July 11, 2026, 5:45 a.m. ET<\/p>\n
In two weeks, the Detroit Lions<\/a>‘ rookies will report to training camp<\/a>.<\/p>\n From there, veterans will report just three days later and then the Lions<\/a> will be off and running with their 2026 training camp<\/a> from the Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park, Mich.<\/p>\n As training camp nears closer, ESPN is making some of its final predictions for the 2026 NFL season. ESPN’s Ben Solak picked a breakout candidate for all 32 NFL teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lions’ projected breakout candidate comes at a position of great need. Solak picked cornerback Roger McCreary as his breakout candidate in Detroit.<\/p>\n Tons of cornerback snaps were already up for grabs in Detroit before Terrion Arnold was\u00a0cut following his arrest<\/a>\u00a0in Florida on felony charges of armed robbery and kidnapping. Now, starting jobs are available in both the slot and on the outside. The contenders for the jobs:\u00a0Rock Ya-Sin<\/a>,\u00a0Keith Abney II<\/a>,\u00a0Ennis Rakestraw Jr<\/a>. and McCreary.<\/p>\n McCreary was a rookie starter — and a productive one at that — for the Titans in 2022. He can play inside and out, though his lack of length makes him better suited for slot work (and will likely always limit his on-ball production). Still, he’s smart in zone coverage, physical enough to survive against the run and plenty sticky when asked to play man-to-man. Much of his game is similar to that of\u00a0Amik Robertson<\/a>, who thrived in Detroit before signing a solid deal in Washington this past offseason. I’m buying a McCreary bounceback. – Ben Solak, ESPN<\/p>\n Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n D.J. Reed and Rock Ya-Sin may have the early leg up for starting gigs given the fact that the pair started 11 and six games for the Lions last year, respectively.<\/p>\n Still, Lions head coach Dan Campbell has been vocal that he and Detroit won’t hesitate<\/a> to play younger or new players if it’s close at a position and if the potential upside makes the Lions better. That could mean there’s an opportunity for 2026 fifth-round NFL draft pick Keith Abney II.<\/p>\n Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was second-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. Injuries have limited Rakestraw to just eight games played in his NFL career thus far<\/a>, but, if he can stay healthy, maybe he finally morphs into a difference-maker in the Lions’ secondary.<\/p>\n Still, McCreary isn’t a bad pick. With Terrion Arnold’s release<\/a>, Detroit is even more desperate for new playmakers to emerge in its defensive backfield.<\/p>\n McCreary arrives in the Motor City with 61 games played and 38 starts. The 26-year-old has totaled 257 tackles, 22 tackles for loss, 17 passes defended, five quarterback hits, four sacks, three interceptions and one forced fumble as he enters his fifth NFL season.<\/p>\n For more\u00a0Lions<\/a>\u00a0coverage, follow us on X,\u00a0@TheLionsWire<\/a>, and give our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0page a like.\u00a0Follow Josh on X,\u00a0@JoshOnLions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"July 11, 2026, 5:45 a.m. ET In two weeks, the Detroit Lions‘ rookies will report to training camp.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[159202,49,48,5838,18966,514,265093,82,217611,217612,160670,195543,162914,273711,160676,159798,160668,160683,159095,273713,159089,273587,159085],"class_list":["post-794898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-accessfree","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-jr","tag-mi","tag-nfl","tag-sourcelions-wire","tag-sports","tag-sstssportsnfllions","tag-sstsnlions","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagdetroit","tag-tagdetroit-lions","tag-tagennis-rakestraw","tag-tagespn-inc","tag-tagnational-sports","tag-tagnfl","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-positive","tag-tagroger-mccreary","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagterrion-arnold","tag-typestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}