The Detroit Lions will play their first preseason game of the season tonight as they face the New York Giants. The joint practices that took place this week featured many fights in which the NFL fined each team $200,000. Now they will hit the field and players will look to make their cases to make the team for the 2024 season. The Detroit Lions finished just short of reaching the Super Bowl and went out this offseason and addressed the needs that led to them falling short as they acquired cornerback Carlton Davis from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as signed edge rushers Mathieu Betts and Marcus Davenport. They also went out and got defensive tackle DJ Reader and Kyle Peko. In the secondary, they added safety C.J. Moore. They also added an offensive guard in Kevin Zeitler. A big signing was in the kicking game as they added Jake Bates who played in the UFL last season for the Michigan Panthers. The losses for Detroit were not that big as they lost some pieces in the secondary in Tracy Walker, Cam Sutton, Chase Lucas, Will Harris, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. They also lost some pieces on the offensive line as Jonah Jackson, Matt Nelson, and Max Pircher all left this offseason. Some other losses include wide receiver Josh Reynolds, defensive tackle Benito Jones, and both of the Okwara brothers as Julian signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, and Romeo retired. In the draft, they added a cornerback in Terrion Arnold with the 24th pick then also drafted another cornerback in Ennis Rakestraw Jr as the big two picks. They also brought in a few other pieces who will try to make their case to make the team out of the preseason. So who should we keep an eye on tonight?
3 Players To Watch
QB – Hendon Hooker
Hooker missed last season as he was coming back from an ACL injury and looks to make his case to be the backup to Jared Goff in 2024. He is currently listed as the third quarterback on the depth chart entering tonight. Hooker was drafted in the third round with the 68th overall pick in 2023 draft by the Lions. He finished fifth in his final season at Tennessee in the Heisman voting despite having his season end due to his torn ACL, he played in 11 games that season throwing for 3,135 yards with 27 touchdowns and two interceptions. If he had been healthy, he may have been a first-round pick if not an early second-round pick but the Lions got him in the third and now he’s healthy and will get to show his talent tonight and how he can perform in the NFL.
K – Jake Bates
Bates opened a lot of eyes in the UFL this past season as he made 17 of his 22 kicks, he went 2-2 on kicks from 20-29 yards, 2-3 on kicks from 30-39 yards, 7-7 on kick from 40-49 yards, and 6-10 on kicks of 50+ yards but he was drilling kicks from 64 yards out which he was doing at Ford Field which is the home of the Detroit Lions. All of that happening led to him getting a look and so far in training camp he has impressed on the kicks he has been making the question is will it perform in an actual NFL game? Tonight will be a chance to see as the Lions need a kicker they can trust with the game on the line if Dan Campbell decides to kick the field goal.
CB – Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
Rakestraw was selected with the 61st overall pick in this past draft out of Missouri, he has impressed in camp to this point and enters tonight’s game as the backup cornerback to Carlton Davis. In his senior season at Missouri, he played in just nine games but had 35 tackles, 24 solo, and 11 assisted, he had four a pass deflection and a forced fumble. In his four seasons with the Tigers, he played in 36 games recording 107 tackles with 79 of those being solo and 28 assisted. He had one interception and 24 pass deflections; he had one fumble recovery and three forced fumbles. He will look to make his case for being a key part of the secondary to help lead the Lions to the Super Bowl
Overview
Football season is back and there is a lot of optimism behind the Lions this season as they look to win the NFC North for the second consecutive season, get back to the playoffs, and hopefully get past the NFC Championship game and make it to their first Super Bowl and even win their first Lombardi trophy, that journey will begin tonight against the New York Giants and we will see who will be a part of this team come opening night on September 8th when they face the Los Angeles Rams.
