Isaac TeSlaa draws significant praise from former Super Bowl champion defender

The Detroit Lions have seen an impressive preseason from several players, but it's safe to say nobody is making the kind of waves that rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa has.

From the start of camp in July, TeSlaa has been steadily gaining hype as he makes play after play on the field. As he's done that, he's opened eyes around the league with analysts and fans who are impressed with his game.

Interestingly enough, former NFL players are now taking notice of TeSlaa. Former defensive lineman and two-time Super Bowl winner Chris Long can be counted as someone who is impressed with what he has seen from the receiver. Not surprisingly, the positive analysis goes beyond TeSlaa's receiving ability and shifts to his overall mindset.

On "Green Light with Chris Long," the point was made by the host that TeSlaa is already starting to show his professional readiness across the board in a short amount of time.

"This kid Isaac TeSlaa, he's got to be one of the guys I'm most excited about in this division as far as rookies are concerned. He's going to block his (butt) off. He hustles his (butt) off. I already watched the Hall of Fame game tape. I watched Atlanta a little bit. This guy shows up in the frame when he's got nothing to do with the play. He's trying to block. He's trying to scrap. And I think if you can get him the ball with a full head of steam, he's gonna be a tough guy to tackle at the second level of defense. He's a big kid."

All of those traits seem to fit Detroit's football DNA perfectly, and paint the picture of a player that is pro ready in multiple different ways.

Dan Campbell believes TeSlaa's development is going well for Lions

While TeSlaa has been impressive thus far, the argument could be made by some detractors that he is merely dominating backups and fringe players in August, and a rude awakening will be coming during the regular season in September.

Given what he has seen in practice, Campbell doesn't believe that is the case. The rookie is not only being asked to line up against second and third stringers in games and practices, but has also held up after seeing his share of work against Detroit's starters, where the margin of error is much more slim.

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"He gets those (elite) guys in one on ones. He gets them in practice a bit, and our two corners are good players. It isn't like we need to go find somebody. He's taken reps with the ones. He's been in there with (Jared) Goff. He's had to run good versus good. He's no different than any young player. He's going to have some growing pains and he's going to have to continue to get better and better. But I'm very pleased. We're very pleased with where he's at after six weeks of camp."

All of that leads Campbell to believe that TeSlaa is on track to make an impact with the Lions' offense this season at some point given his quality development.

"I would say if you took most receivers, he'd be in the upper echelon of those as far as development. It's pretty good, because it's not easy to develop as a receiver in this league and be ready to go. And I think there's a place for him to help us early in this season."

There's no doubt Long would agree with that assessment, and that should leave Lions fans very excited to see what TeSlaa can do once games start to count.

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