6 winners and 4 losers for the Lions in their preseason game against the Giants, undrafted rookie edge has huge night
The Detroit Lions are back on the field again and it feels great. After what was your typically ugly preseason game, the Lions walked out with a 14-3 loss to the New York Giants. We kept our eyes on every single man on the field Thursday night. Here's our winners and losers from the game: […]
The Detroit Lions are back on the field again and it feels great. After what was your typically ugly preseason game, the Lions walked out with a 14-3 loss to the New York Giants. We kept our eyes on every single man on the field Thursday night. Here's our winners and losers from the game:
Winner: Isaac Ukwu
Ukwu hasn't been on everyone's radar this summer, but he definitely will be after Thursday night. He had a huge game. Ukwu started the game and absolutely beat up on the Giants tackles right away. He had a sack in the first quarter and then added multiple pressures after that. Then in the second half he got off his man and made a big boy tackle on Dante Miller on a 1-yard run stuff.
He looked unstoppable out there. Keep an eye on this undrafted rookie.
Loser: Maurice Alexander
The Lions don’t have a kick returner nailed down just yet. Dropping the ball two times in a row is not something you can do when you’re trying to earn the job. Alexander wasn’t able to return a kick on Thursday night because of it and he was taken out in favor of Isaiah Williams in the second quarter. Alexander did redeem himself a little later with a 20-yard return the second half.
Winner: Amik Robertson
Robertson looked like a stud Thursday night when he was on the field. He had a nice pass breakup and then followed it up with solid coverage on another target that came his way. We didn’t see a ton of him, but what we saw looked good enough to land that starting nickel spot.
Loser: Nate Sudfeld
I don’t know what happened. We’ve talked a lot about how good he has looked in camp and you can see that the Lions clearly see him as the QB2 on this team since he started and played most of the game. Thursday was a bad night. Throws were off and his lack of mobility and decision making really struggled. The throw across his body that got picked off was about as rough as you can get. He also held onto the ball too long in too many situations.
Sudfeld could be in danger of being a camp guy and not a gamer. That's not what you want at QB2. He finished his night going 13-24 for 96-yards and an interception.
Winner: DaRon Gilbert
Gilbert had a really nice game and made an argument for a potential fifth linebacker spot on the roster. Not only did he have stops with tackles, he also had a nice pass breakup over the middle. One the tackles was a nice one that saw him chase down the ball carrier. That’s the kind of thing the Lions’ coaching staff loves, guys not giving up on a play. He finished the night with four tackles.
Loser: James Houston
We saw good stuff from Isaac Ukwu and Nate Lynn, but James Houston was super quiet outside of one play where we forced the a running back to move inside instead of outside. Other than that he had one assisted tackle and that was his day. Houston struggle to put pressure on the quarterback and he got pushed around a bit out there. You have to hope he has a better game next week.
Winner: Sione Vaki
We only got to see a little bit of Sione Vaki, but he was generating some of the best offense the Lions had all night. He had four carries for 29-yards. This 15-yard run was the highlight of the night for the Lions' run game.
We also got to see Vaki's defensive instincts show through too when Sudfeld was picked off and then Tom Kennedy forced a fumble and Vaki was there to recover it.
Loser: Colby Sorsdal
Not a great night from the guy that's expected to be the big challenger for the swing tackle spot. He got absolutely beat like he stole something by Boogie Bashem on a sack on Nate Sudfeld. Just can't do that.
Winner: Hendon Hooker
We finally got to see Hendon Hooker's debut and while he didn't have the best day through the air, we got to see what he could do with his feet. Hooker ran for 34-yards on four carries. He went 5-9 for 36-yards through the air. He had arguably the play of the night on this 16-yard scramble.
Unfortunately Hooker only played two drives and was taken to the locker room with trainers after the second drive. No information has been given about what happened.
Update: Hooker is now in concussion protocol per Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell.
Winner: Isaiah Williams
In time when the receiver room is wide open, only one guy really showed up for the Lions and that was undrafted rookie Isaiah Williams. The former Big Ten leader in receptions had a nice day and made some plays. He led the Lions in catches Thursday night with four catches on four targets for 35-yards. He was the broadcasts Player of the Game.
Detroit Lions 53-man roster and depth chart prediction after Week 1 of the preseason
The Detroit Lions are three weeks through training camp and now have their first preseason game out of the way. It was not a pretty one, but we did get to see a few things that made some big changes to our projections. Here is what we think the Lions 53-man roster and depth chart […]
