Detroit Lions 2026 Preview

WRITTEN BY: MIKE JOHNSON

Coaching/Philosophy/Scheme Changes ::

• Offense: The Lions struggled to replace departed offensive coordinator Ben Johnson in 2025 and made a mid-season change at play caller. This offseason they hired offensive coordinator Drew Petzing from the Cardinals to take over.
• Defense: Kelvin Sheppard enters his second season as the Lions’ defensive coordinator. Detroit ranked in the bottom half of the league in total points and yards allowed, as well as takeaways.

Personnel Changes ::

• Jared Goff remains the Lions’ quarterback, with veteran Teddy Bridgewater serving as his backup.
• The Lions let RB David Montgomery leave via free agency, leaving Jahmyr Gibbs in the unquestioned feature role for the first time in his career. They signed Isiah Pacheco from the Chiefs to be the complement to Gibbs this season in what will likely be a similar, but less involved version of what Montgomery did.
• Amon-Ra St. Brown had his third consecutive season as the overall WR3 in 2025 and Jameson Williams set career highs across the board in 2025. They are complemented by impressive second year WR Isaac TeSlaa and veteran free agent acquisition Greg Dortch.
• Sam LaPorta remains the primary tight end for the Lions after an injury-plagued 2025 season. Detroit signed veteran TE Tyler Conklin to provide depth behind him alongside Brock Wright.

Schedule ::

• Divisional Games (6):
  • GB x2, CHI x2, MIN x2
• NFC South (4):
  • @ ATL, @ CAR, vs. TB, vs. NO
• AFC East (4):
  • @ BUF, @ MIA, vs. NE, vs. Jets
• @ ARI, vs. TEN, vs. Giants

Bull Case ::

The Lions have one of the softer on-paper schedules in the league thanks to the schedule pitting them against the NFC South and AFC East, along with being matched up with the Cardinals, Titans, and Giants (who were all among the five worst teams in the league in 2025). After a couple of seasons with brutal schedules, this is a welcome change for Detroit and gives them a clear path to bounce back from their disappointing 2025 campaign.

Detroit’s offense should be extremely concentrated this year, with Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jameson Williams likely to command upwards of 70% of the team’s usage. Those three are explosive and talented, with skill sets that complement each other well. A concentrated and talented offense with a soft schedule is a match made in heaven. Gone are the days of Detroit spreading the ball around to eight different skill players with no one seeing excessive usage besides St. Brown—this is a team whose clock is ticking on their organizational window and will not be messing around with player usage. They know where their bread is buttered. The Lions defense was average to below average in most metrics last season and nothing drastically changed to signal a likely spike in performance, which means the likelihood of them being pulled into shootouts with the few stronger opponents on their schedule is relatively high. For their weaker opponents, we know the Lions are not afraid to pile on. There is a case to be made that Detroit could end the season with the overall RB1, two top-10 WRs, and a top-10 QB and TE. That’s an offense you want to invest in. Guys like Pacheco and TeSlaa also have massive contingent ceilings and are good enough to fill in and keep the offense afloat should they be called upon.