Detroit Lions list Tommy Kraemer as starting right guard against Eagles

 

Updated: Sep. 06, 2022, 1:37 p.m.|

Published: Sep. 06, 2022, 1:33 p.m.

Detroit Lions offensive guard Tommy Kraemer (78) plays against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Don Wright)AP

 

By Kyle Meinke | kmeinke@mlive.com

 

ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions have listed Tommy Kraemer as their starting right guard for the season opener on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. He beat out Logan Stenberg for the job, on paper at least.

The job opened up this week when Halapoulivaati Vaitai was moved to injured reserve. The injury is a blow for an offensive front that has been dealing with huge expectations going back to last season, although left tackle Taylor Decker suffered a long-term injury just days before that opener, Frank Ragnow suffered a season-ender before Decker returned and the starting five never did play a snap together.

A year later, days before the opener, deja vu.

But one silver lining to all the injuries is a lot of backups have acquired a lot of experience heading into the 2022 season. In Kraemer’s case, he wound up starting three games as an undrafted rookie last year, and played 238 offensive snaps overall. He played pretty well too, allowing no sacks and just two hits on 125 pass blocks according to ProFootballFocus.

“One of the benefits of having some of the injuries we had is that Evan Brown gets a load, (Matt) Nelson gets a load, Kraemer gets a load,” head coach Dan Campbell said the other day. “Now you’re seeing those guys, they’re better players this year than they were last year because they have a lot of experience under their belt, a lot more for sure. You’ve got to have depth in this league to survive, so that’s pretty good.”

Now before the season has even kicked off, Detroit is already leaning on that depth once again.

Elsewhere on the depth chart, the Lions have listed Chris Board ahead of rookie Malcolm Rodriguez at linebacker (a helpful reminder these things are very unofficial) and Kalif Raymond is the starting kick/punt returner. Here’s a look at the rest of it.

OFFENSE

WR: DJ Chark, Quintez Cephus

TE: T.J. Hockenson, Brock Wright, Shane Zylstra

LT: Taylor Decker

LG: Jonah Jackson, Drew Forbes

C: Frank Ragnow, Evan Brown

RG: Tommy Kraemer, Logan Stenberg

RT: Penei Sewell, Matt Nelson

WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond

WR: Josh Reynolds

QB: Jared Goff, Nate Sudfeld

RB: D’Andre Swift, Jamaal Williams, Craig Reynolds

DEFENSE

EDGE: Aidan Hutchinson, John Cominsky, Julian Okwara

DL: Michael Brockers, Levi Onwuzurike, Demetrius Taylor

DL: Alim McNeill, Isaiah Buggs, Benito Jones

EDGE: Charles Harris, Austin Bryant

LB: Chris Board, Malcolm Rodriguez, Josh Woods

LB: Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes

CB: Amani Oruwariye, Bobby Price

CB: Jeff Okudah, Will Harris

SLOT: Mike Hughes, Chase Lucas

S: Tracy Walker, Ifeatu Melifonwu, Kerby Joseph

S: DeShon Elliott, JuJu Hughes

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Austin Seibert

H: Jack Fox

P: Jack Fox

LS: Scott Daly

PR: Kalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown

KR: Kalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown

 

Detroit Lions Week 15 rookie review: Rookies step up as Lions dominate

Examining how the Lions 2021 rookie class performed in Week 15

By Morgan Cannon@MCannon313  Dec 21, 2021, 7:00am EST  

12 Comments

 

Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Let’s take a closer look at how the Detroit Lions 2021 draft class fared in their 30-12 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15.

Penei Sewell, OL

Snap counts: 65 (100%)

I have said this for several weeks now but man, it really seems like Sewell is hitting his stride.

Earlier in the season, certain pass rushers who brought a lot of speed and bend off the edge were giving Sewell problems. After several weeks and seeing a lot of these moves for the first time, the rookie tackle out of Oregon is making the necessary adjustments.

Sewell entered the league lauded as one of the better tackle prospects in some time. He has always been freaky fast for someone that big and strong. The finer details, like hand placement on his initial punch, are going to continue to get better with time.

Levi Onwuzurike, DL

Snap counts: 26 (35%) — 2 (8%)

With the Lions getting out to an early lead, the Cardinals were forced to abandon the run and throw more often than they’d like to. This led to fewer snaps to go around among the interior defensive line group.

Onwuzurike made one stop during his 26 defensive snaps.

Alim McNeill, DL

Snap counts: 17 (23%)

Similar story for McNeill. The rookie defensive tackle out of North Carolina State had one tackle during his time on the field.

Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB

Snap counts: 5 (7%) — 3 (12%)

It’s clear at this point that the coaching staff wants to take their time in easing Melifonwu back into the fold, but his limited snaps this week may be due to not practicing all week while on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Melifonwu entered the league as a raw, but intriguing prospect, with a lot of upside and potential to play several positions.

Even if he isn’t getting a ton of live reps on Sunday just yet, these weeks on the active roster are really valuable for a player like Melifonwu, who spent a significant amount of time sidelined with a thigh injury earlier in the year.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR

Snap counts: 45 (69%) — 4 (16%)

26 catches, 249 yards, and two touchdowns.

Those are the numbers St. Brown has put up in the last three weeks—including another technician-like performance against the Cardinals, finishing with 90 yards on eight catches, and a touchdown.

After taking some time to earn the trust of quarterback Jared Goff, St. Brown is quickly becoming the quarterback’s favorite target. And with key contributors like D’Andre Swift and T.J. Hockeson missing extended time due to injury, St. Brown’s timing couldn’t be better.

Derrick Barnes, LB

Snap counts: 47 (63%) — 13 (52%)

Barnes’ physical gifts are undeniable. He can really fly sideline to sideline, and once he diagnoses what is happening in front of him, he can get downhill in a hurry. The trouble is, it is still taking him a little too long to read his keys, causing him to be a step slow in getting where he needs to be on a run fit, or in his drops.

In college, you can get away with some of those things when you can run like Barnes can run. In the NFL? Completely different story.

It’s still really early in Barnes’ development and I think it’s important to remember, players develop at different speeds. People tend to forget Darius Slay had a rough couple of years prior to figuring things out in his third year as a pro.

During his 47 defensive snaps, Barnes notched five total tackles.

Jermar Jefferson, RB

Snap counts: 6 (9%)

Unsure if this was more due to Jefferson still nursing an ankle injury, or the Lions riding the hot hand of running back Craig Reynolds. Likely a combination of both. Of his six snaps, Jefferson carried the ball five times for a total of nine yards.

AJ Parker, CB

Snap counts: 68 (91%) — 2 (8%)

Parker had a few hiccups in coverage during his first return to action since coming off of the injured reserve last week, but he also made his fair share of plays too - finishing with six tackles and two PBU’s.

With so much turnover at the corner position this year, getting Parker back is bigger than it seems at a glance.

Brock Wright, TE

Snap counts: 49 (75%) — 12 (48%)

Wright had a rough day against Arizona, particularly when it came to drive ending penalties. In the third quarter when he was penalized for holding, and again on fourth down, when he committed a false start.

I know we are only weeks into Wright’s professional career, and he has even more on his plate now with Hockenson being out, but the Lions are going to need better play from this unit over the next three weeks. If nothing else, fewer mental errors would be a start.

Shane Zylstra, TE

Snap counts: 29 (45%) — 4 (16%)

Another UDFA rookie learning on the fly, Zylstra caught the one pass thrown his way for 16 yards, and saw plenty of action when the Lions had multiple tight ends on the field.

Tommy Kraemer, OL

Snap counts: 65 (100%) — 6 (24%)

With Jonah Jackson unable to play due to a back injury, Kramer took over the starting left guard role. Kraemer had only stated one time at left guard in college and had never played that position before in the NFL, and all things considered, he played well.

Both Kraemer, and center Evan Brown have proven themselves to be more than capable backups on the interior offensive line.

Ryan McCollum, OL

Snap counts: 0 (0%) — 6 (24%)

With Brown returning from the reserve/COVID list, McCollum was relegated to special teams duty.

Brady Breeze, S

Snap counts: 14 (19%) — 13 (52%)

After being claimed off of the Tennessee Titans practice squad, Breeze was immediately thrown into the fray against the Cardinals. The sixth-round pick out of Oregon totaled three tackles when the Lions opted for three safety looks late in the game.

Riley Patterson, K

Snap counts: 6 (24%)

Patterson continues to be dependable in the kicking game, finishing 3/3 on extra points and hitting all three of his field goal attempts, including a 47 yarder.

Other rookies of note: CB Mark Gilbert was placed on reserve/COVID and CB Jerry Jacobs was placed on IR with a knee injury.

Detroit Lions sign practice squad OL Tommy Kraemer, Will Holden elevated to active roster

 

The Decker move to IR is official, Kraemer signed in a corresponding move.

By Erik Schlitt@erikschlitt  
Sep 11, 2021, 4:00pm EDT  

Junfu Han via Imagn Content Services, LLC

 

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported earlier today that the Detroit Lions were placing left tackle Taylor Decker on injured reserve and the team has now officially confirmed the news. In a corresponding move, the Lions have signed rookie offensive lineman Tommy Kraemer from the practice squad to the active roster.

In addition, the team announced they have elevated newly signed offensive tackle Will Holden from the practice squad to the active roster for Week 1, and re-signed WR Javon McKinley to the practice squad spot vacated by Kraemer.

Kraemer has played exclusively on the interior offensive line since he signed as a UDFA but he did start a season at right tackle at Notre Dame, so he brings a bit of positional range. More than likely, he will be used as depth on the interior, but the Lions are getting awfully thin at offensive tackle.

With Decker on IR, the Lions have just Penei Sewell and Matt Nelson as true tackles, though Halapoulivaati Vaitai has experience playing at both tackle spots and figures to be an option before Kraemer—who likely sits as a fourth option (at best) over the next few weeks.

In addition to his value as a player, Kraemer also brings the Lions roster back up to eight offensive linemen. This is significant because on game days if the Lions have eight active offensive linemen they qualify for an NFL rule that allows them to expand their game day roster from 46 to 48 players.

Holden’s promotion to the active roster for this week’s game also helps the Lions meet this requirement, as well as gives them more immediate tackle depth. He will give the Lions some roster flexibility if they need to make an offensive lineman inactive on Sunday. Holden’s stay on the roster will be short-lived though because after the game he will revert back to the Lions practice squad, per the league's practice squad elevation rule.