Pride of Detroit

When the Detroit Lions traded away starter T.J. Hockenson mid-season in 2022, there was inevitably going to be a vacuum at the tight end position. Going from a top-five player at the position to a 2021 undrafted free agent (Brock Wright), a 2022 rookie coming off an ACL injury (James Mitchell), and a 2020 undrafted…

It’s been about two-and-a-half years since the Detroit Lions made the hiring of coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes. Though the two hires were made completely separate of each other, the two have noted time and time again how simpatico they are. It’s clear both have very similar visions of the future of…

Thanks to leaked footage from the Detroit Lions media team, we now have some actual film from the second annual media skills competition from this past Monday (we had some pictures in a prior edition of Notes)! Just like last year, the team ran a fun contest between the beat writers and the team’s reporters…

C.J. Gardner-Johnson was one of the Detroit Lions’ biggest free agent signings this offseason, with even the Lions caught a bit off guard by his availability. Gardner-Johnson has already made an impact as a leader in the team’s revamped secondary, and he’s likely to make just as big of an impact on the field. But…

In 2021, the Jacksonville Jaguars finished last place in their division with a 3-14 record. Just one year later, they finished atop the AFC South with a record of 9-8 and even won a playoff game. The Bengals accomplished the same feat of going from “worst-to-first” in 2021 and managed to make the Super Bowl.…

Way back in November, as part of our fundraising campaign to raise money for two causes—The Alzheimer’s Association and the Crisis Text Line—I offered up an embarrassing memory. Back in 2015, I was a distraught young man. From the confines of a California apartment, I had just watched my Alma Mater, the Michigan Wolverines, lose…

Ask anyone around the NFL, and they will tell you, training camps are a grind—both mentally and physically. So when HBO came calling last year for the Detroit Lions to potentially be their focus for the newest edition of their critically-acclaimed series “Hard Knocks”, it would have been easy for the team to try and…

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams spent much of the team’s offseason program under the microscope and for good reason. The Lions spent a lot of draft capital on the former Alabama receiver—sending Pick 32, 34, and 66 in the 2021 NFL Draft to get Williams and the 46th overall pick. Given that we had…

It’s the time of year when Detroit Lions fans’ hopes for the upcoming season are at an all-time high. Between slow-mo videos from OTAs and reports of chemistry building between players, the vibes are good leading up to the season opener. That’s probably true of any team, really.

As I pointed out earlier in the week, my biggest takeaway from Detroit Lions minicamp and OTAs was the drastic improvement of the team’s secondary. As always, though, there is a downside to one unit performing well in practice—the corresponding unit on the other side of the ball not playing well.

The new season will be here before we know it, and most of the narratives regarding the Detroit Lions are overwhelmingly positive. It does feel good to be the national darling, and the analytics—and betting markets—support this optimism as well. Still, things rarely play out exactly as expected.

All offseason, Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell insisted they needed to add more competition to the quarterback room. So when they opted to re-sign Nate Sudfeld as the team’s primary backup behind Jared Goff, there was some warranted skepticism. Yes, they ended up drafting Hendon Hooker in the third round,…

This year, the Detroit Lions approached linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard about taking on a bigger role, something coach Dan Campbell believed the 35-year-old coach earned over the past two years. “(Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) and I talked and we felt like it was time to put more on him, especially this year,” Campbell said last…

A few weeks ago, we learned that Detroit Lions fans span the entire globe, likely covering every single state in America and a countless amount of countries that I was unable to keep track of. For today’s Question of the Day, I am interested in how you became a part of this Pride of Detroit…

Now that this regime has flipped the Detroit Lions from their culture to their performance on the field, Detroit is a desirable destination. That means some of the league’s biggest names no longer rule the Lions out as they once did. Analysts and writers are now frequently suggesting Detroit as a landing spot for some…

On Monday, the Detroit Lions held their last open-to-the-media OTA (offseason training activity) of the 2023 spring. As is commonplace under coach Dan Campbell, the Lions veterans/established players were allowed to get an early jump on their summer break following last week’s minicamp, only asking first and second-year players to stay in Allen Park for…

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are an old rival of the Detroit Lions, harkening back to their days together in the NFC Central. From 1977 to 2001, the two teams shared the division with the Bears, Packers and Vikings, before the league split into four-team divisions and the Bucs moved down to the NFC South and…

Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch was the final player on hand at the 2023 NFL Draft to hear his name selected. After attending the event on Thursday—hoping and expecting to be drafted in the first round—Branch returned on Friday, not wanting to miss out on his once-in-a-lifetime moment of hearing his name called and…

The Detroit Lions are expecting bigger things out of their secondary in 2023. A unit that ranked among the NFL’s worst last year, the defensive backfield has been buffed with free agent additions C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Cameron Sutton, and Emmanuel Moseley. However, Detroit also has some home-grown talent that should help the unit achieve great improvement.…

The main storyline of an NFL offseason is the additions made in free agency, the NFL Draft, and trades. Yet on occasion, the subtractions can be just as interesting. Perhaps a team moved on from a distracting or controversial player. Perhaps they cut a regressing and expensive veteran. Perhaps they let a notable player or…