Brad Holmes Raids the UFL Championship Roster Again
The Detroit Lions added two more receivers from the Louisville Kings, the team that won the UFL championship. One of them played at Michigan. The other has bounced around professional football for years and quietly put together a solid spring season. Neither name is going to make you sprint to buy a jersey, but that is not the point.
This is camp depth. This is competition. This is exactly what Brad Holmes does every offseason, and it works more often than it does not.
Tarik Black: The Michigan Connection
Tarik Black spent three years at Michigan before transferring to Texas for his final college season. He went undrafted in 2021 and has spent time on practice squads with the Colts, Jets, Ravens, Steelers, and Dolphins. He has exactly one reception in the NFL.
He had 27 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns for Louisville. Pro Football Focus graded him as the third-highest graded receiver in the UFL.
He is 6-foot-3. He has some red zone appeal. He could be a body worth keeping around on special teams during the regular season if he shows anything in camp. He is not going to beat out Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jameson Williams, but he does not have to. He just has to be better than the last guy on the depth chart.
Lucky Jackson: The Journeyman
Lucky Jackson has been everywhere. Two years in the CFL with the Bombers and Elks. Three years with the Vikings. Two years in the UFL with the Kings and Defenders. He has played in three NFL regular season games total.
He is not fast. He is not big. But he put up 392 yards and two touchdowns for the Kings and he is reliable, which matters when you are fighting for a camp spot.
Jackson is the kind of player who makes it through August on consistency and special teams value. He might not make the final roster, but he will push someone else to be better, and that is the entire reason he is here.
Six UFL Players and Counting
The Lions now have six former UFL players on the roster. Jake Bates. Jacob Saylors. Nick Whiteside. Thomas Gordon. And now Black and Jackson.
Brad Holmes has never been shy about mining alternative leagues for talent. He trusts his evaluation process and he does not care where you played last. If you can help this team, you get a shot.
Will either of these guys make the roster? Maybe. Probably not. But one of them could stick on the practice squad, and one of them could end up being the guy you call up in Week 12 when someone gets hurt. That is how rosters are actually built. Not through headlines, but through depth.
Holmes knows what he is doing. He has earned the benefit of the doubt. And if Tarik Black ends up catching a touchdown at Ford Field in Honolulu Blue, we will all pretend we saw it coming.
Think either of these guys has a real shot at making the roster or is this just warm body season? Let me know in the comments.
