What we learned about the Lions: One player stole the show and roster spot while two highly picked players raised serious concerns
The Detroit Lions learned a LOT tonight. One player may have straight-up stolen a roster spot. Two highly drafted players gave Detroit serious reasons to worry. And another rookie looked every bit like a first-round pick.My biggest takeaways from Lions-Bengals:
The Detroit Lions wrapped up their first preseason game of 2026 with a sloppy, rain-soaked matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. From quarterback battles to roster-shaking performances, there was plenty to take away from Thursday night despite the ugly conditions. Here are the biggest things that stood out.
The Altmyer report
Lions undrafted free agent quarterback Luke Altmyer got his first start, and it was . . . okay. He went 13-for-22 for 130 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. The first interception wasn’t really his fault, and we’ll get to that. The second one really was. Outside of those, he was accurate. He was decisive. He looked about as good as you could imagine him looking. But there was probably a little bit more I was hoping to see.
Altmyer played the majority of the game. The Lions pulled him for the second quarter, put Josh Dobbs in, then inserted Altmyer back for the third quarter. He was fine. There was really only one big play where it was like, “Okay, I didn’t know you had it like that, Luke.” Other than that, it was mostly short plays.
The takeaway here is that it’s not a done deal for Altmyer. He needs more time. Like Dan Campbell said earlier in the week, the guy needs a million reps before you can start deciding whether he can make this team, let alone be quarterback 2.
The Dobbs report
Dobbs came in, and honestly, I thought he looked a lot better than Altmyer. Much more decisive, much more accurate, better arm. He was slinging it, getting out of the pocket, making scrambles. The kind of stuff we’re used to Josh Dobbs doing. For a guy who just got to Detroit a few days ago and really only had one practice with the Lions, he looked pretty good. You can tell at this point that if the Lions had to pick between these two, Dobbs is going to be quarterback 2.
Jacob Saylors stole the show
What a night for Jacob Saylors, man. Coming into this game, the thought process was simple: Sione Vaki is hurt, Isaiah Pacheco is hurt, and all Saylors has to do is go out there and have a good game. He absolutely did that. He had 55 yards on 8 carries at 6.9 yards per carry, plus 3 receptions for 28 yards. He ripped off a 27-yard run and had another 15-yard run wiped out by a holding call.
Saylors went out there and won the job. Even when Vaki comes back, he’s now fighting for a roster spot rather than having it locked up. Coming into training camp, I thought Vaki was absolutely a lock for running back 3. I thought his special teams prowess would help him even more. But now I don’t know if the special teams stuff is good enough to save him because Saylors has eaten his lunch. Saylors has shown to be the better running back, and I don’t think it’s close.
Ahmed Hassanein is going to play a lot
We had been talking so much about Hassanien having a big training camp, and he didn’t disappoint Thursday. He got a sack earlier in the game on Joe Burrow, beating the Bengals’ first-team left tackle. Later on, he got a sack-fumble on Josh Johnson. He had a couple pressures sprinkled in too. He just looked phenomenal.
Coming into the season, I never doubted Hassanein could make the roster. The doubt was how much he would actually play. Now I’m starting to look at him like this dude is going to play a whole lot. He’s going to win the big end job. Tyler Lacy is still the man there, but Hassanein is going to pass rush, set the edge in the run game, and look really good doing it. It’s exactly what you want to see.
Eric O’Neill deserves more attention
I came away from this game thinking I need to start paying more attention to Eric O’Neill. It was just a couple of pressures here and there, but there were some really nice-looking moves. I haven’t put a lot of attention on him because I’ve been so locked in on Hassanein and Lacy and the interior guys. I’m not saying it’s enough to make the 53-man roster, but when you start considering who’s going to be on the practice squad, O’Neill made a case for himself Thursday.
The weather made it ugly
This game was just ugly, wet football. Fumbles by both teams, interceptions. The rain had a lot to do with it. You almost feel like you have to excuse this game a little because it was so sloppy. But that’s football, man. Sometimes it’s going to be that way in the NFL. Part of you feels like maybe you didn’t see what everybody could really do, but on the other hand, that’s exactly what the NFL can look like. I’m interested to get to Washington next week and see how much different things look in better conditions.
Isaac TeSlaa’s rough summer continues
It’s not been a good summer for Isaac TeSlaa. I hate to say it, but we have to bring it up. You thought maybe it was just a training camp thing, but then he comes out Thursday and Altmyer targets him three times. One of them goes right through his hands, bounces off his helmet, and turns into an interception. TeSlaa is expected to be wide receiver 3 for this team, and right now you have to start thinking about maneuvering things around. Maybe Dortch is the wide receiver 3 now. I don’t know what you do, but it doesn’t look good.
Miles Frazier’s 3 holding calls hurt his case
This was a bad night for Miles Frazier. Three holding calls. You just can’t have it, man. This is a guy fighting for a starting job at left guard, and I said earlier in the week it was Christian Mahogany’s job to lose. Thursday affirmed it. Mahogany had a couple penalties too, but his aren’t going to be as notable as Frazier’s. The last one was the big one: the Lions faced third-and-19, threw a screen to Tom Kennedy with unbelievable blocking, Kennedy made a bunch of beautiful moves, picked up the first down, and then it all got called back because of a Frazier hold. I’m not saying this costs Frazier his roster spot, but this was not good for him in the fight for that left guard job.
Dominic Lovett keeps dropping the ball
This is very reminiscent of last year’s preseason. Lovett keeps getting opportunities and keeps dropping the ball. He had four targets Thursday and dropped three of them, catching only one for 15 yards. It was a nice play, but I keep waiting for this kid to get on the right track and show us what he can really do. You have to hope he looks better against Washington.
Blake Miller looked like a first-round pick
I thought Blake Miller looked really good Thursday. He spent some time going against the Bengals’ first-team defense and held up well, then played a little more into the second quarter. I have really nothing bad to say. He may have gotten beat once, but other than that, he looked like the first-round pick the Lions wanted when they selected him. I’m interested to see if he winds up playing in the next game or if this was a one-time deal.
Dan Campbell’s smart late-half coaching move
Campbell showed a really smart coaching move late in the second quarter. The Bengals had the ball with about 12 seconds left, and Cincinnati committed a penalty. Instead of taking the 10-second runoff and ending the half down 10-3, Campbell declined the penalty altogether. That made it a turnover on downs, and the Lions got the ball back. Saylors ran for 9 yards, Jake Bates hit a 52-yard field goal, and Detroit went into the half down 10-6 instead of 10-3. It didn’t yield a ton of points, but it was a smart move and worth highlighting.
It looks pretty bad for Rakestraw
Coming into this game, I didn’t really have a roster spot for Rakestraw. I’ve found it hard to find a spot for him over Khalil Dorsey. I thought he played well early in this one, but then he went for an open-field tackle and drove his shoulder right into the knee of a ball carrier. He then left the game with a trainer and did not come back. If this is another long-term injury for Rakestraw, it’s hard to see the Lions continuing on with him for another year.
Update: Rakestraw’s injury does not appear to be serious.
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