Stock report: Lions UDFAs make some noise in preseason opener

East Rutherford, N.J. — There was nothing pretty about the Detroit Lions’ preseason opener, a 17-3 loss to the New York Giants in a steady rain at MetLife Stadium Thursday night.

But with more than two dozen starters and key contributors held out of the contest, it remained an important night for roster evaluation. Here’s our assessment of which players helped themselves, who is trending the wrong direction, and who is treading water coming out of the contest.

Stock up: Quarterback Hendon Hooker

We only got to see Hooker for one quarter before he exited with a concussion, but he flashed his dual-threat ability during the stretch and ended up finishing with a team-high 34 yards on four carries.

It was far from a perfect performance, including a couple errant throws and a failed fourth-down in the red zone where he threw it directly in the arms of the oncoming blitz, but Hooker offered more good than bad, while moving the offense better than his competition for the backup QB job, Nate Sudfeld, did throughout the first half.