As the Detroit Lions move closer to the 2026 NFL season, the pressure around the roster is easy to spot. The core that has helped turn the team into a contender is still intact, even with some offseason turnover, and that means the standard stays high.
The headline names are already familiar. All-Pro left tackle Penei Sewell, All-Pro wide receiver Amon-Ra St.
Brown, and All-Pro linebacker Jack Campbell remain the kind of foundational players the Lions can lean on. Those pieces are in place, and they’re not the ones carrying the biggest question marks.
The real issue is the next layer of the roster. Detroit needs several players beyond that established core to take another step if the team is going to chase its ultimate goal of bringing a Super Bowl to the city of Detroit. Some of those players have already been rewarded with second contracts, which brings a different level of expectation with it.
Defensive tackle Alim McNeill and linebacker Derrick Barnes are in that group. Both have new deals, and both will be expected to justify them this season.
Then there are the younger players still working on rookie contracts, the ones who can change the conversation with a strong year. Second-year defensive tackle Tyleik Williams and left guard Christian Mahogany fall into that category, and both have a chance to lock down their place in the long term if they elevate their play.
Ahead of training camp, the discussion has centered on five Lions who need to step up in 2026, a topic being broken down by myself and my good friend Meko Scott over on the Pride of Detroit YouTube channel.
In Other News...
Dan Campbell Must Sharpen One Key Area For Lions To Finish It
Dan Campbell heads into his sixth season in Detroit with the kind of rsum that buys patience and respect. He has helped turn the Lions into a team with multiple winning seasons and a regular presence in the NFC North race, and the next step is less about changing who he is than tightening the edges around it. For a coach whose energy and edge have become part of the franchise identity, the challenge now is making sure that same urgency does not keep showing up in the form of avoidable mistakes.
The Lions also have a new offensive voice to fold in, with Drew Petzing taking over as coordinator, and that transition will matter as Campbell tries to keep the operation clean and efficient. The bigger question is whether he can sharpen the decision-making that has sometimes pushed Detroit into unnecessary risk, from discipline issues to the kind of aggressive fourth-down choices that can swing field position the wrong way. If the Lions are going to finish the job in 2026, Campbell's margin for error may be smaller than ever. [Read more 🡒]
Lions May Have A Training Camp Answer Fans Didn't See Coming
Avonte Maddox already proved useful for Detroit last season, when injuries in the secondary pushed him into a key defensive role after the Lions brought him back in free agency. His value has always been tied to versatility, and that matters again now as the Lions head into training camp with a secondary that still has some sorting out to do. Maddox can help in run support and in coverage, which is exactly the kind of flexibility this defense has leaned on before.
What makes his situation worth watching is how many moving parts are still in front of him. Kerby Joseph, Chuck Clark and Christian Izien all factor into the safety picture, and Maddox could see his role grow if the camp and preseason pecking order does not settle the way the Lions expect. Even if he is not penciled in as a headline name, he looks like the kind of defender who can end up playing more than a lot of people first assumed. [Read more 🡒]