Which Detroit Lions player impressed most from Week 1 of OTAs? Our answer here
The Detroit Lions wrapped Week 1 of Organized Team Activities just before the long holiday weekend, and it concluded with their first practice in front of the media.
Any time we talk OTAs, it must be prefaced with the buzzkill disclaimer that this is May football, the pads aren’t on, and practice is mostly about mental development more than anything else.
Okay, with that out of the way, let’s jump to conclusions all over the place because it’s May and what else are we supposed to do?
Having witnessed the actual practice, I certainly did come away with first impressions about both the overall teams and the individual players. I’m sure if you’re reading this now, you’ve probably read my Week 1 observations —and likely a few others from other Lions reporters.
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Lions player had the most promising reports from Week 1 of OTAs?
My answer: I think the easy answer would be Jameson Williams, just based on coach Dan Campbell’s praise alone . While it’s certainly a bummer he dropped a bomb that would have been the perfect ending to that day, his progress in terms of route running seemed pretty obvious.
However, I was most encouraged by a player opposite him: cornerback Carlton Davis. In my opinion, he made quite a first impression in Detroit. The stickiness and physical nature of his coverage was apparent. I know we’re all excited about the new rookie cornerbacks in the room, but don’t forget that Detroit believes they traded for a CB1 in Davis.
“We knew he was a good cover guy, and he’ll tackle on the perimeter,” Campbell said back in March. “There are just things he can do where he can take his side of the field away.”
I wouldn’t quite say Davis shut one side of the field down, exactly. But I only logged a single reception made opposite him: a short gain to Kalif Raymond. Otherwise, he batted down a pass intended for Amon-Ra St. Brown and shut out Williams when matched up.
Davis is going to be a huge piece of Detroit’s defense this year, and if he can continue to play as well as I saw in a two-minute window in May, that would be huge for a defense that had no ability to stop WR1s last year.