3. The Other Wide Receivers
With St. Brown out on Sunday, opportunity will knock for other Lions’ wide receivers. So I’m lumping them into one “player” here.
DJ Chark’s first three games as a Lion have been marked by missed connections and inconsistency (zero catches in Week 2). He is dealing with an ankle issue of his own, but his status for Sunday doesn’t seem to be in real question.
With St. Brown out, this kinda has to become DJ Chark’s coming out party in Detroit.
— Mike Payton (@POD_Payton) September 30, 2022
Josh Reynolds followed a nice touchdown catch in Week 2 with six catches for 96 yards on 10 targets (all season highs) in Week 3. He is also dealing with an ankle issue, but he should be good to go on Sunday. His years-long familiarity and connection with Jared Goff will be important against Seattle.
Kalif Raymond seems lined up to take a big chunk of St. Brown’s snaps out of the slot for the Lions on Sunday. He only has three targets in three games thus far, on a total of 27 offensive snaps. But he has some game-breaking ability, and his role will be larger along the lines of last year (48 receptions for 576 yards) in Week 4.
Filling the void left by St. Brown, and to some degree also Swift as a passing game weapon, won’t be a one-man job. Chark, Reynolds and Raymond all have an opportunity in front of them this week.