State of the Lions | 2024 Detroit Lions Roster Review & Season Preview | Johnny Gaz Sports

[Applause] for the NFC champion Detroit Li I'm so ready for football you guys got to be ready come on as of this recording we're about a week away led by their quarterback Jared G who tonight faces who else but the man he replaced and the one who replaced him Super Bowl champion Matthew St Los Angeles Rams in this Sunday night NFC Wild Card Game and what a wild seat it is in downtown Detroit good evening Mike too Chris my fellow Lions fans the 53 man roster is set in the 2024 25 NFL season is now upon us let's revisit the state of the Lions and look ahead at what could be the most magical season in Detroit Lions history welcome back to the channel I your host Johnny Gaz thank you for coming back for another video in this state of the Lions we'll take a look at that initial 53 man roster for the Detroit Lions as well as see how their practice squad is building so far and we'll look ahead to the regular season and that first matchup with the LA Rams let's [Music] go before we dive into one of the best rosters in the NFL make sure to hit that like button if you dig the vibe here at Johnny Gas Sports hitting that subscription button and the notify Bell is the best way to make sure you don't miss any future videos thank you guys so much for sharing Lions football with me discussing it with you is a true passion of mine and getting close to the regular season has built so much excitement make sure to comment down below on all the topics we talk about here today what did you think of the initial 53 man roster thank you guys so much for the support let's get into today's topics so let's dive right into it let's look at the updated 53 man roster for the Detroit Lions courtesy of our friends at Pride of Detroit Lions only keeping two quarterbacks on the active roster of course Jared gof and now your backup quarterback officially henen hooker the Lions released Nate sudfeld and he did not end up back on the practice squad we'll talk about the practice squad in just a moment of course at running back what I think is now the best room in all of the NFL starting with the best duo in all of football jir Gibbs David Montgomery Craig Reynolds as that third running back expected and then son vaky the very impressive rookie there and I'm excited to see what that room brings the lions in 2024 again what I'm thinking is that best running back room in all of the NFL at wide receiver the Lions only keeping four guys on the active roster currently that does change a little bit as we talk about the practice squad here in a moment amanra St Brown at the top followed by Jameson Williams khif Raymond as your number three and not a surprise making the roster undrafted free agent Isaiah Williams at tight end Sam leaport Brock Wright and Parker Hess the only three tight ends kept on the roster I sort of expected a fourth James Mitchell Shane Zila unfortunately did not make the active roster and I think it's just again because of the versatility that hessie provides we know what Sam leapor gives you and the faith that the Lions have in Brock Wright at offensive tackle tlor tlor Decker Penny Sul Dan Skipper making the initial roster I think for the first time in his career with the Lions so shout out to him but he's been that sixth offensive lineman for the Lions for several seasons followed up by Kobe solers doall and of course the rookie Giovani Manu in the interior Frank ragnell Graham Glascow Kevin zler kyote aasa and Michael N A little bit of a surprise there but the reserve Christian mahogany work himself back into football shape um and we'll talk about you know how the other practice squad members factor into this at defensive tackle on the other side of the football oen mcneel DJ reer Levi oner and maai wingo on injured reserve following his injury coming off the Steelers preseason game is brri Martin at defensive end big man Aiden Hutchinson Marcus Davenport followed up by Josh Pascal James Houston somewhat of a surprise but I think again turning him into a pure pass rusher putting him strictly on the edge position hoping to get the most out of him there hopefully we'll give the Lions what they're looking for and then surprisingly I think John Kaminsky on the active roster not in any sort of injured reserve role so you wonder what his status is moving forward I'll keep you posted on that one at linebacker Alex anzelone Jack Campbell Derek Barnes Malcolm Rodriguez Jaylen Reeves maban and then again a little bit of surprise Lions hold on to Ben nean and they have now claimed off of waivers Trevor Noki which he had been on the roster previous so just building on that linebacker depth at cornerback Carlton Davis tyon Arnold amek Robertson Enis Rik straw no surprise there followed up by khil dorsy Kindle vildor and of course on I or IR Emanuel Mosley at safety a little bit of a surprise here in this group Brian Branch Kirby Joseph iffy mfano Brandon Joseph does make the as active roster again I think that's a well-earned spot and then Lauren Strickland so they're going to keep a fifth safety on the roster not saying Lauren Strickland didn't earn a spot on the team but I think in looking at other guys like Isaac uku who you didn't see listed in that edge position group over a guy like Strickland is a little bit questionable to me but uh Lions decide they're going to keep a fifth safety of course Jack Fox the punter Jake Bates is your sole kicker at this point and Hogan Hatton wins The Long Snapper job over Scott Dy who is since sided elsewhere you also notice that Tai Summers was not included on that list he also has been signed by another organization so switching over to the practice squad and again the Lions can sign 16 players to their practice squad let's just start from the top they did bring back quarterback Jake fromom jmar Jefferson surprised he cleared waivers and I guess I should mention that all the players that the Lions did cut from their roster did end up clearing waivers except for the two that I had mentioned who have since been signed that's Ty Summers and Scott Dy so running back Jamar Jefferson back on the practice squad interesting signing by the Lions we know that initially they cut Donovan peoples Jones while they started to kind of revamp uh the the ex wide receiver search by bringing in former Denver Bronco Tim Patrick he spent Seven Seasons with Denver uh the past two seasons unfortunately was on injured reserve one was for an ACL the other for Anor Achilles but he had a productive 2021 the season prior with 53 receptions 734 yards and five scores and he is between 6'4 and 6'5 so he really fits that bill for the xwide receiver role and he will have to earn his spot onto the active roster so a very interesting move made by the Lions there also listed as you see here wide receiver Donovan peoples Jones which is only now based on rumor I have not seen the Lions confirm this yet and I think this would be very interesting I I mean I didn't think he earned a roster spot but I thought the Lions would at least keep him on the active roster because they just didn't have the xwide receiver well clearly there's some other sort of big plan going on so we'll still wait and keep our ears to the ground and see if this holds true right now Pride of Detroit has him listed on their 16 piece active practice squad Lions also went out and signed wide receiver Allan Robinson to their practice squad of course is a former uh giant as well as a former Steeler and they had joint practices with both those teams in this offseason so they did get a good look at Ellen Robinson he is a longtime veteran in the NFL I think 10 years and he's given productive Seasons but he's at the tail end he's closer to 62 so he's not as big as Tim Patrick but I think the lions are it's kind of a a lowrisk high reward situation bringing him into the P practice squad he'll have to earn his way onto the active roster and of course he'll now have to compete with you know assuming Tim Patrick and now also assuming Donovan peop Jones so you're going to have guys competing for that X receiver role for the Lions which is very very interesting I'm also glad to see they brought back Kingsley gakin I think I've been butchering that name forever I think it's pronounced gakin again he had a fantastic preseason in training camp a lot of word from Lions Camp is they had a lot of faith in him he saw some time with the ones as all the starters were were getting time off and recovering from some injuries here in the off season they also brought back jamarco Jones The Tackle and we talked about Shane ziler James Mitchell where they brought both those guys back to the practice squad Isaac uku who I thought potentially had earned a spot on the active roster maybe over a guy like Lauren Strickland he's now on the practice squad along with Mitchell Audi defensive tackles Chris Smith Kyle Petco Pat oconor as well as safety CJ Moore also returning to the practice squad so I think a good mix and guys that obviously are all familiar with all guys Alliance have had on in training camp and will be able to move forward and I think the most interesting thing coming out of this is we'll have to find out what the true status is on Donovan peoples Jones and then what they do as far as shifting pieces around do they add another wide receiver to that room who then gets moved back to the practice squad come back to the channel I'll certainly keep you posted but let me know what you think down below what do you think of the active roster the guys they put on the practice squad did they miss on anybody is there a name you wanted to see here that isn't I definitely want to hear from you let me know let's go through some strengths and weaknesses now as the lion roster at least the initial roster is set again there's going to be a lot of moving pieces and we'll confirm a few things but as we get close to the regular season we're now just over a week away as of this recording before that first week against the LA Rams coming in town for that Sunday Night Football game I am so excited for that I cannot tell you but let's go through strengths and weaknesses of this roster in my opinion as we get closer to this game I think the ultimate strength of this team is their offensive line the starting five is the best in the NFL we went through the active roster we talked a lot about in previous videos the depth pieces and how important that could be especially if there are injuries up front guys like Kevin zeitler Graham Glascow Frank ragau all guys that have had injuries and time off in previous Seasons so you know they'll have to ensure that these guys in the depth pieces can step in and fill in when necessary but the truth is the whole offense is predicated from those front five and if they remain relatively healthy they really will dictate everything this Lian team will do on offense here in 2024 I'm very excited playing off of that of course I think another strength of this team is the running back room and I think it's gotten even better from 2023 now into 2024 I think the depth behind the best running back duo in the NFL Craig Reynolds Soni vaki gives him so much more versatility than in years past Craig Reynolds is such a hard-nosed runner I think he's almost your backup to David Montgomery and then Jamir Gibbs backed up by cion iaki but there's so much versatility there not only just pure running football but also now working into the passing game and giving that versatility to the Lions especially if they have to continue to search for this x receiver and that brings me to one of what I think is the weaknesses of this team currently is in their wide receiver and it's amazing to say that considering it's a room led by allpro Aman rth St Brown who I think looks even better in 2024 a lot of word from Camp as he just continues this Ascension continues to make catches and yards and touchdowns and you know the problem will really be if there's an injury or if the offense dictates that they need a taller wide receiver they did not keep down of in people's Jones and they did not find that taller big body guy to fill out this room so in turn they only kept four wide receivers and decided to bring in guys off a waivers onto the practice squad we talked about Tim Patrick now alen Robinson and word it is that Donovan peoples Jones will now be in that mix so out of those three guys does anybody come in stand out enough to where they move him into the active roster and then he becomes a part of the XYZ scheme that the lions like to run so again you know I'm I'm a little bit concerned of the wide receiver room I think the other group that concerns me is what the Lions did at the edge position I like Marcus Davenport I think if he can remain healthy he could be very productive but is he the opposite end of Hutch that ultimately really looking for that Destroyer on the other side that could just wreck games for the Lions I don't know that he's that guy and I don't know that they did enough behind him to ensure that Hutch has the help that I would have liked them to get this off season that's still a concern for me so we'll have to see if if you know increased play at the defensive tackle position with DJ reer hopefully he works his way back before week one you know increased play from Levi onque do those pieces you know shifting around does that add enough help for Hutch to where maybe it doesn't matter that they didn't add a more significant piece of defensive Edge so that also concerns me I think you know outside of that they still have questions in the secondary I mean they're just so young there there's a lot of different pieces they revamped the entire room I think the only consistent guy you can say is Carlton Davis but he also has a small injury history so again if something goes down there can the young guys Step Up step in and can the depth be enough to where that's not a concern for the Lions again we just talked about maybe the concern at Edge well they if if they don't get the production they need there then they really need those guys in the secondary to to to step up to get them everything they're trying to get here in 2024 4 and 25 I think they also have a concern at the backup quarterback I like what H and hooker's given them but I think there's some inconsistency there there's some instability there he needs more time so we really got to hope that Jared gof remains healthy and leads the charge through this entire season so that H and hooker really can sit there and learn learn the offense learn the intricacies of the Ben Johnson offense and the NFL in general and then hopefully have another off season to continue to cultivate him as a backup quarterback I that's why I think they brought in Jake from signed him to the practice squad just in case I was very surprised that they didn't allow Nate sudfeld to play maybe they knew they were going to release him so it wasn't worth their time um but again I I I question whether or not henen hooker is the true long-term solution I really hope he is but I don't know that he's ready to just step in and and play if Jared gof was to go down or if the worst case scenario happened I also think the Lions have a concern at kicker talked a lot about the inconsistency of Jake Bates in this preseason well that's going to have to be cleaned up as we get into this regular season the Lions have a history of gambling going forward on fourth down we know what gam uh Dan Campbell's mentality is and I don't think that's going to change but having a more accurate confident kicker will help in that decision making and I don't know that they have that just yet so to me again that's still a question mark as they head towards the regular season week one is fast approaching Lions versus Rams rematch from the wild card last year Matthew Stafford coming back in for the first time in the regular season should be a fantastic atmosphere if the preseason game tells you anything the Lions fans May blow their roof off of Ford Field for this first regular season game Sunday September 8th kickoff just after 8:15 p.m. Sunday Night Football it should be fantastic let me let me know what you think that the comments below lions come in and just just blow the roof off the place are they overwhelming the Rams there in week one or do we got a good matchup I I think it's going to be close I really do and I'm going to give this game a full preview so come back and see me on the channel I will give the game a top to bottom game preview we'll go through it in detail as we get a little bit closer to this first week I want to make sure we give the roster a little more time to take shape make sure we get the injury designations and then I will give you that full preview make sure to hit that like button too on the video it's the best free way to help out the channel only if you dig the vibe here at Johnny guest sports that subscription button notifi Bell 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