Detroit Lions may have quietly created the offensive chess piece nobody saw coming
The Lions may have stumbled into one of their most intriguing offensive weapons, who could unlock a matchup nightmare in Drew Petzing’s offense if one key part of the experiment works.
The Detroit Lions spent most of 2025 dealing with tight end injuries that forced them into a creative solution. Sam LaPorta went down. Brock Wright missed time. Detroit had to dig deep and pull undrafted rookie wide receiver Jackson Meeks off the practice squad, asking a 6-foot-2, 210-pound receiver to play tight end for the first time in his life. It felt like a one-off, a desperation move born out of necessity. But the Lions kept working Meeks at tight end through the rest of the season. And now, at mandatory minicamp, he’s doing it again, only this time he’s 235 pounds.
That 25-pound jump is significant. For comparison, LaPorta is listed at 245 pounds. Meeks is just 10 pounds lighter than the Lions’ starting tight end, and he’s put himself in a position to become a legitimate tight end/wide receiver hybrid.
Why this matters for Detroit’s offense
Think about how this looks on the field. The Lions line up with LaPorta, Wright, and Meeks. The defense sees 13 personnel (three tight ends) and answers with base personnel or a bigger nickel package because they expect duo, power, counter, split zone. Then Meeks motions outside. Suddenly, the 13 personnel look shifts into something resembling 11 personnel without Detroit making a substitution. That’s the kind of versatility offensive coordinator Drew Petzing has talked about valuing because it forces defenses to declare their intentions while preventing them from matching personnel.
You have a guy defenses can’t pin down. He might be inside, he might be outside, he might block, he might run a route. That ambiguity is the whole selling point.
Can Meeks actually block?
This experiment comes down to one thing: can he do the dirty work? Nobody questions whether Meeks can catch the football or run routes. The question is whether he can line up attached to the formation, kick out an edge defender, seal a linebacker, or hold his block long enough for Jahmyr Gibbs to get around the corner.
The early returns are encouraging. During his regular-season snaps in 2025, Meeks posted a 60.1 run-blocking grade per Pro Football Focus. That’s not horrible. In the preseason, the numbers got better. He posted an 85.2 run block grade in the Hall of Fame game and a 91.3 run blocking grade on 36 snaps against Atlanta. Things dipped against Miami (54.2) and Houston (53.7), but his overall preseason run block grade sat at 88.5. Go back to his final year at Syracuse, and he graded out at 75.5 as a run blocker there too. He was a decent blocker in college, and that’s exactly the kind of profile the Lions love.
Where Meeks fits on the roster
The Lions are likely to carry four tight ends and four receivers, with Meeks landing somewhere in the middle of that. He would be that fourth tight end but also function as a fifth receiver, giving Detroit the flexibility to push him inside or outside depending on the matchup.
Tyler Conklin is expected to fill the receiving tight end role behind LaPorta, and he should make the roster. But Meeks has a real chance to challenge him because of the versatility he brings. The counterargument is that Conklin is a proven blocker at the NFL level, and that matters. Then you look at Wright, who hasn’t been a particularly good blocker or a productive receiving tight end, and you start to wonder where he fits in all of this.
The closest comparison people reach for with this kind of player is Taysom Hill, who has played quarterback, receiver, and tight end throughout his career. Most guys who attempt this hybrid role end up stuck in the middle. They’re too small to be true tight ends and not explosive enough to be full-time receivers. Coaches eventually stop forcing it. But the Lions aren’t treating this like a gimmick. They’ve worked Meeks at tight end consistently since last season, and the fact that he’s added 25 pounds shows genuine commitment to the experiment.
What to watch in training camp
Meeks still has to make the 53-man roster. Nothing is guaranteed. But the versatility is the selling point, and in Petzing’s system, which thrives on 12- and 13-personnel groupings, there’s a clear path for a player who can blur the line between tight end and receiver. We’re less than two weeks away from seeing what Meeks looks like in this role during training camp. Let’s see if he can answer the bell.
Detroit Lions News