2022 Detroit Lions final 53-man roster prediction: Erik Schlitt’s projections

The Detroit Lions preseason is over, and with the final 53-man roster needing to be established by Tuesday, August 30 by 4 p.m. ET, it’s time to make our final projections for the 53-man team.

This offseason, Jeremy Reisman and I have been joining forces for these projections, but for this final installment, we have switched back to individual projections to allow fans a bit more perspective on what each of us is thinking.

Note: If you want to see any of their previous 53-man roster predictions, you can find them here: 1.0, Post-OTA/Minicamp, 2.0, Post-preseason Game 1, and 3.0, Post-preseason Game 2. And here is Jeremy’s final 53-man roster projection.

Let’s take a look my 53-man projection.

Quarterback (2)

Starter: Jared Goff
Reserves: David Blough
Out: Tim Boyle
Change: None

Entering the preseason finale, it looked like Boyle was in the drivers seat for the QB2 role, as he was announced as the starter and the plan was to get him a full half of work with the starting offense. In my roster battle preview article, I hypothesized that Boyle was in a good spot, but if he failed to have success with the top unit, then it would be a major red flag.

After dropping the ball in incredible fashion, Boyle was pulled and replaced by Blough. After the game, coach Dan Campbell addressed the media and talked about the backup quarterback competition:

“I think it became very clear. I think we got things answered, and I’ll leave it at that.”

That screams bad news for Boyle to me.

Running back (4)

Starter: D’Andre Swift
Reserves: Jamaal Williams, Craig Reynolds, Godwin Igwebuike (KR)
PUP: Jason Cabinda (Superback)
Out: Jermar Jefferson, Justin Jackson
Change: None

The Lions have really been trying to give Jefferson the best opportunity possible, but other than the play where he followed Penei Sewell 15 yards downfield, he has struggled to find the magic I saw in him last year.

Jackson has looked better with each passing week, but I don’t see him ahead of Reynolds and Campbell told us last week that the kick return job was Igwebuike’s to lose—and I didn’t see anything happen to knock him off that spot.

Wide receiver (6)

Starters: Amon-Ra St. Brown, DJ Chark, Josh Reynolds
Reserves: Kalif Raymond (PR), Quintez Cephus, Trinity Benson
PUP: Jameson Williams
Out: Tom Kennedy, Maurice Alexander, Kalil Pimpleton
Change: Benson IN, Kennedy OUT

The above original six is the same group we had in our joint 53-man projections every week, save the last installment, when we promoted Kennedy over Benson. Now, a week later, I was heading into this final game, still left wanting more from Kennedy on special teams or to show that he remains recoverable on offense. Three catches for 15 yards and little-to-no impact on special teams left a sour taste in my mouth.

At the end of the day, as Campbell said on Friday, when it comes to tight roster battles, “the tiebreaker is going to be special teams”. Welcome back, Trinity Benson.

Tight end (4)

Starters: T.J. Hockenson
Reserves: Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra, James Mitchell
Out: Devin Funchess, Derek Deese Jr.
Change: None

For me, the top three are cemented in and having Jason Cabinda on the reserve/PUP gives the Lions at least another month to see where Mitchell is at developmentally. Yes, Mitchell hasn’t shown a ton this preseason, but the Lions surely anticipated this when they drafted him, knowing his ACL recovery was going to slow down his acclimation process.

Offensive line (8)

Starters: Taylor Decker (LT), Jonah Jackson (LG), Frank Ragnow (C), Halapoulivaati Vaitai (RG), Penei Sewell (RT)
Reserves: Matt Nelson (OT), Evan Brown (C), Tommy Kraemer (IOL)
Out: Logan Stenberg (LG), Dan Skipper (OT), Obinna Eze (OT), Kevin Jarvis (OG), Darrin Paulo (T/G), Kendall Lamm (OT)
Change: None

This group of eight are the Lions top lineman and the only question I debated was: is there room for Stenberg? I suppose it’s possible they could find a way to keep him as a ninth lineman, but once again, something that Campbell said in his post game presser lingered with me and influenced my decision:

“There’s very few occasions that we take somebody and they don’t play at all. You may have an eighth lineman, but that’s a bonus to bring him anyway. But as far as everybody else, we’re gonna use them.”

If they add Stenberg, he’s likely taking the spot of a player who would otherwise be in a contributing role, and that doesn’t seem to line up with Campbell’s vision.

Interior defensive line (5)

Starters: Michael Brockers, Alim McNeill
Reserves: Levi Onwuzurike, Isaiah Buggs, Demetrius Taylor
Out: Jashon Cornell, Bruce Hector
Change: Taylor IN, Cornell OUT

Man, what happened to Cornell? He had 27 snaps in preseason Game 1, another 23 in Game 2, then just seven in Game 3. Fewer snap counts in the preseason finale is typically a good sign a player is in a safe spot, but Cornell has not been playing well recently—in games or practice—and I see the drop in snaps as more on…