Corey

Hilliard

Levy has been tendered at the second-round level ($1.93 million), while Hill and Hilliard drew original-round tenders ($1.26 million). Levy is coming off a 109 tackle age-24 season, and keeping him figures to be a priority for the Lions. He could be an in-house candidate to take over at middle linebacker if Stephen Tulloch is lost to free agency.

Hilliard received the original pick tender. He has appeared in all 32 games the past two seasons, but made just five starts. Hilliard played 151 snaps in 2011, and graded out poorly as both a run and pass blocker by Pro Football Focus.

If that’s the case, Hilliard has a huge edge after appearing in all 32 games the past two seasons and making five starts. A seventh-round pick last season, Culbreath missed his entire rookie year with a blood pressure issue before getting arrested for marijuana possession in January. A fourth-round pick in 2010, Fox has appeared in just four career games due to injury. He missed June’s minicamp with knee soreness. Culbreath still has practice squad eligibility.

Cherilus was benched in favor of Corey Hilliard last week after picking up a silly personal foul late in the Week 1 win over the Bucs. Now he’s out of the doghouse. The Lions are the only team the NFL that hasn’t allowed a sack so far.

Cherilus was benched for the second straight week in Sunday’s win over the Vikings. The problem is that backup Corey Hilliard isn’t any better. “We need to improve that position. ... One guy not getting it done on the offensive line makes the whole group look bad,” said coach Jim Schwartz.

Coach Jim Schwartz put Cherilus in a practice rotation with Hilliard after what Schwartz called a “stupid” late-game penalty in Week 1. “I don’t comment on depth charts,” replied Schwartz Friday when asked about the potential lineup change. The Detroit O-Line was great in the opener, so we don’t love the idea of shaking things up. Per Pro Football Focus, Cherilus dominated as a run blocker against the Bucs. He was solid in protection, but was whistled for two flags.

He was benched after missing badly on a block of Vikings LE Brian Robison on the Lions’ second series. His replacement Corey Hilliard was arguably worse, however, allowing two sacks. Cherilus will likely get a third chance in Week 4.

The duo combined for only one appearance last season. Hilliard has five career starts to Fox’s zero. The Lions presumably want Fox to win the job after spending the offseason talking him up, but injuries have helped limit him to just five games since he was the No. 128 overall pick of the 2010 draft. The Lions recently hosted free agent Winston Justice for a visit, and could still add outside competition.

Fox, a 2010 fourth-rounder, has appeared in all of five career games, and he’s expected to compete with Corey Hilliard for the job. After the Lions experienced some of the best O-line continuity over the past few years, they’ll be employing three new starters up front at left and right tackle and right guard.

Both players split reps during OTAs and minicamp, and that will continue over the summer as the Lions look for one of the two to step into Gosder Cherilus’ old position. “We’ll keep them as equal as we can and let guys work with different groups,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. Fox has been viewed as the favorite to win the job, but he has never started an NFL game.