Stock Watch: Who Excelled and Who Disappointed for Lions
The Lions have completed one week of mostly padded practices in Allen Park, with Saturday having been the lone day without the pads.
As is always the case, some players stood out, and some did not -- whether it was because of poor play or simply not being able to get onto the practice field.
For the sake of this piece, let's look at the two players that I believe most improved their stock, followed by the two that I believe hurt it the most.
Stock Up
Quintez Cephus
The Lions just might have found another top-tier receiving target for Stafford in the form of Cephus.
The Wisconsin product impressed all week long, and continued to do so over the weekend.
On Saturday, he had two grabs that had everyone raving in Allen Park.
The first one was described by The Athletic as a "Kenny Golladay-esque grab." Cephus went up the left sideline, and hauled in a back-shoulder throw from David Blough.
He fought for the ball with defensive back Mike Ford, who was in on the coverage, but managed to pull it away from him and come down with the superb catch.
Then, there's the catch that in the aftermath has received even more pub from the media that were in attendance Saturday.
Blough tried to fit a ball into a tight window to receiver Tom Kennedy. It proceeded to be deflected by cornerback and offseason acquisition Tony McRae. McRae looked to have broken up the pass for a gain of nothing until Cephus darted in to catch it on the fly while gaining 10 yards.
Then, on Sunday, according to The Athletic, he used his big frame to "wall off" reserve cornerback Darryl Roberts for a touchdown catch in the back of the end zone.
Cephus has been the definition of explosive thus far. And although Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr. and Danny Amendola are all clearly ahead of him in the Lions' receivers room, he has a solid chance of having a role carved out for him in Detroit's passing game as a rookie.
T.J. Hockenson
The second-year tight end was dominant all week long in practice.
The second-year tight end grabbed two touchdowns Saturday, including one over the top of second-year defensive back Amani Oruwariye.
Throughout training camp, he has continued to show why fans and pundits alike are high on him entering his sophomore campaign.
There's no doubt in my mind that he's due for a significant uptick in production this upcoming season.
Stock Down
Hunter Bryant
The undrafted free agent out of Washington left Saturday's practice early with what appeared to be a right hamstring injury, and was held out of Sunday's practice presumably as a result of the injury.
The obvious red flag for Bryant entering training camp was his injury past. It likely played a major role in the talented pass-catcher going undrafted this past April.
With this latest health setback and considering the fact that Hockenson and veteran Jesse James are already ahead of him on the depth chart, Bryant definitely looks to be on the outside, looking in when it comes to making the Lions' 53-man roster.
Bo Scarbrough
Scarbrough, the No. 3 running back on the depth chart before training camp began, has missed the last five days of practice with an undisclosed injury.
And on top of that, Ty Johnson and recent free-agent acquisition Jonathan Williams have performed well so far in training camp.
None of the above can possibly bode well for Scarbrough's role in the Lions' backfield.
In fact, he likely needs to get onto the practice field in week two of padded practices in order to guarantee that he has a spot on Detroit's 53-man roster headed into the start of the regular season.
