Twelve interesting things about the Detroit Lions first depth chart

Starting tight end

All week we have heard rave reviews about Luke Willson. It should be no surprise that he is sitting at the top of the tight end depth chart. It is after that where the surprises come.

Second-year pro Michael Roberts is second on the depth chart. After some injury issues and poor practice reviews had many speculating that Roberts was sliding.

Veteran Levine Toilolo is in the third spot. He is primarily a blocking tight end, which could put him in a position to see more snaps than the supposed second-string tight end on the depth chart. Hakeem Valles sits atop the “other” category as expected.

The backup quarterback

Matt Cassell is leading the way for the backup QB job. That means we are very likely going to see a steady diet of Cassell in the first half of the game against the Oakland Raiders on Friday night.

We will, of course, still see Jake Rudock. His quality performance against Oakland’s 75-90th roster players will undoubtedly bolster the vocal part of the fanbase that doesn’t think he is going to be looking for work to begin the year, but he is the third string QB right now.

Matthew Stafford will likely only play the first drive of the game against the Raiders. Matt Cassel will likely finish the first half and Ruddock will take the second half.

Left Tackle

Brian Mihalik is listed as the Lions second-string left tackle this week. He will face a higher level of competition than Tyrell Crosby during the latter player’s professional debut. There are a couple different ways to look at that. The first is that Crosby is losing the battle.

The second is that the coaches want to take a look at Mihalik against tougher competition. This would allow them to make a better assessment of Mihalik’s value as the fourth tackle on the roster. He and Corey Robinson will be the team’s second set of bookends along the line.