5 Detroit Lions who played themselves off the roster in the preseason opener

Whatever latent potential Mitchell may have can't pay his "earn a roster spot" bills for much longer with nothing to show for it. The second preseason game will be a big one for him, but he is being overtaken in the tight end position battle by those who are showing they can simply do more (and do it better) to add value.

3. EDGE James Houston

The Lions had a couple down depth chart edge rushers (Nate Lynn, Isaac Ukwu) shine against the Giants. Meanwhile, Houston struggled to generate any pressure on the quarterback over 22 defensive snaps as he finished with two total tackles. He did set the edge nicely on a run play, forcing the runner to turn it inside. But that should not be a clear highlight of any preseason performance for someone with Houston's raw talent level.

Houston is fading quickly from what once seemed like a locked-in roster spot as the Lions sort out the full makeup of their edge rusher group. He needs to do far better in the second preseason game against the Chiefs, or his status on the roster bubble will burst.

2. WR Maurice Alexander

Alexander's path to a spot on the Lions' roster is clearly as a return man, and the kickoff returner spot for the Lions is open to anyone who may get a shot to assert themselves this preseason. More broadly, only three wide receivers are locked into a roster spot right now.

Alexander had one catch for six yards against the Giants, and he did have a 20-yard kickoff return in the second half. But before that one promising kickoff return, he flat-out muffed a punt and put another on the ground after being hit. The first fumble was recovered by cornerback Steven Gilmore, and on the second Alexander was ruled down by contact to negate the mistake. Well, the down by contact ruling (which was correct) narrowly negated the second mistake in terms of being a potential turnover. The ruling surely did not erase the mistake from the minds of head coach Dan Campbell and special teams coach Dave Fipp.

Alexander could get a bit of a mulligan for his two drops of the football based on poor weather conditions. But his quest to swoop in and earn a roster spot took an undeniable hit on Thursday night.

1. QB Nate Sudfeld

Let's get a little nuts here... but maybe it's not that crazy.

We know who Sudfeld is, he of 37 career regular season pass attempts entering his ninth NFL season. But he showed it in full against the Giants, going 13-for-24 for 96 yards with an interception (46.5 passer rating). He was done no favors by lackluster pass protection from the Lions' backup lineman (four sacks), but he is not functional on the move (see interception on a throw across his body, and at least one of the sacks he took). He also botched a quarterback sneak, with no feel for how to execute it.

Sudfeld actually padded his stats a bit when he had to re-enter the game for the fourth quarter after Hendon Hooker left injured, highlighted by a 26-yard completion to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Playing the entire first half, the journeyman signal caller went 7-for-15 for 40 yards with a 25.7 passer rating.

After the game (h/t to Lions Wire) Dan Campbell started out speaking plainly about Sudfeld's performance, before providing an excuse for his inaccuracy.

“There’s some decisions in there that I would like to be better. I expect better from him,” Campbell said in his postgame press conference. “I’m not as concerned right now or yet about the accuracy with what it is, wet ball, this and that, but there’s just a couple of decisions in there that I know he can be better on.”

Should Campbell really expect that much better from Sudfeld? Less than ideal weather aside, he has only had a perceived edge in the backup quarterback battle because of Hendon Hooker not fully asserting himself. If Hooker hadn't been injured Thursday night he'd have the reigns of the job now, and as long as he's not dealing with a serious concussion Sudfeld is not equipped to loosen that hold.

The Lions could look for a more established backup quarterback. That wouldn't be the wrong idea if they don't think Hooker can step in if something happened to Jared Goff, and there are still questions about that even after a promising performance against the Giants.

What's abundantly clear, as it was/should have been before, is Sudfeld should not have any path to being the Lions' No. 2 quarterback. Pending Hooker's status in concussion protocol, that path still exists moving toward the second preseason game. There's time for that to change though, one way or another, and by the time roster cuts come Sudfeld should wind up being an easy one. His performance against the Giants sealed, or should have sealed, his fate.