Pride of Detroit
Detroit Lions veteran defensive lineman Pat O’Connor is facing free agency, but there are a few factors working in his favor to return.
It would probably surprise many Detroit Lions fans to know that veteran defensive tackle Pat O’Connor was a seventh-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions in 2017.
Though he had a decent preseason as a rookie out of Eastern Michigan, he was waived and brought back to the practice squad, only to be released again a few days later. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up O’Connor soon after and he ended up spending the first seven years of his career there.
There’s a different regime running things in Detroit since the time when he was drafted, but O’Connor still eagerly chose to return to the team that drafted him for the 2024 preseason.
Let’s talk about O’Connor’s future as we continue our 2025 Lions free agent profile.
Here’s a look at our previously written free agent profiles: QB Teddy Bridgewater, WR Allen Robinson, WR Tim Patrick, G Kevin Zeitler, OT Dan Skipper, EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad, DT Levi Onwuzurike, DT Kyle Peko, LB Derrick Barnes, CB Carlton Davis, CB Emmanuel Moseley, CB Kindle Vildor, CB Khalil Dorsey, S Ifeatu Melifonwu, and K Michael Badgley.
Given that O’Connor didn’t sign with Detroit until August 1, there were no real expectations for the eighth-year defensive lineman. He was brought in just a day after John Cominsky suffered a torn MCL in practice and was expected to compete with the likes of veterans Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike, as well as CFL standout Mathieu Betts, international player David Bada, and rookie Mekhi Wingo for a spot on the 53-man roster.
O’Connor is a versatile defensive tackle who found himself lined up as an edge defender at times while mostly playing on the interior as a 3-tech or 5-tech for Detroit’s defensive front, much like Onwuzurike and Paschal. He appeared in all three preseason games for the Lions, making one start. His stat line was lackluster to say the least, with five total tackles and one quarterback hit over 74 snaps.
Regular season — 12 games (0 starts): 18 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 QB hit — 236 defensive snaps (31%), 160 special teams snaps (49%)
PFF grade: 43.5 overall grade (186th out of 219 interior defensive linemen)
PFF run defense grade: 47.9 (136th)
PFF pass rush grade: 55.3 (158th)
O’Connor was cut by the Lions as part of the final roster cutdowns and was brought back onto the practice squad the next day. Following season-ending injuries to defensive linemen Aidan Hutchinson and Kyle Peko, O’Connor was signed to the active roster to help round out the team’s defensive line depth.
He did just that for the Lions. O’Connor appeared in the final 12 games of Detroit’s regular season and in just two of those did he take the field for over half of the team’s defensive snaps....
