Jay Tufele\u2014was released on the eve of training camp<\/a>. Only Chris Smith and UDFA Aidan Keanaaina remain among nose tackle depth.<\/p>\nDetroit also invested in two Day 3 defensive linemen in the draft who are both better pass rushers than run defenders, and Tyleik Williams came into camp 50 pounds lighter.<\/p>\n
All of this points to a more dynamic, athletic, and pass rush-leaning defensive line. That\u2019s a significant departure from \u201cstop the run, earn the right to pass rush.\u201d That may still be the mantra, but it\u2019s clear Detroit is now willing to sacrifice some run-stopping ability to get to the passer.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, it\u2019s clear based on Detroit\u2019s lack of Anzalone replacement\u2014and Kelvin Sheppard\u2019s own words\u2014that the team is planning on playing more nickel going forward.<\/p>\n
I do like Sheppard\u2019s willingness to change\u2014stubbornness was always Aaron Glenn\u2019s biggest weakness\u2014but I do wonder about this strategy a little. Detroit\u2019s defense really fell apart at the end of last year when their run defense dropped off a cliff. And by personnel, they look a little worse off in that department.<\/p>\n
5. I don\u2019t know if Giovanni Manu can win a roster spot<\/p>\n
I came to this epiphany during this week\u2019s Lions training camp preview PODcast. While I\u2019m later on this than others, I just don\u2019t see a case in which keeping Manu around makes any sense. There\u2019s obviously no path for Manu to ever win a starting job, with Penei Sewell and Blake Miller holding down those roles for hopefully the next decade or so. Manu is also very unlikely to win the OT3 job this year, as the Lions invested in Larry Borom with a $5 million contract that is essentially fully guaranteed.<\/p>\n
The question is whether Manu can warrant keeping an OT4 or figure out another position he can backup. But is that even worth it at this point? He has just one more year left on his rookie contract beyond this season, so any financial benefit is pretty much null and void.<\/p>\n
I do believe Manu still has development within him, and he may be a good reserve one day for one team. However, with Detroit\u2019s offensive line depth improved everywhere and Manu\u2019s contract coming to an end relatively soon, I believe his runway in Detroit has come to an end.<\/p>\n
6. I\u2019m still holding out hope for another cornerback<\/p>\n
While I expect Rakestraw and Ya-Sin to battle it out for the starting cornerback job opposite D.J. Reed, I wish there was a third contender in the mix. For me, it\u2019s less about finding someone better than those two to start and more about getting a player they can rely on as a primary backup.<\/p>\n
Detroit could still field an okay defense if Reed and Ya-Sin are the starters. My confidence completely sinks if an injury hits one of those players\u2014or, god forbid, both. Cornerback tends to be one of the most injured positions with the speed and change of direction they play with, so the Lions going into this season with almost zero experience among their depth is highly concerning to me.<\/p>\n
7. The Lions offensive line will go through growing pains, but end up significantly better than 2025<\/p>\n
The Lions made it clear that offensive line improvement was one of the primary goals. They moved on from Taylor Decker and Graham Glasgow, and invested in Cade Mays as their new center and first-round pick Blake Miller to be their tackle of the future.<\/p>\n
But we must remember that offensive line chemistry takes time to build. And the reality of the situation is that there isn\u2019t a single player on this Lions offensive line who will be working alongside the same person they played with in 2025. Penei Sewell\u2019s move to left tackle means new chemistry with the left guard. The left guard starter will have a new left tackle and center to play between. And right guard Tate Ratledge will no longer have the benefit of Sewell alongside his right shoulder.<\/p>\n
There had to be a youth movement and some change along the offensive line after the golden years of 2023 and 2024, but that will not come without some early hardships. Just don\u2019t panic when it doesn\u2019t look perfect in September, but the potential payoff in November and December should be huge.<\/p>\n
8. The Lions\u2019 2026 season will sink or swim with the 2025 draft class<\/p>\n
The reality of this offseason is that the Lions lost more talent than they added, but that had to be the case. This team is fully committed to the draft-and-development strategy, and that\u2019s going to leave you short-handed in offseason resources.<\/p>\n
With the 2024 class looking like a pretty massive disappointment, the pressure is on the 2025 draft class to make this a better overall team than last year with their year-to-year development.<\/p>\n
Detroit is clearly expecting Tyleik Williams to grow his game from a steady run defender to a multifaceted defensive tackle playing both the nose and three tech. Will he still have his strength 50 pounds lighter? Can he develop legitimate pass rushing skills this early in his career? With limited competition, Williams is facing a huge workload this year.<\/p>\n
As I mentioned before, Ratledge will no longer have the benefit of Sewell next to him. In fact, he\u2019s going to have to show a tremendous amount of growth to help rookie right tackle Blake Miller catch on quickly. The future is promising on that side of the offensive line, but in order for 2026 to look good, Ratledge will have to take the next big step.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s Isaac TeSlaa. While the Lions can certainly get by without a huge year from the second-year receiver\u2014they have so many other weapons\u2014TeSlaa could be a big key to unleashing a new aspect of the offense. We know new Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing likes to run 13 personnel, but Detroit may not have the tight ends to do it. However, it\u2019s not hard to see the potential in running similar concepts with 11 personnel, especially considering how well all three starting receivers block. That\u2019s admittedly some high-concept, high-difficulty plays for a young player, but TeSlaa appears to be impressing Lions coaches already with his grasp of the offense, so the outlook is good.<\/p>\n
On top of that, there\u2019s now additional pressure for 2025 fifth-round pick Miles Frazier to push for the starting left guard job with Christian Mahogany starting camp injured<\/a>. And even seventh-round pick Dominic Lovett may be relied upon to find a significant special teams role with Kendrick Law already out for the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Detroit Lions training camp officially kicks off on Wednesday morning with the first practice of the season. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[2131,5192,39966,2130,349,99],"class_list":["post-791354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-detroit-lions-analysis","tag-detroit-lions-opinion","tag-detroit-lions-preseason","tag-detroit-lions-training-camp","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791354","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=791354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}