3 Lions' position battles to start keeping an eye on OTAs

Detroit Lions OTAs are here. It's time to get to work on the field and start seeing what guys can do. Keep in mind that this is all without pads and with minimal to no contact, so there's a still a ways to go, but now is a good time to start looking at some of the big position battles we'll see with the Lions all summer long. 

We've picked the top three to start monitoring. Here's what we've got:

Sione Vaki vs Craig Reynolds vs Zonovan Knight

It's hard to go against Vaki in this one since the Lions traded up to get him in the fourth-round and he has so much versatility, but there's no way that Reynolds and Knight are just going to lay down and let Vaki take that third spot. This is going to be a war. 

Reynolds is the incumbent and has held down that spot for years now. Knight is the guy that was on the verge of stealing that spot last year before getting injured. There's so much potential with him. 

The Lions carried three running backs into the season last year, there's a chance they do four this year because I can only see one of these guys being cut and it's not the rookie. 

Donovan Peoples-Jones vs Antoine Green

Someone has to take over for Josh Reynolds. Peoples-Jones has the edge right now since he's already shown that he can take on a heavier load in the NFL, but Green has a chance to show what he can do starting at OTAs. 

If he can put that that size to work and show that he can pull down contested catches and get some separation, he has a chance to move ahead of Peoples-Jones. Especially since Peoples-Jones has struggled with separation in the past. It's a bit of long shot, but Green has a chance to be a big part of this offense in 2024. 

Tight End 3

The Lions have their top two guys in Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. After them it's a battle royal for that third spot. James Mitchell, Shane Zylstra, Sean McKeon and Parker Hesse all have their own strengths and reasons for why they could make this team. 

Mitchell could finally become the guy that he was expected to be out of Virginia Tech, Shane Zylstra is a good pass catcher, McKeon is really good blocker and Hesse has two way ability. This is a really under the radar battle, but one to watch for sure.