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Ryan Broyles was a productive player for the Lions in the preseason, but was not a factor once the real thing started. Detroit is hopeful he works his way into the fold in 2015.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

There are two inescapable truths about the Detroit Lions.

People love Calvin Johnson. And they love to talk about Ryan Broyles.

Broyles has been one of the Lions' most popular players since Jim Caldwell was hired last year -- even though he's the fifth receiver on a team that dresses four. His peculiar form of fame basically boils down to people trying to understand how a second-round pick who led the team in receiving during the preseason could not see the field once the real thing began.

Caldwell's been spending time watching tape from last year. Offense. Defense. Preseason too.

And he sees it as well -- Broyles was pretty good.

"I think he did show obviously some promises, particularly during the preseason," Caldwell said. "He and Kellen (Moore) hooked up for quite a few. ... He made quite a few plays over that time. Hopefully he'll continue to improve, and find a way to work his way out on the field and do something for us."

Broyles led the Lions with 11 catches for 144 yards during the preseason, but was a nonfactor in the regular season. He was active for just five games, when Calvin Johnson was dealing with a high ankle sprain, and caught two passes for 25 yards.

But Caldwell says he saw growth from Broyles during practices, and is hopeful he'll play himself into the picture at receiver now that he's finally gone a year without suffering a major injury.

"I think he's a guy you have a lot of respect for because he's had three major injuries, and he's fought his way back from them, and I think that's hard to do," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said last week. "Listen, when the guy's been in there, he's been productive. And we're excited to see where he is now after a full season of not coming back from an injury. He's had a full year to be healthy, and we're excited to see what he does here in the offseason and heading into camp.

"I'm not sure I really know who the player is at his best, because he was coming off an injury. And I do think we're going to see that this year."

Broyles was historically productive the last time he wasn't coming off an injury. He caught an NCAA-record 349 passes for 4,586 yards and 45 touchdowns at Oklahoma. (His record was later broken by Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield.)

But his college career ended prematurely after he tore an ACL late in his senior season.

Detroit took him in the second round of the 2012 draft, but lost him to another torn ACL as a rookie and then a ruptured Achilles tendon the following year.

Broyles has caught 32 passes for 420 yards and two touchdowns in three seasons with the Lions. He's played in 21 games, while missing 27 (16 of which were due to injury).

Now that he's healthy and freed from the perpetual rehab process, Detroit is hopeful he can turn his focus to improving his game. But it's not that simple for Broyles.

Even when he was healthy last year, he was not a factor because he filled a virtually identical role in the offense as Golden Tate. And Tate is the much better player.

So it stands to reason Broyles could be healthier this year, and better this year, and still not be a part of the offense's plans.

"That's s certainly part of the equation, to be honest with you," Caldwell said. "But things change between now and game time. We'll see, you know? There's a lot of things that happen and occur, and I'm just hoping he has an opportunity to be at his best. He doesn't suffer any significant injuries or anything of that nature, and can come out and have the kind of start he had last year.

"The better the competition for us, the better it is for our team. And I do think that Broyles is a guy who made some improvement last year. It was my first year with him, but I could see improvement even during (just) the time he was with us."

Broyles could also face a serious challenge for his job altogether. All five receivers return in 2015, plus last year's sixth-round pick -- TJ Jones -- returns from injury. The Lions also have been exploring the idea of selecting another receiver in this year's draft.

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