5 Under-the-Radar Lions to Watch For in Training Camp
The Lions take the field Monday for their first training camp practice with pads.
It should be an exciting month for the franchise leading up to its regular season opener Sept. 13 against the Chicago Bears.
While many fans' eyes will be focused on the team's star players, such as Matthew Stafford, Kenny Golladay and Trey Flowers, there's also good reason for why they should be interested in tracking the performances of the organization's less heralded players.
Without further ado, here are five under-the-radar members of the Lions that supporters of the franchise should pay close attention to throughout training camp.
CB Justin Coleman
He's the returning veteran of the defensive back unit in Detroit headed into 2020.
In his first season in Motown a year ago, the slot corner recorded 54 combined tackles, three forced fumbles and a lone interception.
This upcoming season, he's set to enter the second year of a four-year contract he inked with the Lions last offseason. He will need to improve in order for Detroit's secondary to take a much-needed step forward after a disappointing 2019 campaign.
QB Chase Daniel
The veteran backup joins the Lions after spending the last two seasons as the No. 2 quarterback in Chicago behind Mitchell Trubisky.
He started three games in that span, and completed 75-of-106 passes for 746 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions.
He also spent time with the Saints (two stints), Chiefs and Eagles during his first decade in the NFL.
The University of Missouri product should be an upgrade over the departed Jeff Driskel as Matthew Stafford's primary backup.
S Will Harris
Harris suited up for all 16 games, and started in six of them as a rookie a year ago.
The Boston College product accumulated 43 total tackles, to go along with three passes defensed and one sack.
As a result of the addition of former Patriots safety Duron Harmon and the departure of fellow safety Tavon Wilson, expect Harris to see many more snaps this upcoming season in the hang-defender role -- previously manned by Wilson -- than in the deep free safety role expected to be assumed by Harmon.
In Week 17 last year against the Packers, Harris saw the most snaps he had all season in the hang-defender position, and he took full advantage of the opportunity.
In fact, it ended up being his highest Pro Football Focus-graded game of the season.
With the expectation of more reps for Harris in the aforementioned role in his second season in the league, he could be in store for a breakout campaign in 2020.
WR Marvin Hall
The deep-threat wideout enters his second season in the Motor City in 2020.
He finished the 2019 campaign with seven receptions for 261 yards and a score -- good for a yards per reception average of 37.3 yards.
He'll battle for the No. 4 receiver job with rookie Quintez Cephus throughout training camp.
TE Hunter Bryant
Bryant was arguably the biggest undrafted free agent picked up at the conclusion of the 2020 NFL Draft.
In fact, Pro Football Focus believes he was just that.
Here's why:
"He was 79th overall and the top-ranked tight end on our board, and it’s not as if we were significantly higher on him than most draft pundits. Bryant came in at 98th overall (TE3) on the consensus big board put together over at The Athletic."
Bryant, a University of Washington product, finished his three-year career at Washington with 85 receptions for 1,394 yards and five touchdowns in 26 games.
As PFF added,
"He has arguably the best receiving chops of any tight end in this class, putting up a receiving grade of 91.7 since 2017, to go along with a class-high 2.90 yards per route run."
He should compete with Isaac Nauta for the Lions' No. 3 tight end job in training camp.
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