National Football League

Detroit Lions DE Larry Webster adds weight, hopes to find the field

Published May. 21, 2015 12:29 p.m. ET

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Speed was never an issue for Detroit Lions defensive end Larry Webster, who ran a 4.58-second 40-yard dash at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine. Now, Webster's supplementing that speed with some strength.

Webster, a former fourth-round selection out of Bloomsburg, weighed 252 pounds before the draft. He bulked up to 262 pounds last year but still didn't play a single game during the 2014 season. According to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com, Webster is now up to 270 pounds.

"I've gained some weight," Webster told MLive.com. "I'm trying to get bigger and stuff like that. And right now, I'm right where I should be."

The Lions would like Webster to emerge as a quality reserve behind current starters at defensive end Jason Jones and Ezekiel Ansah. Webster can make head coach Jim Caldwell a very happy man, if he can help rush the passer off the bench. Caldwell already sees the potential.

He has made leaps and bounds in terms of strides in his ability to rush the passer," Caldwell said late last season, per MLive.com. "He's tough. The (coaches) do some extra work with him after practice and they've been raving about what he's been able to accomplish and just watching him kind of grow and develop.

"So at some point in time, he's going to play and play well for us."

Now that Webster has redefined his body to fit in at the NFL level, the time for him to become a contributor for the Lions may arrive in 2015.

(h/t Mlive.com)

Photo Credit: Pat Lovell/Contract Photographer

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