![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bubble-watch-week-4-defense-.png\"\/)
<\/a>Assumed in: Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus DavenportAhmed Hassanein: 11 \u201cIN\u201d votes (no changeAl-Quadin Muhammad: 10 votes (no change)Josh Paschal: 10 votes (down 1)Nate Lynn: 5 votes (up 4)Mitchell Agude: 0 votes (no change)Isaac Ukwu: 0 votes (no change)<\/p>\nAfter a short-but-promising 2024 preseason, Nate Lynn has returned this year and put on a show in two preseason games. He leads the NFL in preseason pressures with seven. And while he\u2019s had the benefit of an extra preseason game, seven pressures in just 29 pass rushing snaps is pretty darn impressive. The question is: how can you fit him on the roster?<\/p>\n
There are several options. One is to keep Josh Paschal on the NFI list to start the season. Another is for Lynn to win the job over someone else\u2014like Muhammad or Hassanein. Another would be to sacrifice another player at a different position, perhaps at\u2026<\/p>\n
Assumed in: DJ Reader, Tyleik Williams, Roy LopezAssumed out: Alim McNeill (PUP), Levi Onwuzurike (PUP\/reserve)Pat O\u2019Connor: 11 votes (no change)Mekhi Wingo: 7 votes (down 3)Keith Cooper Jr.: 1 vote (up 1)Chris Smith: 1 vote (up 1)Brodric Martin: 0 votes<\/p>\n
We\u2019re getting close to the end of the preseason, which means Detroit will soon face a tough decision on second-year defender Mekhi Wingo. He remains sidelined with a torn meniscus, even though there was early hope he\u2019d be ready by camp. Four of our staff members have Detroit keeping him on the PUP list to start the season, opening a roster spot somewhere along the defensive line.<\/p>\n
Keith Cooper remains the most intriguing undrafted rookie. He\u2019s shown off his versatility by playing multiple roles, but he had a relatively quiet preseason game vs. the Falcons. Chris Smith has been equally as versatile, and has the benefit of having been in Detroit\u2019s defense for a year (and playing five games last season).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that while Brodric Martin flashed on Friday night, our staff still has him on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n
Assumed in: Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, Grant StuardAssumed out: Malcolm Rodriguez (PUP)Trevor Nowaske: 11 votes (no change)Zach Cunningham: 11 (no change)Ezekiel Turner: 0 votes (no change)Anthony Pittman: 0 votes (no change)<\/p>\n
Linebacker seems like one of the more settled positions on defense. Nowaske and Cunningham already held the last two reserves spots going into Friday night, and they were both excellent against the Falcons, cementing their status as LB5 and LB6. Unfortunately for Pittman, the shortened game limited his participation to just two defensive snaps.<\/p>\n
Assumed in: Terrion Arnold, D.J. Reed, Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-sin (NEW) Assumed out: Ennis Rakestraw (moved to IR)NEW TO BUBBLE WATCH: Dicaprio Bootle, Nick Whiteside, Tyson RussellKhalil Dorsey: 11 votes (no change)Nick Whiteside: 6 votesDicaprio Bootle: 0 votesTyson Russell: 0 votesErick Hallett: 0 votes (no change)<\/p>\n
We have officially moved Rock Ya-Sin into the \u201cassumed in\u201d category after showing he could be just as valuable at safety as he is at cornerback. On the other end of the spectrum, we had to take Ennis Rakestraw out from \u201cassumed in\u201d after he landed on injured reserve due to season-ending shoulder surgery.<\/p>\n
That has opened up an opportunity for all of the Lions\u2019 cornerback depth, as Detroit is a bit thin there beyond their top four. Dorsey remains the favorite for a CB5 job, even though he has yet to practice and remains on the PUP list. As for the reserves beyond that, Nick Whiteside takes the early lead after a very promising showing against the Falcons\u2014earning a 90.3 coverage grade per PFF.<\/p>\n
Assumed in: Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Avonte MaddoxOff Bubble Watch: Dan Jackson (moved to IR)Loren Strickland: 8 votes (up 8)Ian Kennelly: 2 votes (up 2)Morice Norris: 0 votes (no change)<\/p>\n
After Dan Jackson was placed on IR, another opportunity opened up at safety. As of now, we have Strickland as the favorite to win that extra spot, but it\u2019s worth noting that Kennelly got the start on Friday ahead of Strickland. It\u2019s also possible neither make the team with Ya-Sin\u2019s newly-found ability to play the safety position.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The injury bug has officially hit the Detroit Lions defense yet again. In just the past week, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[449,1262,23618,733,7452,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-280208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-detroit-lions-analysis","9":"tag-detroit-lions-opinion","10":"tag-detroit-lions-preseason","11":"tag-detroit-lions-roster","12":"tag-detroit-lions-training-camp","13":"tag-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115011653893789665","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}