The Detroit Lions close out their 2026 preseason with Saturday’s visit to Indianapolis to play the Colts. Jobs are on the line in this exhibition game.
Roster cutdowns come barely 24 hours after the game ends, with all teams needing to be at 53 players on the active roster by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. For the Lions, I confidently can tell you 48 of the names who will be on the team. Finding those five others is complex and involves player battles but also positional battles; will they keep a 6th DL or a 3rd QB? A 4th TE or a 4th OT?
That’s where the guesswork comes in. Here’s my final guess at the 53 ahead of the roster cutdown deadline.
QB – 2
Starter: Jared Goff
Reserve: Joshua Dobbs
The battle behind Goff is probably closer than a lot of folks expected. Josh Dobbs has proven why he’s been in the league for so long, but also shown exactly why he’s on his seventh NFL team since his brief stint in Detroit in 2022.
Undrafted rookie Luke Altmyer has shown some promise and an ability to run a similar offense to Goff. He’s already better than Hendon Hooker ever became in multiple years in Detroit as a third-round pick, but he’s still not eclipsed Dobbs’ experience.
RB – 4
Starter: Jahmyr Gibbs
Reserves:
Isiah Pacheco
Jacob Saylors
Sione Vaki
One of the very few position groups where training camp and preseason hasn’t resulted in any additions, subtractions or changes, the four RBs seem pretty secured. There is an argument to be had about Saylors or Vaki as RB3, but both feel safe. Pacheco’s current injury and longer-term durability concerns could force the Lions to keep an extra RB beyond Jabari Small on the practice squad.
WR – 5
Starters:
Amon-Ra St. Brown
Jameson Williams
Reserves:
Isaac TeSlaa
Greg Dortch
Tay Martin
The first four are locked in and represent, almost inarguably, the best 1-4 in the league–and that’s even with TeSlaa not having a very impressive summer. Dortch keeps making plays and offers a different dimension to the offense that seems to mesh well with new OC Drew Petzing, who had him in Arizona, too.
The final spot(s) are where the battle has raged. Just when vet Cedrick Wilson appeared to have slightly pulled away from a very crowded and diversely talented pack to be WR5, he suffered a season-ending injury.
Martin gets the nod for his special teams prowess as well as the consistency of his training camp. At various times, Malik Cunningham and prodigal Lion Tom Kennedy have been a little better on offense, and all in different ways. Dominic Lovett, Tarik Black and Lucky Jackson, too. But Martin’s “bad” days are exceedingly rare and tend to avoid the deep valleys others have shown intermittently throughout the summer.
Because of the relative abundance of depth here, my prevailing thought is that it makes all of them expendable. Latch two of them onto the practice squad, keep the others on speed dial in case of injury, and roll with just five on the active roster to start the year.
TE – 4
Starter: Sam LaPorta
Reserves:
Brock Wright
Tyler Conklin
Jackson Meeks
There really shouldn’t be much conversation needed about the top three. LaPorta has been very good, though he’s still taking rest for his back injury at times. Wright and Conklin are veteran options who do what is asked, reliably and unspectacularly. An early injury for Conklin slowed his potential to usurp Wright for the TE2 spot.
Meeks sneaks in as the 52nd player in my projection, and he does so for a handful of reasons. Foremost, he’s earned it with a strong, consistent offseason as he makes the full-time transition to TE from WR. His positional versatility is another reason; Meeks can work as a big slot in a pinch. Third, special teams, where he thrived in the preseason games. And finally, with LaPorta likely facing some form of load management through practices in the season, having another TE makes some practical sense.
Offensive tackles – 3
Starters:
RT Blake Miller
LT Penei Sewell
Reserve:
Larry Borom
These three spots feel safe, with Sewell and Miller locked in as the starters. Borom’s bad moments in camp and preseason are deeply disturbing, but he puts enough space between them to keep the third OT spot. Devin Cochran has quietly done a good job of making sure he sticks around on the practice squad, though it doesn’t feel like he’s particularly close to Borom in the coaching staff’s eyes.
Guards/centers – 5*
Starters:
LG Christian Mahogany
C Juice Scruggs
RG Tate Ratledge
Injured reserve to return: C Cade Mays
Reserves:
Seth McLaughlin
Miles Frazier
We’ll start with the asterisk. Cade Mays will be the starting center once he returns from his broken wrist. At that time, likely Week 5 or Week 6, he’ll be activated and someone from another position will be moved off the roster, in one form or another (IR, waivers). The Lions will then carry nine total OL instead of the eight projected here.
Injuries to Michael Niese and Ben Bartch appear to cement McLaughlin’s spot as the initial backup center. I believe he’s shown the team enough in the summer, notably the preseason opener in Cincinnati, to stick beyond that.
Frazier is a dicey selection. In this scenario, I’m betting that his draft status (2025 5th round) and his ability to align at every OL spot except center salvage Frazier despite an underwhelming training camp and ugly preseason. Melvin Priestly, Mason Miller, newcomer Gus Hartwig and Colby Sorsdal have not definitively beaten him out, and that says more about them than Frazier.
DE – 5
Starters:
Aidan Hutchinson
D.J Wonnum
Reserves:
Derrick Moore
Tyler Lacy
Ahmed Hassanein
Hutchinson should challenge for Defensive Player of the Year honors. He’s that impressive. Opposite Hutch, the Lions figure to rotate Wonnum and Moore; both merit starting consideration.
Lacy is the primary “heavy” end, also capable of bumping inside. The Lions have a few others in that boat who get lumped into the DT grouping below, but Lacy’s ample first-team reps and solidly steady performance put him atop that group. He doesn’t move many needles in either direction, which isn’t a bad quality for a depth player who very well might be a weekly inactive.
Hassanein earned his spot. His unbridled enthusiasm and rapidly improving technique at shedding blocks and developing countermoves more than make up for the occasional ugly losses on reps. While he qualifies for the NFL’s International Pathway Player status, that only comes into play for the practice squad–not the active 53-man roster.
Undrafted rookie Eric O’Neill played his way into legit consideration, outshining fellow UDFA Anthony Lucas and 7th-round pick Tyre West every single day this summer.
DT – 6
Starters:
Alim McNeill
Tyleik Williams
Reserves:
Ben Stille
Skyler Gill-Howard
Chris Smith
Mekhi Wingo
The McNeill/Williams duo is quickly growing together into a fun force up front. Ben Stille has exploded onto the roster scene by being consistently disruptive in both practices and games. When Dan Campbell cites Stille unprompted in three different press conferences over two weeks as someone grabbing his attention, it certainly grabs mine.
Rookie Gill-Howard keeps earning that praise, too. It’s easy to envision him as a passing-down specialist, perhaps even platooning with Lacy (listed at DE) in 5-DL packages. Wingo also fits that mold, though I quite strongly believe he’s behind Gill-Howard. Smith represents the only true nose tackle, and Campbell has also positively called him out in camp.
That leaves a difficult decision with Levi Onwuzurike. Full disclosure: I had Onwuzurike over Wingo when I started writing this section, but changed my mind when recalling how much more frequently Wingo played with the first-team defense, but even more so, the second unit ahead of Onwuzurike for nearly all of training camp. Can’t ignore that evidence.
Off-ball LB – 6
Starters:
Jack Campbell
Derrick Barnes
Injured reserve to return: Jimmy Rolder
Reserves:
Malcolm Rodriguez
Devin White
Trevor Nowaske
Erick Hunter
The move to a base 2-LB defense is legit, yet the special teams duties obligates the Lions to keep five reserves here. As well, there will still be three LBs on the field a fair amount of the time. The top two are All-Pro Campbell and veteran Barnes, who has had a more promising summer than a year ago.
When the Lions do go to a 3-LB set, it’s likely to be Rodriguez or Nowaske filling that role. Nowaske keeps stepping up when asked. White quickly worked his way in after being signed in late July, and his speed is a major asset in run defense. My belief is the Lions view him more as a straight backup to Campbell in the middle than as someone to play alongside him, in no small part because of his endemic misadventures in coverage.
Damone Clark’s injury opened the door for Hunter, an undrafted rookie who is always around the ball. Hunter is the ideal “weekly inactive” developmental redshirt player for this team. I expect the Lions will value that more than any of the “special teams specialists”, a group that includes (in order) Amen Ogbongbemiga, Joe Bachie and Troy Reeder (and Clark). As was the case with the WR depth, having so many players so seemingly close in ability level should liberate the Lions to realize they can fairly easily replace any of them.
CB – 5
Starters:
D.J. Reed
Rock Ya-Sin
Reserves:
Nick Whiteside
Roger McCreary
Keith Abney
The most turbulent position on the roster finds Ya-Sin bumping up to start with Reed after entering the offseason no higher than fourth on the depth chart. Thankfully, Reed looks good and Ya-Sin has performed well in man coverage situations. Whiteside played his way from roster bubble to challenging for a starting spot outside.
McCreary shook off a painfully slow start to camp and solidified his veteran slot presence. Rookie Abney has flashed future starting potential but some consistency issues, which is perfectly normal for a Day 3 rookie.
The tough cut here is veteran Khalil Dorsey, who has had a solid summer and is a valuable special teams player. It’s easy to envision the Lions re-signing Dorsey to the practice squad for Week 1 and elevating him for the game, and then addin ghim back to the roster when injuries or performance of others merits it. Undrafted rookie Amaris Brown should stick on the practice squad too.
That, of course, means the end of the Ennis Rakestraw experiment. He’s still got a shot to make it in the final week if he can stay healthy and also play well in the preseason finale. A wretched game against Washington and a general lack of special teams acumen really hurt Rakestraw’s chances in my eyes, aside from all the injuries that have severely stunted his development.
Safeties – 5*
Starters:
Chuck Clark
Brian Branch
NFI list:
Kerby Joseph
Reserves:
Thomas Harper
Christian Izien
Avonte Maddox
The asterisk here is twofold. First is Brian Branch and his recovery from a torn Achilles. My guess–and it’s a guess–is that he’s close enough to full-go for the Lions to activate him and include him on the 53, with the ability to play him by Week 2 or Week 3.
The other half of the asterisk is Kerby Joseph and his largely unknown, degenerative injury situation with his knee. He might be ready by Week 3. He might also never play again. With a healthy Joseph, an All-Pro in 2024, the Lions handily sport the best safety room in the NFL.
Clark has been a blessing as a veteran on the back end. He’s proven he can still diagnose and trigger with the best of them, even if the speed isn’t what it was in his Ravens prime. Harper was a nice post-cutdown acquisition a year ago, and his ability to play in the slot or box. He’s my early projection to start in the slot in Week 1, subject to change…
The recent injury to Izien, who will miss at least Week 1, ensures a spot for Maddox–or another safety. At this point, it doesn’t feel like Dan Jackson has earned that spot above Maddox, who (like Izien) can play any rol in the secondary in a pinch.
Specialists – 3
Kicker: Jake Bates
Punter: Jack Fox
Long snapper: Hogan Hatten
All three returning specialists are uncontested, and for good reason.
