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From position battles to schematic changes to coaching approach, here are 8 things our Jeff Risdon will be watching in Lions training camp in 2022
Detroit Lions training camp fires up on Wednesday morning at the team’s headquarters in Allen Park. A month of play implementation, roster battles, skills development and team building should produce a lot to talk about.
Here are some of the things I will be focused upon in Lions training camp over the next few weeks.
Lions training camp position preview: Wide receivers
No team will pay less salary cap room to the punter, kicker and long snapper positions than the Lions in 2022
No NFL team will spend less salary cap room in 2022 on their specialists than the Detroit Lions. The core punter, kicker and long snapper payroll in Detroit tally up at just $3.51 million for 2022.
That is the lowest figure in the entire league. The Dallas Cowboys are next at just over $4 million. Seattle has the highest specialist payroll at $10.5 million. The Seahawks have the league’s highest-paid punter in Michael Dickson and fifth-highest-paid kicker in Jason Myers, each of whom earns significantly more than what the Lions will pay their entire current quartet.
The low figure really stands out because the Lions currently employ two kickers. Veteran Austin Seibert will battle second-year Riley Patterson for the kicking gig to join long snapper Scott Daly and punter Jack Fox as the Lions’ specialists.
All four specialists will earn the league minimum for their experience level this year. None will earn more than Seibert’s $965,000.
Fox and Daly are among the better players at their positions from 2021. The kicking shoes of longtime Lion Matt Prater are still struggling to get filled, however.
All salary information is provided by Spotrac.
Chark takes over his new number from a player still on the roster
If you’re looking to purchase a new DJ Chark jersey for the newest Lions wide receiver, Chark revealed his jersey number for Detroit. He will be No. 4 for the Lions after donning No. 17 in his first four seasons in Jacksonville.
Chark takes over the No. 4 jersey in Detroit from kicker Austin Seibert, who finished the 2021 season on injured reserve. The new wideout threw some credit to Seibert in his Instagram post,
4’s up! Can’t wait to rock out! S/O to my guy @bigseib for the switch! I appreciate it!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbP-YUxro6R/
No word on Seibert’s new number. It won’t be No. 1, however; cornerback Jeff Okudah switched to that jersey earlier this offseason.
The Lions sign kicker Aldrick Rosas to a reserve/futures contract, giving them 3 kickers from 2021 now under their contractual control
A battle royale is shaping up in Allen Park this offseason for the rights to be the kicker for the Detroit Lions in 2021. After a season where the Lions burned through four kickers for various reasons, three of them are now back on the team and ready to compete for the gig in 2022.
The Lions signed Aldrick Rosas to a reserve/future contract on Monday, tying Rosas to the team through the offseason. Rosas spent one week as the Lions kicker last fall, making one extra point and one field goal in Detroit’s 13-10 loss to Cleveland in Week 11.
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Rosas took over that week for Ryan Santoso, who was dispatched after a brutal game in the tie with the Steelers. Santoso missed an extra point and wildly botched a field goal. He is the only Lions kicker from the 2021 season not with the team any longer.
Rosas joins Riley Patterson, who took over his job in Week 12, and Austin Seibert on the roster. Seibert made 10 of his 12 field goal attempts in the first six games before suffering a hip injury. He remains under contract. Patterson went 13-of-14 on field goals after taking over for Rosas. The 2021 rookie is an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA), meaning the Lions can retain his rights quite inexpensively if they so choose.
One area where Rosas, 27, has a leg up is in kickoffs. Over 60 percent of his kickoffs in his five-year career have been downed for touchbacks. Seibert is at 39 percent in his three NFL seasons, while Patterson ceded kickoff duties to Lions punter Jack Fox.
Williams and Seibert will miss the trip to Pittsburgh, while Taylor Decker is one of two Lions listed as questionable
The Detroit Lions will be without two regular starters when they head to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers on Sunday. Running back Jamaal Williams and kicker Austin Seibert have been ruled out for the game on Detroit’s final practice injury report.
Williams remains sidelined with a thigh injury that also kept him out of the Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He is the team’s leading rusher. Expect rookie Jermar Jefferson to get more work in Williams’ absence.
Seibert popped onto the injury report late in the week with a hip injury that will keep him out. The Lions have protected kicker Ryan Santoso on the practice squad all season, and Santoso was perfect while filling in for Seibert earlier this season too.
Two Lions are listed as questionable. OLB Austin Bryant was limited all week with a shoulder issue. Left tackle Taylor Decker was a full participant in every practice but earned a questionable nod as he attempts to return from a finger injury. Coach Dan Campbell indicated that it’s more likely than not that Decker will play.
“I would say high. High percentage. Higher than 50,” Campbell said of Decker’s chances to play in his pre-practice press conference on Friday.
For Pittsburgh, only one player carries any injury designation into the game. Wide receiver Chase Claypool is ruled out with a toe injury. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger practiced in full on Friday after missing the earlier action with hip, chest and shoulder injuries.
Ragnow will miss at least 3 weeks with his toe injury
The Detroit Lions kept the NFL’s transaction wire busy on Wednesday morning with a series of roster moves. The most significant of the moves is placing Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow on injured reserve with a toe injury suffered in the Week 4 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Ragnow will miss at least the next three weeks. He joins standout left tackle Taylor Decker on I.R., depriving the Lions of their top two offensive linemen.
In other active 53-man roster news, the Lions activated kicker Austin Seibert from the reserve/COVID-19 list and promoted OLB Jessie Lemonier from the practice squad. Lemonier takes the place of Romeo Okwara, who was placed on I.R. with a torn Achilles earlier this week.
Seibert missed the last two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19. Ryan Santoso filled in quite capably as a practice squad promotion for Weeks 3-4.
Detroit also tinkered with the practice squad, and yes it once again involves WR Javon McKinley. His on-again/off-again status is now off, with the Lions releasing the undrafted rookie from Notre Dame for the fourth time in five weeks. Detroit signed veteran OL Parker Ehinger and brought back OLB Rashod Berry to the practice squad.
The Detroit Lions place Tyrell Williams on I.R. among series of roster moves that includes a change at kicker
The Detroit Lions kept the NFL’s transaction wire busy on Thursday with a series of moves.
The most notable move is the Lions placing WR Tyrell Williams on injured reserve with his concussion. Williams suffered his brain injury in Week 1 and has not progressed enough to be able to practice. The team’s top wideout will not be eligible to return until Week 6.
There will also be a change at kicker. Regular Lions PK Austin Seibert was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Thursday. The Lions quickly signed Ryan Santoso from the practice squad to replace Seibert. Santoso signed to Detroit’s practice squad on Wednesday and takes over as the kicker for Week 3 less than a day later.
Williams’ spot on the 53-man roster goes to linebacker Josh Woods, who was signed off the Chicago Bears practice squad. Linebacker Jamie Collins remains with the team for now, though the Lions are actively attempting to trade the veteran.
Hodge and Seibert join the Lions as successful waiver claims
There are two new members of the Detroit Lions following the initial waiver wire claim period on Wednesday. The Lions were awarded successful waiver claims on wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge and kicker Austin Seibert.
Hodge is a veteran who spent the last two seasons in Cleveland. Prior to his BRowns tenure, Hodge played for the Los Angeles Rams and was brought there as an undrafted free agent by now-Lions GM Brad Holmes, who was the Rams’ scouting director at the time.
Seibert was also on the 2019 Cleveland Browns as a fifth-round pick out of Oklahoma. He lost his job in 2020 after a rough outing and subsequently replaced Randy Bullock in Cincinnati. He now replaces Bullock, who was cut on Tuesday, in Detroit.
Both were featured in our 20 players cut by other teams the Lions should consider adding to the roster listing.
The corresponding roster moves have yet to be announced.
As you get ready for your fantasy football drafts, let’s take a loot at where former Oklahoma Sooners land on Fantasy Pro’s Expert Consensus Rankings for 2021.
The Oklahoma Sooners have produced quite a bit of NFL talent on the offensive side of the ball in the last decade. They’ve provided fantasy football players with highly productive players at various positions. In the last couple of years, former Sooners have broken onto the scene in the form of Joe Mixon (2017), Baker Mayfield (2018), Kyler Murray (2019), and CeeDee Lamb (2020).
Fantasy football players will find incredible value in certain Sooners while others will require high draft picks.
Let’s take a look at where former Oklahoma Sooners rank in the most recent Expert Consensus Rankings over at FantasyPros.com. The Expert Consensus Rankings collect rankings from around the fantasy football industry and collate them into a consensus.
The Cincinnati Bengals won’t say how they plan to proceed at kicker.
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The Cincinnati Bengals have plenty of needs this offseason and kicker wouldn’t seem to rank highly among them.
But a change could happen in response to a mixed bag from two kickers this season.
Or as special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons put it, a “cloudy” situation, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.
Simmons explained why he went from veteran Randy Bullock to Austin Seibert late in the season and what will happen from here:
“We were at the point in our season we wanted to see what Austin could do kicking in a game I coach…It was a mixed bag,” Simmons said. “We’ll continue to look at it.”
Back on December 8, it was clear Bengals coaches weren’t happy with a dramatic dropoff in performance by Bullock. Then Seibert finished the season just 6-of-8 with a 1-of-3 mark on field goals of 40-plus yards.
Simmons has recently identified impending Bengals free agents he’d like to keep. Bullock is set to hit the open market this offseason, so we’ll see if the staff decides to go a different direction.
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