The Detroit Lions are entering crunch time. The 2025 NFL season is just three weeks away, and the Lions' final preseason game is coming up this Saturday afternoon against the Houston Texans. There are still a few positional battles yet to be settled, and a few key decisions left to be made about the team's finalized 53-man roster.
Draft picks are always going to be hard to square away against the roster if they haven't completely solidified their role with the team, like Jahmyr Gibbs or Sam LaPorta have, for example. There are definitely a few recent draft picks by the Lions that are on the bubble right now, hoping to have an excellent final week of training camp leading up to the game against Houston.
These are three picks specifically that could be at major risk of getting cut from the roster entirely once that game has wrapped.
3 Lions draft picks in danger of being cut
Hendon Hooker - 2023 3rd round pick
Perhaps the most obvious player on the bubble is Hooker. After two stellar performances from Kyle Allen in the preseason, Hooker has so much ground to make up that it feels hard to imagine he can. He hasn't thrown a single passing touchdown in preseason so far, but has two interceptions and multiple fumbles.
Hooker didn't get an opportunity to backup Jared Goff in earnest last season with Teddy Bridgewater on the roster, and this was his shot to prove he was the QB2. So far, he's yet to show why he should be the man for the job over Allen. If Detroit finds it more necessary to save roster space on their oft-injured defense, look for the quarterback room to shrink by one.
Dominic Lovett - 2025 7th round pick
Lovett has been outworked in training camp and preseason by another rookie, Jackson Meeks. Meeks has been a great WR2 option in preseason games next to rookie Isaac TeSlaa, and can also be slotted in on special teams as a punt returner and blocker. Lovett hasn't been bad, per se, but just hasn't stuck out as a weapon as much as Meeks has.
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Is it too little, too late for him? Not in the slightest - especially with competition brewing at WR3 behind Tim Patrick, he can still find himself on the final roster alongside Meeks as a specialist. But, if the team is, again, looking to reserve extra spots, Lovett could be a sacrifice towards that goal.
Brodric Martin - 2023 3rd round pick
Another 2023 sacrifice, Martin might've just seen his role slip through his fingers after news broke of Mekhi Wingo being removed from the PUP list. Wingo showed major promise last season as both a run stopper and pass rush threat before he injured his knee on Thanksgiving last season.
While he's had the 4th best pass rush win rate of any defensive tackle this preseason (26.3 percent), he's fighting to get onto a depth chart that already features Roy Lopez and DJ Reader on the right side of the line, and rookieTyleik Williams and now Wingo on the left side. What's likely to happen now is that veteran tackle Pat O'Connor and Martin are now on the outside looking in thanks to Wingo's return.