The Detroit Lions won’t have any shortage of options for their fourth and fifth wide receiver spots this fall.
The team agreed to a one-year contract with former Green Bay Packers receiver Geronimo Allison on Sunday.
Allison is the second receiver the Lions have added in the past three days, and will compete for a roster spot behind starters Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola.
Golladay, Jones and Amendola all topped 60 catches last season. Golladay set career highs in yards (1,190) and touchdowns (11), and Jones had nine touchdowns despite missing the final three games with an ankle injury.
They’re expected to form the nucleus of a passing game this fall that also includes tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Jesse James.
Allison, who started six games for the Packers last season and caught a career-high 34 passes for 287 yards, is the most accomplished of the other receivers on the Lions roster.
He got off to a promising start in 2018, catching 19 passes in his first four games, but suffered a brain injury in a Week 4 win over the Buffalo Bills that cost him most of the rest of the season. Last year, he played about half of the Packers’ offensive snaps.
Along with Allison, the Lions agreed to terms with Geremy Davis last week and return last season’s No. 4 receiver, Marvin Hall, and backups Travis Fulgham, Tom Kennedy, Chris Lacy, Jonathan Duhart and Victor Bolden.
Davis has five catches in five NFL seasons, but could push for a roster spot because of his prowess on special teams. He played the past four seasons for the Los Angeles Chargers, where he worked with assistant Lions special teams coach Marquice Williams for two seasons.
Green Bay Packers receiver Geronimo Allison celebrates after catching a touchdown during the fourth quarter vs. the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. Green Bay won, 31-24.
Green Bay Packers receiver Geronimo Allison celebrates after catching a touchdown during the fourth quarter vs. the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017. Green Bay won, 31-24. (Photo: Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press)
Fulgham, a sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Kennedy and Lacy also made cameos for the Lions last season, while Hall averaged 37.3 yards on seven catches before suffering a season-ending injury.
Despite their abundance of options at the backup receiver spots, the Lions are expected to add to the position in next month’s draft, which is considered historically deep at wide receiver.
Three of them — Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb and Henry Ruggs — are considered top-15 prospects, and NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said in February he has 24 other receivers with top three-round grades.
None of the Lions’ top receivers is under contract beyond 2020, though the team is expected to try and sign Golladay to an extension this summer.
———
©2020 Detroit Free Press
Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.