Early Detroit Lions Training Camp Takeaways

John Maakaron of All Lions explores takeaways from Week 1 of Detroit Lions 2023 NFL training camp.

Transcript

00:00 John, simply what are your early training camp impressions for the Detroit Lions?

00:03 Yeah, first couple days of training camp, real interesting. Enjoying getting a chance to look at

00:09 different camp battles, the rookies, Jared Goff, the quarterbacks, Dan Campbell,

00:16 managing a roster that has elevated expectations. A lot of great opportunity to go down to Allen

00:21 Park and have an in-depth look at what's going on with the Detroit Lions. And I'm really interested

00:26 in, at first, the rookies. I think that Jameer Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam Laporta,

00:30 and especially Brian Branch have really put in the work this spring and are poised to really make an

00:36 impact. I think the rookie so far that has made the biggest impression is Brian Branch, a player

00:42 that I think is going to be a physical football player. The true definition of what Aaron Glenn

00:47 likes in a defensive back. Smart, agile, knows what he needs to do, knows where he needs to be,

00:52 and potentially could lay the lumber if needed. And I think that Brian Branch, if a veteran goes

00:59 down, could step in and really make plays early on in his career. Jack Campbell is going to take

01:05 time, I believe, to acclimate to just a really tough position. Vito, playing linebacker is not

01:10 easy in the National Football League. So even though he might not earn the starter's job,

01:15 I do think he'll acclimate and grow quickly behind Derek Barnes and Alex Ancelone. He'll play his

01:20 fair share and he's definitely somebody to watch all throughout training camp as he gets better

01:26 week by week. You got to remember this is still week one. And obviously everybody's looking at

01:29 Jared Goff and Jamison Williams. Still through the first couple days, I think it's been a slow start

01:35 to training camp for Jamison Williams. Maybe tweaked something on day two, kind of a nagging

01:40 situation that happened after an end-around run. Kind of we'll get more of an update regarding his

01:45 situation, but he didn't return on Monday on day two. I just think that in terms of what everybody's

01:51 expecting for him to hit a home run out of the gate, just hasn't happened just yet. Hopefully

01:56 he gets back on the field very quickly and can contribute. Jared Goff looks professional,

02:00 is working in, working with a new wideout in Denzel Mims, has great connection with Aman Rah

02:05 St. Brown, has a great connection with Khalif Raymond. And now to see young rookies like Antoine

02:12 Green get in the mix, I think it's been a real interesting look at the Detroit Lions offense.

02:17 And on defense, you're looking at the secondary just trying to acclimate, know where they need

02:21 to be. And I've been impressed with Cam Sutton. He's a true pro who understands exactly where he

02:26 needs to be, puts in the work, and is a veteran that I think is going to have a real solid,

02:32 productive 2023 season. So early on in training camp, it's all about acclimating through the

02:38 first four days, getting ready for when pads come on later on in training camp. And boy,

02:43 it's going to be an exciting time. Everybody's excited when the pads come on because that's

02:47 when real football starts. Should be fun to watch, John. John, thanks for all the time.