After the NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions swiftly added depth to their receiver room by signing former Duke wide out Jalon Calhoun.
According to Matt Lombardo of Heavy Sports, the Lions signed Calhoun, a quarterback in high school who later switched to wide receiver and gained popularity at Duke.
The Lions did not select a wide receiver with any of their six draft picks, but Calhoun now serves as a potential depth player and kick returner.
Jalon Calhoun Finished Strong Career in the ACC.
Calhoun’s impressive career at Duke included becoming the sixth athlete in school history to reach 3,000 receiving yards and the first to surpass 700 yards in consecutive seasons. Calhoun finished his college career with 253 receptions, 3,026 yards, and 17 touchdowns.
According to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com, Calhoun has the potential to contribute to Detroit’s special teams.
“Calhoun (5-foot-10 and 186 pounds) also has return potential, returning 26 punts for 258 yards, an average of 9.9 a pop,” Meinke said in a statement.
Calhoun ranked 11th among the top undrafted free agents according to NFL.com’s Chad Reuter.
Some analysts predicted the Lions will select a wide receiver in the draft.Colton Pouncy of The Athletic predicted that the Lions would trade out of the first round and choose Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman in the second round.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. predicted the Lions would select South Carolina receiver Xavier Legette with their first-round pick. Kiper pointed out that the Lions had addressed several of their roster weaknesses prior to the NFL Draft, giving them the freedom to select the best player available rather than filling needs.
“How good is the Detroit roster? “General manager Brad Holmes has done a stellar job since he was hired in 2021,” Kiper noted. “He remedied the Lions’ largest offseason hole by trading for unheralded cornerback Carlton Davis, giving him some flexibility here. “I would like to see the Lions add another playmaker for quarterback Jared Goff.”
Lions make a big move at wide out.
This offseason, the Lions signed Amon-Ra St. Brown to a contract deal, keeping him with the team until 2028.According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the wide receiver’s 4-year contract is for over $120 million, including a guaranteed $77 million, making it the highest ever for the position.
According to Meinke of MLive.com, St. Brown began his NFL career under poor circumstances.
“He was considered too small and too slow to be among the first 111 picks in his draft class, before eventually being selected by the team that had gone longer without a playoff win than any other,” Meinke said in a statement. “Now he’s No. 3 on the all-time catches list through three seasons, while Detroit is coming off its first berth in the NFC championship game since nearly a decade before the Sun God was born.”
St. Brown discussed his remarkable rise to popularity on April 26 during the second round of the draft in Detroit.
“I would just say the whole journey that I’ve had is surprising,” St. Brown told MLive.com. “… Just witnessing everything unfold as it did, plus the fact that it happened precisely three years ago, just everything. For me, it’s similar to a Cinderella story. It’s perfect. So, that’s exactly what I meant: the entire voyage, the entire story, appears unreal.”
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter for Heavy.com, covering the Buffalo Bills and the Detroit Lions. Previously, he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and worked as an assistant editor for athletic trade journals Coaching Management, Athletic Management, and Training and Conditioning. He lives in Rochester, New York, and is a huge football fan.More on Nathan Dougherty.
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