What we learned about the Lions: QB2 got murkier, one rookie looks real, and one cut could haunt Detroit
Josh Dobbs finally delivered his best performance of the summer, but Detroit may still need outside quarterback help while several bubble players made one last statement before cuts.
The Detroit Lions’ preseason and training camp are officially over after their third and final preseason game of the year against the Indianapolis Colts. Here’s what we took away from this final game:
Altmyer Report
This was a bad day for Altmyer. Look, I don’t think any decisions were ever going to be made based on this game, but this game may have reinforced decisions. He threw a bad pick early on, and you can talk about how Lucky Jackson being out of place made that happen, but he still committed and threw it. Then he had a really bad fumble that just goes so strongly against what Lions head coach Dan Campbell keeps preaching: don’t hold onto the ball too long. You’re going to read me saying this in the very next section, but I just don’t see a world where the Lions aren’t going outside of the building for their QB2 over the next few days.
Dobbs Report
This was the best Dobbs has looked with the Lions. He was money in the second quarter. 12-14 for 110 yards and two touchdowns. He ran a beautiful two-minute drill and got the Lions in the end zone at the end of the first half. But is it too late? At the end of the day, we have to look at much more than the third preseason game and see that, at practice, the Lions don’t use Dobbs a lot at all, and when they do, it’s been hit or miss, and in the second preseason game, that was not a good showing throwing the ball. It’s just hard to see a world where the Lions aren’t looking outside the building for a quarterback in the next few days.
A big deal for Mason Miller
Look, I don’t have Miller making the 53-man roster this year, but this was a big game for him for the future and for his chances at making the practice squad because Miller adds another position to his repertoire. When Miller was signed as a UDFA, he was a tackle. Then he moved to guard. On Saturday, he played center. You grow another year on the practice squad, and maybe there’s a ceiling where Miller can be that do-all relief guy for the Lions. Yes, there was a bad snap where there was a fumble, but keep in mind he has never played center in a game before. He’d also never taken center snaps until just a few days ago.
An uncomfortable conversation might be had about Jake Bates at some point
Look, I know how this usually goes. “Mike, you’re so dumb. He missed a PAT in a preseason game. Who cares? It means nothing.” The thing is, Bates has been missing all summer long, and it makes you start to think after a while. At what point do you have the conversation about whether or not Bates’ inaccuracy becomes a big enough problem that you can’t ignore it? I don’t know if it’s right now, but when you get into he regular season, the leash gets a lot shorter because those games count. Let’s see what happens.
It’s not just the missed PATs either. The kickoff short of the landing zone is a big penalty that started the Colts off on the 40-yard line on that drive. You just can’t have it. Bates has a lot of penalties like that last season as well.
Did anyone earn a spot today?
No. At this point, this game means as little as it ever has. The Lions have to make their final cuts in less than 24 hours as opposed to essentially getting another week like they used to. There’s just no shot that this team didn’t know who was making the roster when they came into the game. Take a look at this:
All the guys who didn’t play in this game
- Jared Goff
- Jahmyr Gibbs
- Isiah Pacheco
- Sione Vaki
- Amon-Ra St. Brown
- Jameson Williams
- Isaac TeSlaa
- Sam LaPorta
- Brock Wright
- Tyler Conklin
- Penei Sewell
- Tate Ratledge
- Cade Mays
- Juice Scruggs
- Aidan Hutchinson
- Derrick Moore
- D.J. Wonnum
- Alim McNeill
- Tyleik Williams
- Jack Campbell
- Derrick Barnes
- Devin White
- Malcolm Rodriguez
- Trevor Nowaske
- D.J. Reed
- Rock Ya-Sin
- Christian Izien
- Chuck Clark
- Avonte Maddox
- Thomas Harper
That’s 30 locks right there. On top of that, we know that there’s 16 other guys who did play in this game who are absolutley locked in. There’s seven spots open and you have to figure that maybe up to three of those are going to players who aren’t even on this team. So there’s four spots left. I’m sure the Lions had those figured out already.
SGH is going to be a dude in Detroit
We didn’t need to see him in this third preseason game to know that. This has been Skyler Gill-Howard all summer long. He is a pass-rush specialist all the way, and I’m not saying he starts or anything like that, but what I am saying is that you will hear his name called on third downs this season, and he’s going to end some drives here and there.
That may be all for Rakestraw
It’s not been a good summer for the former second-round pick. It started off really well and then went to an up-and-down thing and just never got out of that zone. Now he’s probably CB8 on this 90-man roster, and I just can’t put him any higher than that. Getting burnt on fourth down and then the very next play helped the Colts go from fourth-and-6 on the Lions’ 45-yard line to a touchdown in three plays. Yes, Rakestraw did get an interception, and that was awesome for him, but it’s a little late in the game for that to make a huge difference, and you could reasonably credit Ahmed Hassanein and Eric O’Neill for pressuring that into happening.
The mistake every team in the NFL is hoping the Lions make on Sunday
I would bet my life savings that 20-plus teams are watching the Detroit Lions, hoping they slip and let Jacob Saylors go. He has been non-stop impressive this summer in camp and in the preseason. But the Lions do seem to be leaning more towards Sione Vaki. If they decide to just carry three running backs, Saylors will be a sought-after commodity. Personally, I can’t see them doing it.
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