The Detroit Lions’ defense has been a hot topic of discussion this offseason. After a 2025 season that saw Detroit’s defense collapse down the stretch, we knew some changes were coming. That didn’t come in the form of any coaching changes on that side of the ball, and they didn’t make any huge signings either. In fact, the defense saw some big contributors—Alex Anzalone, Amik Robertson, DJ Reader, and Roy Lopez—leave in free agency, and Detroit only added modestly priced free agents to replace them.
That has led to some speculation about some schematic or personnel changes the team may be undergoing. With a relative lack of investment in the linebacker position, but a deep well of defensive backs, many believe Detroit will be shifting to more nickel looks. But what about the defensive front?
If there’s a position that has gone through the most overhaul in a single season, it may be the defensive line. Gone are Reader, Lopez, Marcus Davenport, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Josh Paschal, and Tyrus Wheat. They’re replaced by the likes of DJ Wonnum, Payton Turner, Jay Tufele, Derrick Moore, Skyler Gill-Howard, and Tyree West.
What can we infer based on those additions and subtractions? There certainly seems to be more of an emphasis on pass rush at the edges, and with the lack of a true nose tackle addition, there could be some changes coming in how Detroit deploys their defensive tackles, too.
On this week’s Midweek Mailbag podcast, Erik Schlitt and I discuss what changes could be coming to the defensive scheme. Could the Lions be shifting to more 3-4 looks (or, perhaps more accurately, 5-2 formations)? Are the Lions going to play less players at the 0-1 tech and instead deploy duo 3-techs? Which players along the defensive front are going to be the base-formation starters? And what will that look like in other formations?
We break it all down on this week’s episode. Other topics on the show include:
Catch all of our answers by listening to this week’s episode on whatever podcasting platform you prefer. You can also listen to it right here in this post using the Spotify embed below: