As early training camp roster moves go, as teams churn the bottom of a 90-man roster, it was easy to brush of as insignificant. Back on Aug. 7, more than a week into camp, the Detroit Lions added Ben Stille to a deep group of defensive lineman vying for roster spots and roles.
As the preseason finale against the Indianapolis Colts and roster cutdown day approach, Stille has stuck around at Lions' training camp and he may have a chance to earn a spot on the 53-man roster.
In what has been a well-traveled four-year NFL career, where he has gone from the Miami Dolphins to the Cleveland Browns, to the Arizona Cardinals, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, back to Arizona, then back to Miami before finishing last season on the Atlanta Falcons' practice squad, staying somewhere for three weeks in August qualifies as an extended stay for Stille.
Stille has had some moments during training camp that reporters on-site at Allen Park have noticed. The questions is if that'll be enough to win him a roster spot.
Ben Stille may push himself onto the Lions' 53-man roster
On Tuesday, heading into some tough roster cut decisions the day after the preseason finale, Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about the defensive line battle.
“I mean, that can go any way right now; it really can,” Campbell said. “There’s a number of guys in there; the hard thing is you can’t keep all those guys. You just can’t, not without it hurting the rest of your roster."
And that thing is up in the air right now in a number of spots. That’s probably the most significant ... the D-line room is the most interesting. It’s just top to bottom, there are a ton of good players in there, we feel like.”
In each of the last two seasons, as noted by Ben Raven of MLive, the Lions have carried nine defensive lineman on their initial 53-man roster.
If we were to project a 53-man roster heading into the preseason finale, nine defensive lineman; Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Tyleik Williams, D.J. Wonnum, Derrick Moore, Tyler Lacy, Skyler Gill-Howard, Ahmed Hassanein and Levi Onwuzurike would be fairly easy locks.
So it will likely come down to if there's room for one more, or if that roster spot would be better-used to fill out depth at another position.
READ MORE: Jared Goff fantasy optimism hits highest note ever after analyst's declaration
Stille overlapped with Lions defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers in Tampa Bay for a brief time back in 2024. In general, there's not a defensive scheme he hasn't seen and he brings notable versatility (nose tackle, 3-technique, etc.) to the table.
Campbell has praised Stille quite a bit, including on Tuesday.
“He’s a pro, smart, really smart. He’s got versatility, strong, very strong,” Campbell said. “He can shed blocks, shock, shed, make plays, kind of knows himself, knows what he is, knows his own limitations and can play fast enough to cover up for some of those. But that’s what’s the intrigue with him is the versatility, man."
“He can play some big end, we think; he can play the nose certainly, and then three if you needed it. So the more you can do and the more that you can prove you can do, that is always going to help your case.”
Stille's 22 snaps over the first two preseason games have come across six positions on the defensive front. He may not be a starter, but that utility is valuable. Campbell also doesn't waste words on players he doesn't like, or don't have a real chance to make the roster.
The preseason finale will be big for Stille. Obviously, he could make an undeniable push for a spot on the Lions' roster with a good performance. Failing that, he could put some more good tape out there for other teams to take notice of.
Add us as a preferred source on Google