Undrafted Auburn Hills native keeps surprising the Lions more and more every day, and it’s likely to land him a spot on the 53-man roster
Another UFL guy is making a name for himself in Detroit
The Detroit Lions’ cornerback situation has been pretty well figured out for a minute now. D.J. Reed is your CB1, Terrino Arnold is your CB2, Amik Robertson is your nickel, and Rock Ya-Sin is your CB4. There was hope that Ennis Rakestraw would have that CB4 role, but injuries have taken his season from him. The front end of things has always looked good, but depth is something this room has needed.
The Lions have brought in a handful of former UFL players, and one of them keeps surprising coaches and media alike on a daily basis. That’s Nick Whiteside. The Auburn Hills native, who played his college ball at Saginaw Valley State, has been taking full advantage of his second shot in the NFL, and he’s been impressive this summer. Particularly in the preseason.
On Friday night, Whiteside played 16 snaps and made the most of those snaps. He walked out with an 84.6 Pro Football Focus grade and a really nice pass breakup. He hasn’t just played well for the Lions in the preseason; he played really well with the Commanders for the two years he was there, and it earned him a practice squad spot with a few elevations.
Nothing is decided yet, but Lions head coach Dan Campbell did give Whiteside a glowing review in his presser on Monday.
“…I like Whiteside, man. Just the fact that he comes in, he competes, he’s a pro. He jumps into every drill, even if he’s not supposed to be in there; he wants it, and he’s a sponge, and he likes to compete. Are there things he’s got to get better at? Yeah, of course he does, but he just got here too, so there’s something to work with here. You know, Deshea (Townsend) is doing a great job with him, too.”
Campbell also talked about the guys who have to come in on short notice and get an opportunity and how hard it can be to jump right in and have to know everything right away and then go play in a game immediately and impress, but when guys do that and do that well, they stick out like a sore thumb. In this case, Whiteside is that sore thumb. I wouldn’t be shocked if we saw a lot more of him in the final two preseason games. I wouldn’t be shocked if he makes the 53-man roster either. We had him in there on our latest prediction for what it’s worth.