While we\u2019re all eager to get to the regular season, the Detroit Lions still have a final preseason game to play on Saturday afternoon against the Houston Texans, and it\u2019s critical for at least a dozen Lions players. As coach Dan Campbell said earlier in the week, there are plenty of positional battles still in the air, and Saturday\u2019s game will be a huge part of their final evaluations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be really, really tough, but that\u2019s part of the game. That\u2019s part of this whole process. There again, the good news is there\u2019s another practice today and there\u2019s a game to where now you can separate,\u201d Campbell said prior to Thursday\u2019s joint practice. \u201cI think we\u2019ll get separation between these two in the next two days, in the next practice and game.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that in mind, here are 12 players who will be fighting for a roster spot during Saturday\u2019s preseason finale.<\/p>\n
At this point, it seems very likely that Kyle Allen has won the backup job<\/a>. Now it\u2019s on Hooker to show that he\u2019s still developing and improving, to justify keeping a third quarterback spot on the roster. It\u2019s been a tough preseason for him thus far (16-of-29 for 117 yards, 0 TDS, 2 INTs, 2 fumbles lost), but he\u2019s expected to start on Saturday, giving himself an opportunity to work with the primary reserves.<\/p>\n WR Dominic Lovett + WR Jackson Meeks<\/p>\n The Lions\u2019 top five receivers are relatively safe in Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Kalif Raymond, Isaac TeSlaa, and Tim Patrick, but Lovett and Meeks are now in a battle for the WR6 spot\u2026 possibly even a seventh spot. Lovett and Meeks have separated themselves from the rest of the receiver depth, with Meeks really shining in the preseason. The undrafted rookie leads the team with 11 catches for 176 yards and two touchdowns. But Lovett provides depth at the slot position and has enough special teams upside to consider him a potential successor to Raymond.<\/p>\n iOL Kingsley Eguakun + iOL Michael Niese<\/p>\n The backup center battle has not gotten a ton of attention this offseason, but it could be a critical one, as we\u2019ve seen from the mild panic following Graham Glasgow\u2019s injury on Thursday (it appears he\u2019s okay<\/a>). Eguakun has had the upper edge, as he\u2019s been the primary backup center since Tryston Colon went down with an injury. But I suspect Niese will get an opportunity at center to make one last good impression.<\/p>\n Cooper has been the biggest surprise of Lions training camp. He only found his way onto the roster after winning a spot during rookie minicamp tryouts. Since then, he\u2019s been playing all over the Lions\u2019 defensive line and has even gotten a number of reps with the first-team defense.<\/p>\n However, the return of Mekhi Wingo from the Physically Unable to Perform list this week<\/a> could complicate Cooper\u2019s roster spot. Detroit likely would not have activated Wingo if they didn\u2019t think he\u2019d make the 53-man roster, so that means Cooper will have to justify his roster spot over someone likely at a different position. That said, the fact that Josh Paschal is now expected to start the season on the Non-Football Injury list<\/a> could work in his temporary favor.<\/p>\n EDGE Nate Lynn + EDGE Isaac Uwku<\/p>\n The Paschal news, combined with a serious injury to Ahmed Hassanein,<\/a> leaves Detroit wide-open at the EDGE4 position beyond Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, and Al-Quadin Muhammad. Lynn and Ukwu appear to be the current leaders to claim that spot, although Mitchell Agude is certainly in the room, too. Lynn leads the group with seven pressures this preseason and an impressive 79.2 PFF pass rush grade, but Saturday will be an opportunity for the rest of the room to catch up.<\/p>\n