Offensive Line (8)
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)
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)
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.