In the Detroit Lions’ 16-14 preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the defense put on a bit of a show. Despite playing their backups against Joe Burrow and several Bengals starters on offense, the Lions managed to hold Cincinnati to just 10 points and a mere 125 yards in the first half.
They were able to do so off the back of a ton of great individual performances Thursday night.
So in our Week 4 installment of “Bubble Watch,” we examine how the preseason performance has shifted our predictions for who is in and who is out for the 2026 53-man roster.
Defensive end:
- Assumed in: Aidan Hutchinson, DJ Wonnum, Derrick Moore
- Ahmed Hassanein: 11 “IN” votes (no change)
- Payton Turner: 0 votes (no change)
- Anthony Lucas: 0 votes
There hasn’t been much movement at defensive end in a few weeks, as Hassanein inches closer to being a roster lock at this point. His two-sack performance against the Bengals only seems to have solidified his spot. The question at this point is if anyone on the roster can justify keeping a fifth defensive end. Payton Turner can’t make the field, and Anthony Lucas has shown flashes. But maybe Eric O’Neill has earned some recent consideration.
Defensive tackle:
- Assumed in: Alim McNeill, Tyleik Williams
- Levi Onwuzurike: 11 votes (no change)
- Tyler Lacy: 11 votes (no change)
- Skyle Gill-Howard: 11 votes (up 1)
- Chris Smith: 10 votes (up 5)
- Mekhi Wingo: 0 votes (down 2)
- Tyre West: 0 votes (no change)
Chris Smith takes the second-biggest jump of any Lions defender in this week’s Bubble Watch, and that’s likely due to coach Dan Campbell going off on a rant about how much he appreciates Smith.
“He plays discipline football. He’s a grinder, man. He’ll do it. He’ll take on double teams for 60 plays if you ask him to do it,” Campbell said. “And that’s a thankless job, and it’s hard, and it’s nobody really sees that. You don’t get any love. But he doesn’t care. To him, that means more to him to know that he’s keeping his linebacker free like that’s his heaven. So, it’s unselfish, and it’s hard. It’s a nasty job, and it’s not for everybody. And so that’s why you appreciate it.”
Meanwhile, after making two huge impact plays in the preseason, rookie Skyler Gill-Howard is now a unanimous “IN” from our staff.
I initially had Onwuzurike out, because of a slow start to camp, but then Campbell offered some encouraging words on Sunday.
“I like Levi. I feel like Levi’s had a good camp,” Campbell said. “Levi, as we all know, he’s coming off a ton of injuries. But it’s nice to have two ACLs, he would tell you that. It helps him move a lot better, he’s got a lot more power and I think that shows up.”
Linebacker:
- Assumed in: Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez
- Devin White: 11 votes (no change)
- Trevor Nowaske: 10 votes (no change)
- Damone Clark: 8 votes (down 2)
- Troy Reeder: 1 votes (down 1)
- Jimmy Rolder: 0 votes (down 3)
- Erick Hunter: 0 votes (no change)
- Joe Bachie: 0 votes (no change)
While we saw some encouraging signs of Jimmy Rolder’s injury progress when he was working with a trainer over the weekend, our entire staff believes he’ll start the season on injured reserve and miss the first four games of the season.
Meanwhile, Damone Clark’s continued absence at training camp due to an injury is starting to force him further down the roster bubble. At this point, it looks like some of our staff is comfortable just keeping five linebackers and using that roster spot somewhere else.
Cornerback:
- Assumed in: DJ Reed, Rock Ya-Sin, Keith Abney
- New to bubble watch: Ennis Rakestraw: 11 votes
- Nick Whiteside: 11 votes (no change)
- Roger McCreary: 11 votes (up 6)
- Khalil Dorsey: 9 votes (down 1)
McCreary had been sliding down our roster bubble for weeks, but a very strong performance in the preseason opener against the Bengals has him shooting right back up to a unanimous “IN.” Those extra votes are likely coming from the safety positions where—spoiler—everyone now believes both Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph will start on the PUP.
Then there’s Ennis Rakestraw, who we are no longer assuming is in. He’s struggled in training camp and his preseason opener was extremely tough. He ceded several catches and suffered a minor injury against the Bengals. Still, our entire staff believes he’s on the right side of the bubble, likely due to his potential. And he lived up to that promise with an awesome performance during Monday night’s training camp scrimmage (after our votes has been submitted).
Personally, I think the lack of faith in Dorsey is misguided. He’s a key special teamer and even got a little work with the first-team defense in recent practices. But I can understand the hesitation to keep seven cornerbacks.
Safety
- Assumed in: Christian Izien, Avonte Maddox, Chuck Clark
- Thomas Harper: 11 votes (no change)
- Dan Jackson: 1 vote (up 1)
- Brian Branch: 0 votes (down 3)
- Kerby Joseph: 0 votes (no change)
As I mentioned above, we’ve all got Branch and Joseph starting the season on PUP now, which leaves this room relatively straightforward. If Dan Jackson can make some big special teams plays over the next two weeks, though, he could certainly make a case for a fifth safety.