The Late Round Kids Showed Out and Some High Picks Got Humbled
The Lions wrapped up their first preseason game of 2025 against Cincinnati and if you’re keeping score at home, some guys nobody expected just put the entire depth chart on notice. Ahmed Hassanein and Jacob Saylors had the kind of nights that make roster spots feel a lot less secure for other people. Meanwhile, some of the higher picks had performances they’ll want to forget.
Let’s break down who won and who lost Thursday night.
Winners
Ahmed Hassanein, defensive end: This is what a statement game looks like. Hassanein started the night with a sack on Joe Burrow. Just a casual welcome to the preseason moment. Then he added another sack that forced a fumble. The Bengals recovered but a sack-fumble is still a sack-fumble.
He also had a fumble recovery that didn’t count because the Lions challenged it and the play was upheld. On top of that he racked up pressures and tackles all night long.
At training camp this summer Hassanein has been showing up more and more. It’s a big difference from last year, when he played with his hair on fire but maybe needed to get some things under control. Campbell mentioned it earlier this week. But Hassanein has mostly figured it out and the move to big end looks great on him.
He’s not going to start. This is still DJ Wonnum and Derrick Moore’s game. But you’re going to see a lot more of Hassanein than anyone expected coming into camp.
Jacob Saylors, running back: With Isaiah Pacheco out and Sione Vaki out, Saylors had an opportunity to nail down the running back three spot. He got a ton of reps Thursday night and he did not waste them.
Saylors put up 8 carries for 55 yards including a big 27-yard run. He added 23 receiving yards as well. If he had played the whole game he probably would have gone over 100 yards rushing.
Vaki has dealt with injuries over the last two years and even when he gets reps we haven’t seen anything that really blows you away. Coming out of this game I don’t see how Vaki wins this job back. At practice when the Lions run kick return drills you see Greg Dortch back there as the main returner with Saylors right next to him. Detroit clearly plans to have Saylors on this team and the job he did Thursday night may have threatened Vaki’s roster spot entirely.
Skyler Gill-Howard, defensive tackle: You saw this guy everywhere Thursday night. Pressure after pressure after pressure. He never really got home for a sack but he made a really big play in the fourth quarter on a Josh Johnson scramble, showing his closing speed and forcing a punt.
The athleticism is there. The pass rush juice is there. I think Gill-Howard is going to be a big deal at some point. I don’t know if it’s 2026 or 2027 but he showed it Thursday night.
Losers
Isaac TeSlaa, wide receiver: This was a bad showing. There’s really no other way to put it. And it goes on top of what has been a bad summer at training camp.
At OTAs and mandatory minicamp it felt like TeSlaa was going to take a next step forward. The coaching staff felt the same way. Then this summer he’s had trouble creating separation and hasn’t made a whole lot of plays.
It was pretty clear the Lions’ idea for this game was to target TeSlaa early and often, get him some reps and some confidence. His first target went right through his hands, bounced off his helmet, and turned into an interception. He had two other targets. One was a nice catch. The other he dropped.
Bad night on top of a bad few weeks. I’m not saying TeSlaa is in any danger of losing his roster spot because he’s not. But he might be in danger of losing his spot on the depth chart. Greg Dortch didn’t play in this game and he’s showing a lot more this summer in multiple categories on offense and special teams. TeSlaa has got to get it together.
Ennis Rakestraw, cornerback: This one is heartbreaking. His first two seasons were riddled with injuries. In this game he came out and was really showing some stuff with a nice pass breakup early on. Then he went low on a tackle and was walked off with a trainer.
I don’t know what the injury is and I’m not going to speculate on it. The Lions will tell us and we’ll know then. But it looked bad.
It’s been so up and down for Rakestraw this summer. When you look at Khalil Dorsey it’s hard to put Rakestraw over him at this point. It’s another rough chapter for the 2024 draft class. Luckily the injury was not a serious one. Still it’s another issue for him.
Miles Frazier, offensive lineman: Frazier has been fighting for the starting left guard spot this summer and he came out and picked up three holding penalties in this game. The third one wiped out a beautiful 20-yard screen that converted a third-and-19 for Tom Kennedy.
You can’t win a starting offensive line job if you’re getting called for holding three times in a preseason game. I’m not saying Frazier is in danger of losing his spot on this team because the Lions clearly see something in him and he’s looked pretty good this summer. But Mahogany may have already won this job and Thursday night was just another thing pointing in that direction.
Dominic Lovett, wide receiver: The Lions keep giving Lovett chances. They want this kid to succeed. Lovett got targeted four times Thursday and dropped three of those passes. He had the same problem last summer in the preseason. He gets open. There’s no disputing that. But he has trouble bringing the ball in.
I don’t think the Lions are going to cut ties entirely. At this point he might be a practice squad guy while he works on the drops and then Detroit tries again in 2027.
So did Saylors just bench Vaki for good or is there still a path back for him? Drop your take below.
