Tag: Giovanni Manu

Lions draft class rookie grades for 2024-25 regular season

Grading the Detroit Lions rookie class from the 2024 NFL Draft and how they performed as rookies

The Detroit Lions suddenly found themselves relying significantly less on rookies in 2024-25 on their way to the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
The Lions had a much quieter 2024 draft class. Only a couple of rookies played consistently throughout the regular season, a stark contrast from last season which saw the rise of Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta and Jack Campbell.
In a season marred by injury, the team needed every healthy body they could get onto the field, but that didn’t necessarily translate to all of their rookies getting much playing time.
Let’s take a look at how the Lions’ rookies did during the regular season.

Terrion Arnold

The rookie with the most complete resume this season is their first-round pick.
Arnold played in 15 games at cornerback, starting all but one of those. With injuries decimating the Lions defense, he quickly became a key part of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn’s schemes.
Arnold’s rookie season started out rocky — stacking up eight penalties in his first eight games. However, he’s only had three penalties called against him since Week 4, and has become a middle-of-the-pack corner which is more than the Lions could ask for following the season-ending injury to Carlton Davis.
Grade: B+

Ennis Rakestraw Jr.

The Lions took Rakestraw with their second-round pick in 2024 in an effort to keep building up their secondary.
Rakestraw played in eight games, but mainly on special teams before he was injured in November. He’d managed six total tackles on the season before being placed on Injured Reserve.
Given the current state of the Lions defense, it’s fair to say he could’ve gotten a few opportunities late in the season. However, it certainly hasn’t been the rookie season he would’ve hoped for to this point.
Grade: D

Giovanni Manu

The Lions came into 2024 with one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.
Unfortunately for 4th-round pick Giovanni Manu, that means a lot of time on the bench.
The Lions traded up in the draft to get Manu, however the presence of Dan Skipper even while Taylor Decker was out kept the rookie out of the lineup. With Skipper’s contract future up in the air for next season, 2025 may lead to more opportunities for Manu.
Grade: Incomplete

Sione Vaki

Another stacked position for the Lions is running back — not leaving much room for Vaki at this point.
He’s played primarily on special teams, but has gotten a few carries in blowout wins against the Jaguars and Cowboys. With Craig Reynolds as the primary third-string back, Vaki won’t be able to carve out much of a role in the offense.
However, he has gotten some consistent playing time on special teams, which is more than some rookies can say.
Grade: C-

Mekhi Wingo

The Lions have been desperate for help along the defensive line this season, but Wingo is one of many who finished the season on Injured Reserve.
Wingo was in the midst of breaking into significant playing time as a backup for DJ Reader before he went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 13’s win over the Bears. He finished his season with nine total tackles.
In limited opportunities, he made enough of an impact to earn a grade for his season, but he’ll certainly be looking for a bounce-back season in 2025.
Grade: D+

Christian Mahogany

Despite the strength of the Lions’ offensive line, sixth-round pick Christian Mahogany managed to get into the game in some meaningful spots during the regular season.
Mahogany played in seven games this season and made one key start in Week 16 to fill in for injured left guard Graham Glasgow against the Bears.
“It was solid,” head coach Dan Campbell said after the win. “[Mahogany] did some really good things, so there’s certainly something to continue to work with there and improve.”
Glasgow returned the following week and knocked Mahogany back down the depth chart, but the performance showed significant growth and the trust the coaches have in the rookie to step in when necessary.
Grade: C+

Lions inactives for Week 18: Alex Anzalone and Kalif Raymond will play

Lions inactives for Week 18 vs the Vikings: Alex Anzalone and Kalif Raymond will play

The Detroit Lions released their weekly inactive player list ahead of Sunday night’s key matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18. It’s good news on the injured player front.

Three players were listed as questionable on the final injury report: LB Alex Anzalone, WR/RS Kalif Raymond and RB Craig Reynolds. All three are active for Sunday night’s game.

Running back David Montgomery was ruled out on the final injury report with his knee injury. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley was also ruled out, but he was subsequently placed on the non-football illness list. The Lions added rookie DB Morice Norris back to the active roster to replace Moseley, as well as elevating Stantley Thomas-Oliver from the practice squad.

The full list of Lions inactives for Week 18:

RB David Montgomery (injured)
QB Teddy Bridgewater (emergency 3rd QB)
OL Colby Sorsdal
OL Giovanni Manu
OL Kayode Awosika
DL Brodric Martin
DL Jonah Williams

All of the healthy scratches are repeats from Week 17 and much longer, in many cases.

Lions inactives for Week 17 vs 49ers: The debut of the emergency 3rd QB

Lions inactives for Week 17 vs 49ers: The debut of the emergency 3rd QB, with Teddy Bridgewater in the role of 3rd quarterback

The inactive player list for the Detroit Lions in Monday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers doesn’t feature many surprises. Between a known injury and the cast of usual suspects, this Lions inactives list was a predictable one.

Running back David Montgomery remains on the active roster but won’t play for at least a couple more weeks with his MCL injury. Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was questionable for the game. Reeves-Maybin was activated off the injured reserve on Monday and will play for the first time since Week 9.

We also have our first appearance of the season of the third QB as an emergency option. That would be freshly unretired Teddy Bridgewater. He can only play if both Jared Goff and Hendon Hooker are injured during the game.

The healthy scratches for Detroit:

OL Kayode Awosika
OL Giovanni Manu
OL Colby Sorsdal
DL Jonah Williams
DL Brodric Martin

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Lions inactives vs Bills: The return of the healthy scratches

Lions inactives vs Bills: The return of the healthy scratches alongside LB Trevor Nowaske, who is out with a concussion

The Detroit Lions had a pleasant problem ahead of Sunday’s Week 15 matchup with the visiting Buffalo Bills. The Lions coaching staff had to come up with several healthy scratches for the game after dealing with multiple injuries over the last few weeks.

Only one player was ruled out on the final injury status report. Linebacker Trevor Nowaske was sidelined with a concussion. Nowaske was the only Lions player who carried any sort of injury designation into the game.

That means all the other inactive are healthy scratches for Detroit. Many are the usual suspects, notably the offensive linemen:

OL Giovanni Manu
OL Kayode Awosika
OL Colby Sorsdal
DL Myles Adams
DL Brodric Martin
CB Emmanuel Moseley

Martin and Adams get bumped down due to healthy returns by Levi Onwuzurike, DJ Reader and Josh Paschal.

Lions inactives vs. Jaguars: Sam LaPorta out, 3 healthy scratches on the OL

Lions inactives vs. Jaguars: Sam LaPorta out, 3 healthy scratches on the OL in Week 11

The Detroit Lions released their inactive player list for the Week 11 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The biggest name was one that was already known, with tight end Sam LaPorta already ruled out with a shoulder injury.

LaPorta is the only player on the active roster out due to injury. Cornerback Carlton Davis broke his thumb during the week, but he’s active. So is left tackle Taylor Decker, who missed Week 10 with a shoulder/chest issue.

All the other inactive Lions are considered healthy scratches, with three of them coming along the offensive line:

OL Giovanni Manu
G Christian Mahogany
T Colby Sorsdal
S Loren Strickland
DE Al-Quadin Muhammad

Muhammad is inactive thanks to the addition of veteran Za’Darius Smith, who will make his Lions debut against the Jaguars.

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Lions options for replacing injured Taylor Decker vs the Texans

The Detroit Lions options for replacing injured Taylor Decker vs the Texans if the veteran LT can’t play

The Detroit Lions appear poised to overcome some more injury-related adversity in the team’s Week 10 trip to Houston. Left tackle Taylor Decker is unlikely to play for Detroit in the Sunday night game after not practicing all week with a shoulder injury.

“I don’t see him practicing today,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Decker in his Friday morning press conference. “It’s about how he heals up. I don’t feel like this is something major, but we need to really see how he feels overthe next 48 hours.”

That’s not a promising sign for Decker’s availability against the Texans. If Decker is indeed out, the Lions lose a bedrock starter at left tackle for a game against one of the more aggressive defenses in the league.

Any Decker absence would require some serious scrambling for the Lions offensive line. With both starting guards, Graham Glasgow and Kevin Zeitler, being exclusively interior players, that means one of the depth tackles would get the nod.

Moving Penei Sewell from right to left

Switching All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell from his normal side to the left is one potential solution. It’s what the Lions did in Weeks 2 and 3 of the 2023 season when Decker was sidelined.

It’s not a perfect solution. Sewell had two of his three lowest-graded games of his career by PFF while playing at left tackle. He hasn’t taken a known practice rep on the left side since the summer of 2022 other than those weeks, as well.

The Lions would need to decide if it’s worth getting weaker at right tackle by moving Sewell to the left side, where he hasn’t been as effective. Especially in run blocking, the Lions lean heavily on Sewell being the best right tackle in the league.

Dan Skipper

Typically the Lions extra tackle and 6th lineman in heavy formations, Skipper has been the only other tackle active on game days for the vast majority of the season. His preseason and training camp playing left tackle specifically was a mixed bag.

The 6-foot-9 Skipper tends to play too tall in pass protection, a real issue against more athletic and smaller pass rushers. That’s not a major issue against Houston, which tends to play bigger ends outside of Will Anderson — whose status for Sunday is up in the air due to injury, too.

Interestingly, Skipper has performed better at right tackle than left throughout his career in preseason and brief opportunities in the regular season. If Sewell kicks to the left side, Skipper’s relative struggles on the right side could be exacerbated.

Colby Sorsdal

Now in his second season, Sorsdal has been a healthy scratch most of 2024 and has only played on special teams when active. The 2023 fifth-round pick repped exclusively at right tackle in training camp and preseason, stepping in when Sewell needed rest or else repping with the second- and third-team offenses.

Sorsdal did not have an encouraging summer, consistently struggling with the speed of the Lions defense in practices and the speed of the game in preseason matchups against Pittsburgh and Kansas City. Simply out of familiarity with the right side, Sorsdal would likely be the starting option there if Sewell flips sides.

Jamarco Jones

The veteran Jones is on the Lions practice squad after joining the team in preseason. He played well at left tackle in the exhibition matchup against the Chiefs and does have some limited NFL regular-season experience starting on the left side, though he’s primarily played right guard in his stops with the Seahawks and Titans.

Jones also has some live-game experience playing as an extra tackle, which could come in handy if Skipper is required to play as a starter. If he avoids penalties, which has been a struggle for him going back to his college days, Jones is the most effective pass blocker of the reserve options.

Giovanni Manu

Manu was drafted in the fourth round with the implicit knowledge that he was not ready, nor would be ready to play in 2024. That’s been made clear by multiple coaching comments.

The giant Canadian collegian has been a healthy scratch all season and was one of PFF’s lowest-graded pass blockers in the preseason. Those low grades passed the eye/sniff test based on the very technically raw Manu from what we witnessed in practices, too. He should be considered an emergency-option only.

 

Lions vs. Titans inactive players: Titans sitting some significant names

Lions vs. Titans inactive players: Titans sitting some significant names including their starting QB

There weren’t any surprises or big names for the Detroit Lions on their inactive player list for the Week 8 visit from the Tennessee Titans. It’s a different story for Tennessee, however…

The only Lions player on the active roster who was ruled out due to injury was DE Josh Paschal, who was ruled out for an illness related to a post-cancer medical screening.

That leaves four healthy scratches, and all were widely expected:

TE Parker Hesse

OL Giovanni Manu

OL Colby Sorsdal

S Loren Strickland

Hesse was effectively replaced by practice squad elevation Shane Zylstra for the second week in a row.

The Titans inactive player list features several more prominent players, including their regular starting quarterback, Will Levis.

 

5 key players to watch in Lions preseason finale

5 key players to watch in Lions preseason finale, from Hendon Hooker to Brandon Joseph

The final preseason game is all about sorting out the Detroit Lions depth. Very few of the players who will ever matter in a regular season game–unless necessitated by injury–will play in the Lions exhibition finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

For those battling for the bottom of the roster spots, practice squad berths or auditioning for their next football destination, it’s a very big day. There’s still a ton to play for and take away for so many players.

These five stand out as ones to really watch in Detroit’s matchup with Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.

Hendon Hooker

Hooker is efforting to prove he can be the No. 2 quarterback, earning the trust from the coaching staff to take over for Nate Sudfeld in the primary reserve role behind Jared Goff. He had a very strong performance in leading Detroit’s comeback win over the Chiefs a week ago, and another game full of good decisions, accurate passes and timely runs would go a long way for Hooker.

Giovanni Manu

Manu, like Hooker, is in no danger of being cut. But the raw rookie offensive tackle desperately needs reps to get up to as fast of a speed as he can. The message from the team has been consistent from the second the Lions drafted Manu: 2024 is a redshirt season for the giant Tongan who played Canadian college basketball until discovering football.

Manu had a very solid performance in Kansas City, and he’s shown technical improvement in practices. He’s still incredibly green, but the progress could be enough that Manu can at least be active in a game and play as an extra tackle in packages in the regular season. Continued growth and confidence against the Steelers would be great to see.

Mitchell Agude

Dan Campbell brought up Agude during the week, and it’s important to heed the coach’s words:

“I see growth. We like Mitch. Mitch, he’s another guy, just busts his rear, he gives you everything he’s got out there, and he’s got some rush ability. He’s strong, quick off the edge. And look, we moved him to SAM linebacker last week, so we kind of made that change. ‘Let’s put him at SAM and move (Lions LB James) Houston to more D-end.’ So, we flopped those two. And it’s not necessarily the perfect position for Mitch, but he’s made the most of it, and he’s trying to make it work, and that’s a credit to him. But he still has enough of that where he can play the D-end position and really excel at what he does best, so he’s doing a good job. We like Mitch.”

Agude is fighting for one of those very last spots on the roster. He’s outplayed James Houston and Mathieu Betts all summer — rather emphatically in my eyes. If Agude proves he can handle his business at a new spot after a crash course week of practice, it’s a big feather in his cap. That reserve SAM spot behind Derrick Barnes is Agude’s for the taking.

Donovan Peoples-Jones

Despite repeated challenges to “step up,” it just hasn’t happened for Peoples-Jones in his quest to earn the No. 4 receiving job. The Lions have invested the most in making No. 19 win that spot, both in terms of money and time. I still believe that one big game can reward Detroit’s tested patience in Peoples-Jones and keep him on the roster.

Brandon Joseph

The second-year safety has shown considerable all-around improvement this summer. Joseph has been rewarded by earning first-team reps at safety ahead of Ifeatu Melifonwu when both have been healthy (Melifonwu is currently dealing with another injury), and No. 40 keeps picking off passes and blowing up quick slants. The Steelers bring a very different type of offensive dynamic to Detroit. If Joseph plays well against the different look, it’s going to be hard to knock him from that No. 3 safety role. But if he struggles–notably in decision-making in space–that role swings right back to a healthy Melinfowu, who is a better tackler and blitzer.

Lions place fourth-round rookie on NFI list to start training camp

Lions place fourth-round rookie Giovanni Manu on NFI list to start training camp

The Detroit Lions open their training camp on Tuesday, but the team will not have one of its fourth-round draft picks available to play right away. After reporting with the rest of the rookie class on Saturday, the Lions placed Giovanni Manu on the non-football injury list.

No reason for the move was released by the Lions. Manu had been a full participant in minicamp and OTAs earlier in the offseason.

Manu was a surprise selection as the 126th pick in April’s draft after playing in the relative obscurity of Canadian college football at the University of British Columbia. A 6-foot-7, 352-pound offensive tackle, Manu arrived in Canada from his native Tonga as a basketball player before finding football.

Detroit traded a 2025 third-round pick to land Manu in the late fourth round. He’s viewed as an athletic project with high long-term upside but isn’t expected to contribute as a rookie. Starting on the NFI list won’t help accelerate Manu’s development, unfortunately.

Brian Branch among 3 defensive vets placed on PUP list to start Lions training camp

All 3 are coming off injuries in the 2023 season and can be activated at any time

The veteran portion of training camp for the Detroit Lions doesn’t kick off officially until Tuesday, but the team already made some roster tweaks on a few key defensive players.

Defensive back Brian Branch was one of three players placed on the physically unable to perform list ahead of training camp. Branch had offseason surgery on an injured ankle and was in street clothes throughout OTAs and minicamp.

Free agent signees DJ Reader and Marcus Davenport were also placed on the PUP list to start camp. Reader is coming back from a torn quadriceps, while Davenport’s 2023 season ended early with a high ankle sprain.

All were placed on the active PUP list, meaning they can be activated at any time before the regular season.

The Lions also placed fourth-round rookie Giovanni Manu on the non-football injury list. He is also eligible to be activated for duty at any time.