There are a lot of possible reasons why the Detroit Lions are struggling down the stretch. QuarterbackJared Goff's play, the inconsistent play calling, a weak offensive line, an exposed secondary, and underdelivering stars, to name a few. If you want to know why the Lions are falling apart down the stretch, all you really have to do is look at some recent history.
The struggles we're seeing right now can all be traced back to the prior two offseasons. Seems like a wild claim, but if you look closely at the moves the Lions have made over the last two years, you'll notice that the issues we talked about the most can be traced back to previous offseason failures.
Lions' Last 2 Offseasons Are Behind Current Concerns
Offensively, the offensive line and the wide receiver position have the biggest issues. To fix that, they brought in Kevin Zeitler and Donovan Peoples-Jones in 2024 with the idea that both men could bolster protection from their respective positions. It worked for Zeitler, as he played his tail off. Pro Football Focus graded him at 86.5, one of the best seasons of his career. Yet, Peoples-Jones was a far and wide flop.
Zeitler wasn't re-signed, and he'd end up with the Tennessee Titans. While guard isn't a major issue for the Lions, players move positions, and having Zeitler would've allowed some shuffling that could've helped the team.
2025 hasn't been much better. While D.J. Reader and Al-Quadi Muhammad were re-signed, the only other "big" signing was that of cornerback D.J. Reed. He's been fine, even good enough at times, but with how bad the cornerback position has been all year, that's just not good enough.
Little-known backup, Rock Ya-Sin, is having a career year, but he's outplaying his ceiling, so it's unlikely one can expect this level of consistency out of him for the rest of the season, least of all the rest of his career.
Lions' Drafting Has Left Much to Be Desired
That's bad enough, but the draft over the last two seasons has been even worse. Most of the players the Lions have drafted over the last two seasons have been either bad or inconsistent. 2025 first-round pick, Tyleik Williams, is prime proof of this. He's been up and down all season, and while he's looked better, the fact is that he's still not making a major impact.
The same goes for the 2024 first-rounder, Terrion Arnold, who hasn't been able to stay healthy and on the field this season. The rest of the 2025 class is mostly down. Save for Tate Ratledge. Isaac TeSlaa can't find the field that often despite the issues at receiver. Dominic Lovett, another wide receiver, has barely seen any action either. Meaning three of the four 2025 rookies are having unimpressive seasons.
The 2024 class isn't faring much better. Ennis Rakestraw has seen just eight games of very limited action; injuries and unimpressive plays have kept this cornerback off the field. He's played so little in his career that he doesn't even qualify for PFF grading yet.
Fellow 2024 draft picks, Giovanni Manu and Mekhi Wingo, have also been unimpressive and will likely be replaced when they finish their rookie contracts. Sione Vaki has been fine, but he's buried on the depth chart, raising the question as to why the Lions drafted him so highly if he was going to be third or fourth on the depth chart.
It should be noted, Christian Mahogany has been good. He was great as a rookie, but has come back down to Earth in 2025. He's not bad, by any means, but he was graded out at a 91.5 in 2024 and fell to a 66.2 in 2025. Still, he looks like he has potential.
When you look at the last two draft classes and the lackluster free agent acquisitions, it's not hard to see why the Lions have struggled to find their footing in 2025 and remain consistently good throughout the season. Hopefully, general manager Brad Holmes has a stronger plan for the 2026 offseason.
Or else, we could be having the same conversation this time next year.