4 recent Lions draft picks who may be playing their last game in Detroit vs. Steelers

1. EDGE James Houston, 6th Round (pick No. 217), 2022

Sometimes, the tea leaves are there if you're just willing to read them.

Houston's development into something more than a pass rusher, with his potential in that area shown by eight sacks over the final seven games of his rookie season, got an injury-forced mulligan last year. A fractured ankle suffered in Week 2 sidelined him until the NFC Championship Game. No one's fault there.

So the idea of making Houston into a SAM linebacker, so he could be more versatile and on the field more, carried into this year. After a rough performance in the preseason opener against the New York Giants, however impacted by a knee injury he suffered in the game, the plan to make him into more than an edge rusher was ended (though maybe not permanently, to be fair).

So the second preseason game, against the Kansas City Chiefs, was lined up to be pretty important for Houston. But he did not play, with the knee injury as the easiest explanation why.

Still, it just lands weird that Houston didn't play against the Chiefs, And it's hard to believe it was because he's so locked into a roster spot. That's not how Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes operate, and, leaving the injury aside, Houston having duties taken off his plate feels meaningful.

The one thing Houston has shown he can do (get after the quarterback) has value around the league. If nothing else then, he is a potential trade asset set to be showcased heavily against the Steelers. There's a chance he ends up cut no matter what, but if he's going to be done as a Lion it's good business to display him for possible trade suitors. Assuming he's healthy enough to play, and ideally play a lot, of course.