Trinity Benson has been easily placed on the Detroit Lions’ roster bubble, if not on the wrong side of it, but through two days of minicamp he’s doing all he can to start changing that.
In defending the trade he made late last preseason to bring Trinity Benson in from the Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes leaned into the young receiver’s late start in the system and his potential.
The trade wound up indeed costing the Lions two 2022 draft picks. Yes, just fifth and seventh-rounders, but it didn’t make Benson’s lack of contribution last season look any better.
If we did a 53-man roster for the Lions this week, mandatory minicamp week, and went to the wide receivers, here are the locks–Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds, Kalif Raymond and Jameson Williams. Williams’ status is naturally up in the air a bit, as he could land on the PUP list to start the season if he’s not quite ready coming off a torn ACL, but we’ll say five are locks as we consider it right now.
After that, Benson, Quintez Cephus and undrafted rookie Kalil Pimpleton are likely competing for one spot on the active roster heading into the season.
Trinity Benson doing what he can to make his case for a roster spot
By all accounts from those who were there, Benson was one of the best players on the field during Day 1 of Lions’ minicamp. As for Day 2 on Wednesday, he kept it up.
More of the same for Benson today. Had a nice sliding TD catch in 11-on-11 work, off a really good throw to the back pylon by Tim Boyle. Interested for Benson get some live, camp reps against these DBs to see if he can maintain this momentum. https://t.co/kyDCoJLhIM
— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurkeNFL) June 8, 2022
Last year, by cutting wide receiver free agent signing Breshad Perriman late in the preseason, the Lions’ then-new regime proved they will operate on merit when it comes to how they dole out roster spots. This year’s offseason, training camp and preseason game work will be no different.
Lions coach Dan Campbell on WR Trinity Benson: "He's having a hell of a spring."
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) June 8, 2022
What the Lions do with Williams as the season gets near will be telling in terms of how many wide receivers they keep on the final 53, and what opportunities there will be for others to make it. But Benson is doing what he needs to do to start making his case for a roster spot, perhaps usurping Cephus if he can keep it up.