Midsummer mailbag: On depth chart and camp battles, player expectations and more

Midsummer mailbag: On depth chart and camp battles, player expectations and more via the Detroit Lions Podcast

We’ve hit the midsummer holiday time. Be it the 4th of July or Canada Day, I hope you all are enjoying the slow time on the football calendar.

In conjunction with the Detroit Lions Podcast, we’ve got a mailbag full of questions from the podcast Patreon Slack channel. A couple of these inquisitions come from the end of minicamp week, but they’re still interesting questions and angles to explore.

Here are some of the choice selections from the midsummer mailbag.

Projecting the Lions 53-man roster after Detroit’s minicamp

Projecting the Detroit Lions 53-man roster for 2023 after minicamp and OTAs

The offseason activities and minicamp have come to an end for the Detroit Lions. After the open practice sessions, it feels like we have a better grasp on the Lions roster and how it might shake out when the final cuts down from 90 to 53 may look.

Here’s my early stab at what the initial 53-man roster will look like after the final preseason game and the end of training camp.

Ifeatu Melifonwu working to end ‘frustrating’ start to his Lions career

Third-year Detroit DB Ifeatu Melifonwu working to end ‘frustrating’ start to his Lions career

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There was a refreshing sight at Detroit Lions minicamp last week. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu was on the field for all three days, often getting first-team reps while vets Tracy Walker, Kerby Joseph and C.J. Gardner-Johnson sat out for various reasons.

It didn’t always go well for Melifonwu, wearing No. 6 as he enters his third season. But the mere fact that he’s out there getting reps and showing what he can do is important. It’s not something the Lions have seen nearly enough of in his first two years. It’s something Melifonwu is acutely aware of.

Thus far in his career, having Melifonwu on the field has rarely been the best option. Between the numerous injuries and the inability to master any one position, it’s been hard for Melifonwu to show he belongs.

“I mean, it’s a little frustrating,” Melifonwu said during Lions minicamp. “No one wants to be injured. And get the position change. But ultimately, I got to look at it bigger picture. It’s what’s best for the team.”

The ability to stay on the field and get reps, even in the non-contact minicamp, is huge for Melifownu. Head coach Dan Campbell is seeing the growth and happy with the progress.

“Yeah, I would say you see growth,” Campbell said before Thursday’s practice about Melifonwu. “To your point, he’s relatively new to the position and you’re right, the injuries hurt him, not being able to get the reps, the repetitions, added time on task. So, this is one of the few times that we’ve had him for a significant amount of time, consistently, consecutively, and so that in itself is paying dividends right now.

So we see growth, he is. He’s coming along. And look here’s the thing, Iffy’s a pretty smart player, he really is, like he gets it. He just needs time. He needs time on task, he needs reps, like a lot of young guys do.”

Melifonwu has floated between outside cornerback and strong safety in his Lions tenure. The switch to safety, which came a year ago, seems to be his best chance to stick on the roster. Keeping the play in front of him is something the third-round pick in 2021 has struggled with, but aligning as the deeper safety appears to be working. There are growing pains, some of which were exposed during Wednesday’s practice in particular. The mere fact that Melifonwu can get the reps and work through those is a positive sign.

Check out these great photos from Lions minicamp

Check out these great photos from Lions minicamp

Three days of Detroit Lions minicamp wrapped up late last week. Even though the workouts were noncontact, the players and coaches got a lot of good work done at the team’s training facility in Allen Park.

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From individual drills to positional reps and then full offense versus defense in situational scrimmaging, it was the first real look at the full team together.

Here are some of the top photos taken during the three-day minicamp.

Lions minicamp notebook: Day 3 wrap up

Notes and observations from Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon on the final day of Detroit Lions minicamp

The final day of the Detroit Lions three-day mandatory minicamp took place at the team’s training facility on Thursday. The team packed in some situational football and positional drills in a fast-paced session to wrap up the week.

Here are some quick notes on what we saw and heard on the final day of Lions minicamp.

Lions minicamp notebook: Day 2 sees the defense rise again

Detroit Lions minicamp notebook from the 2nd practice, with notes on the defense making plays, OL woes, coaching points and more

The second session of the Detroit Lions minicamp took a familiar theme from the first day and ran wild with it. For the second practice in a row, the defense emphatically outplayed the offense, from the first team through the bottom of the roster.

It was even more pronounced on Wednesday, largely because the offense simply wasn’t as sharp as it was during Tuesday’s practice. Other than a couple of noteworthy exceptions, the defense dominated their offensive counterparts on the hazy, breezy afternoon in Allen Park.

Here’s the notebook from Wednesday’s session of Lions minicamp. There is one more day left on Thursday.

Detroit Lions Podcast video recap of 1st day of Lions minicamp

The Detroit Lions Podcast went live to talk all about minicamp, expectations for the team and more

The first day of Detroit Lions minicamp is in the books, and we broke down everything you need to know about Tuesday’s action in Allen Park on the Detroit Lions Podcast. The live video stream from Tuesday night’s show i now available to watch on YouTube.

Among the concepts we covered:

  • The vocal nature and upgrades in the secondary
  • Offense v. defense expectations
  • Rookie role to start minicamp
  • Jared Goff getting asked weird questions in his press conference
  • Jameson Williams’ interesting day
  • Kicker watch 2023
  • Potential to have a practice or two in West Michigan

Several questions from the live chat get tossed around as well.

The audio-only version of the show is available via your favorite podcast provider.

Lions minicamp notebook: Secondary shines on the first day

Lions minicamp 1st day notebook from Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon on the secondary, Sam LaPorta, Jamo, OL rotation and more

Detroit Lions minicamp kicked off on a hazy Tuesday afternoon in Allen Park at the team’s training facility. Unlike the OTAs the last two weeks, this week’s minicamp has mandatory attendance for all players.

Not every player participated. Head coach Dan Campbell indicated before practice that many players were medically excused, including running back David Montgomery and linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez among many others. The practice session remains unpadded and non-contact beyond flag football standards, but the Lions continue to be cautious with players on the injury front.

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Here’s what I saw and noted from the first minicamp session.

Dan Campbell open to the idea of holding a training camp session in West Michigan

Dan Campbell open to the idea of holding a training camp session in West Michigan after spending the weekend in Grand Rapids

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Lions head coach Dan Campbell spent the weekend before this week’s minicamp in Grand Rapids. His trip to the west side of Michigan piqued Campbell’s interest in the idea of holding a training camp practice or event in West Michigan.

It’s not something the Lions have done in years. The last time the Lions held a practice session outside of the team’s training facility in Allen Park or Ford Field was in 2015, when they held an evening practice at Novi High School near Detroit. And it’s not something that is imminent; nothing is scheduled beyond 2023 right now.

It’s an idea worth exploring. Campbell noted the “fresh energy” he felt from the fans in Grand Rapids. As Campbell said, finding a suitable venue with practice facilities that are to the NFL standards would come first.

To that end, two D-II college programs in the Grand Rapids area, Davenport and Grand Valley State, have modern facilities and fan-friendly stadiums to outreach to the fans in West Michigan. Social media was abuzz in the Grand Rapids area with Campbell sightings over the weekend.

As someone who routinely commutes from Holland, MI (25 miles southwest of Grand Rapids) to practices and training camp, it would be great to see the Lions show some love to the fervent fan base on the west side of the state.

4 Things to watch during Lions minicamp

4 things Lions Wire’s Russell Brown will be watching for during Detroit Lions minicamp this week

Starting on Tuesday, the Lions will have their mandatory minicamp. This three day camp gives players and coaches to get familiar with one another. As we know, the Lions have new players from free agency to the 2023 NFL Draft. Meanwhile, they’ve got two coordinators (Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson) that could be head coaches waiting in the wings. Time will tell on both coaches. As of now, here are four things that I’m going to be watching for during the Lions minicamp.

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