Detroit Lions: 4 Undrafted Free Agents with a Chance to Make the Team

Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

Cornelius Lucas, OT

The first player should come as no surprise.  The Lions gave Cornelius Lucas a boat load of cash to sign as a UDFA and teams rarely do that if they want to try to stash you.  Coming in with medical concerns, it’s possible the Lions won’t have to try as they might be able to use his foot injury to parley him to PUP or eventual IR.

Though most will point to his exceptional size at 6’8″ and 316 lbs., it’s his ridiculous 36 3/4″ arms that could find him on the Lions roster long-term.  It’s hard to find offensive tackles with that kind of size, but even harder to find them with that kind of length as well.  For comparison, those are a full 3 1/2″ longer than starting left tackle Riley Reiff.  His total wingspan is an incredible 88 1/2″.

Lucas isn’t nearly as strong as you’d like someone of his size to be, but that was a similar knock on comparatively sized New England starter Nate Solder.  If he’s healthy, I wouldn’t expect Lucas to hold up for long against NFL caliber power rushers, but he could give speed rushers a pretty hard time in reserve duty if it came to that.  Ideally, the Lions would find a way to keep him on the roster beyond 2014 and put him in a weight room for a solid 365 days, let him compete next season.

Hgt – Cornelius Lucas is taller than Average OT by 2.18 inches. This rates a 7.69/10.
Wgt – Cornelius Lucas is heavier than Average OT by 2.82 pounds. This rates a 5.26/10.