ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- A quick look at who is trending up and whose stock is falling heading into the Detroit Lions' Week 2 game against the New York Giants.
MOVING UP:
WR Kenny Golladay: Was this even going to be a question? The receiver had two touchdowns in his debut and had a two-to-one advantage in No. 3 receiver reps over TJ Jones. After his first game, figure he’ll continue to get a good share of Detroit’s work in three-receiver sets. His touchdown production is not realistic on a weekly basis and there still will be inconsistencies, but he’s already showing to be a potential steal for Detroit.
CB Quandre Diggs: The Lions brought in D.J. Hayden and drafted Jamal Agnew this offseason to push Diggs for his role as the starting slot corner. Diggs responded with the best game of his career against Arizona, breaking up three passes and doing a good job against Larry Fitzgerald. If he’s able to continue this level of play, Detroit’s secondary has a chance to be one of the better groups in the league with established high-level players in cornerback Darius Slay and safety Glover Quin.
DE Anthony Zettel: He had Detroit’s lone sack Sunday but he had a consistent overall performance. He was able to cut across Arizona’s offensive line multiple times on running plays to get to David Johnson and did a good job -- along with Cornelius Washington, Jeremiah Valoaga and Ezekiel Ansah -- of keeping with the game plan and containing Johnson inside. Really, the entirety of Detroit’s defensive line is trending up considering preseason expectations, but Zettel showed a little more than the others against the Cardinals.
TRENDING DOWN:
RB Dwayne Washington: Rough game for him. He actually ended up being Detroit’s most productive running back, averaging 3.7 yards per carry. But his vision is still questionable and his decision-making was atrocious on special teams. He took both of his returns out of the end zone, averaged 15.5 yards per return and was replaced by Agnew in the second half. He also had a bad unnecessary roughness penalty during a punt return, costing Detroit 14 yards of field position. It’ll be interesting to see what the Lions do at running back if Washington is not the team’s kick returner because Zach Zenner -- Detroit’s best rusher at the end of last season -- was inactive Sunday and has not shown to make some of the mistakes.
RB Ameer Abdullah: The third-year pro didn’t have a big season-opener like he’s done the past two years. This despite the Lions clearly treating him as their top running back with 15 carries. He averaged 2.0 yards a carry and had three catches for 11 yards. Historically, the Giants have a good run defense. However, New York allowed 129 rushing yards to Dallas last week. While Abdullah is not Ezekiel Elliott, the possibility remains for an uptick in Week 2. But his production is going to be something to watch.
WR TJ Jones: This has nothing at all to do with Jones’ play. Jones had two catches for 32 yards – including a 16-yarder that had a high degree of difficulty. He continues to show he’s a good receiver. But the Lions have a decently deep receiving corps and it’s hard seeing Jones take many snaps from Golden Tate, Marvin Jones or Golladay at this point. He’ll get some work, but if Golladay continues his strong play, it might be more and more spot duty as the season goes on.