Detroit Lions BIGGEST POSITION BATTLES In OTAs

the Detroit Lions are in the middle of their offseason training and with training camp fastly approaching mini camp fastly approaching they’re going to be a lot of Camp battles there are going to be a lot of battles for positional playing time battles for who gets the football and battles to see which players can step up in the biggest moments for the franchise today we’re going to take a look at some of the most intriguing battles to watch throughout training camp mini camp and the rest of OTAs starting off with in my opinion one of the most intriguing in who is going to be wide receiver to for a majority of the off season it has been placed that Jameson Williams will take over Josh Reynolds role and he will be the second wide receiver in this offense and with 70 targets now vacated from the absence of Josh Reynolds there is certainly more targets to go around but I don’t think that Jameson Williams is necessarily a guarantee to be wide receiver to in this offense obviously there are high expectations for him obviously the ceiling and the big playability are there but if Jameson Williams for one reason or another can’t take that step forward if he can’t become the wide receiver too for the Detroit Lions or isn’t necessarily as impressive as the Lions want him to be or as consistent as the Lions want him to be there is a chance that Donovan peoples Jones ends up taking that wide receiver to spot with Donovan peoples Jones just two years prior to this last season coming off of a near 1,000 yard receiving season I believe had 900 yards with the Cleveland Browns in 2022 there is some solid production there from dpj and there is some proven NFL production and proven NFL quality reps from Donovan peoples Jones that we haven’t seen from Jameson Williams there is contested catchability there is field stretching ability there is bigger size bigger physicality with Donovan peoples Jones and even though I do think they will both see their targets I think they will both get their receptions and I do think they will both play an impact on this field I do think there is a chance that Jameson Williams isn’t the the second wide receiver there is a chance that Don pees Jones is more impressive in the preseason and even though that Jameson Williams is by all accounts having a great OTA having a great off season so far and looking vastly improved from a season to go I just don’t think it is a necessarily a lock that Jameson Williams is the wide receiver too and I don’t think it’s smart to just write off Donovan peoples Jones is a player that at best is wide receiver three in this offense now obviously not every player or not every Target is going to go to these two players or going to go to one player right Jameson Williams is likely not going to see 70 more targets than he did a season ago they’ll probably split it I would say probably Jameson Williams if I had to guess gets about 40 to 50 of those targets whereas Donovan peoples Jones gets somewhere between 20 to 30 of those targets I do think Donovan peoples Jones and Jameson Williams will both have an impact on the offense but I think it’ll be a fun battle to see who Jared G develops chemistry with quicker and who can be a more reliable Target for an offense and a football team that needs to win now now another interesting battle this off season is going to be who plays quarterback two right Carlton Davis is pretty solidly and pretty solidified as cornerback one but there’s a lot of competition for quarterback two and by most people counts it is going to be first round pick terion Arnold a big fast physical Pressman cornerback with great quickness great ball skills and a player that was already very impressive at rookie mini camp but again much like Jameson Williams I wouldn’t count out some of the other players I wouldn’t count out Andis rraw Jr I wouldn’t count out Emanuel Mosley I wouldn’t even count out amek Robertson a player that was the cornerback two last year for the Las Vegas Raiders and hey really productive season for a player that is a little bit UND sized now I would guess if I had to put money on it that it will be terion Arnold but I wouldn’t be surprised if he split a little bit of time with Andis riko Andis riko found a way to get on the football field because he is a second round pick he was the 6 first overall selection a great player at Missouri a season to go and a player that I think the Lions will want to get on the field sooner rather than later and we all know that Dan Campbell and the coaching staff doesn’t give in to players just because of their draft status players don’t just play because they were first round second round or third round picks you have to earn your way on the field and if Andis rraw is a more impressive player in the preseason Andis rraw will play if Emanuel Mosley comes back a little bit early from injury and is more impressive in training camp he is going to play cornerback to and although I think Arnold will be that guy as soon as the preseason starts and I think throughout the preseason and going into the regular season that is the plan I don’t think it is concrete I don’t think it is solidified with with all of the competition still left to be played out now in a very similar vein I think safety three is very much up for grabs in this offense Kirby Joseph and eatu meanu are going to be the starting safeties going into the preseason but is Brian Branch the third safety does Brian Branch kind of make that transition and play more of a safety3 role on top of being a slot cornerback on two safety sets or do they keep Brian branch in the slot like they did last year and do they rely on a guy like CJ Moore does Brandon Joseph take a nice step forward and he become a third safety in this offense or do the Lions go out closer to training camp closer to mandatory mini camp and do they sign a quandre digs do they sign somehow steal a guy like Justin Simmons away from free agency how is this going to play out where the lions are going to have a third safety because last year in the playoffs the Lions played with four safeties on the field they played with Joseph and melon was the Deep safeties with um CJ Gardner Johnson as a third safety and Brian branch on the field at the same time so if they want to open up the Playbook to have those possibilities again that means they’re going to have to rely on one of CJ Moore or Brandon Joseph to be that third safety and I think it’s going to be a really interesting battle as to how they adjust and how they kind of fix that that hole left by CJ Gardner Johnson does Brian Branch go to that third safety and you put Andis rraw in the slot do you put Brian Branch at safety and put another player at the slot does one of the undrafted rookie free agents like Maurice Norris potentially make an impact and play as that third safety I do think that battle will be really interesting and very fun to see and I’m very excited to see how it plays out throughout the preseason as well as the rest of the offseason training now this isn’t really a can’t battle between one player and another player but I am really really interested to see what Sony vaky is able to do for the Detroit Lions because as of rookie mini camp and as of OTAs he seems to have a pretty Universal role within the Detroit L off as a gunner on special teams a returner on kickoffs a running back a receiver a safety he is kind of the Jack of all trades player and I do think it’ll be really interesting to see what role Sony vaki can carve out for the Detroit Lions is he going to return kickoffs is he going to be a gunner on kickoffs is he going to be a punt returner a kick returner a coverage guy a running back a receiver a safety this is a player that can play four five six different roles on a defense or an offense or a special teams and be impactful at each and every one of them so it’ll be really interesting and especially with jir Gibbs missing a little bit of time early in Camp and in OTAs there is going to be a chance for Sony vaky to get some first team Reps for Sony vaky to take some handoffs behind the starting offensive line and I do think we will see a lot of Sony vaky in the preseason and throughout training camp I think it’ll be really really fun to see what kind of role you can carve out with him and what kind of player Sony vaki can become now the last couple of positions we’re going to take a look at as offensive line obviously the starting offensive line is very solidified and last year I believe the Lions kept four players on the interior of the backups right I think they kept three or four backup offensive linemen on top of the five starters so with all of the talent that the Lions have at back up what players are going to make the roster you would assume that that Giovani Manu would make the roster a third as a fourth round pick it would assume that Christian mahogany makes it as a sixth round pick and a player that was projected to go much higher you would expect kobby sdale to make it because he was a fifth round pick a season too and started a couple of games and looked really good you would assume kyote aasa makes the roster after he started the NFC championship game as well as a number of other games for the Lions last year you would expect veteran tackle Dan Skipper to make the roster right as a player that was really good for the Lions a season to go and I would even expect guys like Kingsley eukon the center out of Florida to make the roster as a backup center looking really good in otaa so far and then you have Conor galin a player that was really impressive in the preseason a year ago and gave the Lions some good protection on the exterior last season in the preseason so of the seven players that I just listed five of which I would almost consider guarantees to make the roster four of them are probably going to get cut so I think it’s going to be really interesting to see how the offensive line Looks in the preseason where they play Manu where they play mahogany where they play aasa where they play sorell how Ebu Khan looks how Skipper looks it’ll be really really interesting because as I said I think at Max you keep four backup offensive linemen but between the five of Dan Skipper Colby sdale kyote aasa Christian mahogany and Giovani Manu one of those players is going to get cut and I honestly don’t know which one it is going to be now I think it’s a very similar thing is going to happen for the defensive line obviously you have Aiden Hutchinson elen mcneel DJ reer and Marcus Davenport as your starters but then you get into some of the backups and you get into some of the depth players on this roster and they might be nearly as deep as the offensive line right you have obviously Josh Pascal going into his third season that you expect a pretty big jump out of when Josh Pascal’s been healthy he’s been really impactful on the defensive line doing a lot of the dirty work a lot of the cleanup work from the backside but he’s been really really impressive you have br Martin who is taking a big step forward in year two looks bigger looks more physical looks a lot stronger looks very much more in NFL shape as opposed to last off season when he showed up to rookie mini camp levian musiki was a really good pass rusher for the Lions late in the season last year he was one of their better graded interior pass rushers in the absence of Alim mcneel and he was a really good player from that standpoint you have bets from the CFL who last year in Canada put up 18 sacks as the defensive player of the year in the CFL is he going to put up some good numbers is he going to look like a good Edge rusher James Houston coming off of a major ankle injury from a season to go looked really good in the NFC championship game what is his role going to be in the pass rush maai Wingo the sixth round selection pass rusher from the interior has been impressive early in Camp as well what is his role going to be and then another rookie who’s been really impressive Nate Lynn from William and Mary by all accounts is having really good otaa so far showing off great Ben and an ability to get to the passer so again much like the offensive line I don’t know if every single one of these players makes the roster and if they do they’re all going to be fighting for playing time Pascal will likely make the roster Martin will almost definitely make the roster I think anui is a good chance to make the roster I think Betts has a good chance of making the roster Houston will be back I think Wingo will be back and even though natey may not make the roster I would be surprised if he wasn’t on at least the practice squad this year so I think playing time and I think competition for starting reps is going to be really really interesting to see how the defensive line Looks in the preseason and what players rotate in with those starting FL that we mentioned prior but with all of that being said that is all I have for you guys today those are my biggest Camp battles there’s a lot of competition on this roster a lot of open playing time available despite the lines being one of the most complete rosters in the NFL there is playing time up for grabs and there are starting spots of available for players and I think it’ll be a fun opportunity to see which players step up to the plate which players are able to take advantage of their opportunity and which players end up being impactful in 2024 with all of that being said that is I for you guys today let me know what camp battle you were most excited to look forward to and what camp battle you want to see the most going into ota’s mini camp in training camp be very curious you guys have to say your guys’ opinions on it with all of that being said that’s all I got for you guys right now thank you all so very much for watching and until next time time and as always go

WriterWrong Breaks down the Detroit Lions &

WriterWrongMerch
https://www.youtube.com/@writerwrong6168/store

Join this channel to get access to the perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf_H_4DCnoahCWfkVPhQ_rw/join

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/awriter3303/?hl=en
Twitter

#lions #detroitlions #detroitlionsnfl #dancampbell #somethingspecial #onepride
#NFL

6 comments
Leave a Reply