The Detroit Lions kick off the 2025 preseason tonight in Canton, Ohio against the Los Angeles Chargers in the annual Hall of Fame Game.
It’s an opportunity for general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell to get their first look at some of their young players and depth pieces on the 2025 roster. After eight practices against each other to begin training camp, the Lions are looking forward to lining up and hitting someone else for a change.
Here are five things to look out for in tonight’s preseason opener:
Hendon Hooker and Kyle Allen are competing in camp to be Jared Goff’s backup. The two have traded second-team reps every other day throughout the first eight camp practices and will get equal opportunity to win the job based on performance.
Hooker, who the team drafted in the third round in 2023, was Goff’s backup during the regular season last year but was moved to an emergency quarterback role in the playoffs as the Lions opted for the more experienced Teddy Bridgewater.
Hooker has had a nice start to camp and looks much more comfortable in the huddle and running the offense than he did last year when it was essentially his first camp after rehabbing a knee injury as a rookie.
Allen is a seven-year veteran with 19 starts and 31 games under his belt. He’s looked like an experienced player to begin camp with his command and accuracy.
“Make the right decisions. Don’t try to do anything flashy, don’t try to make plays, you just do what you’re asked to do and wherever the defense dictates that the ball should go, that’s where it should go and then let those guys make a play,” Campbell said this week of what he wants to see from both quarterbacks Thursday.
“If it’s supposed to go down to the back, put it to the back, he’s got to make a play, and we’ll see what happens. Even if that means we’ve got to punt, that’s OK, you just do what you’re asked to do, run the offense, stay cool, stay calm, stay collected, run that huddle, make sure there’s clear communication and that’s all I’m looking for. It’s all I care about.”
