Getty Mohamed Sanu before Super Bowl LI.
The Detroit Lions are hunting for some wide receiver depth, and found it in the form of Mohamed Sanu on Friday afternoon.
Detroit revealed they were signing Sanu to the practice squad early in the day. The move could allow the Lions to elevate the big bodied wideout to the roster in time for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, although it would be tough to say how much he would be able to do after just being on the team’s radar this week.
The #Lions have signed WR Mohamed Sanu to the practice squad.
Sanu’s entry to the team comes just as Kenny Golladay continues to fight injury. The wideout is unlikely to play this week and could be a bet to miss more games in the future as he gets monitored for his hip injury.
Nobody would expect Sanu to be a huge difference maker for the Lions, but it’s possible he can give the team some quality snaps and the potential for production given his track record in the NFL once he learns the playbook.
Mohamed Sanu Career Stats
A 31 year old veteran in the league, Sanu has been productive during his stay after being a 3rd round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012. He stayed with the Bengals for 4 seasons before signing with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. Sanu helped the Falcons to the Super Bowl that year and had 25 yards in the game, but was traded in 2019 to the New England Patriots for a 2nd round pick. He was released this offseason, then signed by the 49ers. They kept Sanu for a month before releasing him in early October. Since, he’s been making the workout rounds, but nobody has taken a chance on him for their team to this point until Detroit did.
In Detroit, Sanu would figure to be a solid No. 2 option for the Lions the rest of the 2020 season depending on what happens with Golladay moving forward. At this point, the only question now is how quickly he can get himself into the playbook and into the mix.
Lions Wide Receiver Depth
Minus Golladay on the roster both now and moving forward in the near future, someone else is going to have to step up for the Lions if they want their offense to have a chance at leading them in the second half of a critical season. Detroit is 0-3 when Golladay is on the sidelines injured including a loss in their most recent game, so something is going to have to change. Obviously, Marvin Jones is capable of playing a key role for the team as the lead dog, but behind him someone is going to step up. The pressure will be on Danny Amendola, Marvin Hall and perhaps others like rookie Quintez Cephus tight end T.J. Hockenson to step up and deliver some results.
A player like Sanu now enters the mix and gives the Lions a stable veteran presence to rely on for the future to give them some production. His elite days might be behind him, but there’s no reason that Sanu couldn’t give the Lions the depth they needed to tide the roster over until Golladay was completely healthy.
Now, he’s on the practice squad to help in that goal.
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