Three early candidates for the Detroit Lions training camp darling.

A local defensive back

Amari Coleman hits all the beats for a training camp darling. He’s from Flint, Mi. He played four seasons at Central Michigan for the Chippewas. It’s a local school, but not one of the heavy hitters. Does anyone automatically hate guys from CMU? Probably, but not enough that he won’t immediately become a Detroit media darling.

He ended his college career on a high note. He earned All Mid-American Conference First Team Defense honors. He shared CMU’s defensive player of the Year with Joe Ostman. Leading the MAC in pass breakups and interceptions is an excellent exclamation point for a collegiate career.

Coleman has very good footwork, He keeps his lower body underneath his lower body and changes direction smoothly. He gets a good break on the ball, it is dangerous to put a ball near him that doesn’t have some zip on it. Coleman is also a solid tackler in space which bodes well for his transition to a special teams player.

If Coleman doesn’t get an interception in the Lions first preseason game against the Raiders, I will be shocked. It’s a great opportunity to make a mark and that is the sort of thing that gets the hype train rolling very quickly. The Raiders backup quarterbacks are veterans, but they’re the kind of veterans that turn the ball over.

Charlie Kelbel of detroitlionspodcast.com brought up the similarities between Coleman and undrafted Patriots legend Malcolm butler shortly after the draft. It is a good comparison and I would recommend checking out his piece.

Those similarities tell you the type of role that Coleman has an opportunity to carve out for himself. The Lions secondary is stacked, and Coleman’s expected pre-season success may not land him on the 53 man roster, but every practice squad guy is an injury away from getting his shot.