Detroit Lions Offensive Position Battles Heat Up Against Pittsburgh

Wide Receiver

Golden Tate, Marvin Jones and Anquan Boldin saw only first-team action on Thursday and were done after one possession. The battle on this team is for the fourth and fifth receiver spots, with potential for a sixth. T.J. Jones was the early favorite for the number four spot but did not help his case tonight with a lost fumble, a drop, and only one reception for -1 yards.

Jeremy Kerley‘s stock has been dropping since the Lions began adding more receivers to the roster to compete for spots. He recovered well after dropping a perfectly thrown deep ball from Orlovsky, but failed to impress overall. Andre Roberts led the Lions in receiving yards with 57 and scored a nice touchdown in the first half after making an adjustment on his route to counter a blitz.

After an impressive mock game performance on Saturday, UDFA favorite Jay Lee did not catch a single pass on Thursday while fellow UDFAs Quinshad Davis and Jace Billingsley put in excellent performances. Davis caught a couple of passes and a two-point conversion in traffic, and Billingsley putt the entire Steelers defense on skates for a 23-yard touchdown catch-and-run.

Jones should be fine for now. He seemed entrenched as the number four coming in so one game should not change that. Roberts probably helped himself more than any other receiver tonight, especially because he is basically in direct competition with Kerley, who struggled. Davis, Lee and Billingsley are still on the outside looking in for the time being, but the fact that they got as much run as they did demonstrates that the bottom of this depth chart is still wide open.

Next: Tight End