Ranking the Detroit Lions best internal options to replace Josh Reynolds

1. Donovan Peoples-Jones

Peoples-Jones was put behind the eight-ball when he was acquired by the Lions at last year's trade deadline. He had to learn a new offense and get acclimated to new teammates in the middle of the season, and his learning curve was not ideal to seeing significant action for a team that was trying to win games and had high aspirations.

But now, with a full offseason to learn and build chemistry, Peoples-Jones is lined up for a big opportunity with his home town team. It's easy to say Jared Goff is the best quarterback he has played with in the NFL, since the recent version of Deshaun Watson is not in Goff's class.

In 2022 for the Cleveland Browns, catching passes from a coming off -suspension Watson and Jacoby Brissett, Peoples-Jones had 61 catches for 839 yards. In 2021, he averaged 17.6 per catch with 26 of his 34 catches moving the chains.

Despite that production, the Browns couldn't find a way to use Peoples-Jones last year before trading him.

Jordan Schultz's report of the Lions' re-signing Peoples-Jones back in March in part felt like PR, but it did point to how the Lions view the 25-year old.

Subsequent comments from Holmes, via Justin Rogers of the Detroit News, confirmed the team's view.

"He (Peoples-Jones) was a big-time, core player for the Cleveland Browns before we traded for him," Holmes said. "We traded for him, and, you know, the guy comes in late and he doesn't really know the offense. So, you haven't really seen Peoples-Jones. And we all get into the recency bias of, well, what's Peoples-Jones going to do? No, Peoples-Jones can play. He does provide an element of being able to play on the outside and being a contested-catch guy and being able to do multiple things."

Not unlike Jameson Williams, Peoples-Jones has a path to a big role and a breakout for the Lions this year. With a physical build and a game very similar to Reynolds', the former Wolverine is the easiest and clearest replacement for the departed veteran.