One of the inevitabilities of a draft cycle is that there are current players who will lose their jobs to the new additions. For the Detroit Lions in 2022, the draft class and free agency work from GM Brad Holmes and his crew have set up several holdover players to be fighting for their Lions lives.
The improved overall roster comes at a cost for the players at the bottom of the roster, or those who might not fit with the new scheme or regime. Here are five such players who will have to show a lot more in 2022 to remain in Detroit.
OL Logan Stenberg
(AP Photo/Al Goldis)
Lions fans can be forgiven for forgetting that Stenberg is still on the team. In two seasons since being a fourth-round pick out of Kentucky in 2020, Stenberg has played exactly four snaps on the offensive line and 26 more on special teams.
The Lions didn’t import anyone in the draft, but two holdover rookie free agents from a year ago appear to have leapt Stenberg on the depth chart in 2021. Tommy Kraemer and Ryan McCollum both got nods over Stenberg during last season. The team smartly brought back top interior OL reserve Evan Brown.
Add in two promising undrafted rookies in Obinna Eze and Kevin Jarvis, plus freshly signed tryout player Zein Obeid, and there are a lot of viable options for usurping Stenberg on the roster. His unimpressive play in training camps and preseason has not helped his case, and this is not the regime that drafted Stenberg into Detroit. His past draft status won’t help him in 2022; Stenberg will have to earn his spot quickly in camp.
EDGE Julian Okwara
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Okwara is coming off his second NFL season, a year in which he bagged five sacks in 13 games. Okwara also forced a fumble, recovered another and broke up two passes. His rookie campaign as a third-rounder from Notre Dame in 2020 was an injury washout.
Okwara has definite pass-rushing potential, there is no doubt. His…