Twelve interesting things about the Detroit Lions first depth chart
By Ash Thompson
Linebackers
Christian Jones is listed ahead of Jalen Reeves-Maybin for the weakside linebacker spot. Given that Jones has drawn positive reviews during training camp this is hardly surprising, but it confirms what was expected.
Steve Longa is the primary backup at the other outside linebacker position behind Devon Kennard. That position is the least well defined on the Lions roster. Watching where those two linebackers are on the field will be a sort of game within the game against the Raiders.
The secondary
Nevin Lawson is listed as the number two corner. This makes sense if we look at the relative salaries of the players involved. The Lions gave Lawson more money than DeShawn Shead. They also gave Lawson a multi-year contract, whereas Shead is on a one year deal. The wildcard in this is Tabor who composes the second team corner pair along with Shead.
Jamal Agnew is on the third team with Antwuan Davis. The Lions’ All-Pro kick returner has moved up the ranks with solid play during training camp.
Quandre Diggs is the teams starting strong safety. That is an interesting development. Diggs is in his fourth year with the team, and really seemed to discover his game closing out 2017 in that role. Up to this point though, we had been hearing about Tavon Wilson as the team’s first-string strong safety. That was not the only surprise among the safety group though.
Tracy Walker is in the number seven safety spot. The Lions rookie was far from a finished product, so the decision to ease his entry into the NFL with some lower end competition is justifiable. It does open the third round pick up to significant scrutiny if he struggles against that competition though. Nobody should be writing off a third-round pick after a single preseason game, but that doesn’t stop them.
Next. The Detroit Lions corner battle is heated. dark
The Lions first depth chart likely doesn’t mean that much. But these nuggets of knowledge do lead to some speculative revelations regarding the state of the team. This is the best information we have regarding how the team sees its roster shaping up.