The 2024 NFL Draft brought six new players to the Detroit Lions. Some of those incoming rookies will play right away (Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw, Sione Vaki?) and others will be immediate depth with potential future prospects to be more than that (Christian Mahogany, Giovanni Manu).
Within that is the looming battle for roles and roster spots, and some incumbent players are a little more on the roster bubble then they were going into the draft.
Coming out of the 2024 draft, these five Lions players can be marked as the biggest losers.
5. OG Kayode Awosika
The additions of Mahogany, a guard by trade, and Manu, who is apparently making a move to guard, is bad news for Awosika and 2023 fifth-round pick Colby Sorsdal. Sorsdal struggled in his three regular starts, with PFF pass blocking grades below 37.5 in two of those three games, and over five total appearances he allowed 14 pressures in 132 pass blocking snaps. But in a broad sense, he's still got developmental upside the Lions won't give up on one year in.
So we move to Awosika. He started four games last season, including the NFC Championship Game, at left guard in place of Jonah Jackson. In the previous playoff game against Tampa Bay, after Jackson left injured, Awosika allowed seven pressures on 28 pass blocking snaps (according to Next Gen Stats). According to Pro Football Focus, he allowed five pressures on 24 "true pass sets" in the NFC Championship Game.
Awosika, quite simply, is what he is; a barely roster-worthy NFL guard who can't add utility by playing center. Now he has extra competition for what may only be one spot on the Lions' roster.
4. DT Levi Onwuzurike
Onwuzurike's NFL career was set off course from the start by a lingering back injury, and a major back surgery after being injured early in 2022 training camp cost him that entire season. Apparently healthy last season, without so much as an appearance on an injury report if memory serves, he played in 10 games (13 counting the playoffs) and 167 defensive snaps counting the postseason. When he was on the field, he was not noticeable.
Onwuzrike's tenure in Detroit has felt over all offseason, it's just a matter of time. The drafting of LSU defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo in the sixth round (pick No. 189 probably sealed the former second-round pick's fate.
Onwuzurike simply can't be relied on, and he hasn't performed when he has played. It's unfortunate and out of his control due to his back issues, but he's easy to mark as a post-draft loser.
3. DE Josh Paschal
Pride of Detroit has Paschal as a player who benefitted from the Lions' draft, and there may be something to that angle. But the 2022 second-round pick is entering a make-or-break season in 2024, and let's highlight some of what Brad Holmes said about Wingo.
"The role? I originally had looked at him as purely a defensive tackle that was going to be playing inside. When I kept watching him, his rushing ability really started to come to light. I kind of put him in a separate box. A little bit like when we talked about (Josh) Paschal coming out. He's got a lot of stuff on tape as an edge rusher."
Paschal has lined up across the Lions' defensive front over his two seasons, however limited his action has been due to injuries (22 games, 693 defensive snaps). Holmes is talking about Wingo in a similar vein versatility-wise right off the bat, which doesn't seem like great news for Paschal.
We already knew Paschal was heading into a pivotal season in his career. The addition of Wingo in the draft fortifies the idea, while also possibly limiting his opportunity to fulfill his promise as a former top-50 overall pick.
2. CB Kindle Vildor
Due to lack of better options, Vildor started at an outside cornerback spot and played basically every defensive snap for the Lions from Week 17 through the NFC Championship Game. An unfortunate bounce that led to a long Brandon Aiyuk reception in the NFC title game stands as the notable moment from that run of games, but he never should have been in that position to begin with.
The Lions backed up their veteran additions at cornerback this offseason (Carlton Davis, Amik Robertson) with the aforementioned double-dip of Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw in the draft. Emmanuel Moseley was also re-signed after a very truncated first seaon with the Lions.
So Vildor is now left to compete for a roster spot with Khalil Dorsey and others. He didn't play much on special teams last season, so at best he's an unknown quantity there. Obviously, providing special teams value is also a path to earning a roster spot when all else does not clearly exist.
It'd be quite a fall from (miscast) starter to totally off the Lions' roster in the span of an offseason. But that's where Vildor is.
1. RB Craig Reynolds
The Lions clearly like Reynolds, and he embodies the type of team-first, do whatever is needed player they want. But if the re-signing of Zonovan Knight wasn't a threat to his role as the Lions' No. 3 running back, if not his roster spot, the team's trade up to pick No. 132 in the draft to take the versatile Sione Vaki sure is.
It has become immediately clear the Lions like what Vaki brings to the table as a running back, and based on what he did when called upon at Utah last season that's well-founded (7.5 yards per carry, 18.5 yards per catch, 520 yards from scrimmage on 53 touches). On his top-30 visit to Allen Park, Vaki notably only met extensively with Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and running backs coach Scottie Montgomery.
Vaki is also in line to be an immediate contributor for the Lions on special teams, where Reynolds has been a core player the last couple years (47 percent of special teams snaps last season). Their physical and skill set profiles feel a bit redundant, whereas Knight is bigger and a more physical runner.
The Lions carried just three running backs on the active roster into last season. They could easily make it four this year. But if it comes down to choosing between Vaki and Reynolds, Reynolds seems likely to lose.