Tim Kennedy - why I think he played so much

He does play special teams. Not only does he not suck, he scared Indy enough that they double teamed him…and he still made plays.
Kennedy is a Lion. They can’t justify letting him go. Even if they wanted to.
He’s multiple.
He’s reliable.
He’s available.

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I was trying to come up with a wise ass comment about Tim Kennedy the MMA fighter and kneecap DC.

On a serious note wouldn’t it be typical for the Lions to spend 3 seasons developing a prospect and just when he starts getting good we cut him. Only to have him sign with GB and be their leading WR. Throwing a TD pass to beat the Lions in OT to win the division?

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Always trying my best to be open minded (hence this post!) and reading all of the glorious responses….

If the coaches see him as a decent contributor to STs…. Then I could see him making it….

Looking forward to this last preseason game and watching to see him ball on STs!!

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Every situation is different. But I feel like Kennedy is doing good in practice but they still aren’t sure if he can really play in games or not. So i think they are giving him game reps while also easing their mind that he can do it.

Watch the last two post game pressers.
“All he does is make plays. That’s all he does is make plays. All he does is make plays.” DC
“He’s reliable. He just makes plays. He won’t go away. He’s Mr Reliable.” DC

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I’m liking TK over Benson as well. But it would be nice if we could stash benson on the PS and continue developing him. I liked how he looked in preseason game 2.

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Kennedy is an interesting situation to be sure.

Shout out to a poster who posted some measurables for Kennedy, Welker, Amendola, and Edelman.

Kennedy compares favorably. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

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That’s a really good thought… if he’s a slot guy he’s buried behind St Brown and Raymond… and he probably could play outside but maybe not ideal.

I’m really curious to see (like we all are) who they decide to keep at WR. I think one guy gets added extra and cut mid season…

I really am torn between kennedy, Benson, Cephus and now Alexander.

Cephus I like because he’s not like our other WRs and adds a different skill set… Alexander really showed out although it’s was one game.

Who knows what the coaches are seeing in practice. But I am confident in two things - whoever gets cut will most likely get picked up, and whoever gets cut and picked up is not going to suddenly become Jerry rice on another team.

So like you said, maybe they are just giving him as much tape as possible. It’s hard to tell why guys playing deep in the 4th of preseason are getting the time - to make the roster or put out tape, or just to get reps

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Watch how they are used in games to answer that. Guys who are used early and often are also practicing the best.

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True, but by all accounts Bryant was practicing well and played almost the whole game.

Cephus being left out, even though he practiced all week, could be seen as he’s making the roster or you have no chance, or somewhere in between.

In retrospect I remember watching the preseason games under Patricia… and it was always pretty obvious who they were gonna cut because they played a ton in the 4th. But that was in hindsight when at the time I thought they were gonna make it. But that was them. So I don’t know what to make of the rep counts

So, here’s a question and just wondering your opinion - yesterday they put Igwebuke in for a goal line TD, which he got. But before that I think it was Jackson who got the rush? And he gained decent yardage but didn’t get a touchdown.

What do you think of that? I thought that was kind of weird in a way because why not give a guy the chance to finish off the drive, but they were obviously looking for something else

That’s the tough call to make. He shows out vs backups but disappears vs starters that are much more athletic.

Kennedy makes an interesting case for the roster. I feel like he can do everything least as well as Raymond outside of deep speed, but Raymond struggles to get open. Getting open consistently is more valuable to Goff than occasionally getting open deep. Goff is a very precise thrower, not a gunslinger like Stafford. In that sense I feel like Kennedy would be more valuable to the offense on a drive by drive basis. However, we really haven’t seen him do much against roster DBs. That may not be a problem when the Lions have Sun God, Reynolds, and Chark occupying the opponents top defenders. If one or two of them go down though, now Kennedy might not be facing someone who is also a bubble player. That’s a major consideration in a 17 game season where you know the odds of our top 3 receivers playing every game is slim.

Kennedy is a young guy. He has a lot to improve upon, but then he’s not a finished project. Getting 10-20 snaps at receiver in addition to his ST snaps could let him prove that he belongs on a Day 1 roster. Will the staff see his potential as enough to pass up a more experienced player like Raymond or a more physically talented player like Benson? Personally, I’d keep Kennedy over Benson if it came down to one or the other. Giving him Raymond’s spot would be tough though. And that’s not even considering if the Lions think another bubble player like Funchess has more to offer.

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Igwebuike was the primary RB on that drive with 6 carries for 15 yards. Jackson’s 2 yard rush was his only carry. I counted 4 plays for Jackson and 13 plays for Igwebuike.

Igwebuike for 3 on the first play

Next play Iwebuike stones a LB on a 11 yard pass to Benson
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3rd and 6 from the 41 Igwebuike picks up a blitzing LB, 15 yard pass to Benson

Igwebuike finds the hole for a TD. He was supposed to hit the A gap but it was clogged so he jumped to the B gap

Correction, I think that was the C gap. Looks like the T moved into the B gap.

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those blitz pick-ups probably got him the TD chance!

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Well I think top 4 are Chark, Reynolds, St.Brown and Raymond - I believe they are locks. In about 8 weeks Jamo goes active which means somebody else gets cut.

That leaves 2 slots now and 1 when Jamo comes back. Kennedy is a problem because he is redundant at the slot (with St Brown and Raymond) neither of which he will replace unless they are injured.
Cephus brings a different style of play that is useful but not seeing playing time is really hurting him. The pre-season game at Pittsburgh could be his last chance make the cut. He better look lights out.
Benson has looked better and better and offers game breaking traits to go along with Chark and Jamo. I could see them carrying him until Jamo comes back and then trying to move him to practice squad.
Alexander creates another problem. If he looks really good in the return game against Pittsburg then they may try to keep him active. That would mean Kennedy and Cephus would get cut assuming they keep Benson.
So I don’’ think it is settled until after next pre-season game. Cephus needs to play and play really well or I think he is cut (I really like him but everything else being fairly equal then you have to factor in availability). If Alexander lights it up against another teams ST’s then he will be hard to cut. It could be possible they cut another RB and keep him as Igwebuke’s ST replacement. They could keep Kennedy or Cephus then. I would not be surprised to see an attempt to trade Kennedy or Cephus. I am not sure any of Benson, Cephus or Kennedy clear waivers. It sucks for Kennedy but he is number 3 behind St. Brown and Raymond for slot snaps. He does qualify for the PS but he needs 4 years to not have to clear waivers I believe.
I think they try to keep Kennedy and Benson active and stash Cephus on the PS. I think Alexander makes it as the return guy and Igwebuke gets moved to PS. Cabinda goes on IR leaving them room for 4 RB’s. That gives them till Jamo comes back and we could have other injuries by then.

Really tough roster decisions ahead for this staff.

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And look at the pad level!

His 2 TDs were against Tony Brown and Chris Wilcox.


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I don’t know. Cephus has plenty of game tape over the last couple years to be fairly evaluated on. If he were a rookie I’d say he needs to play but I’m sure they know exactly who he is and what he brings.

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