Every week during the regular season Tim Twentyman will answer 10 good questions from his X account @ttwentyman in a feature we call "10 Questions with Twentyman."
20man: Detroit has some depth in the secondary, but I would expect any trade involving a pass rusher before the Nov. 5 trade deadline to more likely revolve around draft capital.
I think the Lions will get help off the edge, but I'm not convinced it will be a blockbuster deal involving a big name with high draft picks involved. I could see it being someone with some versatility who fits the scheme and the culture and still allows Holmes to hang on to his high draft picks.
20man: If you haven't seen or listened to my podcast from a couple weeks ago when I had Amik Robertson on it's worth the listen. He's great.
I think he's been a good addition in the slot bringing a toughness and swagger to Detroit's defense. It's allowed Brian Branch to move full-time to safety and he's playing at a Pro Bowl level there.
In six games, Robertson's allowed 19 receptions for 210 yards and he gave up the first touchdown in his coverage area this year last week to Justin Jefferson.
"He's really been a good fit for us, and I kind of mentioned this the other day in the game, we get in there in nickel, between (Carlton Davis III) CD and (Terrion Arnold) TA and Amik, those guys are – they're giving some receivers fits right now," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said this week when asked about Robertson. "So, I like where he's at, and he's gotten better every week."
20man: Look no further than last week's game in Minnesota. Jameson Williams caught one pass for minus-four yards in the win over Minnesota and Detroit still scored 31 points and had 391 yards of total offense. Tim Patrick, who is really emerging as a reliable weapon for Jared Goff, had a couple catches. Kalif Raymond stepped up and caught three passes including a 21-yard touchdown.
The offense is still going through the running game and Amon-Ra St. Brown, but Goff has a ton of confidence in all the other skill weapons.
20man: I get this one every week and I'm starting to think it's nervous fantasy football managers. I think this week will be really interesting for Sam LaPorta with Williams not playing. The emergence of Williams early on this year has dipped into LaPorta's targets some.
Last year when Williams missed the first four games of the season, LaPorta was targeted 27 times and caught 22 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. LaPorta's been quiet to start this season with 17 targets and 14 receptions for 224 yards and one score. I think without Williams he becomes a bigger part of the production for the offense the next two weeks.
20man: DJ Reader's been pretty good. He's playing 44 percent of the defensive snaps as part of the interior rotation along Detroit's defensive front. He takes on a lot of double teams and that allows the linebackers behind him to play downhill and make plays, which doesn't show up on the stat sheet for Reader.
He's got a sack and eight total pressures, but more importantly, Detroit's fifth in the league defensively against the run and that's the number Reader was brought here to help maintain.
20man: The Lions have really done a nice job maintaining the cap and leaving some wiggle room but also locking up the core players long-term with extensions.
The Lions still have more than $26 million in cap space this season, according to overthecap.com, which is currently fourth most in the NFL. Even with some of the big extensions that will kick into effect next year, the Lions are projected to be in the top 10 in cap space available next season with the cap projected to continue to rise. They could start to feel some effects in 2026 and beyond depending on rise of the cap and rollover they have from the previous season.
That's a lot of words to give a simple answer of yes, the team is in a good spot cap-wise to take on some salary via a trade if they decide to do so this season.
20man: Detroit's built some nice depth upfront and they feel good about plugging in Kayode Awosika when they need to. He had a little bit of a rough start in Minnesota with the penalties and sack allowed, but he settled in just fine. In two starts he's allowed one sack and five total pressures. Not bad.
Campbell and GM Brad Holmes will always view the offensive line as a priority. They will spend money and draft resources maintaining and improving it. I expect them to always have multiple options both veterans and young guys to promote competition.
It will be interesting to see what the team decides to do with Christian Mahogany next week when his 21-day return to play practice window is up. Could he work himself into the backup mix too? I guess what I'm trying to say is they will never leave themselves without an option upfront they feel really good about and meets the standard they've set for themselves along the offensive line.
20man: That hamstring injury Ennis Rakestraw Jr. suffered earlier in the year really set him back. He was going to see some reps in the nickel before the injury. Now Robertson has kind of locked down that spot.
Rakestraw's played 21 snaps on defense, mostly in the fourth quarter in Dallas, and has allowed two catches for 19 yards.
The rookie is making a contribution on special teams but there's going to be a time this year when he's got to step in and play some meaningful reps on defense and the hope is he's paid attention to Davis, Arnold and Robertson, learning from them and continuing to develop every week so he's ready when the opportunity comes. He's part of the depth the Lions really like in their secondary right now.
20man: That was right before my time. You are referencing the 2008 game when Johnson had 125 yards and two touchdowns and White had 106 and a score in a blowout win for the Titans. I started covering the team in 2009 for The Detroit News and joined the franchise in 2011 as Senior Writer.
The Titans are a run-first offense and Pollard has 400 rushing yards (4.3 average) and three touchdowns on the year, but the Lions are allowing on average just 92.5 rushing yards per contest, which ranks fifth best in the NFL.
Tennessee is expected to start backup quarterback Mason Rudolph Sunday in Detroit and I'd be very shocked if Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn doesn't emphasize containing the run even more than he does every week to make Rudolph have to beat him with the league's 32nd ranked passing offense (145.8).
20man: David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs are 1A and 1B in Detroit and if needed Craig Reynolds has been the first off the bench. Sione Vaki has just eight snaps on offense all year. He is making his mark as a core special teamer, which was the plan when they drafted him, and he's been good in that role. I think we'll only see Vaki in an extended role on offense in an emergency situation.
