Look, I don't want to see this happen just like Detroit Lions fans don't want to see this happen, but this is kind of where things are right now. James Houston has to have a big night on Saturday, or it could be the end of his time with the Lions. Here's why.
For starters, Houston isn't having the best training camp. He's been lost in the shuffle a lot and this isn't the first time it's been like this. He struggled last year and in his rookie year as well. You might remember that Houston actually got cut his rookie year and the Lions were able to bring him back on the practice squad.
He had some really good moments his rookie year and the Lions really wanted to develop him into a guy that could do more than just rush the passer. They tried to do that his rookie year and it was clear that it wasn't working. It's part of the reason he got cut.
In his second season they tried to do it again by making him a SAM linebacker, but he was second on the depth chart to Charles Harris and it was just not working out again. Then he got injured in Week 2 and that really stunted his growth.
This year the Lions are trying to do it one more time and they were also hoping that he had learned some new pass rush moves to go with being a SAM linebacker. It hasn't worked out. In fact, it's been so rough that the team just completely took that off his plate this week and made him just a pass rush specialist.
At first glimpse this might seem like a good thing for Houston and the team, but if you've been listening to the things that the Lions have been saying every week, it could spell trouble.
Just last week Lions' head coach Dan Campbell said that the team was not looking for one trick ponies.
"The more you can do, if he can play the SAM linebacker, or certainly a backup linebacker, and he can rush as a defensive end, and he can play some special teams, well, he's a lock to go to the game. Like there is no question. But if you're a one trick pony and you're okay at that, but you really can't do this, and you're not really playing special teams, then, you know, what do we do with it? You know, then he's just a backup that's not going to the game. We're gonna hope that you know, well you got him if somebody gets hurt, and then it's, is that good enough? So it's just, it's always going to be that way. The more you can do your value goes up."
With the Lions taking SAM off his plate, that's kind of telling us that he can't do enough. But there is still the opening of him being able to do something really well to the point where it's worth it to keep him. We know he can play some special teams, or at least has history there, now he needs to show that he can still rush the passer the way he showed in 2022. Let's see some of those new moves he's been working on.
Last Thursday was a really bad night for Houston. Pro Football Focus gave Houston the lowest grade on the team for that game with a 28. That's rough. Now he's back doing what we've seen him succeed at. Can he show he can still do that?
If he can't, there's a pretty good chance he could be done with the Lions at the end of the month. There's only so many spots the team can hold, and Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Levi Onwuzurkie and Josh Paschal have locked up theirs. John Cominsky is still on the roster as well. At least for now. He may be added to injured reserve soon.
Guys like Mathieu Betts, Mitchell Agude and Isaac Ukwu have been working very hard and have been showing out at camp and in the preseason. It's going to be very hard to let them go if Houston has another bad night.
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