The Detroit Lions are heading into Week 3 against the New York Jets with a few familiar stars set to dominate the spotlight, but the bigger swing could come from the names that haven’t done much yet.
Aidan Hutchinson, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs will naturally get most of the attention.
Still, if Detroit is going to get the kind of complete performance it wants, it needs a few lesser-known pieces to show up in a meaningful way. That puts a trio of Lions in the crosshairs for Sunday.
One of them is Tyrus Wonnum, who has gotten off to a rough start to the 2026 season. Through two games, he hasn’t recorded a sack and has managed only three pressures across 73 pass-rush snaps.
That’s not the kind of output Detroit needs from a player expected to help support a pass rush that has mostly revolved around Pro Bowl EDGE Aidan Hutchinson. If the Lions are going to get more disruption up front, Wonnum has to start contributing, and Week 3 offers him a chance to do exactly that.
In the secondary, Rock Ya-Sin McCreary is another player who needs a stronger showing. His first two games with Detroit haven’t produced much in the way of splash plays; he has no pass breakups or interceptions so far, and Pro Football Focus has given him a 48.3 coverage grade.
His 58.7 overall PFF mark ranks 51st among 89 qualified cornerbacks. He may also be asked to take on more work in the slot this week, with Christian Izien projected to join Chuck Clark in the starting lineup at safety.
That would put even more on McCreary’s plate, and the Lions will need him to handle it if the back end is going to look cleaner than it did a week ago.
Then there’s Isaac TeSlaa, who has been quiet through the first two weeks. He has just two catches for 26 yards on six targets, and five of those targets came in last week’s game against the Bills.
But with Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams likely to command the most attention from Jets defenders, TeSlaa has a path to slip into space and make a few plays.
At this point, the expectation is that the second-year pro finishes Sunday with three receptions and about 35 yards.
Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but that’s not the point. For Detroit, the Week 3 test against Aaron Glenn’s team may come down to whether these quieter contributors can finally turn a little opportunity into real production.
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Lions Still Need More From Rookies After Early Promise
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Dan Campbell has made it clear the development process is still very much underway, and that matters for a team trying to keep building depth without losing ground in the standings. The Lions have seen enough from the class to know there is potential there, but the next stretch will tell them more about which rookies are ready for bigger roles and which ones still need time to catch up to the speed and physicality of the NFL. [Read more 🡒]