After a rookie season where he shined in very limited opportunities, hopes are high for Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa. His size and speed combination differentiates him from other Lions' pass catchers in a meaningful way, and at minimum he can be a legit red zone weapon.
It's very early in training camp, of course, with padded practices just starting. But the general vibe thus far, summed up by Richard Silva of The Detroit News after the final day of the acclimation period before pads came on, says TeSlaa is not standing out. In particular, he's struggling to separate and corral contested catches.
"It's so far been a quiet training camp for him (TeSlaa), as he hasn't quite been able to come down with the type of contested catches we saw him make last season, both in training camp and during the regular season."
It has been assumed TeSlaa will be the WR3 for the Lions, with no legit challengers unless he suffered an injury to shift the conversation. But with Dan Campbell trying to fully re-establish a culture of competition, TeSlaa's slow start to camp and the head coach's own words could be moving the needle.
Isaac TeSlaa's grip on the WR3 role may be slowly loosening
Speaking to reporters before the first padded practice of camp on Monday, Campbell was asked about Cedrick Wilson and he took advantage of the opportunity to laud the veteran wide receiver.
"Man, he’s heads-y, he’s crafty. He’s a different body type, a different type of receiver for us. He’s smooth, there’s a little slither to him; he’s a little slippery and he’s got really good body control,” Campbell said. “I mean, you saw the back shoulder catch in the back of the end zone, it was a hell of a throw by Teddy [Bridgewater]. But man, he just gets it."
“There’s nothing better than freaking vets, man, true pros that get it. They know how to go about their business, man. They come in here, they compete. They’re not entitled, they just go work, man and that’s what he does."
Campbell also noted an area Wilson has a history of contributing in over the course of his career.
“And by the way, his special teams reps are pretty good too. I mean, for a receiver, he can do some stuff and his tape says that too.”
Campbell elaborated on the special teams front to say Wilson, of course without pads on up to that point, had shown savvy in both coverage and return team work. In the battle for roster spots during training camp, that stuff matters.
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TeSlaa played 64 special teams snaps as a rookie last season, so he's not a complete non-contributor in that area. But Wilson would be what coaches call a potential "four-phase" contributor in the third phase of the game, meaning being able to serve on return and coverage teams on both kickoffs and punts.
But special teams contributions are a relatively moot point if Wilson is a serious threat to unseat TeSlaa as the Lions' WR3. Campbell is also not one for subtle messages, so his lengthy praise of Wilson the day after TeSlaa had a rough practice session was no coincidence.
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