Defense
Defensive End 1 – Ziggy Ansah | Wallace Gilberry | Deonte Gibson (R/UDFA)
Defensive End 2 – Devin Taylor | Anthony Zettel (R/6th) | Kerry Hyder | James Deloach (R/UDFA)
The Detroit Lions are a bit light in the pants at Defensive End, especially when it comes to depth. Ziggy Ansah is a stud and Devin Taylor showed some promise off the bench. Wallace Gilberry is a good depth piece and then the talent falls off a cliff. Anthony Zettel is going to be defensive tackle sooner rather than later. Outside of that, there is no NFL level talent on the roster. The Lions will have to go scrap heap surfing for some additional depth here as well.
Final Roster Prediction:
53-Man Roster: Ansah, Taylor, Gilberry, and Zettel
Practice Squad: Deonte Gibson
Cut: Hyder and Deloach
Defensive Tackle – Tyrunn Walker | Stefan Charles | Caraun Reid | Gabe Wright
Nose Tackle – Haloti Ngata | A’Shawn Robinson (R/2nd) | Khyri Thornton
Haloti Ngata will be a starter at one Defensive Tackle positions day one, but will never be on the field for the majority of the snaps in a given game. Starting along side him is a three horse race between Tyrunn Walker, Stefan Charles, and second round pick A’Shawn Robinson. Robinson has the highest ceiling of the trio, but isn’t ready as a pass rusher to be a starter just yet. Walker is the most talented pass rusher, but is coming off a nasty leg injury. Charles has never been a starter before and flashed brilliance in limited time in Buffalo. Caraun Reid is a decent run stuffer, but isn’t a quick enough player to do much in the pass rush. Gabe Wright is already on the out without a big camp in just his second year because he just isn’t very good. The Detroit Lions will likely keep five defensive tackles this year at the start and barring any injuries, those five are already signed.
Final Roster Prediction:
53-Man Roster: Walker, Ngata, Charles, Robinson, and Reid
Practice Squad: Wright
Cut: Thornton
Strong Side Linebacker – Kyle Van Noy | Brandon Copeland | Antwione Williams (R/5th) | Xavier Gooden
Middle Linebacker – Tahir Whitehead | Stephen Tulloch | Jerry Franklin
Weak Side Linebacker – DeAndre Levy | Josh Bynes | Khasseem Greene
There is absolutely no depth at linebacker for the Detroit Lions. They have three very nice players in Tahir Whitehead, DeAndre Levy, and Josh Bynes, but not much besides those three. Stephen Tulloch still hasn’t been cut for some reason despite his stupid salary and lack of ability to play quality football anymore. Other than that you have a lot of cast offs and a rookie from a small school. It could be interesting who ends up making the team.
Final Roster Prediction:
53-Man Roster: Whitehead, Van Noy, Levy, Bynes, Williams, and Greene
Practice Squad: Scrap heap find
Cut: Copeland, Tulloch, Gooden, and Franklin
Cornerback 1 – Darius Slay | Alex Carter | Johnson Bademosi | Adairius Barnes (R/UDFA)
Cornerback 2 – Nevin Lawson | Darrin Walls | Ian Wells (R/UDFA)
Nickel Corner Back – Quandre Diggs | Crezdon Butler | Charles Washington (R/UDFA)
Strong Safety – Rafael Bush | Miles Killebrew (R/4th) | Isaiah Johnson
Free Safety – Glover Quin | Tavon Wilson | Don Carey
The Detroit Lions have turned over a bunch of players in the secondary, mostly for the better. While Rafael Bush isn’t anything to write home about, he should be better than James Ihedigbo, especially in coverage. Nevin Lawson isn’t an average starting Cornerback, but when you pair him with Darius Slay and Quandre Diggs, you have something to work with. Miles Killebrew will likely only contribute on special teams in year one, but could be a great in the box defender if he matures into an NFL scheme. Tavon Wilson, signed away from the Patriots in free agency should be solid backup and special teamer for this club as well.
Final Roster Prediction:
53-Man Roster: Slay, Lawson, Diggs, Carter, Walls, Bademosi, Bush, Quin, Wilson, Killebrew
Practice Squad: Johnson and Barnes
Cut: Carey, Wells and Butler
