The Detroit Lions desperately hope to have a bounce-back season in 2026 after the major disappointment of last season. The 2025 campaign that began with Super Bowl aspirations quickly turned sour as the Lions took a step back both offensively and defensively. The team that finished as the best offense in the NFL a season ago finished fourth, and the seventh-best defense went all the way down to 22nd in points allowed.
The front office decided that the trenches needed to be upgraded in the offseason. GM Brad Holmes seemingly blamed the offensive line and the defensive line for the team's struggles and made an effort to revamp them.
In a recent interview with Good Morning Football, Holmes addressed the roster changes and said this is the deepest team he has built in the trenches.
"This is probably the deepest that we’ve been probably on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We were able to get younger on the offensive line, we’ve got a lot of good depth in the secondary and on the defense, as a whole. So with what we already had established on offense, we feel really, really good about where we’re at right now."Lions GM Brad Holmes
While it's true that the Lions made significant changes to personnel, whether they are actually better now than they were last season is another question. Detroit is younger now, and this was needed, to be sure, but there is also more uncertainty surrounding certain positions.
Replacing Graham Glasgow and Taylor Decker, both starters in their 30s, with Cade Mays and rookie Blake Miller makes some sense in the long run. For next season, however, did the Lions' offensive line actually get better?
As promising as Miller is, he will be a 22-year-old rookie when the season begins, and the Lions have to trust him at right tackle. Mays graded as an average starting center during his time in Carolina. Penei Sewell will have to move to left tackle for the first time since his rookie campaign. Larry Borom, Ben Bartch, and Juice Scruggs are experienced veterans, but whether they are upgrades over last year's backups is unclear. Giovanni Manu is still on the roster, and he has not looked ready to contribute in any meaningful way.
Defensively, the Lions may not have solved their biggest need. While many were hoping for a quality pass rusher across from Aidan Hutchinson since last offseason, the Lions waited until the draft to fill that need. They used a second-round pick on Derrick Moore and signed DJ Wonnum. What are the chances of either player being as productive as Al-Quadin Muhammad was last season?
Considering that Marcus Davenport also left, whether the EDGE depth is better now than it was last season is debatable. The same is true for the defensive tackle depth.
DJ Reader and Roy Lopez left in free agency, and the Lions are hoping that Tyleik Williams takes a big step forward to make up for their loss. Jay Tufele, who was signed in the offseason to be a depth interior defensive lineman, has not had a defensive grade over 51.0 on Pro Football Focus in each of the last four seasons. Can we really say that a DT rotation of Alim McNeill, Levi Onwuzurike, Tyleik Williams, and Jay Tufele should have Lions fans feel good about a defensive improvement next season?
Let's hope that Holmes is right and the Lions will be deeper and more talented on both lines of scrimmage next season. Unfortunately, it seems like there may be some wishful thinking on the front office's part.
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