The Detroit Lions are heading toward the 2026 season with real questions in the middle of their defensive line, and the answers could shape how that group looks by the time the roster is trimmed down.
At the center of it all is Alim McNeill. The 26-year-old nose tackle is coming off a disappointing 2025 season after returning from the torn ACL that ended his 2024 campaign early.
The pass rush never really came back online: McNeill finished with no sacks and only two quarterback hits, and Pro Football Focus graded him at 61.3 as a pass rusher, which ranked 72nd among 134 qualified interior defensive linemen. His work against the run also slipped, reflected in a 47.2 PFF run-defense grade.
Detroit needs a much stronger version of McNeill this year. If he gets back to the level he showed in 2024, when he posted a 79.6 PFF overall grade, the Lions should get a noticeable lift on the interior.
Tyleik Williams is another major piece of the puzzle. The No. 28 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft started 10 games as a rookie and finished with 18 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, three quarterback hits and four passes defended.
He opened the season starting Detroit’s first six games next to DJ Reader, then shifted into a rotational role once McNeill returned. Williams had his share of rookie growing pains, though, and his 62.6 PFF overall grade showed it.
With Reader now gone to the N.Y. Giants, Williams is the one who has to make the biggest leap.
Beyond those two, the Lions have a crowded group fighting for snaps and jobs. Levi Onwuzurike looks like the safest bet of the bunch heading into camp, while Mekhi Wingo and Ahmed Hassanein appear to be on shakier ground.
Wingo, one of Detroit’s two sixth-round picks in 2024, still hasn’t made much of a dent. In two NFL seasons, the LSU product has not recorded a sack and has only seven total pressures.
Hassanein’s path has been even bumpier. The Lions’ sixth-round pick last year suffered a pectoral injury during camp, was waived with an injury settlement before final roster cuts, then re-signed to the practice squad.
He never played a snap for Detroit in 2025. This spring, the coaching staff gave the 24-year-old work at big end, a new position for him, but he and Wingo both need strong summers if they want to stick on the 53-man roster.
They’ll have to earn it with Tyler Lacy and Skyler Gill-Howard in the mix as well.
Lacy joined Detroit after roster cutdowns last year and ended up appearing in 10 games with four starts. He logged 21 tackles and a sack for Kelvin Sheppard’s defense, and his ability to line up inside or on the edge gives him some real roster appeal. He also stood out during mandatory minicamp, making him a legitimate darkhorse for the season-opening roster.
Gill-Howard arrived as Detroit’s sixth-round pick this past April after a strong run at Texas Tech. In six games in 2025, he posted 13 total tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception, and Pro Football Focus gave him an 88.6 overall grade.
He plays with a relentless motor and has a chance to grow into a difference-making pass-rusher for Sheppard’s defense. For now, though, his presence only makes the summer battle tougher for Wingo and Hassanein.
The Lions will also bring Myles Adams, Chris Smith, Aidan Keanaaina and Jay Tufele into training camp in that interior defensive line room. Of that group, Tufele, who played in 12 games for the N.Y. Jets last season, appears to have the best chance to make an impact in 2026.
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