Detroit Lions OTA thoughts

Sitting on my front porch while my neighbor in into his second hour of mowing his 10×22 lawn for the third time in five days, here are some fairly random thoughts on the Detroit Lions, OTAs and what to expect the rest of the summer.

Taylor Decker Looks Like the Left Tackle

I have admonished you, fair readers, to not read too much into where Riley Reiff and Taylor Decker are lining up in OTAs. They will be the starting offensive tackles, but who plays left and who plays right is still unknown.

Jim Caldwell, Jim Bob Cooter and the Lions figure to experiment with all sorts of combinations up front. That’s what OTAs and training camp are for. Yet it sure seems like they are trying hard to make Decker the favorite at left tackle. Dave Birkett and Carlos Monarrez said as much in the Detroit Free Press. Josh Katzenstein at the Detroit News echoed those sentiments.

It makes me want to backtrack from my prior take…a little. My guess, and it’s just a guess from the other side of Michigan right now, is that Caldwell is giving Decker an early chance to “wow” him and seize the job before training camp even starts. That seems unlikely but it’s not unprecedented, as Caldwell showed a willingness to let high draft picks take over starting roles quickly; Pat Angerer and Jerraud Powers both leapt right in even though they weren’t necessarily projected starters from the get-go.

There is still a lot of time and practices to sort it out, but my somewhat educated guess is that it will be Taylor Decker starting at left tackle when the Lions visit Indianapolis on Sept. 11^th for the season opener. One feather in his cap–a couple of Lions players have mentioned unprompted that Decker is not afraid to say something and exude some leadership. The line desperately needs a leader.

Cole Wick Has a Real Shot

The undrafted tight end out of Incarnate Word is the only tight end on the roster who has been an active participant in every offseason function.

With Tim Wright and Jordan Thompson both gone via injury, Brandon Pettigrew still recovering from his second torn ACL and Eric Ebron being Eric Ebron, the door is wide open for someone (anyone!) to step up and seize that No. 2 TE role. Matthew Mulligan purportedly has the inside track based on his prior NFL experience, but Wick has impressed the media who have seen the (brief) portions opened to them.

I still have never seen Wick play. I wouldn’t know him if he came to my door selling Amway. I’ll rectify that this week, but right now I’m a skeptic. It’s a big jump from the FCS and Incarnate Word to the Detroit Lions, and even though folks I trust tell me he’s looked pretty good, I need to see it before I truly believe it. Having said that, I’m hopeful someone with that awesome of a name rises up and seizes the role as Ebron’s backup.

Competition Rules, Except at Punter

The Bob Quinn era has seen the Lions trumpet competition for nearly every roster spot save Matthew Stafford, Ezekiel Ansah and Darius Slay. It looks like we can add Sam Martin to the list of the unchallenged.

Martin is now the only punter on the roster, although that designation probably deserves an asterisk. The man who bumped Christy off the roster is Devon Bell, who is listed as a kicker but was Mississippi State’s punter off and on over his four years in Starkville. Bell is a kickoff specialist who happens to have some punting experience, that’s how to look at him. He made just 6 of his 15 FG attempts over the last three seasons. Matt Prater doesn’t need to lose much sleep…

Stephen Tulloch is Still a Lion

For some inexplicable reason, linebacker Stephen Tulloch remains on the roster. He’s already been referred to in past tense by both Quinn and the coaching staff, but officially No. 55 is still a Detroit Lion.

There has been talk in the past few months about a potential trade, or perhaps an injury settlement. Nothing has ever been official, however.

I’ve asked reliable Lions sources both on and off the record and it’s a mystery to them, too. I asked a former Lions teammate of Tulloch’s and in a text exchange he said he didn’t know anything either. Nobody seems to know.

He won’t be part of the roster once real cutdowns begin, but for now Stephen Tulloch is still a Lion.