The Lions spent part of this offseason trying to patch up a defensive line that took hits in free agency when Roy Lopez and D.J. Reader left. That would have been a real problem if not for the encouraging health updates on Alim McNeill and Levi Onwuzurike, and it got a little more manageable when Detroit added more bodies on day 3 of the NFL draft.
Tyre West was one of those additions, and he arrives with a path that is narrow but very much open. The former Tennessee lineman was reportedly on the radar of the New York Jets and former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn before Detroit grabbed him, giving Kelvin Sheppard a chance to work with a player whose size fits the direction the team is trying to go.
West is not walking into camp as a finished product. He profiles more as an edge rusher than a defensive tackle, which means he has some climbing to do if he wants to carve out a real role. But if he can push past Payton Turner and Tyler Lacy to become the direct backup to Aidan Hutchinson, that would be a major win for both West and the Lions’ scouting staff.
There is at least a clear reason to think Detroit will give him a look. The front office has spent this offseason adding more size to the defensive front, and West fits that mold. He played 12 games last season for Tennessee and finished with four sacks, 23 tackles, one pass defended and one forced fumble.
Kelvin Sheppard described the shift in the unit’s look this way: "The first look at it it's like, 'Oh, it's changed over there.' That corner (of the field) you look at during individuals and there's a lot of big, long and tall," defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said of the unit on Thursday.
"The thing that stands out to me is length. That's something we kind of attacked and we saw we needed."
West’s tape shows the same things that made him appealing in the first place: size, power, and a willingness to attack blockers on the way to the quarterback. At the same time, the concerns are obvious. Lance Zierlein pointed to his limited starting experience at Tennessee, stiffness when changing direction as a pass rusher, and trouble with "stack and shed" situations.
That’s the reality of a seventh-round pick. West is not being asked to show up and immediately look like a polished NFL pass rusher. But with Detroit still needing help on the defensive line, camp gives him a real chance to turn a modest draft slot into something more meaningful.
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The list also offered a fresh snapshot of the NFC North pecking order, with Caleb Williams cracking the top 10 for the first time and Jordan Love again settling for honorable mention. For Goff, the broader takeaway is that the league still sees him as one of the more dependable quarterbacks in football, even if the debate around exactly where he belongs never quite goes away. [Read more 🡒]