Lions rookie minicamp: 5 things we’ll be watching

Giovanni Manu, international man of mystery. The Lions’ fourth-rounder is a Tongan native who played college basketball in Canada before taking up football late in his progress. At a listed 6-foot-8 and 352 pounds and with an impressively athletic highlight reel, Manu certainly generates some excitement.

Like most everyone else, I’ve only seen the limited highlight reels of Manu in action at the University of British Columbia. The level of play seems akin to the D-III MIAA Conference, making it hard to tell just how impressed we should be with Manu.

Seeing him in person, even in noncontact drills and walkthroughs, will help develop a better opinion and sense of Manu’s level of readiness.

Rakestraw, the team’s second-round cornerback, is coming off core muscle surgery that wiped out his workout season, including the Senior Bowl. He wasn’t fully recovered for his underwhelming NFL Scouting Combineperformance.

That was three months ago. Hopefully the talented Missouri DB has progressed to full speed in the ensuing months. If he’s still limited by the groin/abdominal injury, it’s probably not a good sign for his readiness for the full team minicamp later this spring and perhaps into July’s training camp. Core muscle surgery is not a guaranteed type of recovery in terms of fully regaining athleticism.

The Lions signed not one, not two, but three centers who went undrafted. Given the current state of the depth chart and the ongoing injury status of All-Pro starter Frank Ragnow, there’s a very good chance that at least one of them makes the practice squad with an outside chance at earning a spot on the initial 53-man roster. There’s certainly room for more than one of them on the preseason roster, too.

A quick look at the trio of UDFA pivots:

Duke Clemens from UCLA snagged a nice signing bonus and also has some experience starting at guard.

Florida’s Kingsley Eguakun missed most of his senior season for the Gators with an ankle injury, but the Lions paid him a hefty $225,000 guaranteed salary to sign. He didn’t play with a lot of power at Florida but has the most upside of the prospects here.

Bryan Hudson of Lousiville (and Virginia Tech beforehand) is a taller prospect who thrived when the Cardinals’ offense switched to a blocking scheme more akin to what the Lions run.

The Lions brought back 2023 starters Scott Daly (long snapper) and Michael Badgley (kicker), but both should expect to face real competition for roster spots this offseason. To that end, the Lions have Michigan kicker James Turner and Idaho long snapper Hogan Hatten in the rookie minicamp to audition for longer-term status.

First impressions are often lasting ones for specialists. Big opportunity for Turner and Hatten to lengthen their stays in Detroit with a good weekend.

The Lions made some changes to the defensive coaching staff that are worth watching. Newcomers Terrell Williams and Deshea Townsend have experience elsewhere, but this will be the first look at how they integrate into the Lions coaching room under head coach Dan Campbell. It will also be interesting to see how the rookies respond to their voices and coaching styles.