Pride of Detroit
In-depth analysis on how the Detroit Lions’ roster has evolved over the last five years.
The Detroit Lions have come a long way in a short time.
Much of the Lions’ recent success can be attributed to a well-developed rebuild at the hands of general manager Brad Holmes. The Lions could only go so far with the remnants of the failed regime under Bob Quinn, and when a rebuild necessitated a full teardown, the Lions had to go all-in on it. Many NFL teams have tried and failed to rebuild while staying competitive—the equivalent of duct taping the boat while sailing it. The Lions were bad in 2020, and when the new regime rolled in, they faced the tough reality: they needed to be bad to get better.
Head coach Dan Campbell was a breath of fresh air after the disaster that was Matt Patricia’s tenure in Detroit. He and his coaching staff made the most out of scraps, putting together the building block mentality that has defined the Lions’ success: grit. The Lions overhauled the roster not for the sake of change, but because the foundation of the Patricia era was built on ill-fitting players on bloated contracts. The only players from the old guard that remained were ones who had proved their worth on the field, not on a checkbook.
To truly appreciate how far the Lions have come, we need to look at where they came from. Specifically, I want to look at three points in time: the final year of the Patricia-Quinn era (2020), the first year of the Campbell-Holmes era (2021), and the current iteration of the Lions. These years should highlight why the Lions needed a rebuild, how they rebuilt, and where their rebuild has taken them.
First up, offense.
Note: For 2020 and 2021, only players who played over 100 snaps will be listed. For 2025, only players viewed as “likely” to make the roster will be listed.
2020: Matthew Stafford
The final season of the Matt Patricia era also marked the final season of the Matthew Stafford era. Stafford had a 4,000-yard season in 2020 despite a depleted cast around him (a recurring thread with these Lions), so the departure was far from performance-based. It was an inevitable split given the rebuild required after some disastrous years, but it still stung to see the once face of the franchise win a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams immediately after.
2021: Jared Goff, Tim Boyle
Exit Stafford, enter Goff. The Lions hit the reset button in a major way, trading away their star quarterback for a quarterback in need of a reset himself. There was much debate about whether Goff, coming off a poor season with the Rams, would be a long-term option or a mere placeholder. 2021 was a rough campaign for Goff, missing time with injury and looking overwhelmed more often than not. The calls for a quarterback of the future grew, especially after witnessing Boyle at the...
