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One thing you can count on with the Detroit Lions is that they are never, ever boring. Follow the latest news including injuries, roster moves and more here daily from Oakland Press beat writer Paula Pasche. Plus you'll find regular commentary about the team.

7/16/2015

Detroit Lions — Five possible immediate starters from 2015 draft

It’s never smart to judge an NFL draft class until at least a few seasons have passed. 

That said, the Detroit Lions’ 2015 draft class could provide five immediate starters. It's expected that the top picks should be ready to start, but there are also late-round picks who stood out in OTAs and minicamp.

It’s not a given, but here are five 2015 draftees who have a chance to start:

  1. First-round pick Laken Tomlinson was penciled in as the starting left guard immediately after his name was called. He still has a chance to start but he’ll have to earn it in training camp by playing better than veteran Manny Ramirez.

  2. Running back Ameer Abdullah, the second-round pick out of Nebraska, could not have looked much better in minicamp. The big test will come when they put on pads in training camp. But so far Abdullah has impressed running the ball and catching it too.

  3. Cornerback Quandre Diggs has legitimate chance to start in the slot in the nickel package. He has football instincts with a high football IQ.

  4. Defensive tackle Gabe Wright is not a favorite to start beside Haloti Ngata, but that vacancy left by the departure of Nick Fairley is still up in the air. He’s a longshot, but he’s in the running.

  5. Cornerback Alex Carter got a late start missing time in OTAs because he was finishing classes at Stanford. He’s very much a longshot to start at outside cornerback. That is where he’s worked and Slay and Rashean Mathis seem to have the starting roles nailed down. We will see.

(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Pre-order her new book “Game of My Life Detroit Lions” which will be be published in October on Amazon.com. Also order her book,  “100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die’’ here.)

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You forgot Michael Burton at FB, when they use that formation.

12:26 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think you nailed it with Tomlinson, Abdullah and Diggs. Each player looks poised to add something to the team this year. If 2014 draft picks like Van Noy, Reid and Ebron start to pull their weight both classes will combine to provide plenty of help for a team that was already pretty good. The one player I'm not so sure about is Alex Carter. There's reason to believe Mayhew selected him as a favor to his friend, Alex's dad. Mike Mayock listed Carter as his 5th best safety in the 2015 draft class. I have a sinking suspicion he'll end up as a backup free safety before camp's said and done.

11:27 AM 
Blogger zatara said...

isn't there a little-known Div II RB you overlooked?

did he really look that bad in OTAs, worse than George Winn, a veritable garbage-can runner with one move and one speed?

10:41 AM 

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