Detroit Lions: Analyzing the Defensive Depth Chart

The Detroit Lions had one of the NFL’s best defense in 2014, but have undergone some personnel changes for 2015. Will the new depth chart prove better or worse?

Sep 29, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions fan holds up a defense sign during the game against the Chicago Bears at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

We went position by position on the Detroit Lions offense earlier in the week, and what we learned was Detroit added depth to positions they clearly lacked.

On the defensive side of the ball is where the Lions are questioned as they lost a lot along the defensive line with Ndamukong Suh, Nick Fairley and CJ Mosley leaving via free agency.

Detroit replaced the loss of Fairley, Suh and Mosley with Gabe Wright, Tyrunn Walker and Haloti Ngata.

Detroit despite the fact ranking in the top of the NFL in defense had problems, specifically in the secondary is where they had problems.

In today’s NFL you need three good cornerbacks and despite Slay and Mathis playing well, they significantly struggled at the nickel position.

Cassius Vaughn was counted on to be the nickel cornerback after Nevin Lawson and Bill Bentley went down, but for Vaughn he became a liability as teams completed better than 76 percent of their passes on Vaughn with a 102.0 passer rating.

Clearly the Lions needed to address the key areas in order to be better for the 2015 season. Let’s take a position-by-position look.

Next: Defensive Line