On the roster: Michael Badgley (K), Jake Bates (K), Jack Fox (P), Scott Daly (LS), Hogan Hatten (LS)

Key losses: LB Anthony Pittman

Best competition: Place kicker job

Badgley replaced Riley Patterson as Detroit's place kicker the last month of the regular season. He was 4-for-4 on field goals to end the season and was 3-for-3 on field goals in the playoffs, including a 54 yarder in the Wild Card win over Los Angeles, and he was 11-for-11 on extra points in the playoffs. He has a track record of consistency in this league.

Badgley isn't known for having a big leg, though special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said this spring that was a focus of Badgley's in the offseason and he was seeing immediate results.

Bates made a name for himself in the UFL this spring because of his big leg. He made 17-of-22 field goals this season playing his home games at Ford Field. He made a game-winning 64-yard field goal in the Michigan Panthers' season-opening win over the St. Louis Battlehawks and had two other 60-plus-yard field goals this season.

The kicker competition is really one of the easier position battles to evaluate in camp. Who puts it through the uprights with the most consistency? Pretty simple.

The return of the kickoff return in the NFL will put some emphasis on the accuracy and placement of kicks in the landing zone between the receiving team's 20-yard line and goal line. That could factor into the competition as well.

Twentyman's take: The kicker job will work itself out in camp. I'm looking forward to seeing Bates' big leg, but can he consistently make the 40-50 yarders, which is a must in this league?

Fox is one of the best punters in the league and is a weapon with his ability to completely flip the field and his improvements over the years of pinning teams inside the 20 on shorter kicks.

Kalif Raymond is one of the best punt returners in the game and he's back in 2024. It will be interesting to see if the Lions look to him to also return kicks as well with the new rules. That play in general will be interesting to watch and see how teams strategize both returning and covering kicks. There will be some roster spots earned by players with the ability to excel in short space covering and returning kicks.

Re-signing linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin was a great move by the team this offseason. He tied for second in the NFL with 13 combined special teams tackles, earning Second-Team All-Pro honors and becoming the first Lions core special teamer to make a Pro Bowl.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell values special teams more than most coaches. He's aggressive in the fake punt game and believes special teams can have a significant impact on winning and losing. As long as Campbell is coaching the Lions, special teams will hold significant value and the team will spend resources and roster spots making sure they are among the league's best.

By the numbers:

11.9: Punt return average for Raymond over the last three seasons combined. Only Baltimore's Devin Duvernay (12.9) has a higher average over that span.

23.7: Opponent average starting yard line after kickoffs last season. That was tops in the NFL.

26: Fox pinned 26 of his 57 punts (45.6 percent) inside the 20-yard line last season, this fifth highest rate in the NFL. He ranked fourth in punts pinned inside the 10-yard line with 10 of his 57 punts (17.5 percent) ending inside the 10.

54: Career special teams tackles for Reeves-Maybin, which ranks sixth in team history. Since entering the NFL in 2017, Reeves-Maybin ranks 10th in combined special teams tackles (60).

80: Since Fipp was hired in 2021, the team is eight-of-10 (80 percent) on fake punt attempts. Four of those conversions have come via rushes and the other four have come via passes from Fox, who is 3-for-4 and Reeves-Maybin, who is 1-for-1.

Quotable: "I'm thrilled to death, I'll say that for sure," Fipp said this offseason of the kickoff return being back in the game. "I think it's going to be great. Great for the game, great for players. I think one thing I've already noticed, players coming into my office and they're excited, they're like, 'Hey, tell me about the rule.' And it's some of the down-the-line players that it's going to matter to. I think it gives those guys more importance, the guys who can contribute on special teams."