Allen Park — The Detroit Lions were one of the last NFL teams to publicly release their initial 53-man roster for the 2026 season Sunday evening, about three hours after the deadline to submit the moves to the league.
However, the wait brought a number of surprises, even if a handful of them were spoiled by player agents earlier in the afternoon.
Let’s dissect Detroit’s decisions, talk about the surprises, where I went wrong with my predictions, and address some of the lingering questions.
Meeting expectations
Let’s open with where I went right with yesterday’s projection, starting with one of the more obvious conclusions; the quarterback position.
Even before the preseason finale, I was strongly leaning toward the veteran backup option. Josh Dobbs ended the debate with a pristine line against the Colts, completing 15-of-19 for 128 yards and two scores, making the choice easy.
You would absolutely love to see Luke Altmyer remain in the fold via the practice squad, but if he were to get claimed overnight, it’s not something to lose sleep over. On the contrary, I feel better about the front office’s ability to identify overlooked, but well-seasoned options coming out of college in the portal era.
Elsewhere on the roster, there were a handful of bubble guys that earned jobs, as I projected.