By Kyle Meinke | [email protected]
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Detroit Lions cruised to a 24-10 win Sunday in their preseason opener against the Colts. Plenty of players improved their stock in the easy win, but a few trended the other way as well. Here's a look at 10 of them.
STOCK UP
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LT Greg Robinson
The Lions gave their top offensive line just a couple of series, but left Robinson in there for a full half. They’re trying to figure out exactly what exactly they have there – and the early results are promising. Robinson allowed just one pressure on 25 pass-blocking reps, and no QB hits or sacks. Tougher days await, but for a club desperate to find a left tackle, today was a good day.
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WR Kenny Golladay
All aboard the Kenny Golladay hype train. Already the talk of camp, the rookie wideout blew it wide open with two first-half touchdown catches against Indy. He was targeted four times on the day, and caught three of those balls, each while blanketed in tough coverage. Golladay just has such a knack for 50/50 balls, especially when they’re thrown into the end zone. Choo choo.
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CB Teez Tabor
Ten days ago, Tabor was drawing serious heat for his rough start to training camp. Twitter eggs were already starting to use the “b” word. But he followed that up with a couple good practices in Indy, then had a really nice preseason debut against the Colts. On 23 coverage snaps, Tabor was targeted just four times and allowed two meaningless catches for 10 yards. Colts QBs had a rating of just 56.3 when targeting hmi. The performance came against Scott Tolzien and a cast of backups, obviously, but he's definitely trending up after the rough start.
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DT A'Shawn Robinson
Known far more for his run stopping in college, Robinson still managed to affect the passing game as a rookie by batting down seven passes. That was more than the rest of Detroit’s defensive linemen combined. Now headed into his first full season as a starter, Robinson opened 2017 with two more batted balls against Indy. He also hit the QB once and hurried him two other times, a really efficient day for a guy who saw just 11 dropbacks.
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DE Jermiah Valoaga/Alex Barrett
Not sure which makes the team, but one probably will at this point because of the spate of injuries at the position. Kerry Hyder is the latest victim, suffering a serious Achilles injury that is expected to sideline him for the season. Barrett replaced him, and promptly sacked Scott Tolzien. He finished with six tackles overall, which matched Valoaga for the team lead. And Valoaga added a sack himself. With Detroit down its top four defensive ends right now, you’re about to hear a lot more about these two undrafted rookies.
STOCK DOWN
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TE Michael Roberts
While Detroit s third-round pick caught two touchdown passes, its fourth-round pick continued his camp-long issues just hanging onto the football. He dropped one pass, plus nearly fumbled two other times -- once when he lost the ball as a play was whistled dead, and again when he lost the ball going out of bounds. At this point, Roberts can’t be trusted on Sundays.
DE Kerry Hyder
After years of scratching and clawing just to make the team, Hyder was finally assured a roster spot for the first time in his career – and then he suffered a devastating Achilles injury that is expected to end his season. That’s a blow for Hyder, who had a team-best eight sacks last season, and the Lions, who were already one of the league's worst at rushing the passer.
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WR Jared Abbrederis
Abbrederis has caught a lot of footballs in practice, which thrust himself into the mix for one of the final receiver jobs. But the production waned under the bright lights at Lucas Oil Stadium. He dropped as many balls as he caught (two) and finished with just 18 yards receiving overall.
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OT Storm Norton
With Cyrus Kouandjio, Corey Robinson and Cornelius Lucas out with injuries, the big undrafted rookie out of Toledo got a long look at both right and left tackle. But he struggled with the opportunity, including picking up a flag on one third-quarter play, then blowing his assignment on the next, setting up a third-and-long and getting QB Brad Kaaya rocked in the process.
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OG Graham Glasgow/Joe Dahl
They weren't in there long, but they were in there long enough to show everybody why they've drawn so much concern in practice of late. Glasgow has been up and down, and Dahl's been just plain bad. He whiffed on a couple one-on-ones during the joint practices, then did the same in the game, nearly getting Matthew Stafford killed in the process. Detroit needs T.J. Lang back, and fast -- although that won't solve whatever Glasgow's battling on the left side.
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