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Detroit Lions observations: 4 players who impressed at offseason workouts

The Detroit Lions wrapped up the most significant portion of their offseason schedule with their final practice of mandatory minicamp Thursday.

They still have three organized team activities next week, but most veterans will be gone. Lions coach Dan Campbell said one of those practices will focus on special teams, and another will be largely strength and conditioning training.

There’s not a ton to glean for offseason workouts in pajamas, as Campbell likes to say. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t standout performers at the pad-less practices. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Aidan Hutchinson and Jared Goff are some of the givens the Lions will rely on this fall, but here are four other players I thought had strong showings in the five open practices we saw this spring:

CB Carlton Davis

Lions CB Carlton Davis III speaks to the media after the organized team activities in Allen Park on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
Lions CB Carlton Davis III speaks to the media after the organized team activities in Allen Park on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

Maybe Davis should be in the St. Brown-Hutchinson-Goff camp, but he’s new to the roster so he deserves the headline mention here. Davis is an extremely physical cornerback whose press-man style fits well with what Aaron Glenn wants to do as defensive coordinator.

Again, no one was in pads, but it was eye-opening to see Davis work press coverage against receivers like Jameson Williams, the difficulty they had getting off the line of scrimmage and, on occasion, how frustrated they got at their inability to get open.

Davis is not a true No. 1 corner that opposing gameplans avoid, but if he buys himself and the pass rush an extra half-second with his physicality, that might be enough to force quarterbacks to look another direction or risk being sacked.

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CB Terrion Arnold

Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (0) walks off the field after practice during OTAs at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (0) walks off the field after practice during OTAs at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Thursday, May 30, 2024.

I asked defensive tackle Alim McNeill to name one under-the-radar defensive player who impressed him in camp, and the first player he mentioned was Arnold.

Maybe Arnold, a first-round pick out of Alabama, isn’t a surprise, either, but rookie cornerbacks don’t always come in ready to contribute, and Arnold has shown a playmaking ability this spring — he had an interception Wednesday against Goff and has had a handful of pass breakups in coverage — and plays the same physical style as Davis.

“I feel like Terrion’s doing a great job, honestly,” McNeill said. “We’ve had no complaints out of him. He’s covering a guy, I’ve been seeing him get a lot of PBUs and stuff like that. He’s doing a great job communicating. He came in and transitioned very well. For it to be his first OTAs, I feel like Terrion did a really great job.”

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OLB Mitchell Agude

Now to two true off-the-radar types: McNeill said he didn’t want to mention Agude, 25, because “I don’t want nobody to find out about Mitch.”

Detroit Lions linebacker Mitchell Agude (50) warms up during rookie minicamp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Detroit Lions linebacker Mitchell Agude (50) warms up during rookie minicamp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Friday, May 10, 2024.

Agude spent most of last season on the Lions’ practice squad and gave the first-team offense valuable looks, and the Lions have rewarded him by giving him reps on the top field at OTAs and in minicamp. I mentioned in Wednesday’s observations the Lions have some depth at that stand-up edge position — Marcus Davenport, once healthy, James Houston and CFL sack leader Mathieu Betts also play there, and Derrick Barnes will get plenty of work there, too — but Agude is a guy to keep an eye on come training camp.

“He’s a worker,” Campbell said. “He works. He’s another guy that’s kind of transformed his body. He’s pretty powerful. He’s a guy — man, you love going into camp with a guy like him. Let’s see where he can go. So, we’re pleased with him, we’re glad he’s here on the 90-man roster going into camp, or 89, whatever it is right now.”

WR Daurice Fountain

One more sleeper to keep an eye on come summer is Fountain, a veteran 28-year-old receiver who has spent time with the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears, and was on the Lions’ practice squad most of last season.

Detroit Lions wide receiver Daurice Fountain (12) practices during OTAs at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Daurice Fountain (12) practices during OTAs at Detroit Lions headquarters and training facility in Allen Park on Thursday, May 30, 2024.

The Lions’ No. 4 and 5 receiver spots are up for grabs, and while most would consider Donovan Peoples-Jones and Antoine Green the favorites for the jobs, I’ve jotted Fountain’s name down more this spring for catches made in practice — and even ones that he didn’t. On Wednesday, Fountain couldn’t hang onto a pass at the back of the end zone, so after practice, he ran the same route again to work on the catch.

Campbell said Fountain “really improved” over the course of last season and is “in the mix” for a roster spot now.

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More observations from Thursday’s practice

∎ The last day of minicamp always has a bit of an end-of-school feel, and Thursday’s practice was no different. The defensive line spent a few minutes running pass routes during position drills (with McNeill and Levi Onwuzurike looking like bona fide weapons, and Chris Smith making a nice one-handed grab on a post route) and the defense running the offense (with Kerby Joseph at quarterback) on the final play of pre-practice install.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell walks off the field with general manager Brad Holmes after the organized team activities in Allen Park on Thursday, May 23, 2024.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell walks off the field with general manager Brad Holmes after the organized team activities in Allen Park on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

Joseph does not have a future at quarterback. He scrambled around briefly against a pass rush before throwing deep down the seam to Davis. Goff lined up as a safety on the play, but give Williams the breakup on the errant pass, after a small collision with Hutchinson.

As usual, Campbell had a little fun at the end of the last practice of spring, too, having Jack Fox sky punts to three non-return men: Arnold, cornerback Morice Norris and offensive tackle Dan Skipper. Norris couldn’t quite make an over-the-shoulder catch, but Arnold made a running grab (of far less difficulty) and Skipper chased a punt down near the sideline and made a sliding catch to cheers from teammates.

Jahmyr Gibbs seems to be making progress in his rehab from a soft tissue injury. He was running the hill at the Lions’ facility at the start of practice, while Joseph (hip) and Davenport continued to work on the side in their rehabs.

Frank Ragnow, Taylor Decker, Kevin Zeitler, D.J. Reader, Emmanuel Moseley, Brian Branch, Kyle Peko and Khalil Dorsey were among those who did not practice.

∎ The Lions had a shorter-than-usual workout Thursday, with no seven-on-seven period. They spent two team periods working a situation where the offense needed two scores to win, and started with the ball on its own 30-yard line with 1:59 on the clock.

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) practices during mini camp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) practices during mini camp at Detroit Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.

Goff opened the period with a pretty pass to St. Brown for an 18-yard gain between two defenders to get near midfield, but the offense hit the skids on its next three plays. St. Brown got behind safeties Brandon Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu on the next play but couldn’t quite get to an overthrown ball. Amik Robertson had a PBU on a short curl to Kalif Raymond. And Arnold might have got his hand on Goff’s next throw to Williams over the middle.

On fourth-and-10, the Lions moved the ball up to simulate a 56-or-so-yard field goal, which both Michael Badgley and James Turner made with room to spare.

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Starting from their own 20-yard-line after a simulated three-and-out by the defense, the offense once again failed to move into scoring range. Goff drove the offense to midfield in six plays (including a false start and spike to stop the clock), then threw incomplete deep to an open Williams when Williams didn’t appear to be running full speed until he saw the ball coming his way. Goff threw the ball away on the next play, when the defense did a better job of bracketing Williams deep. And after an incomplete pass to Sam LaPorta on third-and-10, the Lions ran a hook-and-ladder that St. Brown tossed to Raymond before Onwuzurike intercepted the second lateral.

∎ In the same situation against the second-team defense, Hendon Hooker also failed to lead the No. 2 offense to scoring range. He nickel-and-dimed his way to midfield before throwing incomplete on a fourth-and-2 pass to Peoples-Jones.

Badgley and Turner both made 53-yard kicks on another simulated field goal, then the offense took over down six points from its own 3-yard line with 43 seconds left after Robertson downed a Fox punt.

Hooker again check-downed his way to a pair of first downs, but Campbell blew the period dead after a second-and-10 incompletion from the 29-yard line with 9 seconds on the clock.

Detroit Lions assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett talks to quarterback Hendon Hooker at practice during minicamp at Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Detroit Lions assistant quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett talks to quarterback Hendon Hooker at practice during minicamp at Lions headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.

∎ The Lions also spent a period working on the new kickoff rule Thursday, with Badgley and Turner kicking off to two pairs of return men, Raymond and Maurice Alexander, and Williams and Arnold.

It was intriguing to see Williams back on returns given his speed, and I could see Williams and Raymond being an extremely dangerous return pairing this fall. Raymond is extremely shifty, and Williams can be a good blocker if teams want to kick in another direction.

As far as the kickoffs go, Badgley remains well ahead of Turner in that department, something that could factor into the kicker decision come training camp.

∎ As usual, undrafted rookie receivers Jalon Calhoun and Isaiah Williams were two of the last players off the field, doing their daily JUGS work. Joseph (doing extra rehab) and Norris (walking through his defensive back drops) joined them in lingering long after most everyone else headed to the locker rom.

∎ One final note in what’s probably my last set of observations until mid-August — I’m heading to Paris to help cover the Olympics for USA TODAY at the start of training camp — but Campbell took a minute at the end of his pre-practice news conference to salute the retiring Mike O’Hara for his years covering the team.

O’Hara was a longtime beat reporter at the Detroit News before joining the team website a decade ago. He has long been one of the foremost authorities on the team in this team and is someone many — myself included — grew up reading. He’s retiring as of Monday, though I suspect I’ll still see him at a game or two this season.

Lions owner Sheila Hamp, her husband, Steve, and team president Rod Wood snuck down a back staircase and into the press room during Campbell’s speech and were there to congratulate O’Hara, too. It was a classy move on the team’s part, and I speak for a lot of people when I say we’ll miss seeing “Moose” around at practice every day.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 4 Detroit Lions players who impressed at offseason workouts