5 Lions who have offered the team almost nothing in 2021

1. WR Trinity Benson

In search of wide receiver depth, Lions general manager Brad Holmes sent not one but two 2022 draft picks (one a conditiional seventh-round pick) to the Denver Broncos for Benson and a 2023 seventh-round pick in late-August.

The Lions have been in search of someone, anyone, to step up at wide receiver with injuries to Tyrell Williams and Quintez Cephus thinning the ranks. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kalif Raymond have had moments and some solid game. Meanwhile, Benson saw decreasing action before playing a season-best 73 percent snap share in the 44-6 Week 8 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Not that the stat sheet showed how much he played in a blowout, with zero catches and zero targets in the game.

All told Benson has six catches for 55 yards over six games played for the Lions the season, with four of those catches (for 43 yards) in the first two games. He’s not been playing on special teams at all, so he hasn’t done anything in that facet as a return man, etc. based purely on having no opportunities. That latter part seems unlikely to change, at least with return roles pretty much accounted for.

And in terms of a role on offense, Benson needed a Week 8 blowout to play more snaps (45) than he had played in his previous two games combined (41 in Week 5 and Week 6; he was inactive in Week 7 and Week 8). So his minimal contribution through eight weeks, particularly over the last six weeks, is not set for any kind of uptick.