Soon after the offseason began, the Detroit Lions’ defense became a bit of a pet project for Dan Campbell. The Lions coach, a former tight end whose expertise lies in offense, planned to examine a sector of his team that became a problem area during the second half of last season.
On the way to losing five of their last eight games and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2022, the Lions routinely failed to their stop opponents as a slew of injuries – particularly in the secondary – took their toll. By the time they logged their final snap in early January, they ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in yards and points allowed. They also struggled to generate takeaways and possessed one of the league’s worst pass rush win rates.
“What can we do better?” Campbell asked rhetorically in front of a group of reporters at the NFL combine in February.
The answer, he hypothesized then, was more likely to be found in the X’s and O’s instead of the Jimmys and Joes. After Campbell had begun to review the tape with coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and the rest of his staff, he seemed convinced schematic adjustments, rather than sweeping personnel changes, were necessary. At the very least, they appeared more achievable.
“We’ve just got to tighten the screws on a few things,” he said.
Campbell’s comments, in retrospect, hinted at what was to come during the height of free agency, when the organization – limited by its financial constraints – did little to improve the quality of its defensive roster. In fact, an argument can be made that the Lions emerged from this pivotal acquisition phase with a talent deficit in the aggregate. As such, Detroit’s losses felt greater than its additions in terms of net impact. Gone are Al-Quadin Muhammad, the Lions’ second-most productive pass rusher; Alex Anzalone, a team captain and fixture at linebacker; Amik Robertson, their top nickel cornerback, and Roy Lopez, a rotational defensive tackle who was one of Detroit’s best backups.
While none of those departures crippled the Lions, the organization’s brass didn’t upgrade the positions they vacated. Instead, Detroit went on a shopping spree for lower-tier free agents, signing six to short-term contracts. Many of them – from linebacker Damone Clark to defensive back Christian Izien to safety Chuck Clark – appear destined to serve as depth pieces. The most prominent of the bunch, DJ Wonnum, is penciled in as a starter at the EDGE spot opposite of Aidan Hutchinson. But even that is not set in stone.
Besides, Wonnum isn’t known as an elite pocket disruptor. His career high in sacks is eight. Considering the Lions had the NFL’s third-worst time-to-pressure average last season, the addition of Wonnum didn’t appear to address one of the team’s greatest defensive shortcomings: its pass rush. Still, general manager Brad Holmes told reporters Monday, April 13, that he is comfortable enough with Wonnum’s track record that he doesn’t feel compelled to further “supplement” the position through the draft or other avenues.
It wasn’t a surprising comment given that Holmes, near the outset of his 21-minute news conference, said he was satisfied with the budget-conscious moves the Lions made.
“I feel like we did the best we could, and we maximized the resources that we had available,” he said. “That’s my job to do that, and I think that we accomplished that.”
Asked if he believes the Lions’ defense, as presently constituted, is championship-level, he responded, “Yeah, those are our hopes.”
He then paused for a beat.
“Look, we’re never going to be satisfied in terms of where we’re at,” Holmes continued. “That’s what me and Dan are always constantly looking at, man. We’re always constantly looking at personnel and how to add more and tweaks and all this stuff. … So, whatever you’re saying about how it looks right now on this day, that may not be the case because we’re always looking to add and evolve it and make it better all the time.”
But at this point of the offseason, it seems clear the Lions believe the most cost-effective way to improve their defense in the short term is to modify Sheppard’s system and tailor it to the strengths of the players he has at his disposal.
At the NFL owners meeting in late March, Campbell talked about the process of developing a more malleable structure that gives Detroit the flexibility to roll out everything from five-man fronts to nickel packages to three-linebacker sets. The strategy sessions that inspired this new master plan for the defense began with Campbell’s desire to solve a problem.
“What did we do well? What did we not?” he said. “Where do we go from here?”
The answer to that last question remains unclear.
Campbell, however, seemed certain of one thing.
“We’ve still got work to do,” he said. “There is no secret there.”
No, there isn’t. But if Holmes fails to deliver a few big acquisitions in the draft, then the burden will fall on Campbell and Sheppard to use their brain power to fix the defense. After all, not many obvious plug-and-play solutions were found in free agency.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Lackluster free agent moves make elite Detroit Lions ‘D’ seem unlikely
Reporting by Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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