Rookie report: newcomers outperform expectations despite loss to Washington

The Detroit Lions had 11 rookies active in Week 12 and the newcomers outperform expectations, including Amani Oruwariye, who had his first career interception.

In the Detroit Lions’ 19-16 loss to the Washington Redskins, several rookies were able to see the field for the first time in their careers.

Due to a slew of injuries to key players, Detroit had 11 rookies active for this game, most of any game this season.

How did the rookies perform?

The most surprising performance of the day came from the team’s fifth-round pick: cornerback Amani Oruwariye.

His career had quite the rough beginning, starting with him dropping much farther in the draft than expected, and then not being able to unearth himself from the bottom of the cornerback depth chart.

The rookie out of Penn State, who had just nine defensive snaps prior to the game, ended up taking over the second outside corner role in place of the injured Rashaan Melvin. In his first career start, he had five tackles, two passes defended, and an interception.

Oruwariye outperformed any expectations of him heading into the game and could see extended playing time throughout the last few games of the season.

Seventh-round pick Isaac Nauta also showed some promise in his first NFL game. The rookie tight end served as the team’s primary fullback and delivered some key blocks in the run game. Though he didn’t show up in the passing game, he did prove that he could be valuable for the offense moving forward.

Safety Will Harris once again played every defensive snap against Washington and had a very up-and-down game. He made four tackles and made one pass deflection, but also showed the same struggles in coverage that he has all season. Hopefully, Tracy Walker returns soon, but Harris has provided some sustainable depth in his absence.

Pass rusher Austin Bryant played his first NFL snaps since being activated from injured reserve and showed some promise in his limited role. His name stayed clear of the box score for the most part, but he did record one quarterback hit in his 16 snaps.

T.J. Hockenson, Jahlani Tavai, Ty Johnson, and C.J. Moore all had relatively quiet games despite getting their fair shares of snaps.

Michael Jackson Sr. and Beau Benzschawel both were active for the first time in their careers, but neither contributed much. Jackson had two snaps on special teams and Benzschawel did not see the field.

With the way Detroit’s season is going, these rookies have more of a chance to see the field and show that they have what it takes to play in the NFL. With a hefty injury report heading into the Thanksgiving game against Chicago, expect these rookies to once again go above and beyond expectations.