DETROIT — The Lions sold out of standing-room only tickets for their … wait a second, is that right? A preseason game?
What’s that you say? A preseason finale?
There is nothing more meaningless than exhibition finales, when most teams dump their benches onto the field to determine the final few spots on their rosters, while protecting their starters for the regular season. Unless you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers apparently, who played most of their starters — including both of their top quarterbacks, star receiver George Pickens and top running back Najee Harris — against Detroit’s second- and third-team defense on Saturday afternoon at Ford Field.
The Steelers jumped to a quick 14-0 lead, as you might expect given who was on the field for each team, before sending their backups onto the field too. Then Detroit found a groove, as quarterback Hendon Hooker ran for 93 yards, Jermar Jefferson pounded in two touchdown runs and Jake Funk caught another in a 24-17 exhibition win against the Steelers.
Detroit finished the preseason 2-1. Just don’t read anything into it.
Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and pretty much anyone else who will start a game this season did not play at all. But that paved the way for plenty of bubble players to make a final statement before roster cuts arrive in the next few days. And if the crowd on hand is any indication — a standing-room only crowd! In the preseason! — this place will be bananas when that roster takes the field for the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football.
Bring earplugs, folks.
Let’s get to some more observations:
— Dan Campbell said he was dying for a receiver to step up in the back end of that rotation. With the preseason now concluded, well, let’s just hope the Lions coach was being metaphorical about that whole dying thing. Donovan Peoples-Jones, a big, fast veteran with proven production in Cleveland, opened camp as the favorite to win the WR3 job. But he did almost nothing in practice, and turned nine exhibition targets into just six catches for 31 yards. Yikes. Then there’s Daurice Fountain, who opened camp as the most productive WR3, then went into a funk the last couple weeks and turned six exhibition targets into just two catches for 15 yards. That includes dropping a bomb that caught him in both hands against Pittsburgh. Then there’s Antoine Green, who suffered a season-ending injury and was released.
The only receiver who seemed to help himself during the preseason was Isaiah Williams, who went from the top name in the UDFA class to catching a team-high 11 passes for 123 yards during the preseason. He had just one catch against Pittsburgh, but it was an impressive touch where he caught a quick slant, stuck his left foot in the ground and then cut back to the right for 17 yards to set up a score. Williams also averaged 13.7 yards per punt return heading into the weekend — third best in the league — then added a 16-yarder against Pittsburgh. He also broke a kick return for 37 yards.
Credit the kid for making the most of his opportunities. Here’s the problem though: At 5-foot-10, Williams fills the same kind of slot/return role as All-Pro wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown and former All-Pro return man Kalif Raymond. The Lions would prefer more size to complement what they already have at the position. Williams ain’t that.
In the end, expect Raymond to start alongside St. Brown and Jameson Williams to open the season. Isaiah Williams could make the initial 53-man roster too, because Dan Campbell loves to reward players who perform their best in the biggest moments — think Tom Kennedy coming out of previous preseasons — but Williams might not last long either if Detroit finds better size on the waiver wire once cuts hit next week.
— Sticking with the passing game for a moment, Hendon Hooker will be hearing from his mother after this one. The quarterback joked a couple weeks ago about how his mother would like him to slide more after he sustained a brain injury while running over a defender against the New York Giants. He obliged during two quarters of work in Kansas City last week. But given three quarters to show his stuff against Pittsburgh, Hooker ran well, often, and aggressively. He finished with 10 carries for 93 yards, and strung together the best offensive performance by a Lions quarterback in the preseason. He was more of a mixed bag through the air though, especially when Pittsburgh’s starters were in the game. He took three straight sacks at one point, finished with five sacks overall, completed just one 20-yard pass — on a catch-and-run to Maurice Alexander — and finished 12 of 20 overall for 114 yards and one touchdown. He didn’t throw a pick, but did lose a fumble.
All told, it was an encouraging step forward for the second-year quarterback, although his performance against Pittsburgh’s starters offers a reminder of his development to go. He is expected to sit this season behind Jared Goff and Nate Sudfeld — who never touched the field against Pittsburgh — but his dual-threat skill-set is a fascinating developmental piece. His ceiling is high for a backup quarterback, no doubt about that. And when was the last time we could say that about a backup QB in Detroit?
