Lions vs. Ravens Preview: 5 Players to Watch for Friday

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The Detroit Lions head into their second preseason game tomorrow against the Baltimore Ravens. While the Lions starting lineups for both sides are pretty set, there are still a few position battles worth watching and plenty intriguing players to keep your eye on.

Here are five players that I will be watching for tomorrow night.

Patrick Edwards

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All throughout camp and even going back to rookie minicamp, we’ve heard a lot of good things about the former University of Houston product. At 5’9” and 175 pounds, he may not be the biggest of targets, but Edwards has impressed the coaching staff with his hands and skill set.

Edwards looked shaky in the Lions preseason opener last week against the Browns, making just one catch for 10 yards, while dropping another pass, but he was seen on the field with the first team offense, which should tell you something about what the Lions think of his abilities.

Stefan Logan

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Logan is a veteran that the Lions faithful know pretty well. He is a player to watch for in my list simply because of the injuries to Mikel Leshoure and Jahvid Best. The Lions will more than likely be without their top two backs for the first month of the season, which means there are plenty of open spots at the running back position, and the Lions carried four backs, which included Logan, who did play running back in college and high school.

Last week against the Browns, Logan did carry the ball three times for 10 yards, which means that the Lions could very well be looking for ways to get him involved in the running game, which is something they did in the 2010 season once Kevin Smith and Jahvid Best went down with injuries.

Against a stout defense like the Baltimore Ravens, it will be interesting to see what Logan and the Lions can do on the ground.

Amari Spievey/ Erik Coleman

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Spievey will be one of the players that coaches and fans have their eyes on for the remainder of the preseason and perhaps even in the regular season. From the starting lineups in training camp, it does look like Spievey has lost his starting job to eight year veteran Erik Coleman.

Coleman is a former starter for the Atlanta Falcons and Spievey is in the last year of his contract, so the battle between the two of them should be interesting to see.

Titus Young

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Young is another player that seems to be poised for a breakout season. As a rookie last season, Young posted 48 receptions for 607 yards and 6 touchdowns. Those are solid numbers for any rookie, but when you consider that the Lions had two of the NFL’s Top 10 reception leaders and three of the Top 25 ahead of him on the depth chart, you can see why you should excited on merits alone.

Combine that with the fact that reporters and coaches have been praising Young all throughout camp, and you know why you want to keep an eye on what he is doing on the field against a pretty tough corner in Lardarius Webb and maybe even Jimmy Smith.

If he can beat corners like those two in the regular season, the Lions' offense becomes infinitely more dangerous with Calvin Johnson on the other side and Nate Burleson in the slot.

Joique Bell

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Bell is perhaps the most intriguing of the backs that the Lions have right now. We more or less know what Kevin Smith and Keiland Williams bring to the table, but not so much about Bell.

Although he has never carried the ball in the regular season, he seems to tear up preseason competition as he rushed for 89 yards on just 16 carries last week against the Browns and lead the Saints in rushing yards in the 2011 preseason.

He has been in the league since 2010, but this may be his best opportunity to stick around an NFL team for the regular season.