2028 Summer Olympics: Building the best Detroit Lions flag football team

The year is 2028 and our beloved Detroit Lions are coming off their NFL-record third straight Super Bowl victory. They’ve conquered tackle football and now have their sights on flag football, Los Angeles, and the 2028 Summer Olympics. Team USA has decided to relinquish their roster spots to “America’s New Team,” the Lions. But with only 12 spots available tough decisions have to be made.

Before we reveal the roster let’s take a look at the rules for flag football, specifically for the Olympics. While there have been some conflicting reports on roster size and positions, we will stick to one source.

USA Today put out a nice article detailing the rules. Here are a few key snippets.

According to the International Federation of American Football, the “Standard Style” of international flag football play is five-on-five, which is the format that will be implemented in the 2028 Olympics. Rather than tackling offensive players to complete a play, defenders pull a standardized flag – roughly 15 inches long by two inches wide – off of a belt worn by each player.

There are no offensive or defensive linemen on either team, and games take place on a field that is 50 yards long and 25 yards wide. Rosters will have a 12-player maximum and all teams only have players of the same gender.

Each team gets four downs to attempt to cross midfield for a new set of downs. An unsuccessful set of downs gives the ball back to the defense on its own 5-yard line. An interception gives the defense the ball at the spot the play ends following the interception.

Teams are allowed to run the ball anywhere on the field besides the five-yard areas directly bordering the end zone. Jumping and diving as the ball-carrier in any context is illegal.

Each team’s defense can have a maximum of two blitzers that may rush the quarterback directly so long as all parts of their bodies are more than seven yards from the line of scrimmage before the snap”

With the rules in hand let’s select our 12 man roster”

The No-Brainers

• Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR/RB/QB)
• Jahmyr Gibbs (RB)
• Jameson Williams (WR/S)
• Terrion Arnold (CB/WR)

Skill position players are gold in flag football. Speed, agility and overall athleticism are key traits to have both evade on offense and to capture the opponents flag.

Gibbs and Jamo with that much space? Goodnight. St. Brown running routes free of a crowded middle of the field would be deadly. Spoiler: Terrion Arnold will be our only true cornerback on the team. He’s also has experience at safety, and played wide receiver in high school.

We have plenty of options at QB with our skill position players but St. Brown gets the nod due to his beautiful dime to Jared Goff last year.

Defensive Standouts

• Aidan Hutchinson (Rusher)
• Jack Campbell (Rusher)
• Derrick Barnes (Rusher)
• Brian Branch (S/CB)

7 yards of cushion or not, Aidan Hutchinson will find the quarterback in any variation of football. He’s also shown to be surprisingly good at intercepting the ball in his young NFL career. He’s much bigger than your standard flag footballer but he will use it as an advantage.

Barnes and Campbell have enough speed to rush the passer but also drop back into coverage if need be. Brian Branch followed up a stellar rookie campaign as a nickel cornerback with a Pro Bowl sophomore year at safety. Opponents should be thankful he can’t (legally) hit in flag football.

Surprises

• Hendon Hooker (QB)
• Sione Vaki (RB/S)
• Kalif Raymond (WR/CB)

As much as Detroit fans love Jared Goff, you need some speed at QB to evade the free rushers. Hendon is Detroit’s best mobile quarterback by far and would feast on less complicated schemes.

Sione Vaki is has true versatility having played safety at the University of Utah and now running back in the NFL. He’s also very elusive, which works great in this game.

Raymond is the ultimate gadget guy who the United States could employ in the backfield or out wide. He’s much faster than he gets credit for (he ran a 4.34 40-yard dash coming out of college) and can make opponents miss in open space.

Penei Sewell (offensive weapon)

Let’s have some fun. Although the exact rules on pass protection aren’t completely clear, often times you can play pass pro as long as you aren’t outright making contact and blocking. That same player is always eligible as a receiver and is usually a safety valve to throw to.

Imagine all 6-foot-5, 335 pounds of Sewell running towards you at full speed. Contact or not, you’d want no parts of that. Thus far in the NFL, he has shown to have soft hands, superb athleticism and has even shown off his arm. I think the quicker question to answer is “What can’t Penei Sewell do?” Thus far the answer has been “nothing.” We won’t get into the woods on if he would be eligible to play for Team USA. He’s on the squad and is going to give his opponents fits.

There’s your 12 man roster. How do you like the team? Any snubs? What about some unique position changes? Now is your turn to chime in.