With such a talented roster, the Detroit Lions don't have a lot of room for young, developmental players anymore.
If you don't believe me, just check out this quote from general manager Brad Holmes, who has admitted as much on multiple occasions this offseason.
”What’s gotten really hard — and it’s really been visible this year — is that in the past, especially in our first couple years, we had a lot of just young, developmental players that we really liked and we had a lot of room for," Holmes told Kay Adams. "And as the guys have made these leaps and bounds and the talent has gotten better, it’s hard to always find room for those young, developmental guys.”
Knowing that, an undrafted rookie making the Lions' roster amounts to a massive upset and one of the players primed to accomplish that feat is safety Ian Kennelly.
In their latest 53-man roster projection, Pride of Detroit's Jeremy Reisman and Erik Schlitt predict Kennelly will beat out Morice Norris and Loren Strickland to be Detroit's fourth safety.
Reisman notes that Kennelly has been getting practice reps ahead of Strickland for weeks now. Norris has been out of the mix after suffering a scary injury in the preseason Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons.
"While I thought Loren Strickland had a strong game against the Dolphins, Kennelly has now repped ahead of him for several weeks, both on defense and on special teams," Reisman explained. "Strickland is a great candidate to be put on the practice squad."
The four safeties in the projection are Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, Avonte Maddox and Kennelly. Rock Ya-Sin has also gotten looks at safety, Reisman adds, so he's another option for Detroit.
A Michigan native, Kennelly played his college ball at a Division II school in Grand Valley State, which makes him an even bigger underdog.
Over four years, he racked up 174 total tackles, eight interceptions, 19 passes defensed and three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.
Through three preseason games, Kennelly has posted Pro Football Focus grades of 68.3 in coverage and 63.5 overall. He has only been targeted once in coverage and surrendered a catch for four yards.
Kennelly will have one more opportunity to cement himself when the Lions take on the Houston Texans in the preseason finale on Saturday afternoon.
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