The Detroit Lions announced that they have promoted tight end Isaac Nauta to the active roster, filling the vacated spot after releasing offensive tackle Dan Skipper on Thursday.
The Lions are dealing with a plethora of injuries — six players have already been ruled out for Sunday — so they waited to make this decision until they had a better understanding of their roster needs for this weekend’s game.
Punter Sam Martin has been dealing with an abdomen injury for the last several weeks, and while he has yet to miss a game, he has been limited in practice — so much so, that the Lions signed punter Matt Wile to the practice squad to give Martin rest.
If Martin was unable to play, the Lions likely would’ve needed to use the final remaining roster spot on Wile. Fortunately, the rest did Martin some good and he is not listed with an injury designation and is expected to play on Sunday.
With Martin good to go, the Lions decided to address another weak spot on their roster: fullback. Starter Nick Bawden was placed on injured reserve this week, and Nauta has been promoted to fill his roles.
Nauta has experience playing H-back in college, as well as with the Lions this offseason and could find himself lining up in the Lions backfield this Sunday. The bigger role Nauta is likely to fill though is on special teams where Bawden was averaging around 18 snaps a game.
The Lions seventh-round draft pick is a stout run blocker and a reliable option in the passing game, but lack of regular experience at fullback and long speed could limit his role.
Nauta has a lot of potential and the Lions have high hopes for him as a prospect — he could easily find himself on the Lions regular-season roster for the remainder of the season.
Touchdown for our guy, @isaac_nauta! đź‘Ź#DETvsCLE | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/hlzfUkXRCv
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) August 30, 2019