The Detroit Lions are in Germany to face the New England Patriots, and this week’s projected depth chart has plenty of moving parts. Most of the changes are on defense, where the Lions are working in a new safety, juggling linebackers, and starting a cornerback who needs to bounce back from a rough start to the season.

The offense is mostly what you would expect, so let’s start there and get it out of the way.

Offense

The big question on offense is running back Sione Vaki. He didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday with an ankle injury that popped up later in the week. I’m not in Germany, so I can’t say whether he made it onto the practice field over there, and the injury report hasn’t come out yet. We’ll see what it says. Vaki did play Sunday last week, although he didn’t play much.

With that in mind, I have Jabari Small coming up from the practice squad as one of Detroit’s elevations. Saylors will be the RB2.

Seth McLaughlin is the backup center. Cade Mays is not going to play. He didn’t even travel to Germany.

Defense

Lions head coach Dan Campbell has already said Cisco is going to play in this game. We don’t know how much he’ll be involved yet, but he will be involved.

I get it. Some people see him as more of a box safety. I don’t. He has barely played in the box in the NFL. He has mostly played free safety, and when people point out that he hasn’t been great there, you have to remember he was playing for the Jets. That defense has not been good. I think Detroit is a better fit for him.

Cisco is not a starter at this point, and I don’t see him as Kerby Joseph’s replacement. I do think Joseph will play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week. We’ll find out more on Tuesday.

Brian Branch stays at strong safety with Keith Abney backing him up. I think Abney could also get some snaps in the slot or at nickel corner, but I’m keeping him at safety until I see otherwise.

Linebacker is where things get even more interesting.

Malcolm Rodriguez starts at the will after a tremendous game against Miami last week. Derrick Barnes stays in the middle and keeps the green dot. Trevor Nowaske starts at the SAM.

On the bench, K.J. Britt backs up Rodriguez. Joe Bachie backs up Nowaske, and Amen Ogbongbemiga backs up Barnes. I also think we’ll see Owen Pappoe play his first game as a Lion. I have him as Detroit’s other practice squad elevation.

D.J. Reed won’t play, so Rock Ya-Sin has to start. He needs to be better than he was at the start of the season.

Part of that early struggle was the scheme. The Lions played a lot of zone early in the season, and it hasn’t worked well for them. Rock Ya-Sin has been better in man coverage, and he’s been better in recent weeks.

Roger McCreary will be on the other side, rotating with Ennis Rakestraw. Khalil Dorsey should keep getting the looks he’s been getting lately.

I have Pappoe as the elevation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Nick Whiteside got another one too. He played maybe three or four snaps against Miami, so it wasn’t a lot.

D.J. Wonnum is back. He was a full participant in practice and traveled to Germany. He’s going to play, no doubt about it, and I think he’ll start.

That being said, I still think Derrick Moore will get a lot of opportunities. That’s why I have Moore listed above Lacey. Lacey played 22 snaps last week. Moore played around 30, maybe a little more or a little less, but he definitely played more than Lacey. I think we’re going to start seeing a lot more of Moore.

Everything else on the defensive line is what you’d expect.

The one name I keep wondering about is Ahmed Hassanein. I don’t know if we’re ever going to see him. Where do you put him? How do you get him on the field? It’s the old idea of if it’s not broken, don’t fix it, and Detroit’s defensive line isn’t broken right now.

At this point, I don’t know when we’ll see Hassanein, or if we will. Let’s see what Sunday brings against New England.

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