Offensive Line (8)

Warford
Right Guard Larry Warford

The Lions will likely only keep eight Offensive Lineman on their final roster much like they have in the past several seasons. I would say that seven of the eight are locked in right now, with the final spot still up for grabs. There is also a decent possibility that final spot will be occupied by a post cut down signing, as there really isn’t a utility Guard/Tackle on the roster right now.

Left Tackle
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 71 Reiff, Riley 6-6 313 26 4 Iowa
2nd 73 Williams, Michael 6-6 304 24 2 Alabama
Left Guard
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 72 Tomlinson, Laken 6-3 323 23 R Duke
2nd 63 Ramirez, Manny 6-3 320 32 9 Texas Tech
Center
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 64 Swanson, Travis 6-5 312 24 2 Arkansas
2nd 63 Ramirez, Manny 6-3 320 32 9 Texas Tech
Right Guard
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 75 Warford, Larry 6-2 330 23 3 Kentucky
2nd 63 Ramirez, Manny 6-3 320 32 9 Texas Tech
Right Tackle
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 66 Waddle, LaAdrian 6-6 330 23 3 Texas Tech
2nd 77 Lucas, Cornelius 6-9 325 23 2 Kansas State

Backs (8)

Stafford
Quarterback Matthew Stafford

I hemmed and hawed over whether or not the Lions would keep three quarterbacks. Ultimately I decided that they have kept three on the active roster forever, so why would that streak end this season. The only real surprise here is undrafted free agent Zach Zenner will be kept as a combo Running Back and Fullback, but I wouldn’t consider that to even be close to a lock.

Quarterback
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 9 Stafford, Matthew 6-3 234 27 7 Georgia
2nd 17 Moore, Kellen 6-0 200 25 4 Boise State
3rd 8 Orlovsky, Dan 6-5 218 31 10 Connecticut
Running Back
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 35 Bell, Joique 5-11 229 28 5 Wayne State
2nd 21 Abdullah, Ameer 5-9 205 21 R Nebraska
3rd 25 Riddick, Theo 5-9 200 24 3 Notre Dame
Fullback
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 46 Burton, Michael 6-0 220 23 R Rutgers
2nd 34 Zenner, Zach 5-11 223 23 R South Dakota State

Wide Outs (9)

Eric Ebron
Tight End Eric Ebron

It’s the usual suspects back again for the Lions in 2015. The only prediction that I’m not 100 percent confident in is the Ryan Broyles selection. He could be beat out by veterans Lance Moore or Greg Salas who were both signed in the last week. However, if the Lions had no plans for Broyles, wouldn’t they have released him already? That leads me to believe that he has a legitimate shot of making the final roster.

Tight End
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 87 Pettigrew, Brandon 6-5 275 30 7 Oklahoma State
2nd 85 Ebron, Eric 6-4 265 22 2 North Carolina
3rd 80 Fauria, Joseph 6-7 267 25 3 UCLA
Wide Receiver
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 81 Johnson, Calvin 6-5 236 29 9 Georgia Tech
2nd 10 Fuller, Corey 6-2 200 24 2 Virginia Tech
3rd 84 Broyles, Ryan 5-10 195 27 4 Oklahoma
Wide Receiver
String # Name HT. WT. Age EXP. College
1st 15 Tate, Golden 5-10 195 26 6 Notre Dame
2nd 12 Ross, Jeremy 6-0 215 27 3 California
3rd 13 Jones, TJ 6-0 185 22 2 Notre Dame

Conclusion:

The Lions would have used 25 of the 53 available roster spots on their offensive players, leaving 28 remaining positions for the defense and specialists. Of the players left employed by the Lions at the end of the 2014 season and those who are still under contract, the only significant cut would be Running Back George Winn, who played in 12 games in 2014, tallying 73 yards rushing on 19 attempts.

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