Detroit Lions Training Camp: Week 1 Stock Report

It's safe to say that everything we need to know about the Detroit Lions and their key players has been laid before us in the first week of training camp.

Or not. I'm cool with either direction you want to take.

Obviously, there's a lot of preseason—not to mention that thing that comes afterward—left for players to build on their fast starts or soup up their slow rides to match the pace of professional football.

But this is the first time we get to dip our toes in the water and take a few temperatures. Click through to find out how things are progressing for five certain players.

Up: TE Eric Ebron

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

Every discussion about Eric Ebron usually has some form of emotion and conjecture attached to it because there isn't anything else to go on. Well, that's starting to change.

For starters, there was that nasty catch on Day 1. Ebron skied over Stephen Tulloch in front of Glover Quin to bring in the type of aerial catch we've grown used to seeing from another tall receiver rocking a number in the 80s.

But it isn't a highlight that gives Ebron's stock a boost. It's the words his boss, general manager Martin Mayhew, shared with Michael Rothstein of ESPN that supports an increasingly optimistic outlook for the second-year tight end:

"

I see a lot more disciplined, professional, motivated, realistic guy than what I saw last year. I thought he had some youthful exuberance last year that kind of really overcame a lot of, really, common sense sometimes. Now he knows what’s at stake. He knows what it takes to be a great pro and I see him doing everything he has to do to be a great pro.

"

Mayhew added that Ebron had "come a long way" in terms of focus. That might be an understatement for the never-boisterous Mayhew considering all the smiling and joking from Ebron last summer.

There's no need to rehash Ebron's physical advantages here. It's the mental part of the game that he lacked in 2014, and it appears he's working hard on catching up.

Down: CB Alex Carter

Uncredited/Associated Press

It's not his fault.

Alex Carter hasn't been able to snap back at "the haters" who thought he was drafted too high. He missed the majority of the offseason program while finishing up his education at Stanford, and now he's nursing an ankle injury that's kept him out of the first two days of training camp.

However, fault isn't the target here. We're looking for players whose stock has risen or fallen thus far, and there's no way to say a possibly overmatched rookie who isn't practicing is improving his odds of success.

To make matters worse, the Mohammed Seisay safety net—trust me, I never thought I'd write that either—is gone.

Seisay was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth-round pick. While smart because it's highly unlikely he makes the roster anyway, it does strip away an outside option should Detroit need to dip into its depth.

That puts the onus squarely on Carter, a player who needs some development just to determine whether he'll play safety or cornerback. Carter may turn this around quickly, but he isn't off to a hot start.

Up: WR Calvin Johnson

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

This pick isn't as easy as you think. There are people who are selling Calvin Johnson stock this offseason, saying injuries and age have downgraded his potential.

And those may be fair assumptions. Johnson has taken a lot of abuse over the years and has famously been excused from numerous practices during the season to keep him healthy for Sundays.

However, nobody told Johnson that. They also forgot to tell him to stay off the ground during practice.

Johnson caught a wide throw from Matthew Stafford on an out route. The only problem was he had to lay out to make the grab, drawing praise from the crowd and the glare of his coach.

Jim Caldwell mentioned to Justin Rogers of Mlive Media Group that he'll chat with Johnson about it, adding "[t]he ground is not going to lose too many battles. We try to keep him as healthy as we possibly can." Good point.

Regardless, Johnson's extra effort shows a healthy Megatron who could be motivated by last year's "disappointing" output and the talk born from it.

That's a good thing for the Lions, not so much for the league's defensive backs.

Down: DT Tyrunn Walker

Rogelio Solis/Associated Press

Remember when we talked on the first slide about it being early in the process of evaluating this team?

You can throw that out the window. I'm not the one who has made this observation, so feel free to raise all kinds of ruckus—maybe even wreak havoc?—on Twitter with Justin Rogers of Mlive Media Group.

All kidding aside, Rogers hasn't come away impressed with Tyrunn Walker yet, writing:

"

The team hasn't put on pads, so I'm not going to bury defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker at this stage, but he really hasn't shown much this offseason. One thing I noticed during individual drills, which focus on burst off the line of scrimmage, he's consistently one of the slowest tackles on the roster.

"

Rogers did go on to mention that his sensibility of quickness could be "warped after having watched Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley the past three years." And that would make plenty of sense, but being the slowest among the current crop is a bit concerning.

Walker came to Detroit on a one-year deal because he loved defensive coordinator Teryl Austin's attacking scheme. He figured he could profit from it by building a reputation as a disruptor, allowing him to secure a nice contract next offseason.

That's still in play. However, the ability to get off the ball has been a calling card for Detroit's successful defensive linemen the past few years. It'll be interesting to see how he fares once the pads do come out.

Up: QB Matthew Stafford

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

No, Justin Rogers doesn't hate the Lions. In fact, Rogers observed and wrote better things about Matthew Stafford.

He called the quarterback "sharp," explaining that Stafford was accurate in team drills, completing 80 percent of his passes with the other two "being knocked away from Corey Fuller by a defender."

Rogers' report echoes the statements made by Michael Rothstein of ESPN and the Oakland Press' Paula Pasche. Everybody has seen an in-control Stafford who is working on small adjustments instead of studying the larger concepts.

There's little doubt that the three-day workout he organized with Calvin Johnson and a handful of others the week prior to camp helped. It also demonstrated that Stafford understands the little things it takes to succeed.

His head coach agrees and told Pasche Stafford is "an outstanding leader. He works, he’s committed and he has talent.’’ Jim Caldwell also added "those things all add up to a guy that, in his second year of our offense, will show that."

We've seen big seasons from Stafford when he was the reason his team made the playoffs. He doesn't need to be Detroit's everything, but if he's improved as much as early reports have indicated, the Lions will be hunting for much more than a wild card.

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.