Rookie minicamp is finally here for the Detroit Lions, and the list of drafted, undrafted, and tryout players participating in this weekend's sessions is long. Of course, most of the focus for fans will be on the players that the Lions swung on with their draft picks back in April.
Specifically, they'll be looking to see how well Isaac TeSlaa performs, especially since the team took a big swing to land him in the draft.
TeSlaa, a wide receiver out of Arkansas, is a high floor, raw, athletic talent who was selected based on both his traits and his stellar interviews with the Lions. The team was impressed by his drive and push to participate in bowl games to show off his talent, and they leaped ahead of other interested teams in the Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints to land him.
Ahead of the start to minicamp, Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew offered his thoughts on TeSlaa, and it's exactly what you want to hear if you're a Lions fan still on the fence about the addition of the receiver to the teams' offense.
TeSlaa earns major praise from Lions GM
Agnew spoke to media ahead of the start to minicamp for Lions, and he gave thoughts on several of the team's drafted rookies. For TeSlaa, Agnew offered a short but impactful description of his fit on this team.
"I think he was born to be a Lion. You're talking about a tough, physical, competitive human being. Where he stood out in the Senior Bowl is that, when you go into the team period, he's blocking, man. He was just wearing those DBs out. And then, the guy catches the ball. Everything is with his hands, and barely uses his body. Tough kid, we're really excited about him," said Agnew.
TeSlaa is going to get an opportunity to prove analysts wrong this season, especially when utilized as a blocker to help out the Lions' offense that revolves mostly around their run game and their wide receiving tandem of Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Detroit being so sold on the rookie is a great vote of confidence, and he'll surely be asked to make an impact on the team that may not lead to the most attractice of stat lines. But, if TeSlaa is "born to be a Lion," he'll surely buy into that role.
