Detroit Lions: Five Players that are Tough Roster Choices

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Making the roster cuts is always tough for teams.  These are players’ careers and you’re essentially scheduling a mass firing.  It isn’t any easier for the Detroit Lions this season, who will be forced to make some very difficult decisions with their roster in 2015.  Their talent isn’t balanced, meaning that some players at the bottom of their position are far better than others at the bottom of theirs making it a decision to keep depth at a position or the better players.  With that in mind, here are several tough decisions the Lions have to make with fringe players and how they may or may not fit on the Deroit Lions roster.

Zach Zenner

Zach Zenner was my favorite UDFA signing by any team, though it was happily our Detroit Lions that picked him up.  The SDSU product has been paying that expectation off in spades and proving doubters wrong at every stage.  Throughout camp, he showed himself as a decisive runner early and often, which he showcased against the NY Jets last week.  The other areas of his game: pass protection, receiving, and special teams, were still a work in progress.

Why He’s Earned a Spot

Of those three areas that needed work, the Detroit Lions addressed all of them.  Zenner showed himself in pass protection several times against the Jets, putting him on par or better than his competition, George Winn.  The team decided to showcase his receiving skills against Washington and he checked that box easily.  Zenner was given a new uniform number in part so it would be easier to run special teams drills.  The team is clearly grooming him to keep, not to stash.

Why It’s Not So Simple

While the team gave him a new number to help with the special teams drills, he hasn’t shown well in that area yet, in fact the opposite is true.  Zenner was not able to get off his blocks as a gunner and in the instance he did he whiffed hard on a tackle of the returner.  As a 4th running back, Zenner isn’t going to see more than a few offensive snaps a game, barring injury.  It’s absolutely essential he improves on special teams where the incumbent, George Winn, is still showing well.  Without an improvement there, it’s going to be tough for the Detroit Lions to keep Zenner on the team, even with as well as he’s showed in the other areas.

It’s possible they keep 6 running backs, allowing them to keep both Winn and Zenner.  This would be unprecedented for the Lions under Martin Mayhew, and it would require sacrificing depth at another position.  It’s interesting to think about, but the only position I could see them taking a hit at is wide receiver and that would only happen if either their returner is that #4 guy or someone else wins the returner job.  Now a fan favorite, it will be a storyline to follow in the coming weeks, but know that it isn’t as simple as how well he looks running the football.

Next: Two Fullbacks?