Lions Elevate Veteran Wideout to Roster From Practice Squad

Mohamed Sanu

Getty Mohamed Sanu gestures with the Patriots.

The Detroit Lions are seeing some depth issues at wide receiver and along their defensive line, so they made a move to help that on Saturday afternoon.

Detroit elevated defensive tackle Frank Herron and wideout Mohamed Sanu to the roster ahead of Week 11’s tilt in Carolina. The Lions have had both players on the practice squad for a while, and now they will get their chance to bump things up in real competition.

The Lions lost defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand and defensive end Austin Bryant for this week on a lengthy injury report, which was tough news but the hope is Herron can step up. On offense, Detroit will be down Danny Amendola and Kenny Golladay this week so they will be looking to recoup some production there from Sanu as he gets into the offense.

Mohamed Sanu 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. 3 option for the Lions the rest of the 2020 season depending on what happens with Golladay moving forward and injuries to others. Before this elevation, the only question was how quickly he could get himself into the playbook and into the mix.

Lions Wide Receiver Depth Tested

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 1-3 when Golladay is on the sidelines injured but won their most recent game with production, 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 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 and others are completely healthy.

Now, he comes to the team to see what he can do.

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