One thing is for sure, there is plenty of optimism surrounding the 2022 Detroit Lions as most believe head coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes have the team on the right track.
Though it does appear as if the Lions are moving in the right direction, and it's ok to have hope that they will make a giant leap in 2022, there is no question about it that their current roster has plenty of weaknesses.
Detroit Lions roster ranks near bottom of NFL
On Thursday, ESPN released their NFL roster rankings as we head toward the 2022 regular season and the Detroit Lions ranked near the bottom of the league.
According to Ben Linsey, who put the rankings together, the Lions roster currently ranks 25th out of 32 teams in the NFL.
From ESPN:
Biggest strength: You won't often find a team this low on the list that has a top-five positional unit, but Detroit's offensive line is in that conversation. It's not difficult to see Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell both being top-10 players at their respective positions in 2022. From a PFF grading standpoint, Sewell was a top-10 graded right tackle as a rookie in 2021, and Decker finished 15th among qualifying left tackles. Throw in one of the NFL's best centers (Frank Ragnow) and a promising young guard (Jonah Jackson), and the Lions have a nice core to build around up front.
Biggest weakness: There's reason to be excited about the direction that this Detroit roster is trending, but the hole at quarterback makes it difficult to set expectations too high. Across his past two seasons with the Rams and Lions, Jared Goff‘s passes have traveled fewer than 7 yards downfield on average (6.8), and his 8.8 yards per attempt on throws 20 or more yards downfield is a bottom-five mark among 31 quarterbacks with at least 50 such attempts. There's not going to be much of an explosive, downfield element to this passing attack with Goff at quarterback unless he gets back to 2018 form.
Here are the key players on the Lions heading into the 2022 season, along with their grades from Pro Football Focus.
Note: Rookie grades are from their final year of college football
2022 Lions
| OFFENSE | DEFENSE |
|---|---|
| QB Jared Goff (60.7) | DI Michael Brockers (40.6) |
| RB D'Andre Swift (57.8) | DI Alim McNeill (60.1) |
| RB Jamaal Williams (69.8) | DI Levi Onwuzurike (43.2) |
| WR DJ Chark Jr. (71.3*) | Edge Aidan Hutchinson (94.5**) |
| WR Jameson Williams (81.6**) | Edge Romeo Okwara (68.8*) |
| WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (79.9) | LB Alex Anzalone (35.4) |
| TE T.J. Hockenson (68.1) | LB Derrick Barnes (30.1) |
| LT Taylor Decker (75.5) | CB Amani Oruwariye (59.0) |
| LG Jonah Jackson (69.3) | CB Jeff Okudah (42.5*) |
| C Frank Ragnow (80.3*) | CB Mike Hughes (72.9) |
| RG Halapoulivaati Vaitai (68.4) | S Tracy Walker III (65.1) |
| RT Penei Sewell (77.0) | S DeShon Elliott (65.6) |
Nation, do you think this ranking is accurate? If not, where would you rank the Detroit Lions current roster?
