Breaking down the Detroit Lions training camp battles to watch heading into 2024.
The Detroit Lions have emerged as a new top dog in the NFC under the tutelage head coach of Dan Campbell. The team fell short in the NFC Championship against the 49ers, but after securing star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to a contract extension the team is looking to continue development throughout the summer with key camp battles fans should be paying attention to. Here are three major battles (and one honorable mention) that should be the focus of Lions training camp.
Offensive Line
Offensive line may not be the most exhilarating position, but for the Lions it will be the most interesting to watch and evaluate. This past draft was full of offensive line talent, and the Lions did their part by drafting two guys to add to their OL rotation in Giovanni Manu from British Columbia and Christian Mahogany from Boston College.
The Lions already have a pretty strong starting five, but due to injuries at the position, as well as the strain a full season adds on to the team, they will be evaluating their roster to find someone who can contribute in a backup role. Look for Manu, Mahogany, Kayode Awosika and Colby Sorsdal to battle it out at guard and for meaningful backup positions.
Defensive End
Going to the opposite side of the ball, the Lions are stacked with talent. Their problem is having more talent than there are spots on the field for the team. John Cominsky has been playing well, but with James Houston, the addition of Mathieu Betts (a CFL standout and respectable pass rusher in his own right) and the continued progress of Josh Paschal the Lions will have to decide who they plan to play alongside Aidan Hutchinson.
Wide Receiver
This is the first direct head-to-head battle I’m going to be looking at, and it comes at wide receiver. This training camp battle will be between Antoine Green and Donovan Peoples-Jones. Green was added as a seventh-round pick in 2023. Meanwhile, DPJ was traded for a sixth and subsequently re-signed this past offseason.
Both have been mentioned by Campbell as players he wants to see compete for the WR3 job behind Jameson Williams and St. Brown. With Jared Goff still under center, there’s enough targets to go around for this to be a sneaky flex play for whoever emerges as the top dog during the camp cycle.
Honorable Mention: RB3/KR
The RB3 battle consists of Craig Reynolds, Zonovan Knight and Sione Vaki. And so far, it seems Vaki is currently leading the charge for the spot. The winner of this battle might also see some time as the kick returner with the new return rules set to be unveiled this season.
But more interesting is that Vaki is a player who could be multi-positional in the NFL. He played on both sides of the ball in college, and is surprisingly still listed as a DB at numerous locations. Vaki might be the next generation of Taysom Hill, a player that causes disagreements in defensive fantasy football leagues and headaches for commissioners everywhere. As someone who’s a fan of chaos, I’m pulling for Vaki to emerge victorious in this matchup.
Randy Vuxta
Randy Vuxta (@RandallVuxta) is a beat writer covering sports picks and dynasty/redraft content for The League Winners with a little over a decade playing fantasy football. Before joining the staff, he studied Journalism and Sports Business management and created The Randy Report, a YouTube channel dedicated to covering all things sports. When he’s not watching game film or the latest Marvel release, he can be found on Twitch streaming everything from Spider-Man to NBA2K. Randy looks to not only win every league he joins, but help others achieve that goal as well.