The second season of the Brad Holmes/Dan Campbell edition of the Detroit Lions is about to kick off. The team has unquestionably improved from the Lions squad that took the field a year ago.
That team sputtered to a 3-13-1 finish and was the last team to win a game. Expectations are higher this year, especially after the well-received starring turn on HBO’s Hard Knocks during training camp.
How will the Lions come together and find greater success in 2022? Here are some of the pressing questions that the Lions face entering the regular season.
Just how good can Aidan Hutchinson be right away?
Any worries about Aidan Hutchinson not being ready for the NFL quickly subsided when he dominated throughout the preseason. The No. 2 overall pick earned his starting spot by being great all summer.
But there’s a difference between exhibition season greatness and carrying it into games that matter. There is little doubt Hutchinson will be anything less than good as a rookie. How impactful can he be out of the gate? That’s another thing entirely.
If Hutchinson can threaten to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year, the bar for the entire Lions defense goes up. If he’s merely good–say, five sacks and two forced fumbles–the overall impact probably doesn’t move the meter so much.
Can Jared Goff prove he's the QB of both the present and the future?
Anytime there is uncertainty at quarterback, it’s instantly elevated to the most pressing question. Based on his dichotomic first season in Detroit, there is nothing but uncertainty around Lions QB Jared Goff and if he’s the team’s long-term solution.
Goff is the unquestioned starter for 2022. After that, his contract status makes it pretty straightforward for the Lions to either commit to Goff or move on and try a different option.
The Goff from the first 10 games of 2021 stands little chance of being a long-term solution. But his final few games with head coach Dan Campbell and now-OC Ben Johnson taking over the offense showed real promise. Which Goff will the Lions get in 2022?
Can the young secondary hold up?
The oldest cornerback on the team is Will Harris, all 26 years of him. Harris is the No. 4 CB in the rotation at the beginning of the season that also features Jeff Okudah, Amani Oruwariye and Mike Hughes. When Jerry Jacobs comes back after Week 4, he’s lowering the age even more.
While several of these guys have played a lot of football, it’s a precocious group at CB. It’s also a group that doesn’t have much experience together; Harris played safety the last three years, while Okudah has been healthy for just 10 games in two seasons. Hughes is on his third team in as many seasons. Chase Lucas is a rookie, albeit one who is older than Hughes and Okudah.
At safety, Tracy Walker is the veteran presence. He’s 27 and entering his fifth season. Nobody else who will take snaps at safety played there in Detroit a year ago.
There is legitimate potential in all that youth. High-end potential, even. But thus far, it has yet to manifest. There figure to be considerable growing pains as the group learns to play together. Managing those pains and seeing the growth from the very rough 2021 won’t always be easy, but it’s the No. 1 spot on the team where the Lions can get better quickly too.
What do the Lions get from new WRs DJ Chark and Jameson Williams?
The Lions didn’t make a lot of changes to the offensive personnel this offseason outside of wide receiver. The QB, the top three RBs, top three TEs and the entire 9-man OL all return intact. But about those receivers…
DJ Chark and Jameson Williams represent significant upgrades in speed and playmaking potential. They’re both great fits for what new OC Ben Johnson wants to do with Detroit’s offense–just ask him.
We won’t see Williams until around Week 8 as he recovers from knee surgery. That was expected when the Lions traded up to draft him at No. 12 overall. Chark will start right away and figures to be the No. 2 WR in targets after Amon-Ra St. Brown.
There is pressure on both Chark and Williams to produce instant results–even for Williams when he comes off injury as a rookie. Chark was phenomenal early in training camp but cooled toward the end. If the production doesn’t come it’s going to be a real problem.
Can the key pieces stay healthy?
The Lions used first-round picks on Frank Ragnow, T.J. Hockenson and Jeff Okudah over three years. In 2021, Detroit got a combined 17 games from the core trio, 12 of those from Hockenson.
Key players staying healthy is critical for every team, no doubt about it. But the Lions have so many key players who have struggled to stay on the field, from Okudah to D’Andre Swift, Hockenson to Alex Anzalone, DJ Chark to Ragnow–who is already battling a new injury and could miss Week 1. The last two second-round draft picks, Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal, managed one combined practice this summer and will miss the start of the season, too.
The Lions don’t have the proven depth to overcome losing so many of the most important players to injury.
What player unexpectedly steps up?
Last year, undrafted rookie CB Jerry Jacobs proved a lot better than advertised. He went from roster longshot to Pro Football Focus’ top-graded UDFA in the entire league as a quality starter in Detroit. Likewise, Evan Brown emerged from being a journeyman backup lineman to capably filling in for Ragnow at center for most of the season. Craig Reynolds went from his couch to setting the Lions team record for most rushing yards in the first two games of a career.
Who will be this year’s unexpected pleasant surprise? There are a few candidates. Among them:
- Rookie LB Malcolm Rodriguez
- OL Logan Stenberg
- CB Mike Hughes
- DL John Cominsky
Does the new defensive scheme work?
Coordinator Aaron Glenn has changed the defensive scheme. Gone is the reactionary 3-4, two-gapping defense that borrowed heavily from predecessor Matt Patricia’s playbook. Glenn has overhauled the scheme to a base 4-2-5 that relies on proactive aggression and speed.
It’s definitely a wise choice to dump the old, but how quickly will the new-look D come together? Being an attacking style means taking some risks that opponents can expose and exploit. Can the benefits of aggression outweigh the downsides over the course of a season for a defense that lacks any proven star power?
