Defense
The defense appeared to be testing out some different looks today and while NFL rules prevent the media from divulging the formations, we saw a lot of the traditional roles expanded.
Despite the new wrinkles, the base defense remained the same. The starters are the players we all expected but things get complicated when you look at the two-deep. Depending on what the Lions are looking to accomplish on any given play, we could see a variety of players landing as several different spots.
Defensive line
The two deep in the base formation is pretty standard and expected:
| 3/5T | NT | DDE |
| Nick Williams | Danny Shelton | Trey Flowers |
| Da’Shawn Hand | John Penisini | Romeo Okwara |
Watching Shelton and Penisini at the nose tackle is night and day from what I saw last year. Now, this is only one day and I was told they weren’t as dominant on previous days, but they wrecked people today.
In one-on-ones with Ragnow, Shelton was so quick out of his stance that before Ragnow could get out, Shelton was over the top of him, pushing him down and swimming past the stud center with ease — I haven’t seen Ragnow get beat like that in the 3 years I’ve been credentialed at training camp. On the next rep, Shelton took Dahl to task. Absolutely dominant day from Shelton.
Romeo Okwara quietly had a great day, registering three would-be sacks and recovering a fumble. He’s going to be a significant part of the rotation upfront.
Linebackers
I’ve been anticipating the Lions linebackers to be positionally fluid all offseason and they didn’t disappoint today.
Jamie Collins played everywhere, blitzing and dropping from each, Christian Jones saw a lot of snaps at JACK, Jahlani Tavai got time at WILL, while Jarrad Davis remained mostly at the MIKE but did a few things differently.
We saw more of Julain Okwara at JACK today and his burst is undeniable. He is still working on different elements of his game but his ability to fire off the edge is NFL ready.
Cornerbacks
With Trufant getting what appeared to be a veteran’s rest day, Jeff Okudah was inserted into the starting lineup opposite Amani Oruwariye — both had interceptions.
On a “free play” — the 3-technique jumped offsides — Matthew Stafford sent Marvin Jones Jr. on a 9-route, loaded up, and fired the ball his way. Okudah confidently stayed in his hip pocket at every step and when the ball arrived he high pointed it for the interception.
After the play, Okudah and Jones spent some time talking off to the side. When they were done, Okudah pulled Trufant aside and talked with him. There is no downtime for this rookie.
This was Stafford’s first interception thrown all camp and his second came a not long after.
A first and 10 play ended with Will Harris getting a pass breakup on pass intended for Hockenson. Second down ended on a pass breakup by Justin Coleman. Then on the 3rd and 10 play, Kenny Golladay ran a curl route at the sticks and Oruwariye turned his tight coverage into a pick when he undercut the route.
These were Stafford’s only two interceptions through the first four days of camp.
Safeties
Will Harris was given an opportunity to run with the starters at the JOKER spot today over Tracy Walker. This looked more like positional cross-training day rather than a permanent move, as Walker was getting second-team reps at single-high behind Duron Harmon, with Jayron Kearse filling in at JOKER on the second team.
Special teams
The punting battle looks for real and with only limited reps — on the field far from the media — it’s hard to declare a leader at this stage. The only difference appeared to be Jack Fox having more power.
At gunner, Tony McRae and Dee Virgin were the primary players right out of the gate. The second unit was Jayron Kearse — not his usual spot — and Jamal Agnew — who was also pulling double duty and returning kicks –, with the third rotation being Darryl Roberts and Bobby Price. They mixed up pairings from there, working in others like Mike Ford.
On the punt return team, three players dropped back to field kicks — Agnew, Jason Huntly, and Danny Amendola. Agnew and Amendola looked like the veteran returners that they are, while Huntley dropped his first one, the second hit the ground, and then he dropped the third. Not a great start for the rookie, but he doesn’t have experience in this area — he is a terrific kick returner — so this is not overly surprising. It was nice to see both Agnew and Amendola take the time to pull Huntley aside and give him pointers.
If there is a theme for this team right now, it’s that you can noticeably see the veterans taking extra time to help out the younger players. With a shortened training camp, this could go a long way to early success.