Which Detroit Lions player is your dark-horse candidate to make the 53-man roster?
Almost every single season, one player makes it through training camp and is a surprise retention for the Detroit Lions ’ 53-man roster. Oftentimes, it’s an undrafted rookie free agent—as seemingly every season there’s at least one UDFA who makes the initial roster. Sometimes, it’s just a player who went completely overlooked in training camp.
We’re still a month away from camp, but after minicamp and OTAs, we have a baseline idea of where the roster stands and an approximate depth chart .
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Who is your dark-horse candidate to make the initial Lions’ 53-man roster?
My answer: There is no set definition for dark-horse candidates. I think any UDFA would probably apply, but it certainly isn’t limited to Detroit’s 2024 UDFA class .
Instead, my selection will come from a veteran on the team: offensive lineman Netane Muti.
Now, it’s going to be very hard to break the roster at offensive line. Not only does Detroit have its five starters fixed, but they have two new draft picks and a couple of long-term projects they aren’t likely to give up on. But with those youthful options comes the need of a veteran option Detroit can trust in a pinch.
Before we get into Muti, let’s look at the “locks” on the offensive line. You’ve got your five starters: Taylor Decker, Graham Glasgow, Frank Ragnow, Kevin Zeitler, and Penei Sewell. Fourth-round rookie Giovanni Manu isn’t going anywhere. It certainly seems like Dan Skipper is somewhat safe as their best backup tackle. So we’re already at seven offensive linemen, without even counting sixth-round rookie Christian Mahogany or last year’s fifth-round pick Colby Sorsdal. I wouldn’t count those two as “locks,” but they’re in a good position to make the roster, and if they do, we’re already up to nine players on the offensive line.
If those nine make the roster, Detroit could just stick with those. Most teams carry nine offensive linemen. But they’d have so little experience in their reserves, that I think it would make sense to carry one more veteran player, preferably on the interior.
That leaves Muti in competition with guys like Kayode Awosika, Matt Farniok, Michael Niese, and a trio of undrafted rookie centers.
Awosika has been their guy for the last couple of seasons and likely enters camp as the favorite for the job. Don’t get me wrong, Awosika has done an admirable job since landing in Detroit in 2022—starting five games and logging offensive snaps in a few more.
However, I think Muti—who was a futures signing this offseason—has a chance to unseat him this year. Muti was a sixth-round pick back in 2020 and spent his first three seasons developing with the Denver Broncos , filling in as a starter for four games, while also being active for a total of 20 games. However, he was poached in 2022 from the Broncos’ practice squad to join the Raiders, where he stayed as a reserve until 2023. When Las Vegas made a coaching change this year, the Raiders opted not to keep Muti.
There’s not a ton of tape out there on Muti—he’s logged a total of 468 snaps over four years—but he has a few things working in his favor: he has experience, he has experience playing with Graham Glasgow (in Denver), and he’s one of the few reserve offensive linemen who have actually been in the league for a while and developed.
Which dark-horse candidate on the Lions roster is your pick to make the 53-man roster?