The Detroit Lions have a big hole at defensive line after starter Alim McNeill was placed on injured reserve, but one insider predicts they make up some of the difference by signing a practice squad standout described as a “mountain” of a player.
McNeill suffered a sprained knee in the team’s December 3 win over the New Orleans Saints, and the team announced on Tuesday that he would be headed to injured reserve.
The move means that McNeill is sidelined for at least the next four weeks, a big blow to an already injury-struck defense.
McNeill was in the midst of a career-best season, making five sacks with 31 total tackles.
But Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports predicted that the Lions could soon move Quinton Bohanna to the active roster to add some experienced depth.
As Payton noted, the Lions elevated Bohanna for the last three games and he played 20 or more snaps in each game.
Because the team has reached the maximum of three practice squad elevations, they will need to make sign Bohanna to the active roster if they want to play him again this season.
“Three regular season games and two starts in a row would lead you to believe that some trust has grown there and that the Lions want to maybe keep seeing where this goes,” Payton wrote.
“Especially with McNeill out for at least the next four games. If they want Bohanna to play, they’re going to have to sign him to the active roster.”
Payton noted that the Lions could make the move on Saturday, when they must finalize any practice squad elevations and other moves.
That will mean another player comes off the active roster, with Payton noting that Steven Gilmore or Chase Lucas could be likely candidates.
The 24-year-old Bohanna came into the NFL in 2021 as a sixth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, appearing in 14 games his rookie season with one start.
Bohanna’s role grew in his second season, playing in 13 games with nine starts while registering 20 tackles, including three for a loss, and two quarterback pressures.
But Bohanna lost his spot on the roster in Dallas this preseason after the team acquired veteran Johnathan Hankins and drafted Mazi Smith with their first-round pick.
Insiders see big potential in Bohanna. Reid Hanson of USA Today’s Cowboys Wire described the 360-pound Bohanna entered the NFL as a “mountain” who “possessed both enormous mass and a shockingly quick step off the snap.”
“Bohanna was the rare mix the Cowboys look for in a 1-tech defensive tackle,” Hanson added.
“He was stout enough to 2-gap and hold up against double teams, yet agile enough to provide a little penetration.
He was a late round pick, but with any luck could develop into a real player with a little time.”
Bohanna could have the chance to play an even bigger role on a Lions team that has been hit hard by injuries on defense, losing safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to a torn pectoral muscle and cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to a torn ACL.
Pass rusher James Houston has also been out since suffering a fractured ankle in Week 2.
