We are closer to the start of the Detroit Lions season than ever. Just a little over three weeks away. The Lions just played their first preseason game last Friday and we got a ton of answers out of that. It's time for this weeks Week 1 depth chart prediction. 

A lot of things happened last week and it's led to a ton of changes on this weeks depth chart. Take a look at last weeks before you move on to this weeks. You'll see just how much has changed. 

No more waiting. Let's jump into this weeks prediction. 

Offense 

Position	Starter	Player 2	Player 3
Quarterback	Jared Goff	Teddy Bridgewater
Running Back	David Montgomery	Jahmyr Gibbs	Benny Snell
Fullback	Jason Cabinda
Left Receiver	Josh Reynolds	Denzel Mims
Slot Receiver	Amon-Ra St. Brown	Kalif Raymond
Right Receiver	Marvin Jones	Dylan Drummond
Tight End	Sam LaPorta	James Mitchell	Brock Wright
Left Tackle	Taylor Decker	Germain Ifedi
Left Guard	Jonah Jackson	Kayode Awosika
Center	Frank Ragnow
Right Guard	Graham Glasgow	Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Right Tackle	Penei Sewell	Colby Sorsdal

Ok, There's a lot of changes here. They're small, but there's a lot. For starters, Nate Sudfeld is out and Teddy Bridgewater is in. The Lions signed him last week and he should be a big part of this team during camp and preseason. 

Justin Jackson shocked everyone when he retired last week. That opened up a few things. One of them being the running back 3 spot. The Lions tried a few guys on Friday, but the newly signed Benny Snell looked better than any of them. There's some injuries here with guys like Craig Reynolds, Jermar Jefferson and Mohamed Ibrahim. Reynolds and Jefferson didn't even play on Friday. So this one is a soft answer for now. I think Snell could prove himself worthy of the job though. 

I'm a little torn here. I like Dylan Drummond just like the average Lions fan does, but Friday was a bad night for him. He didn't really get to showcase a lot at receiver and his run at return man was rough. Maurice Alexander ,on the other hand, showed that he can be a dynamic return man with a 95 yard punt return for a touchdown. With Justin Jackson gone, the Lions need to fill that spot. Alexander proved he can fill that spot last year and this year. Still, I have to go with the heart here and give the spot to Drummond.

At the end of the day, it's all going to come down to how many receivers the Lions bring into the season. Last year it was five, I think it will be six this year. I would be shocked if they went to seven. 

I had to go with Drummond just based off the fact that the Lions seemed to like him enough to dry to pigeon hole him in at kick returner just so they can make sure he has a spo

Logan Stenberg and Matt Nelson are out and Kayode Awosika and Germain Ifedi are in. Both played pretty well on Friday night. Nelson had a rough night and Stenberg as been released. 

Lastly, I was wrong about Darrell Daniels. Brock Wright is back in.

Defense 

Position	Starter	Player 2	Player 3
Defensive End	John Cominsky	Josh Paschal
Nose Tackle	Alim McNeil	Levi Onwuzurike
Defensive Tackle	Isaiah Buggs	Brodric Martin
Edge	Aidan Hutchinson	Romeo Okwara
Weakside Linebacker	Alex Anzalone	Malcolm Rodriguez	Jalen Reeves-Maybin
Middle Linebacker	Jack Campbell	Derrick Barnes
Sam Linebacker	Charles Harris	James Houston	Julian Okwara
Left Cornerback	Jerry Jacobs	Emmanuel Moseley	Starling Thomas V
Strong Safety	Kerby Joseph	Ifeatu Melifonwu
Free Safety	Tracy Walker
Right Cornerback	Cameron Sutton	Will Harris
Nickel	C.J. Gardner-Johnson	Brian Branch

There's really not a lot of changes here this week. I rearranged the linebacker position a little. I've got Anzalone starting at the weakside linebacker spot and moved Barnes back to the middle after he played with the green dot on Friday and did so well. I have Campbell out in front, but I think these guys wind up alternating in the beginning. 

Savion Smith is out and Ifeatu Melifonwu is in. Melifonwu had a nice game on Friday night and Smith had a fine game, but Melifonwu edges him out. 

Special Teams

Position	Starter
Punter	Jack Fox
Kicker	Riley Patterson
Long Snapper	Scott Daly

This one is pretty well figured out. Jake McQuaide is gone. It's Scott Daly's spot. Riley Patterson's accuracy looks like it's going to edge out Parker Romo's big leg. Jack Fox is the punt god. 

Featured image by Kirthmon Dozier, USA Today