After the Draft Part 1: Analysis of Lions Offensive Roster Positions

With the 2020 NFL draft completed and nine UDFAs under contract, the Lions now have a full 90-man roster to start their offseason. However, if history tells us anything, there will be plenty of churn not only at the bottom of the roster, but also signings and cuts of veteran Free Agents as the landscape changes with teams signing their draft picks.

Keeping that in mind, here are my thoughts on each Offensive Position Group and whether I believe there will be some additional movement during the offseason leading into camp.

Offense

QB: At this point, unless the Lions really want to gibe up on David Blough for another developmental QB, I think the group of Stafford, Daniel and Blough will see the field in camp this Summer.

RB/FB: I would have to say there will be zero movement at the RB/FB position before camp. With Kerryon Johnson, Scarborough and Ty Johnson all back, along with addition of Swift and Huntley, Wes Hills isn’t the only player that likely won’t survive camp. Bawden picked up a challenger with UDFA Nick Sellers, so I doubt either will be replaced prior to camp.

WR: I would imagine the Lions are set here with Golladay, Jones and Amendola as starters. The depth has 2020 Draft pick Cephus, FA signing Allison, last year contributor Hall and several guys in Lacy, Kennedy, Fulgham, Davis and Bolden that fill out the camp roster pretty well. Unless a surprise cut of Jones takes place, it seems the likeliest movement scenario is that Golladay gets a long-term deal and the rest of the guys sort themselves out during camp.

TE: I think this group is pretty stable, with Hockenson, James and Nauta all back and the addition of Bryant as a UDFA after the draft. Its conceivable a run blocking TE could free up and be added to the mix, which would likely push Matt Sokol off the camp roster.

OT: This is the one spot that the Lions could very well make a move before camp to bring in a veteran to compete. While Vaitai and Decker are the presumptive starters, outside of Crosby, the backups are Dan Skipper and Matt Nelson, not exactly the guys you would hope could step in and start games in a pinch at this point.

OG: This position is a bit of a mess right now, but I don’t see significant changes being made before camp starts. Although Dahl coming off a back injury and Aboushi/Wiggins (who all were contributors or part of rotation last year) are back, the Lions used some serious draft capital and development time on three youngsters in Benzschawel, Jackson and Stenberg to compete to start sooner than later. The bottom of the roster guys (Benenoch and Garnett) will be fighting to stay through camp cuts.

C: This is clear cut, Ragnow is the center and Aboushi or one of the rookies will be the backup.