It is extremely early in the NFL offseason, as the regular season doesn’t star for another three months, but already Detroit Lions rookie and former Duke offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson is making a strong first impression with his teammates.
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Tomlinson was selected 28th overall by the Lions in the NFL Draft about a month ago which comes with some lofty expectations. It is expected that Tomlinson will be a starter as a rookie for the Lions at left guard to sure up an offensive line that struggled to open up holes in the running game last year.
The first thing many coaches and teammates notice about Tomlinson is his intelligence and that is certainly no surprise. We have discussed on this website how great of a success story Tomlinson is, and how after he’s done with football he wants to be a neurosurgeon. Early on in his pro football days that intelligence has stood out to some of his teammates.
Tomlinson is likely to start at left guard because the Lions are set at right guard with Larry Warford who has turned into one of the best offensive linemen in the league. Warford has had nothing but great things to say about Tomlinson so far, and although it’s early on that says a lot about the former Blue Devil.
Warford said that Tomlinson has not made many mental mistakes so far which is surprising given how hard playing offensive line in the NFL is.
“A lot of people don’t understand how complicated offensive-line play is as far as mentally,” said Warford. “And he’s come in, he hasn’t made many mental mistakes at all. And he’s a hard worker, you know?”
Warford also later went on to say that Tomlinson is ahead of where he was as a rookie, which is pretty high praise considering the type of player Warford has turned into.
We already knew how Duke Football coach David Cutcliffe felt about Tomlinson as he always gushed about how great of a player and person he was, as can be seen by the text he sent Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, but now we are seeing his peers say the same thing. Tomlinson has the reputation of a tough guy who doesn’t miss practices or games, and as someone who uses his intelligence on the football field to his advantage.
It is extremely early on in the rookie offseason for Tomlinson but the early reviews of him have been sparkling. It would surprise almost nobody if Tomlinson ended up as a pro bowl guard that plays in the NFL for many years, and based on what the Lions are saying he is off to quite the good start.