Resetting the Detroit Lions’ depth chart after OTAs, minicamp

Detroit Lions offensive lineman Juice Scruggs (70), right, and offensive lineman Melvin Priestly (74) walk off the field after practice during OTAs at Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park on Thursday, June 11, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On the very first day of Detroit Lions OTAs, coach Dan Campbell offered a warning to reporters and fans.

We're going to have two fields and walkthrough. So don't read into all that," Campbell said. I saw so-and-so on field two.' Okay. Doesn't mean anything, the guys know that too."

It's a fair and necessary reminder that roster decisions are not even close to being made in June, and with no pads or contact allowed during these sessions, the goal isn't as much to evaluate as it is to teach and install concepts. Creating any sort of definitive opinions about players and their rankings based on these practices is a fool's errand.

That said, it's a baseline to build off of. And with all of the coordinators and coaches meeting with the media over the past month, we at least have some sort of idea where players stand as the Lions break before training camp.

So on this week's episode of the PODcast, we go position-by-position and share what we learn about the starters, the upcoming training camp battles, and we reshuffle our expectations, if necessary. Like I said, we aren't declaring anyone winners of starting jobs or spots on the 53-man roster, but the odds have certainly shifted in some areas.

For example, many, including myself, thought Juice Scruggs was a bit of a throw-in in the David Montgomery trade. But after watching him play all three interior offensive line spots, including some time as the first-team left guard, he's firmly moved up my personal depth chart. The whole safety room has been flipped on its head since watching Christian Izien and Chuck Clark take nearly all of the first-team reps in practices. But a huge competition awaits everyone in the secondary-including the cornerback room.

So we break it all down on this week's episode of the PODcast, which is available on any of your favorite podcasting platforms, including the Spotify embed below.

You can also catch the PODcast on our YouTube page and Twitchchannel, with bonus in-between segments chatter.