The biggest shifts in the Lions’ defensive roster bubble this week came at linebacker and cornerback, where Devin White and Nick Whiteside have made real statements.
Detroit’s defense still has a crowded race going on, with 25 players battling for spots and the picture changing fast because of injuries, strong practices, and uneven stretches. But in this Week 3 look, the standouts were hard to miss.
White has gone from a strong first week to a unanimous pick. He has clearly emerged as the top option to fill in for the injured Malcolm Rodriguez in the starting lineup, and he’s been active around the ball throughout camp.
It hasn’t all been clean - play-action has caught him a few times - but he looks settled in that role. At the same time, the staff now seems convinced Rolder will open the year on injured reserve after the injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago.
Erick Hunter also slipped out of one vote, though he’s started to generate some buzz in recent practices and could challenge one of the veteran special teamers if Damone Clark’s injury absence continues.
White’s rise isn’t the only camp storyline turning heads. On the back end, Whiteside has become one of the biggest surprises of training camp.
He opened Bubble Watch with only one vote, then earned a promotion to starting reps after D.J. Reed went down.
He has passed Ennis Rakestraw on the depth chart, which makes Rakestraw a tempting name to push toward the bubble, though that move isn’t being made yet. Roger McCreary, though, did get pushed down onto the bubble.
He’s still getting plenty of first-team nickel work, but Dan Campbell called his camp “up and down,” and with just $800,000 in guaranteed salary, the door is open for Whiteside’s rise to come at McCreary’s expense. Detroit also has other nickel options in Christian Izien, Avonte Maddox, and Rakestraw.
Special teams matters here too, and Dorsey continues to stand out in that phase. The view from this camp is simple: he’s the best special teamer on the roster.
Up front, the defensive end group is starting to look close to settled. Ahmed Hassanein has kept turning in an impressive camp, while Payton Turner remains out with an injury. That position battle is narrowing quickly.
At defensive tackle, Levi Onwuzurike has been moved down to the bubble after previously being treated as an assumed lock. He has mostly worked with the second and third teams this summer, sitting behind Alim McNeill and even Mekhi Wingo at three-tech, and trailing Tyler Lacy at big end.
Even with that, he remains in the mix for most of the staff. Wingo, meanwhile, lost a few votes, likely because he missed several days with injury, though he did return to practice on Monday after the votes were submitted.
That may have been a little harsh. Gill-Howard’s climb, on the other hand, makes sense.
He’s been getting regular first- and second-team reps and has made a number of plays.
Safety has also shifted. Avonte Maddox and Chuck Clark have moved off the bubble and into the assumed-in group after taking essentially every starting snap of camp until Maddox was absent on Monday. Both now look safe and appear to be the likely Week 1 starters.
The rest of the safety picture has moved toward the injured list. Most of the staff now expects Brian Branch to start the season on PUP, despite some optimism after he did some on-field work with trainers.
Kerby Joseph has also slid toward that same outcome after going unseen and unheard from over the past week. He had trained hard in the first week, but that has gone quiet since.
The case for stashing both players on PUP is stronger because of the new rule this year: players who start there can return to practice after two weeks instead of four, even though they still miss the first four games. That gives both Branch and Joseph a chance to build back toward being ready by Week 5 while preserving roster spots early.
In Other News...
Lions Depth Chart Just Put Key Camp Battles In The Spotlight
The first unofficial depth chart always tells you something about where a coaching staff stands, even if the picture is far from final. Ahead of the 2026 NFL preseason, the Lions put their latest roster hierarchy on paper and, as expected, the offensive line and wide receiver spots remain the most interesting areas to watch as camp rolls on. Veterans and rookies are still jockeying for position, and a few of those battles look far from settled.
On the line, the early pecking order leans toward experience, with Larry Borom and Juice Scruggs both sitting above challengers at their respective spots. There is also competition showing up at linebacker and nickel cornerback, where Detroit has a mix of proven depth and players trying to carve out larger roles. Roger McCreary being listed as the top nickel cornerback is another small but meaningful clue about how the Lions are sorting through a crowded summer competition. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Cornerback Battle Suddenly Looks Trouble For Ennis Rakestraw
Ennis Rakestraws first training camp has not gone as smoothly as the Lions likely hoped, and the early rotation is starting to reflect that. After an inconsistent opening stretch, the cornerback has been spending more time with the second-team defense while Nick Whiteside has worked into a more prominent role on the first unit, a noticeable shift in a room the Lions expected to be one of the more competitive parts of camp.
Dan Campbell has made it clear the team is still searching for the right mix at corner, even with some optimism around the secondary overall despite the injuries and setbacks that have hit the group. The addition of Trevon Diggs only underscores how much Detroit wants the competition to stay high, and for Rakestraw, the next few practices may go a long way toward determining whether this is just an early camp hiccup or something more concerning. [Read more 🡒]