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: Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold.
The expectation is Arnold will start opposite Carlton Davis III, and everything I've seen through training camp makes me believe the rookie is ready for the moment. He certainly doesn't lack confidence for a youngster and that's key for playing that spot. The ability of Arnold and Davis to hold up vs. man coverage has the chance to really reshape how this Lions' defense can play and consistently pressure the passer.
It's a tough matchup to begin his career against wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua and a veteran quarterback in Matthew Stafford, but we'll get a chance to see right off the bat how good this rookie first-round pick can be.
20man: The depth at wide receiver. I know they have some veteran options on the practice squad they like and think will be able to help them, and I expect Jameson Williams to take a giant leap in Year 3 as the No. 2, but they are an Amon-Ra St. Brown injury for any extended period of time away from being very thin at receiver.
20man: Something tells me my answer might surprise some people but I'm going with veteran edge rusher Marcus Davenport. I say Davenport not because I think he'll have 10 tackles, two sacks and a bunch of pressures — although the Lions will certainly take that stat line from him — but watching Davenport throughout camp with his ability to push the pocket in the pass game and set the edge in the run, that's going to help so many other players around him produce more, especially Aidan Hutchinson.
Watch the film of Hutchinson last year and there were so many instances where he was a step away from a sack or a big play and I think Davenport's arrival helps push things Hutch's way a little bit more and will give him more of those opportunities to make big plays. Davenport has a chance to be an impactful player.
20man: I think it's arguably the most improved area of the team after watching them compete against the Lions' offense over the last month. That's a pretty good barometer to test a defense and a secondary against. I talked to quarterback Jared Goff in camp about this too, and he saw considerable improvement from that group compared to the unit that was in camp last season.
The offense had a much more difficult time consistently moving down the field in the passing game than last year and the new-look secondary is a big reason for that. More hands on footballs, more interceptions, and fewer receivers with a lot of separation. It's a good mix of experience and youth back there.
Consider this: Kindle Vildor started the NFC Championship Game at one of the outside cornerback spots for the Lions and now he's No. 4 or No. 5 on the depth chart on the outside. That's how much more talent and competition they've brought in at cornerback this year.
20man: It's a good question but a tough one to answer from my perspective because regular season rules allow us to only watch the individual portion of practice which is about the first 15 minutes. It's hard the glean anything from those receivers in that portion of practice.
As a guess I'll go with Tim Patrick. He had a good preseason after missing the last two years with ACL and Achilles injures, respectively. He's a veteran player and his 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame is the difference maker for me here. He gives Ben Johnson's offense something it currently doesn't have at the receiver position, which is a player who can play big-boy ball in the red zone and go get 50-50 balls.
20man: Closer than we thought he'd be at this time last week.
This was Dan Campbell's answer when I asked Wednesday about Reader's status for Sunday:
"There's a chance, I would say," he said. "This week was really what we had circled to give him the bulk of true football. This was his first real padded, going against – not just individual and doing some walkthrough, he's in team, he's going on – we had him do some team defense but also run scout team too. Go against Frank (Ragnow) and Graham (Glasgow) and (Kevin) Zeitler, and just get his confidence up, bang away in there and really take it day to day.
"So yes, there's still a chance. I'll know more probably after (Thursday) than I do right now. He's doing well. He's doing well."
Campbell talks to us on Friday morning so stay tuned for an update. If he's able to go, even on a snap count, that would be huge for the Lions. Reader and Alim McNeill have a real shot to be one of the best defensive tackle combos in the league.
20man: I still expect it to be veteran Kalif Raymond on punt returns. He rarely makes mistakes fielding punts and finished fourth in the NFL with an average per return of 11.4 yards last season.
Where it gets interesting is what the Lions opt to do returning kickoffs. They'll have two players back there and they tested out a lot of players in those spots in camp. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we see Raymond and Williams back there to start. My dark horse would be rookie running back Sione Vaki with a combination of Williams or Raymond.
20man: It was too bad Zeitler missed a good chunk of training camp with a shoulder injury, but he's a veteran player with 12 years of experience and he's sandwiched between two veteran players in Ragnow and Penei Sewell. He'll be just fine.
As far as comparing him to Jonah Jackson, Zeitler was the No. 2 ranked pass-blocking guard by Pro Football Focus last year. That's where fans might see the most immediate upgrade. As a run blocker, Zeitler also graded slightly higher than Jackson last year. Take that for what it's worth.
Offensively, nothing changes with Zeitler vs. Jackson other than the fact that maybe Johnson trusts a few more one-on-one matchups in the pass game with Zeitler.
20man: It's a good question because I do think the Packers will be right there competing with the Lions for the NFC North title when it's all said and done, and I do feel Chicago has a chance to compete for a playoff spot in the NFC as well. Plus the Lions are playing a first-place schedule.
What I go back to are the gains I expect this team to make on defense and how that can have a huge impact overall. Detroit was 19th in total defense, had the 23rd ranked scoring defense and finished 27th against the pass. If those marks improve to league average or better, with the expectation the offense will continue to be top five, that makes up for the added difficulty in the schedule in my book.
20man: Brian Branch and Kerby Jospeh are expected to start and play the bulk of the snaps. Be prepared for Branch to also play some nickel, and don't forget about Brandon Joseph. I thought he had a terrific camp and earned his roster spot. He'll be able to step in, if needed. He was actually one of the better playmakers from the safety spot throughout the offseason and in camp.
