6 Biggest Takeaways from the Detroit Lions' OTAs

The Detroit Lions are doing actual football things!

Well, sort of. The players are only rocking shells (helmets) and shoes, but it's the closest we've seen to the real thing since January 4, 2015. And it's a sign of better things to come.

Organized team activities finally kicked off on May 26. Most of the team—Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported that rookies Ameer Abdullah and Alex Carter were absent for solid reasons—was present on the practice field, learning schemes, running through plays and hitting the sleds.

There were even a few takeaways that surfaced during the three-day run.

Of course, not all of them are positive, but the negative stories are so early in their development that they aren't worth worrying about. Yet. Click through for an analysis of the latest accounts leaking from Allen Park.

The Struggle Is Real

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The title might be a bit overstated, but Haloti Ngata told Birkett he is going through an adjustment period and not finding the sledding to be easy:

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"It's definitely difficult," Ngata said of the transition. "You're going to, when you get fatigued, you get back to your old technique, your old ways of doing things. I saw it on film (Tuesday) -- I just kind of seen some of my technique going back to what I used to do in Baltimore. So just knowing that once I'm fatigued, I've got to still focus, understand what my technique is, what they want me to do on the defense and try to attack all the time."

"

That doesn't mean he isn't having fun. He went on to say the locker room provides a great culture and he "love[s]" defensive coordinator Teryl Austin's scheme.

Ngata's main responsibility in Baltimore involved eating up blocks and setting up the players around him. He'll still be called upon to do so in Detroit, but Austin values linemen who can break into the backfield and wreck plays before they develop.

That was the selling point that hooked Tyrunn Walker. It's appealing to any football player—just ask offensive linemen—to take the fight to the opponent rather than wait to be hit.

It's also much more effective. Ngata has racked up five or more sacks in three of his nine seasons, and that's without pocket penetration being his primary purpose. Now, it's time to pin his ears back and dare interior linemen to get in his way.

Adding Moore Value

Gene Puskar/Associated Press

When the Lions added Lance Moore, many just looked at his stats (14 catches for 198 yards) with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2014 and assumed his career was over. They viewed it as a throwaway move by a franchise trying to find viable receiving depth.

It turns out that Moore doesn't share that line of thought. As he told Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com, Detroit's offense is one he understands well and can excel in:

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This is the offense I had the most success in in my career. I played in this offense for eight years and I think Joe Lombardi was there six or seven of those years that I was there.

So the familiarity, not just with what we’re running, but being able to act as another coach out there, a coach in the receiver room, I think there are a lot of things I can do to help this team.

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That sense of worth is why Moore has "never been more excited to go to practice." He can just line up and play football again rather than worrying about if he has the right route or read.

But the more exciting prospect for Lions fans should be that last sentence about coaching.

Detroit has a few young guys who have flashed potential (Corey Fuller, Ryan Broyles, Jeremy Ross) but little consistency. If Moore can help those guys develop, he might find himself out of a job while putting Detroit in a better position moving forward.

Caraun Reid 2.0

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Detroit's 2014 draft class has largely been a disappointment up to this point. Nobody stood out in any real manner last season, leaving general manager Martin Mayhew understandably open to criticism.

It appears at least one of those former rookies has taken to the task of restoring his boss' reputation.

Defensive tackle Caraun Reid took his time off to begin a better chapter for his class. Head coach Jim Caldwell noticed and explained the difference between Reid this year and last year to reporters.

"I think he's done a tremendous job just in terms of his approach to it," he said. "He looks good, increased his strength, his lean muscle has gone up, I mean, the whole gamut. So, hopefully we'll see that translate when we get an opportunity to go out there and go after it."

Detroit put some pressure on Reid by drafting Gabe Wright in the fourth round. Regardless of whether Reid pans out, the Lions needed another defensive tackle. Reid is no longer the unquestioned leading reserve at his position.

He seems to be responding well to that challenge.

Reid didn't impress much in his first year with three quarterback hurries and one defensive stop on 112 snaps. He's started his sophomore season with a new body, and now he's aiming to make a new name for himself.

Getting a Handle on the Situation

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

After a particularly rough practice that saw him drop three catchable balls and have a high pass skip off his hands, second-year tight end Eric Ebron discussed his struggles.

"The one over the middle I shouldn't have dropped. Got down on myself, and it made me drop the next one," Ebron said, per Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. "That's just stuff that I've been practicing (to prevent), and I let it get to me."

However, it's very early in the offseason, and he's probably anxious to make a good impression. And it appears he has a mature attitude about it, understanding that he'll "settle down" and even promising that it will "never happen again."

It also seems he's doing all he can to address the problem.

Meinke noted that Ebron is pounding out 15 pushups every time he drops a pass and spent extra time catching passes after practice. The change in attitude and work ethic isn't lost on Caldwell.

"What I can see right now is the fact that he's in better shape than he was last year at this time, just in terms of his approach," Caldwell said. "He's learning. I think they all kind of learn and develop as a pro. He's learned that aspect of it."

Tough days are going to happen. According to Paula Pasche of the Morning Sun, Ebron—much like Caraun Reid—trained hard to become a better player this offseason.

While it's easy to joke that his drops are a result of his revamped body, it's more beneficial to focus on his dedication. Special things happen when you combine his talent with a now-proven desire to improve.

New Battle Brewing

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Manny Ramirez was once projected to be the starting left guard. That notion lasted a total of maybe a half-hour until Laken Tomlinson was drafted, but nobody told Ramirez that the deal was off, per Meinke:

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Manny Ramirez is working ahead of first-rounder Laken Tomlinson, and looking to crash the party http://t.co/OxxNgbrWwv

— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) May 28, 2015"

Most projections through the last month have focused on Ramirez's impending battle with center Travis Swanson. Thus far, Ramirez has yet to take a single snap at the position, per Meinke.

It's obviously as early as it gets in the process. By this time next month, we could be discussing how Ramirez took reps from Larry Warford. The truth is the team is probably working him at left guard because he knows what he's doing compared to the rookie.

At least that's the impression Caldwell gave.

"He's a guy that's certainly going to add some girth and power and experience in the (interior)," he said, per Meinke. "But also, you can just tell from a leadership standpoint, I mean, he's tremendous. Real solid guy, just a person that's well-rounded, has a good sense of what being a real pro is."

The important factor to consider is the Lions are going to have competition at every position. This is a great thing for a team that was once so lacking in talent that top-five picks became an annual tradition.

Tomlinson is a better talent than Ramirez, but he'll have to prove it to grab the only reps that matter.

One Moore Time

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The once and future king is finally getting his due in Detroit. Birkett does a masterful job of setting the dramatic scene here:

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Two days into organized team activities this spring, the Lions appear more open-minded about picking a backup.

[Kellen] Moore split second-team reps with Orlovsky at practice Wednesday, and for the first time in his four NFL seasons, the Boise State product might have a legitimate opportunity to win the No. 2 quarterback job behind Matthew Stafford.

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This is huge. The winningest college quarterback of all time is finally getting a chance to prove that he's capable...of backing up Matthew Stafford.

In all seriousness, Moore did outplay veteran Dan Orlovsky during last year's preseason. While the former was tossing three touchdowns and hitting his targets with solid accuracy, the latter had trouble making the right reads and delivering the ball on time in the right place. The result was an almost 28-point edge in passer rating for Moore.

The bigger development here is Caldwell living by his competition credo. He's a big advocate of telling the public that the best players will play, period, and now there's a total legitimacy to that claim.

Well, if by "play," you mean "be the chief clipboard-holder." Moore might be capable of helping the team out of a jam should Stafford need a few plays to recover, but this team's success is still securely tied to Stafford.

All advanced stats, grades and positional rankings are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.