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5 New York Giants players the Detroit Lions should be scouting this week

Dan Campbell stated something obvious before the first joint practice against the Giants, and the Lions should have eyes on these five opposing players as the week against them winds down.

By Brad Berreman

Luke Hales/GettyImages
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4. WR Allen Robinson
3. WR Isaiah Hodgins

I like another Giants wide receiver better as a potential fit for the Lions (more on that to come). But the depth New York has at wide receiver (Malik Nabers, Wan'Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, Darius Slayton, etc.) leaves Hodgins and the declining veteran Allen Robinson easily on the roster bubble since neither offer much on special teams.

Hodgins had a good run after the Giants picked him up off waivers from the Buffalo Bills in 2022 (33 catches in eight regular season games, a 100-yard game in the Wild Card Round win over the Minnesota Vikings). But Hyatt ate into his role last year, and his path to a roster spot with the Giants now will be rooted in special teams. He has played three special teams snaps in his career, but he did get some work as a return man during OTAs.

Wide receiver depth is broadly still a question mark for the Lions. Hodgins has a physical profile (6-foot-4) and skill set that would make him different than anyone else they have, and fit the role vacated by Josh Reynolds.

Allen Robinson's best days are undeniably behind him. After a dud 2022 with the Rams, the Steelers saw fit to have him play 72 percent of their offensive snaps last year. His overall Pro Football Focus grades in 2021 and 2022 were actually a little better than Reynolds, and he was lauded as a veteran leader in Pittsburgh's locker room last year.

Robinson is a Detroit native, so if/when the Giants cut him the Lions would likely appeal to him as a landing spot. This week's practices, and the preseason opener, could offer some insight into just how much of the shell of what he was is left. The Lions don't need the guy who had 98 and 102 catches in 2019 and 2020, and topped 1,100 yards in both seasons; that guy doesn't exist anymore anyway.

Hodgins is a far more appealing option than Robinson, but the draft investments the Giants have made at wide receiver the last couple years puts them both on the outside looking in. The Lions need to take advantage of the closer look they're getting this week, if only to help shape a list of wide receiver options they might consider if it comes to that.

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