NFL
By: Greg Rector
The Detroit Lions enter the 2023 NFL season as a team on the rise. The Detroit Lions are the favorites to win the NFC North division and should be playing playoff football in January. Let’s look at the Detroit Lions as they prepare for the 2023 season.
The Detroit Lions Offense
The Detroit Lions will enter this season with a potent offense. Quarterback Jared Goff has plenty of talent as a wide receiver top pick from season’s draft pick Jameson Williams about to miss the first six games of the season to his gambling incident Detroit Lions’ offense will be just fine. Goff has added Denzel Mims, ex of the New York Jets’ who will be another speed option.
A’mon-Ra St Brown leads the rest of the talented receivers for the Detroit Lions. Veteran Marvin Jones Jr also is back with the Lions. Once Williams returns from suspension, the Detroit Lions receivers will be a deadly unit.
At Tight End the Lions drafted Sam Laporta out of Iowa and he should solidify that position quite nicely.
The running back room will be very different for the Lions. De’Andre Swift and Jamall Williams are both gone. In their place, the Detroit Lions signed David Montgomery formerly of the Bears, and drafted Jahmyr Gibbs out of Alabama. Gibbs will be a difference maker while Montgomery will be a solid option in the passing game.
The offensive line for the Detroit Lions is a stout group led by right tackle Penei Sewell. Jared Goff has the protection he needs and the line does an excellent job in the running game.
The Detroit Lions Defense
This is the area that the Detroit Lions addressed in the off-season. Signing Cam Sutton as a cornerback will solidify a unit that was costing the Detroit Lions games last season. They also drafted linebacker Jack Campbell another Iowa University standout player. The Detroit Lions won’t be losing games based on giving up yardage through the air anywhere near as much as they had in past seasons.
With Aidan Hutchison anchoring the defensive line the Detroit Lions are going to give opposing quarterbacks fits. James Houston will be the other defensive end to put pressure on the quarterbacks. Inside Alim McNeil will be the core guy to prevent the running game from hurting the Detroit Lions.
Overall Outlook
I have the Detroit Lions winning the NFC North with a record of 11-6. The days of the Detroit Lions being the basement dwellers of the division should come to an end. Will they be good enough to win the NFC? Not likely however they are roster on the way up and will make some noise in the 2023 NFL season. Head coach Dan Campbell can lead this group to the NFL playoffs and with Ben Johnson running the offense the Detroit Lions will be playoff bound.
