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The Detroit Lions finally have some depth along their defensive line, and apparently, that depth is making players expendable.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Lions revealed they were releasing defensive lineman John Atkins. Atkins had cracked the roster a few years back out of training camp and had been one of the better stories on the team since that point. He opted out last season
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As was pointed out in the immediate aftermath of the move, the Lions do have an empty roster spot. Is that for a Todd Gurley signing? It’s more than possible given the interest that the team has recently shown in the veteran running back.
Either way, Atkins is now heading out of town.
Atkins Stats and Highlights
Since joining the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia in 2018, Atkins wasted little time moving to Detroit. He stuck on the roster, and has put up a total of 22 tackles in his career. Coming into this season, it seemed Atkins was going to be on the bubble to stick around, and now that he has been released, that looks to have been proven true.
Here’s a look at some of his college highlights out of Georgia:
Obviously, there is still a lot of good football this prospect has left to be played, so it will be interesting to see if any other team in the league will give him a shot after he has left the Lions.
Lions Defensive Line Suddenly Deep
If there was a spot on the Detroit roster that should have been primed for some sort of upgrade, it was the defensive line. The Lions lacked depth in the middle, but adding Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill will help that in a big way. The deeper the Lions get in the middle of the line, the better off they will be in terms of getting better presence on the outside as well as depth. Now that the team has made additions, more players could soon be shuffled out.
If Onwuzurike was to be able to become a star, that would be a huge development for the Lions and their defensive line depth up front. Already, the depth has been upgraded, which is good to know ahead of a season in which the Lions have to get tougher up front on defense for a complete turnaround.
Without Joel Heath, the group’s depth took a bit more of a blow heading into the offseason, but the Lions signed Brian Price this week, who could fill in for the team in the time being. He probably has a long way to go to make the roster, but he does have some NFL experience to rely on which is great for the Lions.
Now that Atkins is gone, an opportunity may have been opened up for another player to crack the roster.
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