Loren Strickland – Syndication Server

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 inactives vs. Rams: James Houston among the healthy scratches

The Detroit Lions announced the inactive players for the Week 1 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. There were no real surprises in who wound up being declared inactive in the opener.

Defensive tackle DJ Reader was questionable for the game, but he was ruled out earlier on Sunday. Reader is continuing to get ready after missing all offseason as he recovers from quad surgery from an injury suffered last December when Reader was with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Rookie safety Loren Strickland had already been ruled out in Friday’s final injury report. Strickland has a thumb injury. Fellow safety Ifeatu Melifonwu was listed as doubtful in that injury report with an ankle issue, and he too is inactive. Melifonwu injured the ankle in the Lions second preseason game and only returned as a limited participant in practices late this week.

The healthy scratches:

EDGE James Houston

OT Colby Sorsdal

OT Giovanni Manu

LB Trevor Nowaske

Lions vs. Rams: Final injury report analysis with fantasy impact

The Lions final injury report is in as the team embarks on a journey that will hopefully end with a Mardi Gras-level celebration in New Orleans for the Super Bowl.

Health will be a key determinant of how this season goes and for game one, the Lions are in great shape. Comparatively, the Rams have a few more concerns which may have shifted the betting line during the week.

DETROIT LIONS (-4.5, opened -3)

Excellent report overall. The only anticipated starter that is limited or out is DJ Reader.

QUESTIONABLE

DJ Reader Limited practice, QUAD – DT

Medical history: Quad tendon tear December 16, 2023

In his Friday presser, Campbell said that Reader looks good and stated if he plays, it will be on a limited snap count. I don’t expect him to play but if he does, don’t expect much impact with only two weeks of practice coming off a major injury.

DOUBTFUL

Ifeatu Melifonwu Limited practice, ANKLE – Safety

Medical history: Likely mild ankle sprain August 17

Doubtful designation basically means OUT. With three healthy safeties (Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Brandon Joseph) including both starters, Melifonwu’s absence shouldn’t have a significant effect.

OUT
Loren Strickland No practice, THUMB – Safety

This undrafted rookie from Ball State was one of the surprises of the 53-man roster. Strickland will not play and with multiple healthy safeties ahead of him on the depth chart, he may not have been active anyway.

LOS ANGELES RAMS
The secondary and offensive line are dealing with multiple issues causing juggling of the line-ups. Can the Lions take advantage?

Jonah Jackson Full practice, SHOULDER – OG/C

This former Lion had a bruised scapula earlier in camp. Reportedly he is moving to center for this game due to shuffling of the offensive line following OT Alaric Jackson’s suspension.

Puka Nacua Full practice, KNEE – WR

Nacua had right knee bursitis earlier in camp but I don’t expect any limitations for the game.

Cobie Durant Full practice, HAMSTRING – CB

This backup CB plays in place of Darious Williams who is OUT.

Tre’Davious White No practice, REST – CB

QUESTIONABLE Rob Havenstein Limited practice, ANKLE – OT

This starting OT may be hampered even if he plays which could be a problem with the other starting OT Alaric Jackson already out due to suspension.

I.R.
Darious Williams HAMSTRING – CB

The Rams starting CB was placed on IR and is out for at least four weeks.

TRADE – LB Earnest Jones

This starting LB was traded a week ago and weakens the middle of the field.

FANTASY FOOTBALL EFFECT

-Expect no limitations for Jahmyr Gibbs. Earlier this week, he reported feeling “98-100%”. Last year after missing two games with a similar mild hamstring strain, he returned with 11 rushes for 68 yards and nine receptions for 58 yards vs the Ravens.

In the playoff game vs the Rams, Gibbs had eight rushes for 25 yards and four receptions for 43 yards.

-The trade of Earnest Jones last week may help Gibbs and David Montgomery’s production.

-The Rams are weakened at the OT position with Alaric Jackson out with suspension and Rob Havenstein limited by a hamstring. Jonah Jackson is likely moving to center which is not his normal position.

All these factors may result in a quick-pass game plan by the Rams with more passes to RB’s (Kyren Williams, Blake Corum) and TE’s (Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen), and fewer downfield shots to WR’s (Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua).

-The juggled Rams offensive line paired with the deafening crowd noise may allow the Lions defense to pick up more sacks and turnovers.

-Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Kalif Raymond, and Sam LaPorta may take advantage of an injured Rams secondary which has starter Darious Williams out and backup Cobie Durant recovering from a hamstring.

Last year vs the Rams, St. Brown caught seven passes for 110 yards and Williams had two for 19 yards. LaPorta had three catches for 14 yards but had just suffered a scary knee hyperextension the week before. Raymond missed the game due to a suspected right knee PCL sprain.

Lions injury report: 2 defenders limited, one out from 1st Week 1 practice

The Detroit Lions released their first injury status report of the 2024 season ahead of Sunday’s opener against the Los Angeles Rams in Ford Field.

It’s a light list of injured Lions. Only one player, rookie safety Loren Strickland, missed the practice session. Strickland is dealing with a thumb injury.

Two other defenders were limited in the session, which was an estimated participation as the Lions didn’t actually practice. Safety Ifeatu Melifonwu remains limited with an ankle, an injury that he suffered in the second preseason game. Defensive tackle DJ Reader was also deemed as a limited participants as he works back in from quadriceps tendon surgery.

The Lions have two more practice reports this week.

A couple of Lions players have officially changed their jersey numbers

A couple of Lions players have officially changed their jersey numbers, both on defense

One of the things that invariably happens at the end of every training camp is jersey number changes. Players who made the 53-man roster get a chance to change things up and snatch a number that was worn by a player that didn’t make the team, or make a deal with another player to swap rights to a specific number.

The Detroit Lions have a couple of players who appear on the Week 1 roster listed with different jersey numbers than what they donned over the summer. Both of the changes come on the defensive side of the ball.

Brandon Joseph has switched from 40 to 12. The reserve safety took the number previously worn by WR Daurice Fountain.

Undrafted rookie safety Loren Strickland swapped into No. 24. He was wearing 28. Steven Gilmore previously had the No 24 jersey.

In addition, recently added LB Trevor Nowaske will wear No. 53 in his second tour of duty in Detroit.

Potential worries about the 2024 Detroit Lions: The safety spot

1st up in the series of potential Lions pitfalls: The Lions safeties could be among the best in the league, but there are legit questions about the new-look crew

In one week, the Detroit Lions kick off their 2024 season. It’s one of the most anticipated seasons in Detroit history, with perhaps the highest expectations ever for the team.

And rightly so.

The defending NFC North champions were within a half of making the first Super Bowl in franchise history. Nearly all the key pieces from that 12-5 team return. GM Brad Holmes and his crew prominently addressed the two biggest weaknesses that held back the 2023 Lions, namely the pass coverage and pass rush, in an offseason that local and national pundits widely lauded.

These Lions figure to be among the NFL’s best in 2024. They’re top contenders to win it all, led by a head coach in Dan Campbell, who has proven quickly to be among the best in the game. Like every other contending team, these Lions do have some vulnerabilities.

They extend beyond the vague existential dread of losing All-Pro players to injury; no team can claim immunity from the injury bug, not even the deepest in the NFL–which these Lions might be at many positions (RB, LB, TE).

What are some issues that could derail the highly promising Lions season?

They’re not fun to think about, but there are some concerns about Detroit heading into the 2024 campaign. First up in the series: the safeties.

It’s a group with a lot of potential, headlined by second-year standout Brian Branch, who is moving from slot corner to full-time safety. Last year’s starting postseason tandem, Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu, are both back too. Yet there are questions about the moving parts in Aaron Glenn’s revamped secondary and more man-coverage-oriented scheme.

Safeties

Moving Branch to a full-time safety role is a very smart move. It keeps Detroit’s top defensive playmaker and budding star on the field all the time, something that he couldn’t do while playing the slot as a rookie. Branch is poised to thrive in an expanded role, one he played at Alabama and did so exceptionally enough to earn high first-round draft grades.

As for the rest of the safety room, there are questions.

Kerby Joseph has been sporadically outstanding in a cover safety role in his first two seasons. He will make plays. He will also give up plays, between his tendency to overestimate his own closing speed and his unreliable tackling. Joseph has battled some injuries, notably a hip issue that required surgery.

Joseph has worked on those weaknesses, but it’s different at meaningful game speed against receivers he doesn’t see in practice in offenses he doesn’t frequently practice against. He’s going to be playing more single-high safety in 2024, based on the offseason looks we got at Aaron Glenn’s secondary. It should suit No. 31 well. Should…

Iffy

Ifeatu Melifonwu got bumped from his starting role by Branch despite a torrid finish to the 2023 season. “Iffy” really clicked as a box safety late in the year, effectively blitzing and stuffing runs. His short-area coverage and ball skills also shone. From Week 14 to Week 18, Melifonwu had the fourth-best overall PFF grade of all safeties.

That big spike in Melifonwu’s play coincided with him finally being healthy and put in an appropriate role for the first time in his three-year career. Prior to that, the oft-injured safety had just 20 tackles and two passes defended, no sacks or TFLs in Detroit’s previous 24 games. He bounced between outside CB and a dual safety role that weren’t great fits, aside from being a fixture on the weekly injury reports.

Melifonwu is once again injured, and his status to start the season is unknown. He had struggled throughout training camp in covering anything or anyone that wasn’t in front of him in the more man-heavy scheme. Melifonwu could be the best third safety in the league. Health and role will matter a lot, however.

Deeper depth

The depth behind the top three is completely unproven. An undrafted rookie from the 2023 practice squad, Brandon Joseph is a coverage specialist. The preseason was a very fitting performance nutshell for No. 40’s game; Joseph pulled down an interception and thwarted some pass attempts with savvy positioning and quick reactions in coverage. He destroyed a swing pass by doing so. He also ran past several tackle attempts, notably diving at Cordarrelle Patterson’s long-since-gone feet in the Steelers game–one of three missed tackles by Joseph in that game.

This year’s undrafted rookie, Loren Strickland, is a freight train of a hitter but a major work in progress in coverage in jumping from Ball State to the NFL. Strickland showed quick progress in training camp, moving from the bottom of the depth chart to push veteran CJ Moore off the roster.

GM Brad Holmes eschewed chasing after available, affordable veteran safeties like Justin Simmons, Quandre Diggs and Xavier McKinney, trusting his own existing safety room. It’s a gamble that upgrading the cornerbacks and pass rush in front of them will make life easier and give Branch, Joseph and Melifonwu more of a chance to shine.

All could be fine on the safety front. Could be.

Lions minicamp offers young safeties a chance to prove themselves

Lions minicamp offers young safeties like Brandon Joseph, Chelen Garnes and Loren Strickland a chance to prove themselves

This week’s mandatory minicamp at the Detroit Lions training facility in Allen Park is the only time between the end of the season and the start of training camp when all the Lions players will be required to be in attendance. Several of those players are recovering from injuries and won’t be able to participate, however.

Two of those are starting safeties, Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch. Both are in the process of rehabilitating from off-season leg surgeries and their absence in the secondary was particularly noticeable during the recent OTA sessions.

Joseph is the team’s top coverage safety, largely responsible for the single-high looks and deep-field roaming. Branch was outstanding as the Lions’ slot DB as a rookie, and he does pull some duty as a free safety in some packages, too. Without them in the lineup, the coverage issues with the rest of the safety room were starkly evident in last week’s practice.

Ifeatu Melifonwu is an effective starter as a box safety, but range and anticipation in coverage are not where he wins. He’s more of an attack dog, at his best blitzing and aggressively playing the run and routes in front of him. The arrow is pointing up for Melifonwu, but his limitations in man coverage and more split-safety looks were exacerbated without Branch and Kerby Joseph playing with him.

Brandon Joseph, a 2023 UDFA from Notre Dame, was the other starter with Melifownu last week. Known for his coverage ability in college, Joseph is one of a few young safeties who could seize opportunities in minicamp with the injuries above them on the depth chart.

For Joseph and 2024 undrafted rookies Chelen Garnes and Loren Strickland, there will be considerable reps to show what they can do. Veteran CJ Moore is back after missing 2023 due to a gambling suspension, and he’ll also have chances to prove he can be more than just a special teams asset–his primary role in his first tour of duty in Detroit.

It’s the thinnest position on the roster–on paper, anyway. Garnes, Joseph and Strickland could help ameliorate some serious depth concerns at safety for the Lions. Garnes, from Wake Forest, is more in the Melifonwu mold, a strong tackler with a powerful build and good closing burst to the ball carrier in the run game. He was the second-team safety behind Melifonwu during last week’s practice that was open to the media.

Strickland was the same sort of player during his college career at Ball State. It can be difficult for those types of players to make a positive impact in practices where tackling and hitting aren’t permitted. Even so, the opportunity and minicamp reps are there for someone to step up and seize a bigger role in the Lions defense.