Detroit Lions stock report: Risers, fallers at every position vs. Chargers

The Detroit Lions’ first preseason game of the 2025 season is in the books, and it’s time to check in on the players who helped or hurt their stock against the Chargers.

Attendance

The Lions rested 28 players (including 26 starters) in the NFL’s opening preseason game of the 2025 season, with another seven on injury lists (PUP/NFI).

Let’s take a quick look at an overview of the roster with our game day depth chart, noting that the players without a position color did not play in this game. Additionally, if a player’s name is written in red, they came into the game with an injury, but if they were injured in the game, their name is boxed in red.

Offense

Quarterback

Stock down: Kyle Allen, Hendon Hooker

Did not play: Jared Goff

After looking solid in practice for at least the last week, the Lions' quarterback play in this game was brutal.

Allen got the start, but he threw two interceptions in the first half and slid well short of the first down marker on third down in the two-minute drill, leading to a punt. He did have a nice fourth-down conversion on a scramble, but that was the only real positive.

Hooker played the final 30 minutes but only managed to lead the Lions to four second-half possessions. The Lions managed just 20 offensive plays, Hooker only threw the ball six times, completed just three, and was also charged with an interception—though rookie wide receiver, Dominic Lovett, was arguably more at fault.

Overall, the backups have the potential to be better, but they didn’t impress at all on Thursday night.

Running back

Stock up: Craig Reynolds

Stock neutral: Jabari Small, Jacob Saylors

Did not play: Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery

Injury: Sione Vaki (hamstring), Kye Robichaux* (undisclosed)

Reynolds continues to cement himself in the RB3 role. His rushing numbers were pedestrian (10 rushes for 38 yards), but he did it behind the Lions' second offensive line and still managed to score a touchdown.

Small looked solid, displaying some decisiveness and power, while Saylors showed the ability to get downhill quickly. It was more of a middling performance overall, though.

Wide receiver

Stock up: Isaac TeSlaa*

Stock neutral: Tom Kennedy, Jackson Meeks*

Stock muddled: Dominic Lovett*

Stock down: Jakobie Keeney-James*, Malik Taylor, Ronnie Bell

Did not play: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond

TeSlaa made two big catches early on offense— 24 and 22 yards—and his speed was also noticeable as a gunner on special teams. He was also the only reserve to not play in the second half (that I saw), showing his level of importance for the team this season.

Lovett flashed at times, securing a team-leading five receptions, but he managed just 31 yards, dropped his first target of the day, and allowed a defender to pull the ball out of his hands on a deep shot at the end of the game. He also committed an illegal touching penalty on special teams. The potential is there, but he needs to clean up the mental errors.

Keeney-James muffed a punt in the second half inside the Lions' own 10-yard line, and his confidence looked like it took a hit. He was only targeted once in this game and failed to secure the catch—tough night.

Taylor and Bell landed in stock down because they were the last two receivers to get in on the action, which is not a spot you want to be in as a veteran fighting for a job.

Tight end

Stock up: Zach Horton*

Stock neutral: Shane Zylstra

Did not play: Sam LaPorta, Brock Wright

Injured: Kenny Yeboah

The Lions utilized a fullback on quite a few runs in this game, and it was Horton who consistently got the call for that role. Zylstra got the start and was the only tight end to secure a catch (5 yards) in this game. And finally, Yeboah showed some promise as a run blocker before suffering an injury and exiting early. Yeboah’s injury is not expected to be serious.

Projected offensive line

Stock up: Kayode Awosika

Stock neutral: Kingsley Eguakun, Netane Muti, Jamarco Jones

Stock down: Third team OL (Giovanni Manu, Michael Niese, Trystan Colon, Colby Sorsdal, Mason Miller*)

Did not play: Christian Mahogany, Graham Glasgow, Tate Ratledge*, Penei Sewell

Injury: Dan Skipper, Taylor Decker (Active/PUP), Miles Frazier* (Active/PUP)

During live games, it’s challenging to properly evaluate the offensive line because of all the action around them. However, Awosika showed up with noticeable run blocks and deserved some recognition.

The third offensive line had a rough second half, allowing two sacks and two tackles for loss, while helping to produce a total of 59 offensive yards.

Skipper exited the field near the end of the first half and was reportedly exiting the locker room in a walking boot. Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers is reporting that it is “a low ankle sprain suffer(ed) on Reynolds’ 10 yard run.”

Defensive end

Stock up: Ahmad Hassanein*, Nate Lynn

Stock neutral: Al-Quadin Muhammad

Stock down: Mitchell Agude, Isaac Ukwu

Did not play: Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport

Injury: Josh Paschal (Active/NFI)

Hassanein was one of the bright spots on Thursday night. The rookie edge rusher forced multiple pressures, cleanly executed a variety of pass rushing moves, and showed good awareness to peel off his block and make tackles.

Lynn also flashed on Thursday, showing off his speed and making a big hit at the goal line. Outside of Hassanein, he has the early lead for “next player to keep an eye on.”

Agude and Ukwu were the third pair of edge rushers to take the field, and both failed to stand out in very positive manners. Agude’s biggest gaffe was exposed on the broadcast, as he allowed a big play by failing to set the edge on a read-option play. He got caught waiting on the quarterback to make a decision, and didn’t seal the edge, losing contain for a big gain.

Defensive tackle

Stock up: Pat O’Connor

Stock neutral: Chris Smith, Myles Adams

Stock down: Raequan Williams, Brodric Martin, Keith Cooper*

Did not play: DJ Reader, Tyleik Williams*, Roy Lopez

Injury: Alim McNeill (Active/PUP), Mekhi Wingo (Active/PUP), Levi Onwuzurike (Reserve/PUP)

O’Connor started the game at the 4i and was quick to be taken off the field. Once the Lions saw what they needed to see, they pulled him to reduce the risk of injury.

The Lions' nose tackles, Williams and Martin, appeared to get moved off their spots too often against the run. We’ll know more after we rewatch the game, but the first looks were not ideal.

Linebacker

Stock up: Grant Stuard

Stock neutral: Zach Cunningham, Anthony Pittman, Ezekiel Turner

Stock down: Trevor Nowaske, DaRon Gilbert

Did not play: Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes

Injury: Malcolm Rodriguez (Active/PUP)

Stuard had a bit of an up and down game—including losing a fumble on the opening kick return—but there was more good than bad about his linebacker play. He clearly plays hard, and his relentlessness showed up on his sack in the first half.

Pittman’s day was a bit up and down, too, as he had two tackles for loss, but he looked out of position to make plays on other downs.

Nowaske played SAM the entire game; however, his only notable moments came when he lined up offside in the neutral zone... twice. I didn’t see Gilbert on the field for any defensive snaps, which isn’t good for his competition status.

Cornerback

Stock up: Rock Ya-Sin

Stock neutral: Erick Hallett, Tyson Russell, Nick Whiteside

Stock down: Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Dicaprio Bootle

Did not play: D.J. Reed

Injury: Terrion Arnold (hamstring), Amik Robertson (undisclosed), Khalil Dorsey (Active/PUP)

Ya-Sin showed off his veteran savviness and physicality when making two big stops inside the red zone. The Lions are looking for a reliable veteran outside corner to replace Kindle Vildor’s role on defense, and Ya-Sin continues to stack positive days.

Opposite Ya-Sin, the Lions started Rakestraw, and while he was clearly knocking the rust off after not playing in almost a year, there were several glaring mistakes made by the second-year corner. He got beat deep on the opening drive, missed a tackle a bit later, and when he did make a big stop on third down, he was penalized for illegal hands to the face. Expectations are high for Rakestraw, and he fell short in this game.

Bootle also got a lot of playing time on Thursday, but he allowed a touchdown and was called for a pass interference penalty.

Safety

Stock up: Ian Kennelly*

Stock neutral: Avonte Maddox, Morice Norris, Dan Jackson*

Stock down: Loren Strickland

Did not play: Brian Branch

Injury: Kerby Joseph (knee)

For the most part, the safeties made more errors on Thursday than we are used to seeing at camp practices. Strickland got the start, but also got sucked in on play-action and allowed the opening touchdown. Norris and Jackson looked like they were trying to hit instead of tackle, and both came out on the wrong end of a few plays. The biggest hit of the night came from UDFA rookie Kennelly, who showed the ability to fill gaps on several occasions.

Specialists

Stock neutral: Jack Fox, Hogan Hatten

Stock down: Jake Bates

Special teams were a mess in this game. A fumbled kickoff and a muffed punt return led to turnovers, multiple penalties were committed —including a mis-hit kickoff from Bates—and nothing was overly clean. While the majority of errors came from players not listed in this section, Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp has to be disappointed.

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