Risdon’s Rookie Camp Reflections | Detroit Lions Podcast

Risdon’s Rookie Camp Reflections | Detroit Lions Podcast

Hey everyone, it’s Jeff Rosen from LionsWire in the Detroit Lions podcast and I just got home from Lions rookie mini camp and I thought I’d share what I saw today over in Allen Park. So, uh, without further ado, let’s go. First off, it was great to be back in Allen Park watching actual football. Well, mostly football. They weren’t in pads. It’s rookies on their very first day on the job. Uh some of them are tryyout players. Uh a lot of them are, you know, undrafted rookies trying to make an impression. Uh it’s the first day and that needs to be necessary context for everything that gets said here. It’s one day. It’s their first day on the job. We’ve all been employed um on our first day on the job. It goes differently for any number of reasons. And uh that’s just what it is. It’s just a first impression. It’s not something that’s meant to be a lasting impression. It’s just an observation. Um and uh we’ll start with the draft picks. Tyreek Williams. Wow. So before practice, Ray Aguar talked to us uh in the media room uh and uh he was he talked about how uh striking Williams power was. Uh and that was like right off the bat first couple of reps in the in the early part of team drill. Remember they’re not in pads. They’re just hitting one another. Like he’s blowing dudes backwards. even guys trying to run block him, he’s like physically relocating them into the back field. That was that was impressive. So, Tyreek then um just as they started the stretching session, he walked off with the trainers and he worked out on the side. He didn’t participate for the rest of practice. So, uh, a couple of us, uh, myself, Dave Briquette and Tim Twyman, went over to the other field, um, which is by where the hill is, um, disaectionally known as Mount Patricia, and he worked there with trainers, and we watched him carefully. Uh, that was where the defensive players were working out, um, on that field. Uh, and then he’s over there, and he he’s like he’s bunny hopping. He’s doing like leg kicks. He looks like a rocket for a little bit. Like they’re clearly working on his legs. Um he sprinted up Mount Patricia twice. Like you could not tell anything was wrong with him. So like it’s almost certainly just precautionary. Um remember he he tweaked his hamstring a little bit in his pro day at Ohio State. Uh he fell down while he was running one of the drills I believe it was. Um it’s nothing to worry about. The Lions are trying to be more proactive and more um uh preventative on these sorts of things. there’s no reason for him to be out there like he made his point. He was the best player on the field from the very first snap. U when you have a first round pick, you want them to really stand out when they’re going against especially in a rookie mini camp. He did that. Mission accomplished. Uh let’s talk about the offensive linemen here. Um and I’ll go because Tesla is lumped in like he’s the third pick, but the second and fourth picks were were offensive line. We’re going to lump them together. And that’s uh Tate Rattled and Miles Fraser. Tate Rattled played right guard exclusively at Georgia. Today he almost exclusively played center. I will say it’s it’s interesting to see it happen because he’s really tall and plays I’m going to say put this up on a tea for Chris. He plays very erect. He’s very tall in his stance as a guard as a center. that seems to be even more problematic and it’s something that they’re going to have to work with. But I will say his burst out of his stance after snapping the ball was controlled and ready to go in any direction. And that’s that’s impressive. That’s something that you want to see from your centers. That’s not something that we’ve seen other guys do when they’ve been put in that role, especially taller. It’s tough for taller guys to do that. Uh I I like the I like the opportunity for him to do that. after practice. I I I wasn’t with him much in his press conference because there was another couple that were going on and I was talking to them. Uh but he seemed very open to it. Uh and then Miles Frasier, who was the right guard at LSU for the last couple of seasons, uh he played right tackle most of the day. And other than one early rep where he got torched by, uh the try out player from Houston, who I’ll get to later, uh what was his name? I should know it already. Keith Cooper. We’re going to talk more about Keith Cooper because uh of all the try out players. Spoiler alert, he was the best one. Um in my opinion anyways. Um so that was that was you know this is this is the cross training. I did talk with Frasier after practice. Um was involved in his press conference as well and uh he’s he’s like he was their backup tackle. Um he trained as the number three tackle at LSU. He’s comfortable with it. he knows that that’s might might be his best way to get on the field as a rookie. Uh so he’s um very engaging young man. Uh looked looked everybody who asked him questions in the eye, gave honest answers. They weren’t canned. Um you know, very I I I I really appreciated that. That was that was true of just about all of the guys. Um we didn’t get to talk to Tyreek, but um you know, all the other guys like they were good in the interviews. Um, and that’s something that, you know, it stands out. It doesn’t mean anything in the grand context of things other than it’s easier for us to believe them and and get more comfortable with them and ask them maybe better questions because we know that they’re going to be more receptive and give us um thoughtful, eloquent answers. That’s good. Uh, I’ve I’ve covered players in Detroit and elsewhere that don’t do that and it’s very difficult to ask them questions that I think fans would appreciate more than just the the general, you know, how do you think you did today? Um, some guys just won’t bite on that. And to a man, this this class seemed very um very well prepared for that and very natural at that. And I like that. Uh so um again, they’re not in pads. It’s tough to tell on the blocking. Um I I will say uh for Frasier, he he had a situation where he did have to down block once and he got to where he needed to get to and got both hands on the guy. And he is a guy and it showed on his LSU tape and it happened again today. And again, there was limited opportunities for it. If he gets both hands on you, you’re done. like just pray he doesn’t bury you into the ground because that’s what he’s trying to do. Very very impressive upper body strength and uh core strength through his shoulders and chest and torque um with with with that with the hips and everything look good. It’s good to to slot. I mean if you all have watched the videos or read any of the stuff I’ve done, you know I’m a fanboy to start with. Um I covered him in high school. Um he’s from just up that way a little ways. Um his his high school plays in the same conference as the one that my my kids high school is in. Um he’s he’s fun man. Uh he played primarily outside although they did use him in the slot today. And Ray Agnu before practice talked about how they see him as being an outside receiver and he’s got to work on his press release. And I thought one of the things that they did very well today. There was one really seasoned vet who was doing a try out. That’s Duke Shel. He played at Kansas State. Um he’s bounced around the NFL. I believe he was in the 2019 NFL draft and he’s kind of been on the fringes of rosters. I think he played for Buffalo and I believe it was with the Raiders for a bit. Um but he’s a physical guy and he jammed Tlaw and sometimes it worked and sometimes Tesla got free. Uh he made a couple of great catches away from his body and that’s one of the things that that immediately stood out if you watched him at Arkansas and if you were lucky enough to watch him at Hillsdale. Um and I didn’t watch him while he was at Hillsdale. I have since gone back and re-watched it, but like he’s he is so natural at going and getting the ball away from his body, not waiting for the ball to get to him. He goes out and gets it away from his body. Two hands locked down right away. Uh total hands catcher. Uh and that’s that’s you got to appreciate that. In fact, I’m gonna crack open a beverage here. Uh and drink to that because that was that was fun. And he’s got some work to do uh for sure. Uh in terms of getting off the line with the I’ll use an equestrian term here. He’s got to change his leads better. If you, by the way, if you understand that that reference comes from the equestrian world, good for you. Um, my wife was briefly an equestrian when we first met and I had to go to a couple of her uh uh I forget what the hell to call them. But like she always struggled with changing her leads and that’s something that so is going to have to do as a receiver. Um, work on changing his leads um from the outside and from wherever he’s aligned. uh best but again first impression pretty good one. He had he’s just great in the press conference too. Um talked about you know he almost passed out when he saw the 313 on the phone call uh during the draft. Uh had to tell everybody to him to shut up so he could hear it. Like it’s it it is cool to see a guy like that live out his dream and a guy that I you know again I’ve covered him in since he was in high school uh at Hudsonville Unity Christian. it it’s really neat to see somebody local like that um and and make it and he’s got a long way to go, but it’s pretty clear that the Lions are very high on him. And there were there were a couple of routes today where Okay. Yep. Yep. I see it. I see it, too. Uh so, yeah, he’s uh he’s going to be an easy one to like. Uh I know there are a lot of fans that are down on him because of his draft status, all that it took to get him. Um, and that’s actually a I had a great conversation with another beat writer today and we tal we walked and talked about that. Uh, and he made a great point and I can’t refute it. Like that’s you know those third round picks that they gave away to get him. That’s your inseason trade deadline fodder to go get this year’s Zidius Smith. By the way, Zidarius hasn’t signed anywhere yet. Don’t expect him to sign anywhere for a while. Um, don’t worry that there’s rumors out there that he’s signing elsewhere. I wouldn’t sweat that. And if he does sign, I wouldn’t sweat it either. And to get away from the rookie for for a quick second, one of the things that I picked up today, the Lions like their edge room more than you do and more than I do. They’re comfortable going to battle with what they’ve got. This is akin to was it 2021 the or 2022 the draft where it was made very clear to me like we like our linebackers and then they didn’t take any until they took Rodrigo um in the sixth round. Um they’re there with that’s that’s the same sentiment I’m getting now with the edges like between Hutch Davenport Pascal Levi probably belongs more with that group than he does with the interior group at this point like Hassan who I’m going to get to in a second. Like if that’s their f they’re good. Like they’re ready to roll with that. They don’t have a problem rolling with that. You might not want to hear that but they don’t care. and that confidence that they have is either going to be rewarded or it’s going to make them look bad. Um, I’ll just say I understand why they they have that confidence in the players that they do. Uh, but I am I’m someone that doesn’t mind buying insurance for the most part. Um, car insurance is a different story, but like for my like my house, uh, when I moved to Houston, first thing I did, I called my my my agent. I’m like, can I get flood insurance for my house? It’s like, well, you don’t live in a flood plane. Like, I don’t give a crap. It rains a lot here. Like, that that that’s my mindset with things. So, I would love to see them bring Zidarius back and that’s certainly still a possibility, but if they don’t, I’m not going to sweat it either. Uh, Hassan is he’s fun, man. He is loud, effervescent, full of energy, full of relentless, nervous, positive energy. He had a rep today um when the offense stayed on this field and I I went over with this field with the defense were and almost everybody else stayed with the offense, which is a little weird. Um cuz for a while it was just me and Tim 20man watching the defense. We’re the only people over there. and uh he had a rep where they’re they’re they’re down in a four-point stance and firing out and trying to fire up into um a pad and Casey Rogers, a defensive line coach, is holding the pad and he saw that Hassan was like cheating a little bit and creeping up. So, he like yanked the pad back just a little bit and Hassan, he caught himself, but he almost face planted and instead of like getting back into the back of the line, he like slapped the dirt and was like, “Let’s go again.” and and Rogers was like, “Okay.” Put it down and held it. And Hassan had a fantastic rep. Like the pop from his hands, like it’s different than everybody else that’s there. Uh it’s just it it’s I I equate it to to volleyball. like when when when KC Karai hit a ball, it sounded different than when most people do or like when when Carrie Walsh would unload um and and hit one or or Shawn Rosenthal would, you know, hit the Rosie down the line. Um uh like there was just something different about it. You get that from him. He has wild puppy dog energy and he’s very much a football puppy because I’ll tell you what, if the and this was true with with Frraasier, it was true with just about everybody um other than one specific player who I don’t want to diss. Um but he was a try out player and I’d be stunned if he’s not on the street soon. That’s just the way it goes. If you get two hands on Hassan, he’s done. He He doesn’t have the counter moves yet. And And there was one of the things uh he got locked up uh by Okay, you’re looking at Who was that? Where’s he at? Where’d he go? Mason Miller from North Dakota State, their right tackle. He played guard most of the deck. He looped in. Hassan looped in and ran into Miller. And Miller had good hand placement. Um got his hands down, had had good weight balance distribution. And Hassan just like tried to like do this instead of like this or this or like and and he got coached right after that. He’s like, and and the coach was like, either go over or under, like one of like you got to you got to pick a path. And he took that to heart. And you could see him like between the reps, he’s like working with his like it’s fun to watch a guy with that sort of potential and who understands that he’s got a long way to go. And uh you know, Ray Agny before practice called him a second effort pass rusher. Here’s how you interpret that. He’s not a guy who’s going to create a lot of pressures, but he’s going to clean up a lot. And that’s kind of what you want opposite Aiden Hutchinson. That’s what you want. That’s that’s the goal. a guy who’s gonna hold his spot and not get beat on the outside, not give up containment to a running quarterback and then be able to finish off of what Hutchinson starts or what guys in the Tyreek and Alma in the middle start or what blitzing a gap linebackers start. That’s what he’s going to do. So, he’s going to be one of those guys. Look, we were joking about it in the media media uh throng today. like he’s going to go get like four sacks in the preseason and then you’re not going to see him until October and then he’s going to reemerge and like get get more and more um sort of the way James Houston did as a rookie. Um we I can we can we can definitely see that path for Hassan, but he’s uh got a ways to go with one guy. Glad he’s on my team for sure. Uh, I did not get to watch much of Dominic Love it today. Uh, they did reps. Um, again with the offense, um, when they were doing like the the quarterback and and receiver things, um, I was on the other field. I was watching the defensive backs. Um, and the linebackers, uh, specifically, the linemen were there, too. They were just sort of doing their thing. Uh, but like the actual movement guys were the defensive backs. And I want to talk about the safeties because there’s two of them. There are two rookies, Dan Jackson and Ian Kennley. And Jackson is the seventh round pick. And Kennley is an undrafted rookie from Grand Valley, which is not far. It’s where Isaac Tesla is from basically. Um he lives like 10 minutes from campus. I live about 20. Uh if you didn’t know that Jackson was drafted and Kenny was the undrafted free agent, if you just like watch them today, you’d be like Kennall is the dude that they drafted, right? like he is so much bigger, faster, quicker, rangier, but that’s his style of play. Jackson is a downhill like I’m going to attack you type of safety. Um he’s going to be a guy who like if they throw the ball to the tight end at four yards, the play is over at four yards. Like that that’s what he’s that’s what he’s really good at. um attacking the run, blowing up screens, taking out lead blockers um and then trying to get off them, but making making it so guys around him can can clean things up. He’s not a high safety. He’s not a rangy safety. That’s not what he does. That is what Kennaly does in the setting that they were in today. That shows a lot better for 27 than it does for 28. Now, having said all that, I’ll be shocked if Kennaly isn’t on this team ahead of the UDFAS from last year. Uh, I look, I’ve watched him at Grand Valley. Uh, I’ve been to a few of their games. I’ve watched his statement. I’ve seen his workouts. He’s already better as a prospect than Lawrence Strickland, than Maurice Norris. Um, that that’s my opinion on it. Um, I’ll be very surprised if he’s not on this team. Um, whether it’s as the 53rd man, um, playing special teams and, you know, being like a reserve game day and active safety or certainly on the practice squad. Uh, but I I would be very surprised if he doesn’t stick as and he is one of the the 10 UDFAs that they signed. I have the list right here. Take a quick perusal. Talk amongst yourselves. Uh, some of the guys that stood out like I’m not going to talk about the Ohio Bobcat who’s there. Fellow Ohio Bobcat Anthony Tyus the third running back from Ohio, formerly Northwestern, ported Northern High School down in Kalamazoo, which is that way. Great kid. Got to talk to him after practice for a while. Represented my university very well, which makes me very proud. Uh he is a big dude. He’s every bit of 61 and 225. He runs decisively. You want big guys who don’t dance. He doesn’t dance. He goes, if you’re familiar with Craig Reynolds running style, Tyus is the same kind of runner. Um, it’s David Montgomeryish, but he’s not as dynamic. He’s not quite as as explosive off the line. Um, and he doesn’t have like the long speed. Like he timed, I believe it was 459. That’s that’s legit. But he’s a guy that, you know, look, the number five running back spot, which is a practice squad spot, is wide open for this team. And everything that I saw today, he was better than the other guys that were there. Uh, let’s see who else was there. Uh, uh, Kai Robo from Boston College. Actually, Robisho um had a couple nice reps today, um, from what I saw. Uh, and then there was, uh, the try out player Dwayne Martin. He’s fullback. Um, I looked at too. Try out players were were tough. Uh, but Taius um uh he is he’s someone that I’m going to be rooting for. And if if you’re in the Calamazoo area and rooting for this or if you’re a fellow Ohio Bobcat, uh, embrace him. Uh, he’s number 42. Going to be an easy guy to like. Uh, let’s see. What else do we have? Uh try out guys. So, there were a couple of veterans who tried out. Uh I mentioned Duke Shel earlier. Uh he is a cornerback from Kansas State. Uh but it says here six years of NFL experience and I like I I thought he like I remember him at the senior bowl or shrine game like one of those. They all blur together when you go every year for 15 years, 20 years and almost. It’s uh they blur. But uh he’s a guy that’s got some NFL I believe he’s played over 50 NFL games. So like this is a guy who’s you know it almost feels like he was there like like hey can you come in just for a day and like press to slah and you know we’ll pay you a lot of money for your try out sort of thing. Like I don’t know if they’re allowed to do that, but that’s that’s kind of what it felt like. I guess the Lexus definitely don’t need quarterbacks. Um yeah, uh that was interesting. Uh Michigan State fans, you might remember Rayquin Williams nose tackle from the 2020 draft, played for the Bears for a bit. Uh I believe he was with Seattle as well. Uh he was there. He looked good. So, Tyreek, when Tyreek went and started running on Mount Patricia and doing all the things off on the side with the trainers, he was the new first team defensive tackle and he looked the part. You would kind of expect that for a guy who’s he played for the Eagles um in 2020 and 2021. Uh he’s bounced around a little bit since then. Uh he looked capable and this was a guy that I had a draftable grade on back in the day. Um and you know, it hasn’t worked. He looked slimmer than what I remembered of him from being at Michigan State’s Proday uh back in the day. I believe he was actually a combine snub. Seem to recall that. I don’t know. Again, it’s it’s hazy. And um I will give a quick shout out here. Unsponsored Coppercraft Distilleries, who do actually sponsor the huge show from which I uh make frequent appearances. Um this is really good. This is the uh what is it? Honolulu Blue. Good stuff. Won’t knock you on your butt. Coppercraft always been a a very good supporter of me uh throughout my radio spots over the years. Uh they when Jim Costa, who’s now at 97 won the ticket. Uh when he and I used to do our Sunday morning shows here in West Michigan, we did that for four years. They were a title sponsor. They were great to us. Uh and so I reward them for that for this. So go on and get yourself some. It’s good stuff. I don’t do ad reads. I’m grateful that when I’m on the Huge show, he doesn’t make me do all the reads that he does because he’s Can I let you in on a little secret about that? Look, I know people have wild opinions about Huge. That’s fine. I get it. He gets it, too. Those reads that he does, he doesn’t use note cards, folks. Like, that’s like he he just goes. It’s crazy to that. That is an in incredible skill to me cuz I’ve had to do reads. I’m like uh the the Yeah, it’s tough. So, props to you, Bill. You you you never cease to impress me, fail to impress me on that. Uh other trial guys, I brought up the guy from Houston earlier. Uh Keith Cooper, big dude, 65 280 and looks every bit of it. He’s a handful off the edge. He’s not quick off the edge, but once he gets going, he’s going. He is a crush the can type of guy. It’s a name to know going forward. He was one of the guys that had been reported as signed as a UDFA. He was not. He was there on a try out. Uh it wouldn’t shock me at all if he winds up signing. Now, right now, they don’t have any spots on the roster to sign him. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with that uh with those guys. Um, there were four guys who were here last year who were there today. Uh, last year’s undrafted rookies were Don Gilbert, Isaac Uku, and Kingsley Auk Aguokun. Uh, and then Eric Howlet, who was a UDFA the year before, um, and then came to Detroit last year, but also gets listed as one year of experience. Uh, they were all there today. How looks looked solid. Uh, he looks like he can compete for a safety spot this year. He was on the practice squad last year. uh Aguokun, you know, he’s I always thought he was a center um and center only when he came out of Florida and today he primarily played left guard next to Tate Rattlage. And I will reiterate that it it feels like he’s a center only. Backhand a compliment there. I don’t mean that in an insulty way either. Um, I center is is a position where your immediate quickness can trump a lack of base strength and that’s that’s his biggest issue. Like he doesn’t have a lot of sand in the pants. Uh, and something that didn’t look today like it had gotten any better from last year. So, I’m still hopeful for him to develop into a guy who can compete to be that fourth guard backup center type. But, first impression this year. Again, it’s just first impression. Second and third, fourth, fifth, and 20th impressions might all be very different, but the first impression was was that he’s probably not improved enough to threaten for a roster spot. We’ll see. Uh Don Gilbert, the linebacker from Northern Illinois from last year, he’s small. He is safety sized. He is the exact same size as if Malifonu who played safety. That tells you what his skill set is. He’s really fast going side to side. Um he’s got quick reactions. He can go in any direction very quickly. He cannot catch like at all. Um and it was frustrating. Like there was one where like whoever was throwing the ball and I don’t remember who it was threw it to him like here and he caught he like had it up here and it came down here and he bobbled it and then secured it like this. That was the only one that I saw him catch all day. Oh, if you’re a coverageoriented linebacker, you should probably be able to catch, but uh no, he’s back. It was good to see him. Um he’s guy that I liked last summer. I thought he showed some things last summer. Uku Uku’s, um power to speed. um a little bit unders sized on the outside and uh just comparing him with Keith Cooper um and also with uh another guy another veteran who’s uh who’s got some NFL experience out there um where’d he go? I’m looking right at his name, Travis Gibson. Um former Bears fifth round draft pick uh out of Tulsa. Uh Gibson is also that style. Um and he did it better and I think Cooper did it better than Uku. uh who’s look Uku came out of miss as a guy who was sort of an athletic project and he still appears to be that way but again it’s just first impression he could he could wow for the rest of the camp and it wouldn’t surprise me at all so that’s that’s your returning guys uh I brought up Gibson uh a guy who made made a good impression he he’s he’s always been a tweener and he’s listed at 6’4 and 257 7 263. It’s an odd size because he’s got the upper body framework of a tackle, but his lower body says edge defensive end. And I never felt like Chicago really figured out what like this guy, he started like 20 games. He had seven sacks in his second NFL season playing full-time for a really bad Chicago team. was the 2021 Bears. As bad as we were back then, they were they were they were they were circling in the same bowl. Um, we have since exploded out of there. They have not done that yet. Not yet. Hopefully not soon. Nothing against Ben Johnson, but we’re better. Yeah. So, uh, Gibson is an interesting one. uh as a veteran try out. Uh Malik Taylor, former fair state wide receiver was there. Big guy, didn’t really show a lot from what I saw today, but again, I I spent most of the time where the receivers were working with the quarterback who was Cole Snyder out of um Eastern Michigan, formerly, I believe it was at Buffalo. Uh Snyder is was better this year than um Kay Peterson from Grand Valley was last year as the sacrificial lamb try out quarterback uh for for training camp or for rookie mini camp. Uh but I’ I’ I’d be surprised if he’s you know I’m not going to diss him like that. He can play in the USFL. He can. Um, and I’ I’d be interested to see if they keep him around as a practice squad guy, but I don’t know. He’s athletic. He can run. Uh, that was one of the things that was very evident. He can definitely run. He also has a freakishly loud cadence voice um, relative to his size and what you see of him like when he’s not barking at the cadences. Stood out. Um, who else stood out? Uh, Cory Flag, uh, linebacker. Uh he’s wearing number 52 today from Missouri. He’s he’s short. He’s 510. Uh about 20. He’s listed at 233. That’s that seems generous. Uh but Duke can fly. Uh and they were doing a a special teams drill very early on and he was winning every one of those. That’s that’s what you got to do. You got to find one thing that you can say, “Hey, I did this. I can keep doing that.” And that’s that’s how these try out guys can latch on. So I I thought he did that pretty well. Uh who else was out there? Um yeah, uh Corey subtle uh line defensive lineman from that red school in Ohio. Um I’m an Ohio Bobcat. We don’t say the M word here in my house. My wife also being an Ohio alum, we don’t say that word, but uh he he went there. played played all right today. Um he’s a attack style thing. Oh, one thing I want to bring up the the tight ends. There’s three of them here. They signed two. They signed Kaden Prescorn and uh Zack Horton. Um Prior from Miss, Horton from Indiana, and the guy who was there on the try out uh is from Auburn, Luke Deal. And Luke Deal was the best of the three today. today doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things because I’ve seen both Horton and Prius scored play and they’re both like I don’t have any issue at all with the Lions signing them as as undrafted rookies um with a chance to make the team as the fourth tight end maybe even the third tight end. Uh but uh today Deal was better in terms of his footwork and fundamentals and blocking. He can he can chip and release. He was certainly chipping and releasing better than Horton was. Uh that’s and prescoring like look this is a guy he I he’s from somewhere in Michigan Lake Orion Michigan. Uh went to Memphis as a quarterback uh and converted to tight end as he switched schools to miss. I believe he’s got he even have like a kid that’s in school like he’s older. He’s 25 years old. He’s uh he I’m rooting for him. Uh cuz I liked his tape at Miss. He had a couple of really nice games where I just happen to be watching and not really like scouting like my process for college football. I don’t watch college football for enjoyment other than my Ohio Bobcats. Uh I watch like it’s work for me. Like I’m watching guys like who stands out to me who does this like from an NFL level. I’m watching it through like NFL scouting evaluation eyes. That’s that’s how I knew college football. But there are occasions where I like let that go and I would just be like, “Okay, let let’s just enjoy this game.” Um, and he did he had a really nice game in one of those games that I did last year. Uh, so uh now let’s you you find your niche with these guys like that. So, uh, that’s about it. One other guy that did um make my notes a little bit, Jackson Meeks, uh, wide receiver from Syracuse. big guy made the catch of the day. Snider hung up a ball. Um he got open. So Meeks is not known for his separation. Um he actually got a really good separation. He blew past uh what was it? 26 Duke Shell enough that they said barbecued chicken. I I heard that from the coaching staff. Um but the ball hung up a little bit and he had to wait for it and he like reached. So Shel’s like 5’7 um 5’8 and and uh Meeks is 6’2 in every bit of it and he re jumped up and reached over him and in front of him and caught it and pulled it back. Uh and Shel is like this and and then Meeks like knows he’s going to fall down so he like extends the ball um has it in both hands and like falls to the ground like gaining as many yards as he could. Like it was a really really nice catch. Um, and that that look, he’s a guy they did sign him. He is Cedarius Smith’s nephew. May or may not be important. Talked about Zidarius a little bit earlier. That’s about it. Oh, the other last thing, they did not have any specialists. No punter, no kicker, no long snapper. I would read that as all three guys are safe. And it’ll be the first time in a while where we’ve had all three positions resolved. Jake Bates come back after a great first season. Jack Fox stud and Hogan Hatton who started his quest to make this team as an undrafted rookie at this very rookie mini camp a year ago. And he did it. Uh they’re apparently all going in unchallenged this year. So that’s a wrap. Hope you enjoyed this. Again, hit like and subscribe so you know when we’re going to be doing things like this. And I swear to God, Chris and I are going to have a live show one of these days soon. Uh, but until then, this is Jeff Ren. Thanks for watching.

Jeff Risdon runs us through his first impressions of the Detroit Lions’ rookie mini-camp performances. The newest members of the team all gathered in Allen Park for their first taste of NFL action.

Did the Detroit Lions make any clear missteps in the draft, or will this be the greatest draft class in the team’s history? Well, its a little early for those kinds of declarations, but Jeff watched them run around in shorts and he has some things to share.

Make sure to head over to our project with Detroit Lions shutdown cornerback Jerry Jacobs to help charities in Detroit. Its a great opportunity to get some great gear and make a difference in the city we all love. Head over to: http://SeatbeltGang.com now!

Be sure to use the Super Chat (or “Thanks” if you aren’t watching live) function to ensure we read your question/message live and share our thoughts on it or to show us your support for doing the show. Using Super Chat and/or Thanks helps us out a lot, so thanks to everyone who uses them even if to just say ‘hi!’.

For folks who donate via Patreon, or via Super Chat you’ll get to see your name highlighted onscreen with a message, you’ll get a mention on our Twitter account, and you’ll get a special thanks from us live during the show. Take advantage!! Don’t forget to join us by calling in to the show at (248) 782-8384, or via Skype at ‘DetroitLionsPodcast’.

Get yourself a classic Detroit t-shirt at: https://bit.ly/3raeU96

Join the Patreon Crew at: https://bit.ly/2bgQgyj

As an affiliate partner, we get a portion of sales when you shop Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2O8LUti

Get your Lions Gear at: https://bit.ly/2Ooo5Px

You can always support us by donating direct at: https://bit.ly/2qnEtFj

#lions #detroitlions #detroitlionspodcast