Detroit Lions 53-man roster prediction: Preseason Week 3 depth chart

The NFL is changing www.lionscheapstore.com , and those changes have begun to bleed into things we consider normal in the preseason. With the Chicago Bears outright refusing to play starters in the third preseason game and others drastically cutting back on starter play, it won’t be too long before our first glimpse of the team’s starters is in Week 1 of the regular season. We aren’t there yet, however, and this week’s victory against the Buccaneers gave us a pretty good idea of where a majority of the roster stands. So we’re going to take another crack at a guess, with bolded players making the roster.QuarterbacksMatthew StaffordMatt CasselJake RudockChanges: NoneThis looks the same as it did in my last prediction and indeed in every prediction I’ve made since Matt Cassel was signed. That Rudock didn’t rep until late in the game against the Bucs is pretty telling, but the final nail will be watching Jake Rudock playing most of the final preseason game. He had a decent run, but this is likely the end. Running backsKerryon JohnsonLeGarrette BlountTheo RiddickAmeer AbdullahFB Nick Bawden (IR)FB Nick BelloreZach ZennerDwayne WashingtonChanges: NoneI stand by my previous assertion that Kerryon Johnson will be the starter sooner than later with Blount getting a large volume of carries and Riddick in his normal role. Ameer Abdullah continues to be used like someone who has a role in the offense, while that’s less true for Nick Bellore. When Nick Bawden went down for the season, I had assumed the team would bring in another true fullback to take his place, but they’ve mainly rolled with Bellore. Bellore’s role on special teams is still solid, but they’ve barely used him this preseason as a lead blocker and when they have it hasn’t been great.Wide receiverMarvin Jones Jr.Golden TateKenny GolladayTJ JonesBrandon PowellBradley MarquezJace BillingsleyTeo ReddingChris LacyDontez FordBrian BrownChanges: Powell and Marquez up, Billingsley and Redding down. While there has been no movement at the top, there’s been a bit of shuffling among the rest of the group. Brandon Powell’s emergence into the Jace Billingsley role of taking short dump-offs and slants for solid gains has pushed him up the depth chart while Marquez’s and Redding’s intermediate field ability is completely wasted with Matt Cassel and Jake Rudock having to heave with all their might to get the ball five yards downfield. Tight endsLuke WillsonHakeem VallesLevine ToiloloMichael RobertsSean McGrathMarcus LucasChanges: Valles way up, Roberts downWhile we thought, at first, that this group was all locked up, they went ahead and made it tough for us. Luke Willson is still the presumed starter, but Hakeem Valles has made it tough to keep him off the field. Levine Toilolo has a role due to his upper-tier blocking, but Michael Roberts has done everything in his power to play his way off of the roster. What little value Sean McGrath brought to special teams isn’t enough for a roster spot while Marcus Lucas’ only real hope is to latch on as a practice squadder. Offensive lineLT Taylor DeckerLG Frank RagnowOC Graham GlasgowRG T.J. LangRT Rick WagnerReserves:Tyrell Crosby (OT/OG)Leo Koloamatangi (OC/OG)Corey Robinson (OT/OG)Wesley Johnson (OC/OG)Kenny Wiggins (OG/OC)Joe Dahl (OT/OG/OC)Brian Mihalik (OT)John Montelus (OG)Dan Skipper (TP (tall person))Beau Nunn (OG)Jamar McGloster(OT)Changes: None to starters, Crosby and Koloamatangi up, Wiggins way downThis is a group I have very little faith in Detroit Lions T-Shirt , both faith in predicting it and faith in its value if called upon. Tyrell Crosby looks like a steal if his college injury concerns don’t creep up, while Koloamatangi has been one of the Lions’ best players for a second preseason in a row, if only against reserve players. Beyond that, it’s varying degrees of bad. Defensive EndsEzekiel AnsahAnthony ZettelKerry HyderCam JohnsonJeremiah ValoagaChanges: Cornelius Washington cut, Cam Johnson upNot the most inspiring group, but it is what it is. Zettel and Hyder have looked promising, which is a good thing, but mostly only when flipped inside on passing downs. Cam Johnson has been uninspiring, but they’re really repping him like someone who’s making the team. Valoaga is likely headed back to the practice squad.Defensive TackleRicky Jean FrancoisDa’Shawn HandA’Shawn RobinsonJeremiah LedbetterChristian RingoChanges: Hand up, Robinson downOur prediction of Hand becoming a starter soon seemed to be as close as you can come to confirmed against the Bucs when he started alongside Francois in four-down sets and was on the field a ton. The big story is A’Shawn Robinson who has been put in a very favorable position this offseason but has managed to lose ground at every step. After being a huge part of the defense in 2017, he may be relegated to obvious run situations only.Nose TackleSylvester WilliamsToby JohnsonJosh FatuChanges: NoneNothing new here. Williams is coming off his best action this preseason and camp, so hopefully that’s a good sign. Pass Rushing LinebackerDevon KennardAlex BarrettEli HaroldFreddie BishopChanges: Eli Harold addedNot a lot of movement in terms of who’s repping where, but the addition of Eli Harold is going to make things a bit interesting. Devon Kennard figures to be a big part of the defense, but his play hasn’t justified that move so far. It leaves room for someone else to step up, but who makes that move?LinebackerJarrad DavisChristian JonesJalen Reeves-MaybinJonathan FreenySteve Longa (IR)Miles KillebrewChad MeredithDarnell SankeyTrevor BatesChanges: Longa to IR, Killebrew to LBNo significant changes in this group aside from injury, but holy cow have they been bad. Christian Jones and Jarrad Davis were competing to see who could make the most boneheaded plays against the Buccaneers while Jalen Reeves-Maybin has continued to look like a steep regression in coverage is likely. It’s a bad sign for him, but opens the door for Miles Killebrew to sneak back into roster safety now that he’s joined this group. But again, holy crap this group is bad from top to bottom.CornerbackDarius SlayDeShawn SheadQuandre Diggs (Nickel)Nevin LawsonJamal Agnew (Nickel)Teez TaborMike FordChris JonesSterling MooreDexter McDougleJosh OkonyeChanges: No movement in order, but a bunch of churning at the bottomOnce thought to be a strength, this group was thrashed by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Even Slay put on a bad showing Detroit Lions Hats , though it wasn’t nearly the horror show Nevin Lawson put on. Despite the poor game, Slay is still a top-tier cornerback, but the rest of this unit looks nearly as bad as the linebackers. SafetyGlover QuinTavon WilsonTracy WalkerCharles WashingtonRolan MilliganMarcus CromartieChanges: Added CromartieThe addition of Marcus Cromartie does nothing to this unit. They’ve actually performed alright, but the lack of pass rush is going to cause them fits as the season goes on.Special TeamsLS. Don MuhlbachK. Matt PraterP. Sam MartinK. Ryan SantosoNothing to see here.Detroit Lions Unsung hero of Week 5: The real catalyst behind the defensive line’s big day Last week, defensive end Romeo Okwara claimed the title of unsung hero of the week for causing chaos in the Dallas Cowboys’ backfield, even if his biggest on the day was wrongly erased. There wasn’t much help from the rest of the defense, as receivers (and running backs) were open seemingly all day and it was up to the defensive linemen to make quick work of one of the best offensive lines in the National Football League. This week? The complete opposite. Unsung hero of the week: the Detroit Lions secondaryThis week’s honors go to the entire secondary for their performance against Aaron Rodgers. Note that I didn’t say the Packers; the secondary had their good plays and their bad plays, and guys like Davante Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling carved up the Lions defense on several plays. Aaron Rodgers, however, was very visibly off his game. From the Green Bay Packers’ first offensive drive, there seemed to be one play in between every four to five in which the secondary would completely shut down every receiver. Rodgers would evade rushers and perform one of his infamous scrambles, but to no avail. Twice in the first half, that exact scenario resulted in a strip sack and on several other plays it gave way to sacks that disrupted Green Bay drives. On a number of those sacks, the FOX broadcast showed shots of all the downfield receivers at least four to five seconds into the play: lo and behold, everyone was blanketed. The pressure clearly threw off Aaron Rodgers and after getting blindsided on several occasions in the first half, he seemed hesitant to leave the pocket for the remainder of the game. To add to that, for a guy who isn’t afraid to attack the Lions defense with his feet, Rodgers was limited to only three rushes for 10 yards. The defense had their ups and downs and really began to get carved up late in the game, but their occasional shutdown performance made all the difference in a game that was essentially a must-win only five weeks into the season. Props to the secondary; here’s to hoping we see more of that in the future.