to stay on the field, it’ll be hard for a coaching staff to trust you.

So with the Giants preseason opener behind us, and a few new injuries to the Lions defense, let’s update our predictions for the roster bubble players on that side of the ball.

It’s Bubble Watch, Week 4—defense edition.

Edge defenders

• Presumed in: Aidan Hutchinson, Josh Paschal, Marcus Davenport (NEW)
• James Houston: 11 votes (no change)
• Mathieu Betts: 0 votes (down 2)
• Mitchell Agude: 0 votes (down 1)
• NEW TO BUBBLE WATCH: Isaac Ukwu: 7 votes

A couple of big changes here. For one, I’ve moved Marcus Davenport into the “presumed in” category. He’s been a starter for all of camp, and he got starter treatment in the preseason game by resting. Assuming he stays healthy, he’s headed for a starter role.

I’ve also added Isaac Ukwu to the bubble after a strong preseason performance. Coach Dan Campbell gave him some praise in his postgame presser, and given that some of his competition (Nate Lynn, James Houston) are dealing with injuries, he’s worked his way into serious consideration.

Betts only played seven snaps in the preseason opener, as the Lions continue to scale back his work—never a good sign.

Defensive tackle

• Presumed in: Alim McNeill, Brodric Martin
• Mekhi Wingo: 11 votes (no change)
• Levi Onwuzurike: 11 votes (no change)
• Kyle Peko: 10 (up 8)
• NEW TO BUBBLE WATCH: DJ Reader: 5 votes
• Chris Smith: 0 votes (no change)

Levi Onwuzurike and Mekhi Wingo are nearing “presumed in” territory, and probably should be there already. But this week, I decided to bring DJ Reader down to the roster bubble. He’s obviously not getting cut, but Reader remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list. While his goal is to get off of it by the start of the regular season, it may be best for the Lions to keep him there, let Reader get those extra four games off to fully heal, and sneak someone else on the roster in his place.

Also helping the case of keeping Reader on the PUP is the strong play of veteran nose tackle Kyle Peko. He continues to rep with the first-team defense, and his profile fits the strong run defender Detroit has always preferred in that spot. Brodric Martin is also starting to come along.

Linebackers

• Presumed in: Alex Anzalone, Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Jalen Reeves-Maybin
• NEW TO BUBBLE WATCH: Malik Jefferson: 1 vote
• Ben Niemann: 1 votes (up 1)
• DaRon Gilbert: 0 votes (no change)

Our staff is still hesitant to add a sixth linebacker to the 53-man roster, but the recent emergence of Malik Jefferson has caught our eye enough to put him on the bubble. Jefferson got a shout out from Campbell after the preseason opener, but he’s currently dealing with a minor injury.

Niemann also gets a bit of a bump after an up-and-down preseason. But starting the game as the team’s MIKE linebacker means they trust him with quarterbacking the defense—a notable distinction.

Cornerbacks

• Presumed in: Carlton Davis, Terrion Arnold, Amik Robertson, Ennis Rakestraw
• OFF OF BUBBLE WATCH: Emmanuel Moseley (torn pectoral)
• Khalil Dorsey: 11 votes (no change))
• Kindle Vildor: 1 votes (no change)
• Steven Gilmore: 0 votes (no change)

*** NOTE: THESE PREDICTIONS WERE MADE BEFORE THE INJURIES ON MONDAY NIGHT ***

We’ll wait and see how serious the injuries to Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw are, but for the sake of respecting these predictions made over the weekend, let’s just assume they’re fine.

Interestingly, the loss of Moseley long-term did not impact our predictions on the other two bubble cornerbacks. Obviously, both Vildor and Gilmore have a better shot if Arnold and/or Rakestraw are out for an extended period of time (Vildor was repping with the first team by the end of Monday’s practice). However, it was the safety group that saw a bump in votes in the wake of Moseley’s injury, likely due to several safeties being able to play the nickelback position.

Safety

• Presumed in: Kerby Joseph, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Brian Branch
• Brandon Joseph: 11 votes (up 8)
• C.J. Moore: 10 votes (up 2)
• Morice Norris: 1 votes (up 1)

Joseph gets a whopping eight vote jump this week. He’s been getting more important reps on special teams, and he’s been improving as a playmaker on defense. He’s tallied interceptions on three consecutives days of action, and Campbell was impressed by his improvement in the running game.

“B-Jo, I thought he really showed up,” Campbell said of the preseason game. “What’s really encouraging—you talk about going into the game, alright, here’s where you’ve got to be better, whoever that player is, and to see those players do what we were asking them to do. B-Jo, man, we need you to be more physical down in the box, you’ve got to play bigger when it comes time. And he did that, and he came away with the takeaway. He showed up, and I thought he tried to do that on special teams. That was encouraging.”

Moore continues to play vital roles on special teams, and even Morice Norris garnered a vote from me—the sixth safety I am keeping. That’s admittedly a very high number, but with Norris, Branch, and Melifonwu all capable of playing some cornerback, that could be a path the Lions take, particularly with the new set of injuries in the defensive backfield.

Kicker

• Jake Bates: 10 votes (up 4)

The Lions still have not added competition at the kicker spot, showing a level of trust in Bates despite a poor performance in last week’s scrimmage. Bates has responded well, nailing a 53-yard field goal in the rain, nailing a 64-yard kick in camp to end Sunday’s practice, and going perfect in situational kicks/special teams drills on Monday.

Long snapper

• Scott Daly: 6 votes (down 4)
• Hogan Hatten: 5 vote (up 4)

Hatten got a longer look in the preseason than Daly, and Campbell admitted that they are intrigued by his athleticism—which helped get him in on the tackle of the team’s first punt on Thursday and also got him some playing time at linebacker.

“One of the reasons we wanted to bring Hogan in was, he was intriguing in his coverage ability,” Campbell said. “He did play linebacker in college. So, he runs pretty good, and he kind of has an awareness on the football. You saw he played some defensive snaps for us, a couple.”

But in order to beat out Daly, he’s got to prove he can deliver consistently accurate snaps in big-time moments.

“Daly has been able to snap consistently and under pressure, big games, different looks, handling the protection and the snap,” Campbell said. “So, that’s the next step for (Hatten). He has to be able to prove that he can do that with a rush on him and games on the line. Some of these hard situations are what we have to try to put him in. It is a real competition right now.”