{"id":706046,"date":"2026-06-15T19:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/706046\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T19:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T19:52:12","slug":"detroit-lions-defense-making-slight-tweak-for-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/706046\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lions defense making slight tweak for 2026 season"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the things that made the Detroit Lions\u2019 defense unique\u2014but not necessarily good\u2014was the amount of base defense they played in 2025. Their base defense personnel, featuring four defensive linemen and three linebackers, was utilized 60 percent of the time<\/a>, which not only ranked first in the NFL, but was way above the league average of 12.8 percent (per The Athletic).<\/p>\n

But that tendency appears to be headed for a change in 2026. Twice now, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has told the media he plans to utilize nickel formation\u2014taking out a linebacker for a slot corner\u2014more often this upcoming season. He first dropped the news on Fox 2 Detroit<\/a>, and reiterated the point during his press conference prior to the Lions\u2019 final OTA practice last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are planning to utilize the nickel position more,\u201d Sheppard said outright on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Part of that decision may be an adjustment to how the league operates, but it\u2019s also likely guided by some tough personnel decisions the Lions had to make this offseason. They clearly weren\u2019t willing to pay Alex Anzalone, their best coverage linebacker, what he wanted and let him go in free agency. They also lost last year\u2019s starting nickel corner Amik Robertson\u2014who often had to sub in on the outside when injuries happened.<\/p>\n

Detroit didn\u2019t find a replacement for Anzalone in free agency and fourth-round pick Jimmy Rolder is likely at least a year away from becoming a big-time contributor on defense. However, the Lions were active in adding to their secondary, signing Roger McCreary, currently the projected starting nickel, drafting nickel candidate Keith Abney, and adding a few safeties who could potentially drop down into the nickel position in free agency (Christian Izien, Chuck Clark).<\/p>\n

Sheppard is welcoming this challenge with open arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a lot of questions marks right now that we are starting to go through as we go,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cLike you come last year, \u2018Alright Alex (Anzalone) is going to guard the tight end, Amik is going to be in the slot.\u2019 We do not have that right now, which in my opinion is a good thing because this is an opportunity for growth, for us a defense and a team. Like to get a little uncomfortable to go into training camp and not knowing who the starting safeties might be if we do not have the two All-Pro, not knowing. To me, I bask in that moment because the opportunity for us as coaches to develop somebody and make sure they are ready to go when Week 1 kicks off.\u201d<\/p>\n

That kind of forced change could be exactly what the Lions defense needs. While impressive at times throughout 2025, injuries and inconsistencies left the Lions defense in a worse place than when they started the season. Detroit finished the year 22nd in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed per play\u2014both significant steps down from the previous season.<\/p>\n

With an overturned roster and Sheppard entering his second season as the team\u2019s defensive coordinator, things should certainly look different in 2026. The question is whether it will be better.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou asked what I learned and why am I more comfortable,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201cThe adaptability, the adaptability that you have as a coach and player in this league is vital because things are going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the things that made the Detroit Lions\u2019 defense unique\u2014but not necessarily good\u2014was the amount of base…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":706047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[291781,4992,39966,4993,2130,349,99],"class_list":["post-706046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-detroit-lions-otas","tag-detroit-lions-news","tag-detroit-lions-preseason","tag-detroit-lions-quotes","tag-detroit-lions-training-camp","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/706047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}