It's competitions aplenty as Detroit Lions training camp officially begins, and it's not just starting jobs being fought over.
One player looking to make a strong first impression is rookie defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard. Gill-Howard was selected in the sixth round of this year's NFL Draft out of Texas Tech, with the pick the Lions acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars in the trade for wide receiver Tim Patrick a year ago.
Gill-Howard is coming back from injury, after having surgery on his ankle this past October. He played just six games in his final college season, with 13 combined tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and a 55-yard interception returned for a touchdown.
His injury wasn't the only thing keeping him from being drafted higher, as he's considered to be undersized for his position, measuring at just under 6'1" at the Combine and weighing 280 lbs. Despite this, ESPN's Field Yates liked the Gill-Howard pick, saying that the rookie could be a "pest" in the pass rush.
A 53-man roster spot for the highly-athletic Gill-Howard is far from a guarantee, but one of the Lions' latest roster moves definitely betters his odds.
A DT roster spot just opened up
Before the first real practice of training camp got underway, a DT spot was freed up after the Lions released veteran DT Jay Tufele.
The Lions initially signed Tufele just after the NFL Draft in late April after a season with the New York Jets, where he started twice in his 12 games. There, he recorded 12 combined tackles across his 230 defensive snaps.
READ MORE: Alim McNeill has a golden opportunity to make Jalen Carter's new deal look silly
The competition for that newly opened spot at DT will be intense. No, Vita Vea is highly unlikely to walk through those Allen Park doors after requesting a trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But Gill-Howard still has to contend with veterans like Levi Onwuzurike, who's coming back from a torn ACL suffered just before training camp last year.
We're only just getting started with training camp, so this roster battle has only just begun. Between Tufele's release and Onwuzurike's consistent struggles to stay healthy, Gill-Howard will have ample opportunity to seize one of the available DT spots in the weeks to come.
Add us as a preferred source on Google