Lockett's Visit With Lions Included Reviewing Film With Lombardi, Meeting With Marciano
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Former Kansas State wide receiver and return man Tyler Lockett received solid reviews when he spent time Tuesday and Wednesday with members of the Detroit Lions organization.
He arrived in Detroit from Manhattan, Kansas, on Tuesday and had a meal at his hotel with wide receivers coach Robert Prince and special teams coordinator Joe Marciano, who has expressed a desire to bring in competition for current Lions return man Jeremy Ross.
Marciano told Lockett he liked what he saw him do in that role for Kansas State.
"He was just saying he thought that I was a great special teams player and that I was able to see the holes open to a point where some people might not be able to see it," Lockett said in a phone interview Thursday.
On Wednesday, Lockett underwent a physical and then visited the team's practice facility in Allen Park, where he met with head coach Jim Caldwell and general manager Martin Mayhew.
At the facility, Lockett spent more time with Prince and watched film with both him and with offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.
With Lombardi, Lockett reviewed good plays and bad ones, dissecting the action and discussing what the wide receiver did to make certain plays.
"Whether it was me catching a ball and getting up field and getting yards, or whether it was me jumping up for a pass, or whether it was me making a tough catch, he was really just amazed with that because he was like, 'You were making plays when sometimes people in that situation, they don't come through on that certain play,'" Lockett said. "So he was real intrigued by a lot of the detail stuff, a lot of the route-running, being able to get open."
With Prince, Lockett got a little taste of the Detroit offense, and the Lions got a sense of how quickly and how well the wide receiver could grasp that offense.
"Coach Prince was just more of throwing me a couple of their plays and their formations, seeing if I could memorize them, taking a test, seeing how well I was able to comprehend everything," Lockett said. "Just being able to watch film with me explaining to him why I did what I did and going in-depth on a read and why I made the decision I made.
"It was really just about finding [my] IQ of the game, getting to know the person," Lockett added. "I think that they really liked me, and I really had a great time with them."
Among the other topics of conversation with coaches was where Lockett might live if the Lions drafted him. Birmingham was one of the places they mentioned.
Lockett could not say whether the Lions liked him more or less than other teams who have had him in for visits. He knows from having a father and uncle who also went through the NFL draft process that a player can never quite know how much a team likes him or how likely it is that a team will actually select him. Nevertheless, Lockett characterized his couple of days in Detroit as a positive experience.
"I enjoyed the visit, and we talked about my versatility, the things that I can bring to the table which they really like and want to be able to have [those] be on their team," Lockett said. "I just have to see what happens when draft day comes around."
