Most years, the NFL preseason is largely meaningless.
Then there’s the third and final preseason game. It’s the last chance potential starters have to make their case or for bubble players to stay on the roster.
Sure, there are always the first looks at rookies. And a few starting position battles that need to get resolved. Maybe there’s a veteran — looking at you, Teddy Bridgewater — who isn’t quite ready and needs extra playing time to get up to snuff.
This year, the third and final preseason game is in an entirely new category for the Detroit Lions.
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It’s quite possible Friday night’s road game against the Carolina Panthers could be one of the most important games of the season for the Lions (excluding the Super Bowl, of course). Because this year the Lions will need to rely on their depth more than ever if they want to fulfill everyone’s expectations as one of the best teams in the conference en route to winning the NFC North for the first time.
That’s where depth comes in.
“It’s huge,” coach Dan Campbell said this week. “It’s huge. And depth is what gets you the rough spots when you get those injuries.
“We know it’s a long season and so to have quality depth in certain areas — really you’d love it in all areas — but to have it in certain areas gives you flexibility, gives you guys that you know you feel like you’re not really going to lose anything if something happens to (a starter).”
How concerned are the Lions about depth and not blowing the chance to win a winnable game? It was the Lions and not the 49ers who proposed the new emergency quarterback rule, even after San Francisco’s injuries to its two quarterbacks in the NFC championship game cost it a shot at the Super Bowl.
The emergency quarterback rule is the most extreme example of the need for depth — essentially, a catastrophic hazard-insurance policy. That’s where the Lions are now in Year 3 of the Campbell-Brad Holmes regime. They are no longer rebuilding. They are built. But how strongly, how well they’re constructed to weather the inevitable injuries which creep up over 17 games, will be determined by non-star players who populate the back end of the roster.
For now, at least, Campbell is happy with the depth on defense.
“And there again, I mean I think the obvious here is, man, D-end, OLB-ish, we’ve got some good depth,” he said. “Inside linebacker, we’ve got some good depth. I mean, those two spots. The safety/nickel, man, we’ve got some depth and versatility.
“And because of that, that’s where you draw from if something goes down in other areas. … We can maneuver and push some guys in certain positions or spots that help us, and so then that makes your depth look better.”
Conversely, the offense has better starters but questions remain about depth on the offensive line and at receiver. As the old saying goes, you can’t have it all.
“Here’s the thing,” Campbell said, “at the end of the day, no matter what happens, everybody’s got holes.
“I mean even we had a pretty damn good roster at New Orleans for a number of years, and we still had holes. And so it’s never going to be perfect, but we’re so much farther along than we were two years ago.”
It turns into the good old numbers game in the preseason finale. Benny Snell or Craig Reynolds? Dylan Drummond or Chase Cota? Chase Lucas or Ifeatu Melifonwu? Who’s more versatile? Who contributes on special teams?
It’s a game that turns into a calculus problem, and one the Lions have never needed to solve more. They can’t afford to keep the wrong player, one who drops a ball or misses a block or gets burned on the outside, when the margin of error is so small, and the hopes of a franchise that hasn’t won a division title in 30 years have grown to outsized proportions.
Campbell was asked how much he weighs the preseason finale against a player’s body of work in camp, and his answer was telling about the level of scrutiny that will continue until Tuesday’s roster-cut deadline.
“I mean we have an idea,” he said. “We feel pretty good about this is where we’re thinking, but that doesn’t mean our minds are made up either. So, yes, absolutely there’s some guys that still have an opportunity here that can catch our eye.”
No pressure, fellas. Just know the weary, watchful gaze of a coaching staff, a personnel department, a city and an entire anxious region will be upon you.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.