Detroit Lions Preseason: Week 3 Stock Report

While the world's stock markets have crashed and spiked harder than a Tim Tebow dropback, the Detroit Lions have seemed mostly even keel from the outside.

But beneath the layers, we need to measure a few movements. There are temperatures to be taken and laid out in digital form for public entertainment...

Or I'm going to discuss the five Lions who have either seen their stock rise or fall in the past week. However you want view the issue, click through for the results.

Stock Up: DT Tyrunn Walker

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Detroit signed Tyrunn Walker in the offseason to handle a multitude of tasks. He won't solely be an interior pass-rusher, although that was his main role in New Orleans, where he racked up 18 quarterback pressures in limited snaps, per Pro Football Focus.

Despite a reportedly slow start for Walker, he found his groove against Washington in Week 2. He was disruptive with his vertical penetration on two of the first three running plays. Each time, the running back was forced into the heart of the defense, resulting in small or no gain.

Plus, Walker can still bring the pressure on passing downs—just ask rookie guard Brandon Scherff. Walker took him for a ride like a bug on a windshield on an early sack.

Walker credits defensive line coach Kris Kocurek for that advantage. Kocurek taught Walker "to get a little shake in it and have the O-lineman stiffen up" before hitting him with the bull rush, per Kyle Meinke of MLive.com.

Whatever he's doing, it's working.

Stock Down: Detroit's Health

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

It's been a scary week for Detroit's health.

First came the news that Haloti Ngata wasn't a certainty for the season opener, although Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com recently tweeted: "Haloti Ngata was running off to the side of practice today. Also working on getting off a four-point stance."

That's encouraging because Detroit needs its "Suh replacement." Ngata's ability to stonewall rushing attacks and harass quarterbacks is invaluable.

It's even more valuable when you consider Caraun Reid's high-ankle sprain. Both he and Larry Warford are fighting the same ailment, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, which leaves Gabe Wright and Manny Ramirez in line for a lot of snaps.

There are a number of other dings and bruises to guys such as Ezekiel Ansah, Isa Abdul-Quddus and Eric Ebron, although none seem major.

But the same diagnosis doesn't apply to second-year linebacker Kyle Van Noy. His disappointing play may be the result of his latest mystery injury, and coach Jim Caldwell said "it's going to be a while" before he's back, per Birkett. Normally, Caldwell doesn't make any comment regarding a player's health. The fact that he went this far doesn't bode well for Van Noy.

Stock Up: DT Kerry Hyder

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

If the injury bug stays embedded in the Allen Park locker room, a few fringe roster guys may make the cut as insurance.

Defensive tackle Jermelle Cudjo has been mentioned quite a bit. Defensive end Kerry Hyder has not.

Hyder is still a long shot to make this team. Yet he made the most of his opportunities against Washington, adding a quarterback hit to an impressive day against the run (four tackles that were considered stops or offensive failures), per PFF.

Even if the injuries don't pile high enough to warrant his 53-man roster inclusion, Hyder is eligible for the practice squad since he's only been in the league for one year. Any building upon his latest performance could land him a coveted understudy role.

Stock Down: OT Michael Williams

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Michael Williams has made the stock report before. Only that time, we were lauding him for his tenacious run blocking and solid pass protection.

So what changed? His position. Somewhat.

The Lions switched Williams and seventh-round pick Corey Robinson, playing the former on the left side and the latter on the right against Washington. Robinson enjoyed the move; Williams didn't look like he had much fun.

The former tight end was beaten for a sack and a hurry and didn't look comfortable in the run game. Detroit will want any reserve tackle it keeps to be a swingman, which means he can play both sides of the line.

Perhaps that's why general manager Martin Mayhew pulled the trigger on a deal shipping Williams to the New England Patriots for a seventh-round pick, according to ESPN Insider Field Yates (h/t Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com). This could be a sign that Detroit is happy with starter LaAdrian Waddle's injury status, which would devalue the fourth tackle spot.

Stock Up: RB Zach Zenner

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

As if we could get through this slideshow without mentioning everyone's favorite pre-med graduate.

Zach Zenner went off against the Redskins. He set #DraftTwitter on fire with 81 yards and a score on nine touches. The "I told you so" and "I loved him before the draft" tweets flooded news feeds with fierceness usually reserved for reality show hot takes.

There's no denying his offensive ability. Yet he's going to need to add some special teams value to beat out George Winn or force the Lions to steal a fifth running back spot from another position, perhaps even the one formerly assigned to Kyle Van Noy.

The latter is unlikely. The Zenner show has been highly entertaining and could be enough to finally push him past last year's preseason darling. We have two more games to find out.

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.