If you didn't know the name Matt Nelson prior to the Detroit Lions' win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, you weren't alone.
Unless you're a die-hard, it's likely you didn't even know Nelson was on the Lions' roster. After all, you're talking about an undrafted free agent who spent his rookie season on the practice squad while making the difficult switch from defensive line to offensive line. And he didn't have the benefit of a preseason in 2020 to showcase the rapid improvements he made en route to earning a job out of training camp.
But with injuries piling up in the first half, the team had little choice but to turn to Nelson, putting more than a year's worth of development to the test.