The Detroit Lions have one of the best safety duos in all of football. Last year, Brian Branch recorded four interceptions while Kerby Joseph led the league with nine. Though Lions fans feel confident in what those two can do, the depth behind them is questionable.
Rookies Dan Jackson and Morice Norris have both suffered injuries leaving leaving even more questions. As a result, Detroit has looked at veteran cornerbacks Avonte Maddox and Rock Ya-Sin at safety.
That said, undrafted Lions rookie safety Ian Kennelly has made the most out of his increased opportunities because of the injuries. According to the Detroit Football Network, "Kennelly has gotten the call to log some first-team reps, ahead of a couple returning talents in Loren Strickland and Erick Hallett."
They added, "Reading between the lines, Kennelly appears to be tracking toward one of Detroit’s final roster spots when they trim to 53 players in less than a week. At the bare minimum, he's a lock for the practice squad."
Kennelly making the Lions roster as an undrafted rookie would be quite the story for someone who grew up in Michigan.
Lions Undrafted Rookie Ian Kennelly on Track to Make 53-Man Roster
The 24-year-old was born in Macomb, Michigan, and attended Grand Valley State University, a local college. While he wasn't highly sought after coming out of college, Kennelly has all the traits to be a problem at his position. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound safety ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash and has good change of direction and leaping ability.
In college, he used these traits to help him record 174 tackles, 19 pass deflections, one interception, and two forced fumbles. Despite proving to be an issue for the opposition in college, pro teams likely looked past him in the draft because of the shoulder injuries he's dealt with and the level of competition he faced.
Kennelly seems to be proving everyone who passed him up wrong. This preseason, the local kid has recorded a 63.8 grade in pass coverage and a 63.6 overall defensive grade, according to PFF. While the coverage grade isn't spectacular, it is much better than many undrafted rookies would post.
In addition, many undrafted rookies wouldn't get to see the field with the starters. Sure, Detroit is dealing with tons of injuries in their secondary, but they could have put Strickland or Hallett in instead of Kennelly. However, the Lions chose not to do that, showing how much they value Kennelly.
Lions fans will surely be paying attention to see if the Michigan native cracks the initial 53-man roster.