As exciting as it is to see players being added to the Detroit Lions roster, there is always a fallout when upgrading positions.
On Monday, Jeremy Reisman identified five players who benefited from the results of the Lions 2023 draft, but there is a downside to that medal. In this companion article, we take a look at five Lions players who may see their roles negatively impacted by the Lions draft. Some players will now have a more difficult path to snaps, while others could potentially be pushed into the roster bubble and fight for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Malcolm Rodriguez
The Lions operate primarily on a nickel defensive scheme, meaning they only field two off-the-ball linebackers in their base set.
In 2022, Alex Anzalone was a captain, a green dot helmet wearer (Play Call Distributor), and played over 95% of the Lions’ defensive snaps. On the other hand, Rodriguez had the other starting role and played 54% of the team’s snaps — which likely would have been more were it not for an upper-body injury. Derrick Barnes saw about 30% of the defensive snaps, Anthony Pittman saw 5%, with the remaining snaps split among the reserves who are no longer with the organization.
This offseason, Anzalone signed a new three-year deal with $9 million guarantees and all but assured he’ll return to his starting role. While the other seed will likely land at some point in front of the feet of first-round draft pick Jack Campbell. This should create a ripple effect through the rest of the position group.
If Rodriguez can’t exceed expectations (again), he will likely go to the bench, although he will be first in line ready to play. Now it has to be argued that Rodriguez has a higher cap than Anzalone, but the team trusts the veteran more, making Rodriguez’s climb even steeper.
If anyone can beat the odds, it’s Rodriguez, but things got a lot tougher for the linebacker as a sophomore.
Shane Zylstra
Zylstra started on the practice team in 2022, but after the Lions traded TJ Hockenson, he was promoted to the roster and played the season as a TE2/3.
The Lions issued the number 34 to Sam LaPorta, and the smart money is for him to finish training camp in the starting role or in a platoon with current starter Brock Wright. James Mitchell was drafted knowing he would be restricted as a rookie but now that he is in full health he should be fighting for a higher snap count.
This leaves Zylstra as a TE4 and firmly in the roster bubble.
Now it’s entirely possible that the Lions might prefer to keep four tight ends and that opens the door for Zylstra, but that’s far from guaranteed. Would the Lions still hold four tight ends if Jameson Williams is no longer suspended? It’s also possible he could switch back to wide receiver – the Lions website no longer lists him at 240 pounds but 215, his college weight when he played receiver – but a position change wouldn’t bode well for job security.
Ifeatu Melifonwu
Tracy Walker looks like he’s almost fully recovered from his Achilles injury, Kerby Joseph has solidified as a starter, the Lions have free-handed Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and drafted Brian Branch in the second round – though Gardner-Johnson and Branch will primarily play in the slot. The Lions could go into the season feeling confident with these four players.
But chances are the Lions want to add another traditional deep security. They seem patient with Melifonwu during his position change, which seems encouraging. But they’ve also brought back Saivion Smith, who earned a starting role before his injury and will certainly be in the competition.
Branch is seen by many as stealing the draft, and while that may be true, Melifonwu has to pay the price.
Benito Jones
In 2022, Jones settled as a DT3 in the Lions’ three-man inside rotation. That off-season, Jones and Isaiah Buggs re-signed and joined Alim McNeill to bring the band back together. Not content with restoring the status quo, however, general manager Brad Holmes moved into the third round to select Brodric Martin.
The Lions gave up three draft picks to land Martin, which teams don’t do for a bubble player. The cost involved in getting Martin bodes well that they plan on him being in the rotation, possibly as a DT3 – which is bad news for Jones.
Jones could be the beneficiary of the Lions, who want more body on the inside making DT4 a real possibility, but based on what we’ve seen last season there’s no indication things are going that way go. As such, Jones may be called upon to overdraw the team’s third-round pick or replace one of their starters. Difficult question.
Logan Stenberg
Last season, Stenberg faced competition from Evan Brown (now in Seattle), Dan Skipper (a free agent), and Kayode Awosika (still with the Lions). But the Lions amplified their offseason losses by returning Halapoulivaati Vaitai from injury, adding former starter Graham Glasgow and fifth-round draft Colby Sorsdal – who they announced as a guard in the NFL Draft.
Stenberg may have been behind Awosika on the depth chart anyway, but the added boost in talent between Vaitai, Glasgow and Sorsdal could be enough to push Stenberg out of the squad.
Stenberg will get a chance to compete and could even be the team’s second most important left guard, but he’ll need to make some serious progress to secure a roster spot.
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