6 Detroit Lions players facing uphill battle after 2025 NFL Draft

Now that the NFL Draft is wrapped up, there are many players that will need to step up to secure their role for 2025.

The NFL Draft is an opportunity for a team to accumulate more young talent in hopes of pushing towards a future Super Bowl title. Though the draft can be a happy moment for the new faces entering the NFL, it can also present a new challenge for returning players.

Positional battles will play out in the months leading up to the regular season, giving us and the Lions coaching staff alike ample time to evaluate the status of their roster. A player could go from being a contributor to cut in a mere moment. At the conclusion of the NFL Draft, which players are on uneven footing heading into the 2025 season?

Brodric Martin, DT

Discussing the struggles of Brodric Martin is beating a dead horse at this stage, but if you are looking at players with the most to prove entering training camp, Martin has to be atop this list without question.

It has been a bad offseason for Martin’s roster chances. Not only did the team sign nose tackle Roy Lopez to a one-year, $4.65 million deal in free agency, they also added rookie nose tackle Tyleik Williams with the 28th overall selection in the draft. Many teams carry one or two nose tackles at most, yet between Martin, Lopez, Williams, DJ Reader, Alim McNeill, and Pat O’Connor, the Lions have six players capable of filling that role. Even if McNeill starts the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, Reader, Lopez, and Williams are firmly ahead of Martin on the depth chart. Martin would require an outstanding training camp to make the roster in any capacity. With Levi Onwuzurike a safe bet to make the roster, Martin’s only paths to the roster are by usurping Mekhi Wingo’s roster spot (who is coming off a season-ending injury) or by doing enough to justify keeping an extra defensive tackle.

Kingsley Eguakun and Michael Niese, G/C

The Lions did not draft a center this year which, at a glance, bodes well for centers Kingsley Eguakun and Michael Niese. However, the selection of linemen Tate Ratledge and Miles Frazier bolsters the number of interior linemen in an already crowded room. With those rookies and offensive tackle Giovanni Manu likely to make the initial roster, there are very few roster spots available for reserves. Niese was on the Lions active roster all of last year, but his path to the roster is muddied in 2025. Eguakun, meanwhile, had some promise in training camp, yet the undrafted lineman will need an immediate step forward to secure a roster spot. Not only does Graham Glasgow have starting center experience, general manager Brad Holmes mentioned that Ratledge and Frazier could receive cross-training at center as well. If something were to happen to starter Frank Ragnow, there are other options for the Lions. I do not see room for a third or fourth-string center right now, so Eguakun and Niese will really have to shine.

Colby Sorsdal, OT

On a similar note, the Lions did not draft an offensive tackle, perhaps signaling a vote of confidence for Manu. However, that confidence likely does not extend to Colby Sorsdal. After starting his NFL career at guard, the William & Mary product transitioned back to tackle in 2024. Despite returning to his college position, he was inactive for most of the season. Sorsdal is still developing as an offensive lineman, but the Lions simply do not have enough space on their roster for so many developmental picks. Manu is a developmental project, as are rookies Ratledge and Frazier, with Frazier having college tackle experience to boot—you could also argue that Christian Mahogany is still developing too.

For a team that values offensive line experience, I do not see the merit in keeping Sorsdal over a veteran like Dan Skipper or Jamarco Jones. Sorsdal’s best (and perhaps only) shot at making the roster is as OT3, and that could be a difficult competition to win.

Christian Mahogany, OG

You might be sensing a trend: the Lions offensive line is going to be an interesting group to watch. Whereas the names earlier on this list are fighting for a roster spot, there remains a fierce battle for not one but two starting guard positions. The right guard spot has been left vacant following the departure of Kevin Zeitler in free agency, while the left guard spot is up for grabs after a down season from Graham Glasgow.

A key name at the middle of this discussion is Christian Mahogany. A 2024 sixth-round pick, Mahogany had a delayed start to his rookie campaign as he recovered from mononucleosis early in camp. He would not see the field until Week 14, but by season’s end, he had two terrific starts under his belt, one of which was a lights-out playoff performance that garnered a 92.2 PFF grade.

That late-season performance earned him a starting role in the eyes of many fans and writers, but that is not guarantee from the Lions coaching staff. At the end of the day, two career starts is a small sample size, and while they were impressive, the Lions will not award him a starting role if it is not earned in 2025. He will have to compete with Glasgow, Ratledge, and possibly Frazier for either starting guard spot. The long-term goal is to have Mahogany and Ratledge as the Lions’ starting guards, but that might not come to fruition this very season. If Glasgow and Frazier were the most impressive guards in camp, I think the coaching staff would change the lineup accordingly.

The bar has been set high for Mahogany, and though he has the talent to run away with a starting spot, it’s worth remembering that he is a sixth-round pick entering his second season. Let’s pump the brakes a bit and let him earn the spot we think he’s due.

Dominic Lovett, WR

It feels weird putting a seventh-round rookie on this list, but it’s not an easy path to the 53-man roster for Dominic Lovett.

The second receiver selected by the Lions in the draft, Lovett not only has to beat out a handful of challengers, but he also has to convince the coaching staff to keep six receivers on the roster. The depth chart ahead of him is set with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Tim Patrick, Kalif Raymond, and fellow rookie Isaac TeSlaa. The odds of him jumping any of these players on the depth chart are slim, even if a rookie like TeSlaa struggles early on.

Working in Lovett’s favor is his role on offense and special teams. As a slot receiver, he is in a similar mold to an undrafted free agent from last year, Isaiah Williams. Williams played his way onto the roster, but a numbers crunch later in the season forced him to waivers, where the Cincinnati Bengals scooped him up. The Lions are getting a comparable skillset with Lovett, and to his benefit, the roster is lacking established slot options behind St. Brown. Raymond can play on the inside, but he is traditionally more of an outside piece. TeSlaa was a “big slot” at Arkansas, but he projects more as an outside receiver in the pros.

On special teams, meanwhile, he has valuable experience as a gunner. The top gunner on the team is likely Khalil Dorsey (a cornerback), but there is an opening across from him following the free agency departure of Kindle Vildor. Lovett does not have kick or punt return experience (one career return for -4 yards), but with 4.40 40-yard speed, the Lions could experiment in training camp.

Given that the Lions spent a draft pick on Lovett, there is a clear desire to have him on the roster. Yet as we saw with last year’s training camp, if nobody earns the roster spot, the Lions coaches will not shy away from overhauling a position group during cuts. Every Lions draft pick under general manager Brad Holmes has made the initial 53-man roster as a rookie (excluding injured players like Jameson Williams or Hendon Hooker), so there is indirect pressure for Lovett to continue that streak.