Allen Park — It’s the thinnest line in sports, between sticking with what has worked, and recognizing when it starts to fail. Detroit’s teams are struggling with the formula, which partly explained Dan Campbell’s straightforward mood as he strode into the press room six minutes early for the start of the Lions’ OTAs, after an offseason of roster churning.
“It’s probably time to shake it up a little bit,” Campbell said Friday. “I do think, man, just getting back to a little bit of the no-nonsense.”
Fortunately (or unfortunately) the timing is right. Baseball season apparently will be ending early this year — cough, cough — with the Tigers in last place amid a staggering spate of ineptitude and injuries. For the Lions, football can’t start quickly enough.
The teams aren’t connected, but their challenges are. The Tigers are in the midst of misery after two consecutive playoff appearances. The Lions experienced their misery a year ago, after two consecutive playoff appearances. Numerous factors separate the situations but one is universal: You have to know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em, when to sign ‘em, when to trade ‘em.
Injuries complicate matters, and while the Tigers’ offense is a complete wreck, they technically have 105 games to try to heal. The Lions are a step ahead in one regard: They knew they couldn’t just run it back with the same crew. Their offensive line had reached a breaking point, and GM Brad Holmes made dramatic changes. The Tigers changed virtually nothing with their offense, despite frequent droughts, including one that lasted 15 innings in the final game of the ALDS in Seattle.
It takes crushing disappointment to force necessary change, and perhaps Scott Harris, AJ Hinch and the Tigers are discovering that now. The Lions discovered it with their own last-place finish in 2025, a painful plummet from Super Bowl contender status to 9-8.
Laying it on the line
Campbell didn’t open camp with a fiery proclamation, a podium pound or even a promise. It was an acknowledgement, after an offseason deep dive, they needed an overhaul to repair their most precious commodity.
Gone from the offensive line are Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow, who were released or retired, or both. Incoming are new faces, young faces and old faces in new places. Penei Sewell will move from right tackle to the left side, where he’ll still be among the top linemen in football. Blake Miller, 22, the first-round pick from Clemson, is expected to step in at right tackle.
The center replacing Glasgow is free agent Cade Mays, 27, who would become the Lions’ oldest starter on the line. Only two linemen are expected to return to the same position — guards Christian Mahogany, 25, and Tate Ratledge, 25. As it stands, the line will go from extremely grizzled to extremely green with an average age of 25.4, a calculated risk. It could change slightly if Larry Borom beats out the rookie at right tackle, or Juice Scruggs or Ben Bartch challenge Mahogany.
With most of the Lions’ additions, there’s a common theme: Young and hungry. That’s not saying the Lions got old and complacent, but they could see where it was headed. Campbell fired offensive coordinator John Morton after one year and brought in a fresh mind in Drew Petzing, 39.
Of course many elements on offense are back — Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta (if healthy). Just like the Tigers returned a loaded rotation, led by Tarik Skubal, but didn’t address the thin margins on offense.
The Lions still have a top-10 (or higher) offense, although it’s difficult to gauge because of the upheaval on the line last year. One casualty was David Montgomery, who didn’t have the same lanes to power through and was traded to the Texans. In his place is Isiah Pacheco, a similarly feisty runner motivated to re-prove himself after being phased out by the Chiefs.
The Lions’ offense didn’t necessarily stall last season but it did get stale, hampered by injuries to LaPorta and most of the line.
“I feel like we’re doing everything we can to get back to who we are and what we were,” said St. Brown, who suffered a rare spate of dropped passes. “When you win a lot of games, it’s not that you become numb to it. But you can kind of become numb to losing as you can to winning. I feel we won so many games these past 3-4 years, you feel like you can keep getting by with what we were doing. And at the end of the day, the target only gets bigger on your back.”
Making moves
Actually, by the end of last season, the target was diminished greatly from their 15-2 campaign. They went 2-4 against their rejuvenated rivals after back-to-back division titles.
“It’s a lot easier when nobody knows who you are,” Campbell said Friday. “The better you do, the more you do, the more hype, the more you’re doing this, this player gets paid, this coach moves on and now it’s all this other stuff that has nothing to do with what got us to that point. We all reap the benefits of that. Let’s just get back to the business of football first and foremost.”
It wasn’t a major revelation for the Lions, but a dawning of reality. Big contracts for their stars sapped their depth, which sapped the competition level on the roster. That was one point of the offseason, to stop counting on the same players to deliver better results. They signed linebacker Jack Campbell to an $81 million contract, but he actually got less than many expected.
Plenty of veterans departed — Amik Roberton, Kalif Raymond, Roy Lopez, Montgomery, Alex Anzalone, Al-Quadin Muhammad, D.J. Reader, Josh Paschal, Marcus Davenport — because at some point, individual ambitions outpace team spending limits. It’s also unclear if the Lions wanted to bring any back.
Not to belabor the analogy, but the Tigers were very intentional in keeping their lineup intact, based on modest playoff success. After missing the playoffs, the Lions were much more motivated to move. Holmes made it clear in free agency, signing mid-level guys eager for a chance to take a leap. Same with his seven draft picks, including second-round edge rusher Derrick Moore and a trio of late-round defenders with upside in cornerback Keith Abney III, defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard and edge Tyre West.
The Lions have a talented, expensive core, even on defense, with Aidan Hutchinson, Jack Campbell and Alim McNeill. If Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph and Terrion Arnold return to full health and form, their secondary would be greatly improved. The point is, nothing is a given now.
The offseason adjustments began with the Lions opting not to hold a rookie minicamp, an unusual move. Holmes talked at the draft about the need to rediscover their identity, while using the word “grit” an NFL-record 178 times (by my count). When the NFL announced the 2026 schedule, most teams released fancy hype videos. The Lions’ 34-second clip featured an audio montage of commentators downgrading their chances, and ended with Campbell walking out of his office and simply pinning the paper schedule to the wall.
There’s a risk in shaking things up, and the Lions didn’t have much choice. There’s also a risk in not shaking things up, as they learned last year, and the Tigers are discovering now.
Bob.wojnowski@detroitnews.com
@bobwojnowski
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wojo: Lesson for Lions (and Tigers): Don’t wait too long to shake things up
Reporting by Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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