Williams and Ratledge: Defensive lineman Tyleik Williams and offensive lineman Tate Ratledge, Detroit’s first two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, made their preseason debut Friday night. Williams played four series along the interior of Detroit’s defensive front and showed his ability to push the pocket at times and play on the other side of the line of scrimmage, even though he didn’t record a statistic. Ratledge also played four series and got some good work in. His best play was the last play of the first quarter when he pancaked Falcons defensive tackle Morgan Fox to open a big hole for running back Craig Reynolds. He allowed just one pressure all game pass blocking.
Hooker vs. Allen: The Lions are still figuring out who will be Jared Goff’s backup quarterback. Up to this point, neither Hendon Hooker or Kyle Allen had really separated themselves from the other, but Allen had the better performance Friday night. Allen came in in the second quarter and led an 80-yard scoring drive on his first series and finished the game 7-of-8 passing for 120 yards with two touchdowns, no turnovers and a 158.3 passer rating.
Hooker was 7-for-10 passing for 37 yards (75.8 rating) with no touchdowns, no interceptions and two lost fumbles. He added 27 rushing yards on three carries (9.0 avg.). Allen is a seven-year veteran who’s played a lot of football in this league and that showed Friday night.
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