The Detroit Lions have had a little over a week's worth of training camp practices, followed by two days of joint practices against the New York Giants. Next up is the preseason opener against the Giants on Friday night.
The Lions first unofficial depth chart officially told us nothing we should take particular meaning with, as pretty much expected. With the signing of Teddy Bridgewater made official Thursday morning, he was not on said depth chart. Other roster moves made on Thursday already render that depth chart obsolete
The Lions have some interesting training camp battles going on though (linebacker, kicker, tight end?, edge rusher, running back), as much for roster spots as roles and starting jobs in some cases. Those battle will ramp up in the preseason opener, and continue afterward.
Lions starters surely won't play much, if at all, in the first preseason game. So there will be important opportunities for plenty of players to shine.
That said, there are some players who have already shown themselves to be above their positional competition in training camp practices and/or this week's joint practices against the Giants. So barring an injury, and not to jinx anything by saying that, those battles are effectively over already right now.
So let's reveal three positon battles that are already over at Lions training camp.
3 Detroit Lions training camp battles that are already over
3. Teddy Bridgewater QB2 over Nate Sudfeld
Ok, so this isn't really a training camp battle--yet. But the roster move the Lions have made to emperically make room for Bridgewater, releasing guard Logan Stenberg and not cutting Sudfeld, points to the idea of it being an actual competition to be Jared Goff's backup for a little bit. On that front, it fits the competition template the Lions' coaching staff has always set to keep Sudfeld around a little while longer.
If Bridgewater had been signed in April, when the Lions reportedly made a strong offer, Sudfeld probably wouldn't have made it to OTAs on the roster and he would ostensibly not have been the No. 2 quarterback.
But after a strong showing at OTAS and minicamp, which fostered faith (logical or not) in the Lions' backup quarterback situation as it is/was, Sudfeld has had a rough recent run at training camp. In particular, how he looked last Saturday against the Lions' No. 1 defense seems to have paved the way for finally getting a deal done with Bridgewater.
Unless Sudfeld suddenly turn things around with actual competition for his previously anointed spot, and maybe even if he does perform better moving forward, Bridgewater is the clear-cut favorite to be Goff's primary backup. There's a chance Sudfeld is kept around as the third quarterback on the 53-man roster going into the season. But any veil of competition for the QB2 spot that's presented should not be believed.
2. Sam LaPorta the TE1 over Brock Wright
With a nod to his veteran status, Wright was listed as the Lions' No. 1 tight end on the aforementioned "unofficial" depth chart put out this week. But everyone knows LaPorta became the most talented tight end on the team the moment he was drafted in April. He showed that to be the case from the start at rookie minicamp and OTAS, with no let-up in training camp thus far.
LaPorta will have to be a competent complete tight end to be the most ideal fit for the Lions' offense, but there hasn't been much concern conveyed about his blocking to this point. And it's not as if his predecessor, T.J. Hockenson, was a devasting blocker over his last couple years on the team.
There is some overall rookie tight end production history for him to defy this year, but LaPorta will be just fine with a big role in the Lions' offense right away. If he doesn't have a big role right away, apart from an injury or a steep drop-off in his performance to cause it, it stands to be rooted in the Lions coaches actively leaning into Wright as a steady, unspectacular veteran--for an unexplained reason.
LaPorta has immediately taken his rightful place as the Lions' TE1. This was never going to be a genuine training camp battle as long as he did just that, and now it's officially over.
1. Jerry Jacobs over Emmanuel Moseley for CB2
The battle for the starting cornerback spot opposite marquee free agent signing Cameron Sutton looked to potentially be a very good one at Lions' training camp. Jacobs surely wasn't going to go down without a fight, even if Moseley was easy to see as the favorite. As long as he was recovered from a torn ACL he suffered playing for the San Francisco 49ers last October, that is.
Moseley not being fully ready for Day 1 of training camp, and lined up to go on the PUP list, was not a surprise at all. But his being away from the team for the first week was somewhat interesting, though easy to chalk up to just continuing his rehab where he was the most comfortable doing so. But a subsequent report, since acknowledged and confirmed after being avoided by Dan Campbell, from Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press said the Lions' other free agent cornerback addition had a second "clean up" surgery on his injured knee.
Moseley himself said last week he doesn't know when he'll be able to practice. His status for Week 1 is naturally in doubt.
A training camp battle for a starting job obviously needs, at least, two healthy and engaged primary competitors. Jacobs may be winning this battle anyway, based on a solid showing in training camp practices before this week. But Moseley, with his inability to participate in the competition so far (not his fault, by the way), has already ceded the starting spot opposite Sutton going into the season.