The Detroit Lions have signed another player from their group of players that participated in try outs and the Lions rookie mini-camp last weekend. Tight end Parker Hesse will be joining the the Lions per the team.
At first glance. you might think that the Lions might just be set at tight end. That might not be the case just yet. Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright are obvious locks, but beyond them there's questions with guys like Shane Zylstra and James Mitchell.
Hesse is a guy that can bring something to the table that those guys can't. He can also play fullback. Hell, he can even be an edge rusher. He did all three of these things at Iowa. He even played a little receiver too. He did them all fairly well too.
Since coming into the NFL, he's only played one position and that's tight end. He's done ok at that too. He started seven games for the Falcons in 2022. He mostly worked as a blocker with very few targets coming his way.
The Lions have a few choices here. They could use him as tight end, or they could do something different and use him as a fullback. Or they could do something wildly different and put him on defense.
I think it should be the last option. It wouldn't be the first time the Lions have converted a player. This isn't really much of a conversion though since he's already played on the defensive line throughout his time at Iowa. If anything, the Lions are converting him back.
He was solid there. He had 14 career sacks in four seasons and he also had a pair of interceptions. He's got the build to make this move and he's got a good speed as well. It makes you wonder why no other team has tried this. Perhaps they saw Iowa and the fact that he had played some tight end there and thought that was the way to go.
