@mikerothstein Given Burton's size and background, safe to say Lions got another "OT" w/ him, for this Offense to flourish? #LionsMailbag
— Steve (@smballoons) May 10, 2015@mikerothstein: I would not classify Michael Burton, the team's fifth-round draft pick at fullback, as another offensive tackle. While it is highly likely he puts on weight and/or muscle between now and the start of training camp, expect him to look more and more like Jed Collins, not an offensive tackle. Burton may be a good blocker -- we'll get a better feel of his actual skill set once OTAs begin -- but at only 6 feet tall, he's never going to turn into an offensive lineman or even a hybrid tight end. He's a fullback. He was drafted for that role and expect him to stay there.
@mikerothstein After seeing the Fowler and Heurmann injuries, just let us know everyone made it out okay! #LionsMailbag
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) May 10, 2015@mikerothstein: Asked Jim Caldwell about this Sunday -- we're not allowed to watch full rookie minicamp practices -- and he said Detroit had no significant injuries coming out of rookie minicamp this weekend. Initially, Caldwell was not going to say anything, but then indicated the Lions were fine in that area.
@mikerothstein I was bit surprised the Lions wait until 4th round to take DT. Your opinion? #LionsMailbag
— Daisuke Suzuki (@daisuke_110) May 10, 2015@mikerothstein: Wrote this last weekend during the draft, but I was pretty surprised to see the Lions go without a defensive tackle until the final day of the draft. It was similar in many ways to the 2014 draft, when the Lions waited until the third day to take a cornerback. After watching Gabe Wright for a few days, though, he appears to have been a pretty strong find in the fourth round. He'll be a rotational tackle to start off, but he has some explosiveness and considers himself a pass-rusher. Detroit needs both of those things in the middle of the defensive line after losing Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and C.J. Mosley.
@mikerothstein Besides Tomlinson and Abdullah, which rookie do you see being a solid contributor this season? #LionsMailbag
— Joe Friedli (@joefriedli) May 9, 2015@mikerothstein: The easy answer is fullback Michael Burton. He's going to make the club and barring something unforeseen, he's going to be the team's starting fullback. So expect him to have a role in the offense and on special teams. I'm pretty high on former Texas corner Quandre Diggs. He has experience in the slot with the Longhorns. He has the pedigree as Quentin Jammer's younger brother and he's a very smart player. While he's a small player, he plays a lot bigger than his size. I think he's going to surprise some people.
@mikerothstein Ways to go yet but, any sense of projected starters along the D-line? Ziggy, Ngata, Jones...Wright? Walker?? #LionsMailbag
— Max Kurek (@maxkurek) May 8, 2015@mikerothstein: A long way to go, but the quick projection would be Ezekiel Ansah and Jason Jones at the ends and Haloti Ngata and Tyrunn Walker at tackle. Gabe Wright and Caraun Reid would be in the rotation at tackle with Darryl Tapp, Larry Webster and Devin Taylor in the end rotation.
Mike from Facebook asks: With Zach Zenner picked up as an undrafted free agent, could this push Theo Riddick down the depth charts? As I see it, Detroit has the same problem with Riddick that Notre Dame had. He is not fast enough to be a WR and not a good enough runner to be a RB. He fills a very small/limited role. This is, of course, based on Zach making the team. He is the rookie I am following the most currently.
Rothstein: It'll be interesting to see how this plays out, but I would think the Ameer Abdullah draft pick would do more to harm Riddick's snap numbers than Zenner potentially making the club. Zenner likely will be in competition with George Winn for the fourth running back slot, and while Zenner didn't work out at fullback during the team's rookie minicamp, he has the size to fill in there if needed. That could make him valuable to Detroit. Zenner, to me, would be more like Joique Bell than Riddick, but I wouldn't expect him to be stealing carries from Bell at all. Bell and Abdullah are pretty strong locks to have the majority of Detroit's carries in 2015.
