Training camp is almost over for the Detroit Lions. There are four practices left, two more preseason games, and a whole lot of roster decisions to make. Saturday’s preseason game looms as the defining moment for several players on the bubble. For some, a strong showing could lock down a 53-man roster spot. For others, a bad game could end their run in Detroit before the regular season begins.

Here are 10 Lions players whose fates I think will be sealed by Saturday.

RB Sione Vaki

Vaki came into training camp as the consensus running back 3 when the season starts. He’s so good at special teams, and Lions coach Dan Campbell has talked ad nauseam about that. But then he got hurt, and Jacob Saylors stepped up. Saylors has looked good during the preseason and during practice. You almost weigh that training camp vibe a little more than the preseason game vibe. With Isaiah Pacheco out and Jahmyr Gibbs missing the first week or so, Vaki could have had a ton of first-team reps and cemented himself in that position. Now he’s back, but he’s got four practices and one meaningful preseason game to prove he’s the guy.

That third preseason game? We all know what that is. That’s the “go out and get one last bit of film so maybe the next team sees it and brings you in” game. I don’t think anybody has really ever made the team based off their performance in the third preseason game. Maybe Jake Fromm last year, but he got a practice squad spot, not the 53-man roster.

Vaki has to show up. He’s got to have one of the best games of his career. If he does that on special teams and as a running back, he’ll make it. If he has a bad game Saturday and doesn’t show up in any of these four practices, it’s over for the 53-man roster. He could always land on the practice squad or get picked up elsewhere. I hate that it could end this way, but that’s the business of football, and it sucks sometimes. A broken nose and getting jabbed in the eye are freak accidents, but they can have repercussions even when it wasn’t his fault.

WR Dominic Lovett and WR Tay Martin

There is a fifth wide receiver spot, and these two players’ fates are hanging in the balance with each other.

Lovett, in theory, can be a return man. He could be the next Kalif Raymond. He could be a good gunner, a good special teams player. But he has to have a much better game than he had against Cincinnati, where that drop problem showed up again. He looks so good in camp that if you only saw him in the preseason, you’d think something was wrong with him. Before that game, before the other developments, I had Lovett as a lock for the fifth spot. But Greg Dortch is the kick returner, Jacob Saylors is across from him on returns, Dortch is probably getting the punt return job, and Khalil Dorsey is a good gunner. Lovett is in a spot where he has to be almost perfect for these next four practices and Saturday’s game, or I just don’t know how he makes it.

Martin, on the other hand, has looked good as a special teams player. He’s looked good in terms of blocking, doing all the little things that somebody in a wide receiver 5 spot would do. If Martin makes it, Lovett’s not making it. If Lovett makes it, Martin’s not. I can’t see a six-receiver situation. One of them might get stashed on the practice squad, so both could ultimately stick around, but only one gets the 53-man roster spot. At the moment, I’m leaning towards Martin, but Lovett could show what he’s got over this next week and a half.

TE Jackson Meeks

Meeks moved to tight end, and I was very high on the idea of what the Lions could do with him. I still believe in what that looks like. But I’m leaning towards this being a next-year thing at this point. Detroit could still have him on the practice squad, elevate him during the regular season, and see what he looks like in-game. More than anything, it feels like they’re going to wait until 2027 to see what this really becomes. He’s a guy playing a brand new position. He’s been a receiver his whole career, and all of a sudden he’s a tight end now. That’s a big change.

But what if he goes out Saturday and balls out? What if he does something in the next four practices and the preseason game that shows he cannot be said no to? If that happens, his fate could be sealed in a good way. If it continues like it’s going, the sealed fate is a practice squad stash with a look toward 2027.

OL Seth McLaughlin

For any player on this list, this might be the most important stretch. McLaughlin is competing for a starting role. He could be the starting center for the Lions in Week 1 if he can outplay Juice Scruggs. The problem is that Detroit seems to be leaning toward Scruggs. When Scruggs came back from his injury and practiced again, he got all the first-team reps at center, and Tate Ratledge got the others. McLaughlin didn’t even get first-team reps. That says a lot.

It tells you the Lions liked how Scruggs played against Cincinnati and liked how he was able to step in. They might want to keep McLaughlin on the roster, but they might not view him as the starter the way some of us were thinking. If McLaughlin can continue to show what he can do and then have a strong game Saturday, maybe he beats out Scruggs. Or maybe his fate gets sealed in the sense that he makes the roster, which two weeks ago probably wasn’t going to happen. We’ll see where that goes.

Edge Eric O’Neill

If you have not been watching this edge rusher, he has been showing up lately. Over the last two weeks, against Cincinnati, he had some good pressures. He wasn’t able to get home on either of them, but he looked like a team player. He was getting pressure, showing closing speed, and looking good all over the field. He’s looked good in practice too.

On Saturday, he needs to show why the Lions need to carry an extra edge rusher who honestly might not play a whole lot this year. He needs to prove he can play special teams well and that when his number gets called, he can get after the quarterback and stop the run. If O’Neill has a strong game Saturday, I think he can edge his way in (no pun intended) to a 53-man roster spot. Maybe it’s a stash situation or a healthy scratch every week, but I think there’s a future with this kid. Even if he doesn’t make the 53, I believe Detroit wants him on the practice squad. They want to see where this is going.

DL Levi Onwuzurike

Campbell said on Monday that they had been ramping up Onwuzurike a little bit more, and then he had a setback. A setback is the last thing Onwuzurike can have at this point. I don’t even know if he’s going to play Saturday, but if he does, he’s got to show it. This is the last bastion for the former second-round pick. The Lions did not want this to not work out. He’s had a lot of injuries, and these aren’t his fault. We shouldn’t blame the player for that. But there’s only so much you can do, and if you can’t stay healthy, it’s going to hurt you. The best ability is availability.

The problem is he’s got Tyler Lacy and Ahmed Hassanein in front of him, and that’s a lot. Plus Skyler Gil-Howard looks great. There are so many moving parts on that defensive line that it kind of cancels Onwuzurike out unless he can show by Saturday that he’s the man.

LB Joe Bachie

Bachie is a veteran, a journeyman. I had him on my 53-man roster prediction after the Cincinnati game, and I think he could make it. But there are reasons you might consider Trevor Nowaske, Eric Turner, or Amen Ogbongbemiga for that spot instead. Damone Clark is still out there too. It depends on how many linebacker spots this team wants to carry. I think Bachie has a path if he can show up on special teams. If he can have good special teams practices and a strong special teams game, he’s got a real shot.

QB Luke Altmyer

I see a lot of people penciling Altmyer in as quarterback 2, and it’s because he played a lot against Cincinnati. But that was really only because Josh Dobbs had one practice with the Lions before that game. I think you’re going to see Dobbs a lot more against Washington. I believe Jared Goff will play in that game too. The Lions like Altmyer. They believe in what he can be. But they also know he’s not that just yet.

Dobbs has to prove his spot too. He’s not guaranteed a quarterback job here. If Dobbs can’t prove it, Altmyer has a chance. Both are going to get that opportunity Saturday. I think by the end of this week, that position battle is done. Altmyer’s first game was sloppy, with a couple of interceptions, especially late with the game on the line. That’s got to make you uneasy. We’ll see what happens.

CB Ennis Rakestraw

This is the one everybody’s talking about. One day you look and wonder where he is. The next day he’s intercepting Jared Goff. Or he’s making plays. Or he’s hurt and has to leave the game early. Or he looks physically better than he’s ever looked.

When I look at the Lions’ cornerback room, I cannot find a way where I’m not putting Khalil Dorsey on this team. Makes no sense to me not to have Dorsey. Roger McCreary has had some ups and downs, but I trust McCreary a little more than I trust Rakestraw at this moment. One day Rakestraw is sticky in coverage, and the other day he’s getting burnt. If he can show enough this week and then play the whole game Saturday with no issues, get out there and make some plays, bat some balls down, maybe grab an interception, that goes an unbelievable long way toward making the Lions want to carry seven cornerbacks instead of six.

At the same time, it’s almost like he’s a rookie. He’s been in the league for two years but has only played seven games in that span, all during his rookie season. You have to give him some leeway because he’s still a young player figuring it out. But carrying seven cornerbacks means somebody somewhere else is not getting a roster spot. When I go up and down this roster, which is incredibly tight, I don’t know who that guy is. There are maybe seven spots left to be filled, and Rakestraw has to have a good enough game to make a case that he needs one of those spots and somebody else doesn’t.

Those are the 10 guys. I think by the end of this week, we’ll know whether they’re on the team or whether they’re not. Let’s see what Saturday brings.

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