Lopez plays with great pad level and leverage, has good hands — all things he credits to wrestling — and he brings a toughness to Detroit's defensive line room that will fit well in their rotation.
"I can tell you exactly what school they went to," he said of those three losses in high school wrestling. "What they look like today. Definitely remember names, height, weight, social security numbers."
While he was joking about the latter, he was quick to point out that he avenged every one of those losses at some point in his career, defeating all three wrestlers later on.
Lopez comes to Detroit after playing the last two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. In 2024, he started all 16 games he played in, registering 28 tackles, 18 pressures (per Pro Football Focus), four tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, three passes defended, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. That's good production for playing about half of Arizona's defensive snaps as part of their rotation.