Stock report: Two young defenders pop, TeSlaa keeps rolling, while red-hot rookie cools off in Lions' preseason finale
Detroit — Here are the players trending up, down or holding steady coming out of Saturday’s preseason finale with the Houston Texans.
Stock up: Linebacker Trevor Nowaske
Nowaske got his first taste of defensive snaps last season — filling in for an injured Derrick Barnes — and didn’t do much with the opportunity outside of a memorable game-ending sack against Minnesota when he came free on a well-designed blitz.
This offseason, the Lions have evolved Nowaske’s usage to working more off the ball. After a rocky transition, things are starting to come together. On Saturday, he wore the green dot, communicating with the sideline, and regularly found himself around the ball with eight tackles. He’s taking slow and steady steps forward, looking like he could be reliable depth in addition to his quality contributions on special teams.
Stock down: Cornerback Nick Whiteside
Whiteside came out of nowhere as a mid-camp addition, routinely breaking up passes and even intercepting a couple during his first two weeks with the team. However, he’s faded a bit with some opportunities higher up the depth chart. After a few miscues last week against Miami, the Texans picked on the young cornerback in the first half, completing multiple passes to his coverage assignments.