Heading into the offseason, I was convinced that Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes would use free agency and the 2022 NFL Draft as a way to give his defense a major facelift.
Well, the free agency period came and Holmes was content with not making any major additions to a defense that allowed the second-most points in the NFL in 2021.
Many then believed the Lions would hammer the defensive side of the ball early and often in the draft but that was not the case as they instead traded up in Round 1 to select WR Jameson Williams out of Alabama.
During the 2022 NFL Draft, the Lions did add five defensive players to the mix as they used the No. 2 overall pick to land EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, their third-round pick to select S Kerby Joseph, their sixth-round picks to take LBs Malcolm Rodriguez and James Houston, and their seventh-round pick to select CB Chase Lucas.
Detroit Lions defense, we may have a problem
We are now just one week away from the Detroit Lions taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season and though the defense does look better on paper than it did in 2021, there are still some major question marks such as will Aidan Hutchinson make a major impact as a rookie, is Jeff Okudah ready to prove that he can be a starting CB in the NFL, and is Malcolm Rodriguez really going to be a stud linebacker or has the media (and the Lions’ coaches) hyped him up way too much?
Those are questions that will be answered as the season goes on but according to Mike Clay of ESPN, it is going to be a very long season for the Lions on the defensive side of the ball.
In fact, Clay thinks the Lions’ defense will give up the most points in the entire NFL in 2022.
From ESPN:
1. Detroit Lions: 445 points
Detroit was in this same spot last season and proceeded to allow 467 points (463 projected). That was second-most in the league after allowing a league-high 519 in 2020. Things may not be much better this season, as the defense has weak spots all over the lineup, exacerbated by injuries to Romeo Okwara, Jerry Jacobs and rookie Josh Paschal.
Nation, do you think the Detroit Lions will have the worst defense in the NFL in 2022? I don’t.
