Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talks to defensive lineman Breiden Fehoko (76) during rookie mini camp at Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park on Friday, May 9, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Lions have risen to become an NFC power the past two seasons and a key reason is the competitive environment they’ve fostered under head coach Dan Campbell. While Campbell probably doesn’t want his players biting kneecaps during practice, he wants them to keep that mentality as they compete for their spot on the 53-man roster.

The first stage of competition will come during the team’s offseason program. While the Lions have already started their initial preparations for the 2025 season, things will heat up in the coming months, leading one Lions coach to send a message to a group of players entering offseason team activities (OTAs).

Lions Coach Wants Competing Safeties to ‘Go Earn’ Their Spot

Safeties coach Jim O’Neil was discussing the state of his group when talking to reporters on Thursday afternoon. While Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph and free-agent signing Avonte Maddox are locked into spots entering camp, he mentioned that five young players will compete for the final spot.

“There’s one spot,” O’Neil said via The Detroit News’s Richard Silva. “Go earn it.”

O’Neil’s message hits as hard as The Joker informing a pair of henchmen there would be tryouts in The Dark Knight. Erick Hallett II, Dan Jackson, Ian Kennelly, Morice Norris and Loren Strickland will be battling for the final spot. Jackson is considered the favorite after he was selected in the seventh-round of last month’s draft but the rest of the group has a chance based on what’s happened in the past.

When the Lions were featured on Hard Knocks at the beginning of the 2022 season, one of the most memorable moments was when then-linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard called out the effort of his veterans, who were being outplayed by a sixth-round rookie. That rookie was Malcom Rodriguez, who has been a staple of the Lions defense for the past three seasons.

With Sheppard in the defensive coordinator role, the theory of competition isn’t going anywhere and it could create one of the most interesting position battles entering OTAs.