Admittedly too early, post-draft Detroit Lions' roster projection and analysis
Allen Park — The 2025 NFL Draft is in the books, and the undrafted free agents will be in town next week to sign on the dotted line, fleshing out the Detroit Lions’ offseason roster.
Now seems as good a time as any to offer an early 53-man roster projection. It's an admittedly way-too-early prognostication, but what else are we to do between now and training camp?
For this exercise, we’ll include the reported UDFA signings, even though they’re not yet official. Additionally, we’re abandoning our traditional position-by-position breakdown in favor of an experimental format.
The players below will be listed under one of six categories: Locks, near-locks, one foot in the door, on the bubble, work to do, and injured list. We’ll cap the post with our 53-man roster.
Feel free to use the comment section to share your thoughts and disagreements.
Locks (37)
Offense: QB Jared Goff, RB Jahmyr Gibbs, RB David Montgomery, RB Sione Vaki, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Jameson Williams, WR Tim Patrick, WR Kalif Raymond, WR Isaac TeSlaa, TE Sam LaPorta, TE Brock Wright, OT Taylor Decker, OT Penei Sewell, OT Giovanni Manu, OG Christian Mahogany, OG Tate Ragledge, OG Miles Frazier, C Frank Ragnow
Defense: Edge Aidan Hutchinson, Edge Marcus Davenport, DT DJ Reader, DT Levi Onwuzurike, DT Tyleik Williams, DT Roy Lopez, LB Alex Anzalone, LB Jack Campbell, LB Derrick Barnes, LB Grant Stuard, CB Terrion Arnold, CB D.J. Reed, CB Amik Robertson, CB Ennis Rakestraw, S Kerby Joseph, S Brian Branch
Specialists: P Jack Fox, K Jake Bates, LS Hogan Hatten
Analysis: There aren’t many points to contest here. This group is largely comprised of starters, veterans with significant guarantees on their contracts (Patrick, Raymond, and Lopez, for example), reasonably priced proven depth, or young players who have a developmental leash to prove themselves.