Detroit Lions: Updated Preseason 75-man Roster Stack

The purpose of a “roster stack” is to identify where the players stand with regards to their position on the current roster. This is an updated version of the Detroit Lions preseason roster.

The Detroit Lions roster currently stands at 75 players after the recent roster cuts. On September 3rd, that number will again be reduced, this time down to the final 53 player roster.

This roster stack is an organized player grouping that is broken down into five groups: 1) Impact Players, 2) Core Players, 3) Players with a Secure Spot, 4) Players on the Roster Bubble, and 5) the Long Shots.

Impact Players

These are players, who if they were removed from the roster, would greatly impact the team’s overall performance.

QB	Matthew Stafford	Roster Spot #1
RB	Ameer Abdullah	2
WR	Golden Tate	3
TE	Eric Ebron	4
LT	Taylor Decker	5
RT	Riley Reiff	6
DE	Ziggy Ansah	7
OLB	DeAndre Levy	8
CB	Darius Slay	9
S	Glover Quin	10

Core Players

These players make up the foundation of the roster. While a loss of a player in this group would be significant, it is something a team could recover from.

RB	Theo Riddick	11
WR	Marvin Jones	12
WR	Anquan Boldin	13
LG	Laken Tomlinson	14
RG	Larry Warford	15
DT	Haloti Ngata	16
DT	Tyrunn Walker	17
DT	A’Shawn Robinson	18
DE	Devin Taylor	19
ILB	Tahir Whitehead	20
CB	Nevin Lawson	21
CB	Quandre Diggs	22
K	Matt Prater	23
P	Sam Martin	24

Players with a Secure Spot

These players, should feel comfortable with their position on the roster as they have a proven skill set that the team desires. A player in this group is a preferred player but is also one who has a replacement somewhere on the roster.

FB	Mike Burton	25
WR	Zach Zenner	26
TE	Cole Wick	27
C	Travis Swanson	28
C	Graham Glasgow	29
OL	Joe Dahl	30
OLB	Kyle Van Noy	31
LB	Josh Bynes	32
LB	Antwione Williams	33
CB	John Bademosi	34
SS	Rafael Bush	35
SS	Tavon Wilson	36
SS	Miles Killebrew	37
LS	Don Muhlbach	38

Players on the Roster Bubble

With 38 spots that look to be secured, that leaves only 15 spots for the remaining players to compete over. That means a little less than half the players on the remaining two lists will be on the final roster.

Keep in mind, just because a player was a draft pick or carries a high cap number, doesn’t guarantee them a spot on the roster. Quinn proved as much when he released Stevan Ridley last week and Geoff Schwartz yesterday.

A quick formatting note: If a player has a (PS) following their name it indicates they are still eligible for the practice squad.

QB	Dan Orlovsky	* not much has changed here, Orlovsky looks to be ahead of Rudock but it’s still possible the Lions keep 3 QBs.
QB	Jake Rudock (PS)
RB	Dwayne Washington (PS)	* Dwayne Washington is making a strong case that this spot is his.
RB	George Winn (PS)
WR	TJ Jones (PS)	* will two or three guys make it out of this group?
WR	Andre Roberts
WR	Jay Lee (PS)
WR	Jace Billingsley (PS)
TE	Andrew Quarless	* Quarles is suspended the first 2 games and I’m not sure the 3rd TE is on the roster yet.
TE	Orson Charles (PS)
TE	Adam Fuehne (PS)
OL	Brandon Thomas (PS)	*there is two or three offensive line spots remaining, these four are the likely candidates.
OL	Michael Ola
LT	Corey Robinson (PS)
OT	Cornelius Lucas (PS)
DT	Caraun Reid (PS)	* The Lions defensive line is the strongest unit on the team. There fact that there are so many players in this group is less about them playing bad and more about them all playing well. With five locks, there is still room for at least four (maybe five) players from this group to make the team. There could also be some trade candidates here.
DL	Wallace Gilberry
DE	Brandon Copeland (PS)
DL	Stefan Charles
DL	Anthony Zettel (PS)
DT	Gabe Wright (PS)
DT	Khyri Thornton (PS)
DL	Kerry Hyder (PS)
LB	Jon Bostic	* They are likely waiting to place him on IR until after waivers end.
CB	Darrin Walls	*With the Lions likely only keeping five linebackers, that should open up an extra spot here for the defensive backs. Expect three from this groups to be kept.
CB	Alex Carter (PS)
S	Don Carey
S	Isiah Johnson (PS)

Long Shots

These players appear to be on the outside looking in as the roster stands right now. They still have a chance to make the final 53, but they have some work to do.

C	Gabe Ikard (PS)	* If Glasgow’s injury is lingers Ikard or JeanPierre could make a case for a roster spot but as a backup center.
OT	Luke Marquardt (PS)
OL	Lemuel JeanPierre
LB	Zaviar Gooden (PS)	* If the Lions want to keep six linebackers one of these players could get the nod.
LB	Chi Chi Ariguzo (PS)
LB	Khaseem Greene (PS)
LB	Dominique Tovell (PS)
CB	Adairius Barnes (PS)	* Depth in the secondary is always a necessity but it’s a tough road for this group.
DB	Charles Washington (PS)

Bonus Group: Gone But Not Forgotten

The players on this list are no longer a part of the Lions organization after recently being released. However, a few of these player should be candidates to end up on the practice squad. It’s worth noting that while Bob Quinn was in New England, a few players released at this juncture ended up on their practice squad.

WR	Quinshad Davis (PS)	He had a solid camp and was a numbers cut, he could end up on PS
OL	Chase Farris (PS)	The Lions gave him $20,000 guaranteed, he should be in the PS mix
DE	Quanterus Smith (PS)
DE	Deonte Gibson (PS)
DL	Louis Palmer (PS)
CB	Rashaad Reynolds (PS)

One thing to keep in mind is that this document is fluid. It can and will change varying amounts depending on player performance during the preseason.

Next: Detroit Lions finalize 75-man roster

Did I put your favorite player in the wrong group? Do you like my groupings? Let me know in the replies or on Twitter at @erikschlitt.

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