How did the Detroit Lions do last year?
The Detroit Lions came as close to the playoffs as they have since 2016. In excruciating fashion their fans watched the Seattle Seahawks squeeze out an overtime win to end their playoff hopes. Despite the heart break they were able to hold their heads up high after beating the Green Bay Packers to end their season that night. We can say a lot about the Lions last year and how their season played out, but one thing we can’t say is that they didn’t fight to the end. Head coach Dan Campbell and his staff have instilled a sense of pride in that team and there is a feeling that they aren’t stopping at a 9-8 record.
Detroit’s offense was a force last year. Ending the 2022-2023 season with the 3rd most total yards and the 4th most yards per game. Their rushing game was solid averaging 128.2 per game while they were 6th in total passing yards. This was despite injuries to their receiving corps all season. On the other side of the ball it was a completely different story. Finishing last in the NFL in yards allowed per game the Detroit defense has a lot of work to do if they want to improve this coming season. For some teams the work has to be on the rush defense and others it is the pass defense but for Detroit it is both. Neither was able to live up to the expectations this past season and was undoubtably a top priority this offseason. Detroit proved this when they chose a possible center piece to their defense round one in this years draft selecting the 2022 Dick Butkus award winner Jack Campbell out of Iowa and adding safety Brian Branch out of Alabama in round two.
Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell earned the highest overall draft score of any off-ball linebacker in the 2023 draft class (82).
The 2022 Butkus award winner also earned the highest athleticism score (89) at his position. pic.twitter.com/fU6XXID0vk
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) April 26, 2023
Were the Detroit Lions healthy last year?
A major need for Detroit this past season (even more than a top linebacker) was injury prevention. As mentioned earlier even with injuries their offense continued to be red hot however there is no doubt that health hurt the team’s overall success. Season ending injuries to DE Charles Harris (Groin) and Tracy Walker III (Achilles) didn’t do any favors for an already struggling defense. The addition of Deshon Elliott to that list multiple times made the situation even worse. On offense DJ Chark missed 6 games battling an ankle injury and starting RB D’Andre Swift found himself on the injury report multiple times for his ankle and shoulder. Despite this the team was still able to produce on offense. With DJ Chark now at Carolina and Jamaal Williams at New Orleans, a new regime of younger talent looks to continue last year’s success on offense while elevating defense production and putting themselves in the running for the top spot in the AFC North.
The real question of course is how did their health compare to the rest of the NFL and what can they do to make sure they improve? In terms of season long health, Detroit finished with an average Banged Up Score (B.U.S.) or 72.5. That’s middle of the pack when compared to others but the kicker for them was in their division that was 4th out of 4 teams. Considering they ended the season 2nd in their division they outperformed their health score (albeit barely over Green Bay). Their average weekly rank this season was 16.3/32. This means that they basically hung around the middle and did enough health wise to stay in the playoff running until right at the end. This being exactly how their season played out is no coincidence. There is a reason Health Matters is our slogan.
If you look closely at the Lions B.U.S. trend graph a steep decline early in the season lines up pretty nicely with a string of losses they faced. As the health of the team starts to level out, wins start to roll in proving the effect that stable health leads to better success. As the new season approaches, alongside getting new players up to speed, player wellness should be a priority. Diving into that we move to the NFLPA report cards where players have pointed out areas that could use improvement to address that specific issue. The NFLPA noted from their survey that 80% feel they have enough ATCs (6th worst in the league) and 64% feel they have enough PTs (6th worst in the league). This translates to less treatment time for players if their isn’t enough staff to help which is a problem if your team is having injury trouble. They also gave their nutrition a D- grade which was 28th in the league. We know that medical, nutrition and strength & conditioning all need to be optimized for proper player health.
Detroit is in a really good place right now from a team dynamic. They missed out on the playoffs last year but only slightly. They have a host of young talent mixed with veteran wisdom and are moving in a great direction. They play in a division that is wide open this year and honestly, they look to be a favorite. If they can stay healthy and put their defensive pieces together, the data says they should make a good run at the playoffs this season.
