As the Detroit Lions build what they hope will become a consistent contending team, these 5 players are certified building blocks for the future.
Entering the second season for general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell, the Detroit Lions are in discovery mode. As in, discovery of who will be on the roster looking ahead, past 2022 to 2023, 2024 etc. Assuming both remain in their jobs that long, of course.
The 2022 draft yielded two first-round picks who will hopefully be tone-setters and future building blocks in defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and wide receiver Jameson Williams. Time will tell if that promise is fullfilled, and it’s solely rooted in hope and expectations for both right now.
But there are certainly players who have already shown themselves to be key pieces of the future in Detroit, even after just one season under the current regime. It’s sacrilegious for Lions fans to consider, but some such “building blocks” may date back to being drafted by the previous regime of Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia.
With Hutchinson and Williams perhaps displacing people on a list like this, probably with at least a season under their belts, here are five Detroit Lions players who have already proven they are future building blocks.
5 Detroit Lions who are certified future building blocks
Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
5
Amani Oruwariye
CB
If not for Oruwariye’s step toward stardom last year (six of the team’s 11 interceptions), the Lions’ secondary and pass defense as a whole would have been absolutely dreadful. Even with him, it wasn’t great. Oruwariye looks like a real find by the previous regime, in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, as he has actually emerged as a key player over the last two seasons (29 starts in 30 total games played).
As with many places on the defensive side of the ball, the cornerback competition is pretty wide open for the Lions–save for No. 1 guy Oruwariye, who should get (and said he wants) a multi-year deal to stay in Detroit for awhile fairly soon.