There’s no denying the Detroit Lions had an excellent year last season, going 15-2 in the regular season, good enough to earn the top seed in the NFC. Yet, when it came to the playoffs, the Lions were so depleted on defense after multiple contributors dealt with injuries. Their absences contributed to an early departure in the Divisional Round Playoffs.
Those departures continued in the offseason with Lions offensive and defensive coordinators both accepting promotions to head coaching jobs with other teams. Now, the Lions must find a way to not only outperform last year’s shortcomings but also overcome their loss of leadership. That sounds like a tall task, and they may need some more help getting the job done.
One area that the Lions have been expected to consider upgrades is at pass-rusher, where they could find a more consistent pressure threat opposite Hutchinson. According to Lions general manager Brad Holmes, the team has considered adding more outside help, even a three-time Pro Bowler.
According to Holmes, the Lions still have interest in bringing Za’Darius Smith back to the team after he recorded four sacks in seven starts for them last season.
“Za’Darius did a lot of good things last year for us and we said we’re going to keep in contact with his agent, but everything’s not just one-sided,” Holmes said. “Za’Darius has expectations, the team has expectations, so sometimes it takes a while for those things to get on the same page. Especially a guy that’s been in the league as long as he has, I’m not saying that he doesn’t want to be in training camp, but if he misses some time, there’s obviously still interest there and we’ve been keeping in touch.”
While it seems like Smith has been around forever, he’s still just 32 years old. He proved he was capable of fitting into the Lions’ locker room and even made a strong contribution last season. It may only be a matter of time before he picks up where he left off, but for now, Detroit’s giving other players extra opportunities to prove themselves in training camp.
