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An Overview of the Detroit Lions Defense
If someone wanted to argue that the Lions' defense was bad last year, they could point out things like their giving up the fifth most passing yards, the modest sack total of 37, or the well below-average 4.5 yards per carry they gave up in the running game. If someone wanted to use stats to say the defense was good, they could point to the strong 24 takeaways they produced, the fifth fewest rushing yards they allowed, or the fact that Detroit gave up the eleventh fewest points. What it comes down to is this unit was not far away from being very good, but they have some things to clean up.
Injuries had much to do with the low sack production as both edge starters were sidelined by week six. They gave up too many long passes, with only the Jaguars allowing more of 20+ yards and three teams giving up more of 40+. While it is true that the Lions were 28th in pass yards allowed, they also faced the fourth-most pass attempts, so the 7.2 yards per pass was close to the league average.
The pass rush gets a boost with the return of Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport. The secondary should improve with the signing of corners D.J. Reed and Avonte Maddox, and the fact that last year's first and second round picks, corners Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr., now have some experience under their belts. The run game should also get a little boost with the addition of first-round tackle Tyleik Williams and the return of linebackers Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Derrick Barnes, who were all sidelined for at least seven games.
Detroit Lions Defensive Linemen
The week five loss of cornerstone defender Aidan Hutchinson to a broken leg was a huge blow to the team's championship aspirations. The second overall pick in 2022 has been everything the organization expected. Most rookie pass rushers start slowly and break out in year two or three. In his first season, Hutchinson went 34-18-9.5 with 5 turnovers, 3 batted passes, and a top-15 rank.
If not for such a productive rookie campaign, Hutchinson's year two would have been considered a breakout. Instead, it was simply an improvement. At 36-15-11.5 with 6 turnovers, 7 batted passes, and 14 tackles for loss, he broke into the top ten for the first time. It will not be his last. Hutchinson didn't even finish five games in 2024, yet he still managed 19 tackles, 7.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. He turns 25 in August and is just entering the prime of his career. Hutchinson is set to be a perennial top ten at the edge position and could be a contender for this year's sack title.
Hutchinson is an outstanding building block, but if the Lions expect to reach their goal, he will need some help. He recorded more sacks in five games than anyone else on the team had over the whole season. Detroit had 18 players contribute to the sack column in 2024. Za'Darius Smith was second on the team with four, despite seeing his first action with the team in week eleven.
The way last season unfolded, one would think the Lions would have made it a point to address the situation in the offseason. Instead, they did nothing beyond the addition of sixth-round pick Ahmed Hassanein. The organization seems content to roll the dice on Marcus Davenport one more time. To all my friends who are Lions fans, better luck next year.
We've all heard the cliché that sometimes the best ability is availability. That has been a problem for Davenport throughout his seven years in the league. The 2018 first-round pick of the Saints has never missed fewer than two games in a season and has been sidelined for a total of 49, including 28 over the last two years. Those numbers don't include all the games he was banged up and played sparingly or was ineffective, and there have been plenty of those.
When healthy, Davenport is a talented player. In eleven games for the Saints in 2021, he totaled 23-16-9, forced 3 fumbles, and recovered 1. In his other six seasons combined, Davenport has 13 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. If he can beat the injury bug, Davenport can be a strong bookend. If he comes up gimpy yet again, there is not much of a backup plan.
What plan they do have consists of 2022 second-rounder Josh Paschal and journeyman Al-Quadin Muhammad. Injuries have been a big factor for Paschal, or at least they were blamed for his lack of impact. Paschal was slowed by a sore knee and a core injury that started bothering him during his rookie training camp. After recovering from sports hernia surgery, he was eyeing a bigger role in year two before missing time with a sore knee. Maybe we can give him a Mulligan for those two seasons. Paschal missed three games in 2024, two with an illness and one with a sore knee. He still saw more action (615 snaps) than any of Detroit's other edge defenders, but managed a lowly 15-6-2 on the season.
When healthy, Paschal is a strong edge setter who plays the run well, but he does not excel as a pass rusher. He is more of a big body who can help on early downs, but his contributions in the sack column are modest. The best scenario for the Lions might be to have Paschal in the game on running downs while Davenport concentrates on rushing the passer. That might help both players avoid injury, but it's not going to make either of them IDP targets.
Al-Quadin joined the team mid-season to fill the void left by all the injuries. He was a backup for the Colts over most of his four years there, making several starts in 2021. That was his most productive season at 32-15-6 with a forced fumble. He is a serviceable option if needed, and can be somewhat productive with a significant role. The biggest asset that Al-Quadin brings to the table is availability. He has not missed a game since 2018.
The Lions are strong up the middle. Or at least they would be if everyone were available. Alim McNeill, DJ Reader, and Levi Onwuzurike made up most of the interior rotation last season. McNeil is recovering from ACL surgery after a late-season setback to a previous repair, and Onwuzurike will miss 2025 with a torn ACL. After signing Reader to an extension and drafting Tyleik Williams in round one, the starting lineup should still be good, but the rotation will not be as strong or deep. With Mekhi Wingo also recovering from injury and looking at a stint on the PUP list, Brodric Martin and Patrick O'Connor will be joined by offseason addition Roy Lopez to fill out the depth chart. One thing the Lions will be at the tackle position is big. Both Reader and Williams are north of 330 pounds.
It has been a while since the Lions last had a fantasy productive interior lineman. We should not expect that to change in 2025. McNeil led the group with a dismal average of 4.3 points per game last year. No Lion at the position has produced more than 23 solo stops or 5 sacks since 2019, and the last one to reach an average of six or more points per game was Michael Brockers in 2020.
- DE Aidan Hutchinson – Strong number one with top-five potential
- DE Josh Paschal – Marginal impact at best
- DE Marcus Davenport – Talented player who is always injured
- DE Al-Quadin Muhammad – Injury sleeper with limited upside
- DE Ahmed Hassanein – Developmental rookie
- DT Alim McNeill – Likely to miss several weeks with ACL recovery
- DT DJ Reader – Marginal value
- DT Tyleik Williams – Rookie worth keeping an eye on
- DT Roy Lopez – No impact
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