2. EDGE James Houston
The Lions have, at least for now, given up on trying to make Houston into a SAM linebacker. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn put it simply this week.
"Listen, the one thing we know he has a talent at is rushing the quarterback and when you have a good player you try to figure out, ‘What else can they do?’ Because you want them on the field as much as possible...So we tried him at different positions to see if he can bring value in those aspects, but sometimes you’ve got to sit back and go, ‘You know what, just do what you do best."
Houston is also dealing with a knee injury he suffered in the preseason opener, which seems sure to have been a factor in his poor performance against the Giants. The injury opens the door to him not playing, or not playing a lot, on Saturday. But he has to play, and play well in his compressed duties, or he'll maintain his spot on the wrong side of the roster bubble.
1. QB Nate Sudfeld
Sudfeld truly played himself off the Lions' roster in the preseason opener. But with Hendon Hooker's status for Saturday's game unclear due to the concussion he suffered against the Giants, and Jake Fromm having had two practices since being signed, Sudfeld may get a lot of playing time again. Regardless of Hooker's status, he may play a lot.
Sudfeld padded his still-awful stats against the Giants by working the fourth quarter against guys who won't make their roster. Saturday should bring some first half run against Chiefs' starting defenders, which could get ugly.
Sudfeld is who we thought he was as a quarterback with 37 career regular season pass attempts. This may be his last hoorah in trying to make an NFL roster, even as a emergency/No. 3 guy. More bad tape against Kansas City won't convince another team to give him a shot if/when the Lions part ways.
Career advice is not my prominent lane, but Sudfeld might want to start polishing up his resume to do whatever he's going to do after football if he stinks against the Chiefs. Truly, it'd be surprising if he doesn't stink if he goes against a good starting defense like Kansas City's.