Which Detroit Lions roster bubble player cemented his roster spot after the Steelers game?
When evaluating a player and building a roster, it’s important not to fall for recency bias or award too much to a single performance. A performance in the final preseason game should not, alone, win a roster spot.
That said, it can certainly act as an exclamation point at the end of a sentence. If a player has been consistently good or trending in the right direction, and then finishes the preseason on a high note, that could very well be the thing that pushes someone off the bubble and onto an NFL 53-man roster.
Were there any Detroit Lions who fell into that category on Saturday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Steelers ? Let’s talk about it. Today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Lions player(s) cemented their roster spot via their performance against the Steelers?
My answer: It’s a tough question to answer, because a handful of players I thought still needed some work ended up being benched in the preseason finale. Guys like Ben NIemann, Kindle Vildor, and Kayode Awosika didn’t play against the Steelers. Perhaps those guys should be assumed in now. Perhaps they have enough body of work that the Lions are already comfortable in their evaluation.
But of the players who actually took the field on Saturday, I think Isaiah Williams cemented his spot. Things were already obviously trending in his direction, and I think he did what he needed to do. While he only had one reception for 17 yards (on a pretty impressive route, might I add), he also took three punt returns for 30 yards and an additional kick return for 37 yards—the longest of the night for Detroit.
Of course, part of the reason Williams may have won a spot is because there is simply no other receiver on the team who has justified a place on the roster. It was another dud of a game for Donovan Peoples-Jones and Daurice Fountain—who combined for zero catches on four targets. Not to mention Peoples-Jones appeared to make a mental error that forced Detroit to use a timeout, and Fountain dropped a pass on what would’ve been a huge pass.
Perhaps the only other receiver who helped his stock on Saturday was Maurice Alexander, but he’s been buried on the depth chart for all of training camp, and that doesn’t seem likely to change based on a single performance.
Which Lions bubble player stuck out to you and may have won himself a roster spot on Saturday night? Scroll down to the comment section and add your answer.