Tuesday was roster cutdown day. The Detroit Lions reduced the roster from 85 players down to 80 with a few moves.
Foremost, four players were moved from the active physically unable to perform/non-football injury lists to the reserve lists. Rookie WR Jameson Williams moved to the reserve/NFI, while fellow rookie DE Josh Paschal and vets DE Romeo Okwara and FB Jason Cabinda are now on the reserve/PUP list.
The designation means those four players are ruled out for the Lions until Week 5 but are protected on the roster. They will miss at least the first four games. Just for clarification, the only real difference between PUP and NFI is the timing of the injury; Williams suffered his knee injury while in college, and anything prior to the NFL qualifies as NFI even though it happened playing football. Paschal was cleared and practiced earlier this offseason after being drafted but aggravated the injury he had at Kentucky, so he’s PUP. For all intents and fan purposes there really isn’t any other difference between the two.
The one remaining player on the active/PUP list is cornerback Jerry Jacobs. By keeping Jacobs active, he will be able to play whenever he’s cleared by team doctors and training staff to get back on the field. Jacobs suffered a torn ACL in December and could be ready for Week 1. The team has until August 30th to place him on the reserve list if it feels Jacobs won’t be ready in time, but that would be unexpected.
Roster impact
Removing the players now on reserve from the depth chart in the quest to formulate an initial 53-man roster provides some clarity. It’s especially true at DE, where both Paschal and Okwara were expected to play big roles.
Because they’re both out at least a month, expect the Lions to keep John Cominsky and Austin Bryant as the primary backups to starters Charles Harris and Aidan Hutchinson–who would be starting even if Romeo Okwara was healthy. With Julian Okwara also still sidelined with an injury of his own and having potential to miss the first week (or more), it makes it easier to project sixth-round rookie James Houston to stick.
There is also an opening for a hybrid rush LB to stick that would have normally been on the cutting room floor. Anthony Pittman and Jarrad Davis fit that bill. Though it’s possible neither makes the initial 53-man roster, the opening for one of them is now wider.
Cabinda’s absence leaves the Lions without a fullback, and Ben Johnson’s offense does heavily utilize the FB position. The easiest way to compensate is for the Lions to keep an extra tight end. Most projections (mine included) had Brock Wright and fifth-round rookie James Mitchell already making the team as reserves behind T.J. Hockenson. Wright can fill in the FB/H-back role in a pinch, but Shane Zylstra has seen considerable practice time in that role as well as a receiving TE. Keeping four TEs–at least initially–seems to be the way the club will go.
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