Detroit Lions Film Study: Meet the Lions’ potential tight end savior that Dolphins fans are mad their team lost, a sneaky steal for Brad Holmes
Brad Holmes and the Lions may have found themselves a steal
If the Detroit Lions’ tight end room were a knife, it’d be down to the nub right now with Sam LaPorta (back) and Brock Wright (Trachea) out for the foreseeable future and possibly the rest of the season.
We’re not sure whether Wright can come back. But there is some hope, and the Lions claimed the player providing it last week. Let’s talk about the Lions’ newest tight end.
Hayden Rucci has a shot to be the Lions’ savior at tight end for the rest of the year, possibly longer
Hayden Rucci is a second-year player out of Wisconsin. He went undrafted last season, but the Miami Dolphins picked him up and held onto him until last week, when they needed to let someone go to help them activate Darren Waller and Austin Jackson off IR. There seems to be a feeling in Miami like the Dolphins lost a guy. We talked with our Dolphins beat writer, Kyle Crabbs, about him, and here’s what he had to say:
“Rucci quickly earned his fair share of fans with the Dolphins as early as his rookie training camp and preseason with the Dolphins in 2024. A modest athletic profile and a lack of passing game appeal led to him being undrafted in 2024, but Miami quickly saw flashes of a hard-nosed, blue-collar blocker. It helped Rucci secure a practice squad opportunity throughout 2024, and then, this season, came a big break.
“Miami’s tight end room was quickly zapped as Darren Waller was injured, Tanner Conner was released, and then veteran tight end Julian Hill was injured, too. Rucci was elevated and asked to serve as Miami’s traditional ‘Y’ tight end as the in-line player. He quickly showed that the physicality of the NFL game wasn’t too much for him, and he offered several critical point-of-attack blocks amid Miami’s mid-season offensive renaissance as a rushing team.
“Rucci did get caught up in the numbers game for the Dolphins after the return of both Waller and Hill, plus the need for an extra roster spot with RT Austin Jackson returning from injured reserve. His availability on waivers was more about the numbers crunch than it was about his individual development, and Detroit fans should not dismiss him as a potential contributor as a depth piece to a tight end room. He’s got the physicality and is best from tight alignments, working on winning movement on the line of scrimmage.”
Clip 1: Taking on the double team and springing Achane for a 59-yard touchdown
Here, you can see exactly what Crabbs is talking about with run blocking. We have this one in full speed and slow motion in the clip. You can see that Rucci (No. 87, I know he’s No. 49 in the picture. There are no pictures of him from this season) immediately takes on a double team of sorts and chips one guy before boxing out the other.
This allowed De’Von Achane just enough time to get around him, go through the hole, and break it for a 59-yard touchdown. Jahmyr Gibbs has to love this.
Clip 2: Hell Yeah!
That’s all I could think of when I saw this play go down. Rucci (No. 87) comes across the backfield and takes his man the heck out, and it allows the running back to get some extra yards. This play does not go well if he can’t make this block. He flew over there.
Clip 3: He can pass block, too, ask Gregory Rousseau
The most Rucci saw the field this season was against the Bills, and he matched up with Rousseau a lot in this game. He held his own for sure. I’m not saying he can do this to every edge, but I am saying that if he gets put on an island with a guy, he can do his best to hold his own. The Lions need that ability right now.
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