The Detroit Lions open their 2026 regular season on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, and a handful of matchups will tell the story right away.
At the top of that list is Jahmyr Gibbs, who enters the year as the clear bellcow in Detroit’s backfield. He also won’t have much help behind him on Sunday, with inexperienced Jacob Saylors serving as the No. 2 back while Isiah Pacheco is injured. That setup points to Gibbs getting work early and often, both as a runner and as a receiver, and it sets him up for what could be a big day in the opener.
On the other side of the ball, Terrion Arnold will be tested immediately by Chris Olave. The Saints’ top wideout has topped 1,000 receiving yards three times in four NFL seasons, and he posted a career year in 2025 with 100 catches, 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns.
Arnold’s first season in Detroit ended with a career-worst 61.3 Pro Football Focus coverage grade, so this is a sharp early measuring stick for him. If he can’t handle Olave, the Lions’ secondary could be in for a long afternoon.
There’s also a major responsibility waiting for Jack Campbell. Now the de facto leader of Detroit’s defense, he enters his first season as a captain with green-dot duties after a career-best year that included 176 tackles and a 90.3 overall grade from PFF.
On Sunday, he’ll have to keep tabs on Tyler Shough, the Saints’ second-year quarterback and 2025 second-round pick. Shough completed 67.6 percent of his passes as a rookie, threw for 2,384 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, and added 186 rushing yards and three more scores.
He’s viewed as a breakout candidate for 2026, which makes him a tricky Week 1 assignment for Kelvin Sheppard’s defense.
The Lions’ first-round pick in April, Tyleik Williams, is set for his NFL debut, and it comes with a tough first test against Chase Young. Young finished the 2025 season with 10 sacks, 49 total pressures and an 86.3 PFF pass-rush grade across 12 games, so Williams’ job will be to help keep him away from Jared Goff.
Detroit’s chances of starting the year with a win will depend in part on how well it handles that pressure. As a rookie, Williams is likely to hit some bumps, and a one-on-one battle with Young could be one of them.
In Other News...
Lions Escape Saints But A Bigger Concern Just Took Center Stage
The Lions left New Orleans with a win, but it came with a lot of noise attached to it. Detroit needed overtime to get past the Saints, and while the offense leaned hard on Jahmyr Gibbs, who piled up 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns, the bigger takeaway was how much the secondary struggled to hold up for much of the night. The defensive line did its part with five sacks, and special teams flashed better coverage with several key tackles, but the back end was exposed repeatedly.
Jameson Williams also had a rough outing with multiple drops, adding to the uneven feel of a game Detroit controlled only in stretches. For a team with bigger expectations than simply surviving close ones, the concern is less about the win itself than the way the Saints were able to test the Lions through the air. The front seven gave them enough chances to escape, but the secondarys performance is the sort of issue that tends to linger after the postgame celebration fades. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Suddenly Have A Joey Porter Jr. Question Worth Watching
The cornerback market suddenly has a name that would have to get the Lions attention. Joey Porter Jr. has reportedly asked the Steelers for a trade as extension talks have stalled, and Pittsburgh is at least willing to listen, even if its current asking price appears steep. For Detroit, it is the kind of opening that is hard to ignore: a young defensive back with upside becoming available, and a team that still has a clear need at the position.
Nothing formal is happening yet, but that is part of what makes this worth watching. The Lions have the cap flexibility to explore a move if the price softens, and Porters situation could become one of the more interesting fallback options on the market. For now, it is simply a question of whether the Steelers lower their demands enough for Detroit, or anyone else, to get serious. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Already Have A Backfield Problem Fans Didnt Expect
The Lions spent the spring reshaping their backfield around Jahmyr Gibbs, moving on from David Montgomery and planning for a new pecking order behind their lead runner. The idea was simple enough: Gibbs would handle the featured work, Isiah Pacheco would fill the Montgomery role, and Detroit could keep the ground game balanced without overcomplicating things.
Instead, the early returns have already created a wrinkle. Pacheco opening the season on injured reserve left the backup job unsettled, and Dan Campbell pointed to Jacob Saykors and Sione Vaki sharing those reps. In Week 1, Gibbs saw plenty of work and produced, Vaki logged more snaps than Saykors but had a rough outing, and Montgomery made his Texans debut by scoring three total touchdowns, leaving the Lions with a familiar question in a very different form. [Read more 🡒]