The one Lions player that could sneakily have a breakout season in 2024
The Detroit Lions wrapped up their 2024 preseason this past Saturday and I found myself watching a certain player that has consistently been good in the preseason, training camp, OTAs and minicamp and I started wondering why we're not talking about this guy a lot. I'm talking about tight end Shane Zylstra. Zylstra has been […]
The Detroit Lions wrapped up their 2024 preseason this past Saturday and I found myself watching a certain player that has consistently been good in the preseason, training camp, OTAs and minicamp and I started wondering why we're not talking about this guy a lot. I'm talking about tight end Shane Zylstra.
Zylstra has been with the team since 2021. We didn't get to see him a lot that year, but we got to see some promising stuff during the 2022 season. He put up four touchdowns that year. In the summer of 2023 it seemed like he was well on his way to making the Lions' 53-man roster, but then he suffered a season ending injury at camp.
The Lions held onto him all year long and then signed him to a futures deal after the year. This summer he has consistently been making plays, but with Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright out there, he's just sort of been forgotten about.
I don't think he'll be forgotten for much longer though. Zylstra could sneakily put up a break out season as a pass catcher in 2024. There's a couple different reasons we think that.
The first is that the Lions are lacking at receiver at the moment. Specifically in the X receiver area. They may look to add someone in the next two weeks, but so far that hasn't happened. At 6-foot-4 and 204 pounds, Zylstra has the build of an X receiver and we've seen him do some X receiver type stuff already with contested catches this summer.
Don't get me wrong here, the Lions should still upgrade at X if they get the chance, but Zylstra can give you something if they don't
The other reason is because while the Lions have Sam LaPorta, I wouldn't expect Brock Wright to get a ton of targets since he's more of a blocking tight end, Zylstra could get some targets at the other tight end spot.
Now, when we say breakout, we're not talking about Zylstra hitting 1,000 yards this season. We're thinking something more like 30 catches for 325 yards and two touchdowns. That's a big jump for a guy that's been low on the depth chart or on the practice squad during his career. Keep an eye out for Zylstra in 2024.
Update: In a move that nobody saw coming, the Lions waived Shane Zylstra on Monday.
Lions shockingly waive tight end that seemed ready for breakout season
The Detroit Lions cuts are currently under way and they're coming fast. You can keep track of all the cuts that have been made by following along with our cut tracker. Life moves at you pretty fast doesn't it? On Monday we wrote about Shane Zylstra potentially having a breakout season with the Detroit Lions […]
