Detroit Lions observations: 4 players who impressed at offseason workouts
The Detroit Lions wrapped up the most significant portion of their offseason schedule with their final practice of mandatory minicamp Thursday.
They still have three organized team activities next week, but most veterans will be gone. Lions coach Dan Campbell said one of those practices will focus on special teams, and another will be largely strength and conditioning training.
As Campbell likes to say, there’s not much to be gained for in-season training while wearing pyjamas. However, this does not imply that the pad-less sessions lacked exceptional players. The Lions will undoubtedly rely on Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson, and Jared Goff come fall, but these four players, in my opinion, stood out during the five open practices we witnessed this spring:
Although Davis is a fresh addition to the team, he still merits a headline mention here. Perhaps he belongs in the St. Brown, Hutchinson, and Goff camp. As a cornerback, Davis is very tough, and his press-man approach complements Aaron Glenn’s goals as defensive coordinator.
Once more, nobody was wearing pads, but watching Davis use press coverage on receivers like Jameson Williams and witnessing their struggles to break free from the line of scrimmage—and occasionally, their frustration at not being able to get open—was eye-opening.
Although opposition gameplans won’t necessarily avoid Davis as a genuine No. 1 corner, his tenacity may give him and the pass rush an extra half-second, which could compel quarterbacks to look elsewhere or risk being sacked.
When I asked defensive tackle Alem McNeill to choose one defensive player that he thought was an underappreciated star at camp, Arnold was the first person he brought up.
Arnold, an Alabama native and first-round pick, may not come as a surprise either, but rookie cornerbacks aren’t always ready to contribute. Arnold has demonstrated his ability to make plays this spring by interception against Goff on Wednesday and several other pass breakups in coverage, and he plays with a similar physical style to Davis.
To be honest, I think Terrion is doing a terrific job,” McNeill remarked. He hasn’t voiced any grievances to us. He is covering a man who I have been witnessing have numerous PBUs and other similar injuries. He’s conversing rather well. He entered and made a seamless transition. Terrion performed pretty well, in my opinion, considering that it was his first time doing OTAs.
The Lions have rewarded Agude, who spent the most of the previous season on the practice squad and provided significant looks to the first-team offence, by giving him playing time on the starting field during OTAs and minicamp. As I noted in Wednesday’s observations, the Lions have some depth at that stand-up edge position with James Houston, Mathieu Betts, the NFL sack leader, Marcus Davenport, and Derrick Barnes, when healthy, among others. However, Agude is a player to watch come training camp.
He works, Campbell remarked. “He is employed. He is another guy who has somewhat changed the way his body looks. He possesses considerable strength. You love heading into camp with a guy like him, he’s a guy. See how far he can go. Thus, we’re happy that he’s here on the 90-man roster heading into camp—or 89, as it stands at the moment.
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