Lions Predicted to Cut Ties With WR Described as ‘Smooth as Churned Butter’
The Detroit Lions have plenty of talent in their wide receiver room, which could make this week’s final cuts a difficult decision — and could leave one 2025 draft pick on the outside looking in.
Reporter Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire predicted that the team would keep a relatively deep receiving corps, rostering six players with some fierce competition for the final spot. He predicted that rookie wideout Dominic Lovett would ultimately fall below the cut line despite some strong performances in training camp and the preseason.
Dominic Lovett Just Misses Out
Risdon predicted that undrafted rookie Jackson Meeks would push out Lovett, the seventh-round draft pick.
“I went with six [wide receivers], and with the undrafted rookie Meeks over seventh-round rookie Dominic Lovett,” Risdon wrote. “The primary reason is, it’s a lot easier to find a 5-10/180-pound speedy guy than a 6-2/215-pounder who plays just as fast and has more reliable hands. The Lions could certainly keep Lovett over Meeks, or both of them, and I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.”
The Lions could have difficulty getting Lovett through to the practice squad. Though he fell to the seventh round of the draft, the Georgia wide receiver earned some buzz coming out of college. Lovett’s NFL.com pre-draft analysis predicted he would grow into an average NFL starter, a rarity for so late in the draft.
“Lovett is as smooth as churned butter with an effortless glide and easy transitions inside his route,” wrote NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein. “He’s a slender slot who can slip by press but has trouble dealing with physical coverage at times. A heavy percentage of his targets came within a few yards of the line of scrimmage, but he’s capable of expanding his sphere of influence as a pass catcher. He runs routes with consistent tempo and speed but appears to have access to a second gear he should use more often.”
Jackson Meeks Could Earn Surprise Role
Meeks is a strong find for the Lions as well. He led the ACC in receiving in 2024, making 78 receptions for 1,021 yards with seven touchdowns in his final season at Syracuse.
Meeks has performed well in the preseason, with Lions reporter Al Karsten noting that he is in rare company.
“Lions WR Jackson Meeks, along with Ja’Marr Chase, is one of five WRs this preseason with a perfect 158.3 passer rating when targeted (min. 5 targets). Not bad for a UDFA rookie who led the nation with 21 contested catches last season,” Karsten wrote in a post on X.
But some analysts see the situation flipped. SI.com’s Christian Booher predicted it would be Jackson falling just below the cut line while Lovett grabbed the final roster spot thanks to his special teams contributions.
“Meeks made an intriguing case, but I believe that Lovett ultimately offers more on special teams,” Booher wrote. “He could potentially wind up being a Kalif Raymond replacement in the coming years, and stashing him for special teams reasons could pay dividends in the coming years.”
The Lions seem poised to keep a deeper wide receiver room than last year, when they had just four receivers on the initial 53-man roster.
