The Detroit Lions are coming to the end of the rebuild, and much earlier than expected! When they began tearing the roster down to the “bare bones” of what it was, people expected many more years of struggling, yet after two seasons, we were a tiebreaker away from making the playoffs. This is a team that people are starting to fear now, and that is mainly due to the young cornerstones that they’ve built this team with through the draft. Here are five of those players that I think Brad Holmes and the Lions’ organization should continue to build around.
Aidan Hutchinson
This is an obvious selection, as the second overall pick in this past year’s draft absolutely killed it this past year. Placing second in the Defensive Rookie Of The Year vote to Sauce Gardner, Hutchinson was solid off the edge in both the running and passing game. With 9.5 sacks and 3 interceptions, Aidan was a problem for opposing offenses and also got doubled for large portions of the game. He has the potential to be a game wrecker, and should be one of the faces of this young defense for years to come.
Penei Sewell
Another obvious choice for this list, Penei Sewell is arguably the face of this Offensive Line. Recognized as a top 10 Tackle by quite a few sites (and definitely a top 5 RT), he is an absolute building block. With Jared Goff knowing he’s protected from his front side is huge for the development of this passing game (Sewell only allowed 2 sacks in the 2022 season), and is also an absolute mauler in the running game. With him only continuing to develop into one of the best Offensive Linemen in the game, he is someone the Lions should do whatever they can to make him a lifelong Lion.
Malcolm Rodriguez
“Rodrigo” was arguably one of the biggest steals in the 2022 draft, being selected with the 188th overall pick in the 6th round. All he did was ball out all year long, catching the eye of some of the best offensive linemen in the NFL. When you have Eagles’ Center Jason Kelce talking about you after your first game for judo throwing him on his back, and following up that first game with a great rookie season (87 tackles, 1 sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery), this definitively makes you one of the building blocks of this young defense. Hopefully they get someone solid to play alongside him, whether they draft someone or sign a veteran to lead that side of the ball, and this defense can grow with him and Hutchinson into a ferocious unit for years to come.
Amon-Ra St. Brown
You all knew this one was coming. The Sun God has been borderline elite since being the 112th overall selection in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, placing in the top 10 in both receptions (106 Receptions, good for 7th and 1 away from being top 5) and catches resulting in a first down (68, good for 5th in the league); as well as placing 11th in yards (1,161 yards, 30 behind Terry McLaurin for 10th). He is 24th in the league with 6 receiving TD’s, but leads all 10 players that caught at least one of Goff’s 29 touchdown passes this season. Add in the fact that he’s in the top 30 in the league for total scrimmage yards (23rd overall, 8th among receivers), and it shows how valuable of a weapon St. Brown is for Ben Johnson and this Lions offense.
Jared Goff
Arguably the most valuable player to this offense, Goff is more than worthy of being the guy to lead this offense into the future. I’ll admit, I was one of the people even as far into the season as the Dallas game that was hoping we’d move on from him after this season and reset at QB, and man do I see how wrong I was about him. Goff threw the third fewest interceptions of all the starting QB’s (Jalen Hurts threw 6 in 15 games and Daniel Jones threw 5 in 16 games). Even notable quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, Tua Tagovailoa and Carson Wentz threw more interceptions while playing fewer games. Goff also finished 6th in passing yards, tied for 5th in passing touchdowns, and 5th in QB rating. Sure, Goff played like a top 10 QB, but take a look at these rankings on the stats that look at the total offense:
- Points For- 5th (3 points away from 4th)
- Total Yards- 3rd
- Yards Per Play- tied for 4th
- Turnovers- 32nd (fewest in the NFL)
- First Downs- 4th
- Penalties- tied for 12th fewest
- % of drives ending in a score- 3rd at a whopping 43.4%!
All this shows is that Goff is the leader of one of the elite offenses in the NFL, and there’s an old saying that works here: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. This offense definitely isn’t broken, and it’s absolutely easier to get worse at the position than it is to get better. At only 28 years old to begin next season, we should continue to have faith in Goff and let him lead us to the promised land.
There were many other players I considered for this list. Jonah Jackson, Jameson Williams and Jamaal Williams were all debated for the offensive side of the ball, while defense also raised some amazing arguments. James Houston, Kerby Joseph and Jeff Okudah (if he continues to play like this year) are all players that could also be considered building blocks of this young, hungry team, but with a short list of only 5 players, these were the 5 I felt it was most important to build around. What do you guys think? Let me know!
