How Detroit Lions Depth Chart Changes Without Terrion Arnold
How Detroit Lions Depth Chart Changes Without Terrion Arnold
Analyzing Detroit Lions' defensive lineup after big change.Christian Booher|
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Detroit LionsThe Detroit Lions made a big move on Monday.
After cornerback Terrion Arnold was taken into police custody last week on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery, the team elected to release him ahead of the start of training camp. As a result, the Lions will be without a former first-round pick and a player who was expected to start in their secondary.
Head coach Dan Campbell had noted previously that Arnold would have to compete for his job, but it is now official that he will not be with the team moving forward. As a result, there will be a competition for the starting cornerback job opposite of veteran D.J. Reed.
Here's a look at where the Lions stand after the decision to release Arnold on Monday.
Interior defensive line
Starters: Alim McNeill, Tyleik Williams
Backups: Levi Onwuzurike, Jay Tufele
Reserves: Tyler Lacy, Skyler Gill-Howard, Myles Adams, Mekhi Wingo, Tyre West, Chris Smith, Aiden Keanaaina
The Lions' defensive line will rely on a return to form from McNeill. After an injury limited him last year, all indications are that McNeill is set to have another strong year and play at a high level. He can be a massive difference maker because of his ability to both rush the passer and stifle opposing run games.
Elsewhere, Williams is set for a jump in workload after a modest rookie season, while Onwuzurike offers the team some versatility across the board with his ability to play multiple positions. Tufele is also an intriguing depth option.
The final spots on the active roster could get tricky, as there are several depth options that the Lions could call upon. Gill-Howard and West are both 2026 Draft picks, while Lacy and Adams have experience contributing and could be reliable veteran options.
EDGE
Starters: Aidan Hutchinson, D.J. Wonnum
Backups: Derrick Moore, Payton Turner
Reserves: Ahmed Hassanein, Anthony Lucas, Eric O'Neill
Hutchinson is one of the headliners of the defense, as he is looking to build upon a career-best year. After 14.5 sacks last year, Hutchinson has the ability to be even more dominant if the Lions can find consistency opposite of him.
Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard has some schematic flexibility, as in certain packages he could bump a player like Onwuzurike out to play the "big end." However, Wonnum seems to have the inside track to the starting job, with Moore or even a healthy Turner also competing for snaps.
Hassanein and Lucas are both players to watch. Hassanein is looking to bounce back after a preseason injury cost him his rookie season, while Lucas has been name-dropped by multiple coaches for his size and toughness on the edge.
Linebackers
Starters: Derrick Barnes (SAM), Jack Campbell (MIKE), Malcolm Rodriguez (WILL)
Backups: Jimmy Rolder, Damone Clark, Trevor Nowaske
Reserves: Joe Bachie, Erick Hunter
One of the biggest competitions on the roster in training camp will be at the linebacker position to replace the departed veteran Alex Anzalone. While Barnes and Campbell are both locked into their respective spots, there will be a competition to be the team's WILL linebacker.
While Sheppard has hinted at some schematic changes that could divert the way the team deploys its linebackers, in their base defense Rodriguez will likely get the first chance to be the third linebacker.
Rolder had a strong impression in offseason workouts and will likely get a look in training camp, while Clark could also be in the mix. Even Nowaske and Bachie are vets who offer special teams upside, and the Lions could really lean on their depth in this area.
Cornerbacks
Starters: D.J. Reed, Rock Ya-Sin
Backups: Ennis Rakestraw, Roger McCreary
Reserves: Keith Abney II, Khalil Dorsey, Nick Whiteside, De'Shawn Rucker, Aamaris Brown
With Arnold released, the Lions could turn to Ya-Sin as the first choice to replace him. He made six starts and played in all 17 games for the Lions a year ago, and was re-signed this offseason as a result. Most notably, Ya-Sin was a leader of the team's 'Legion of Whom' when they had several starters missing in the secondary.
Rakestraw is a very intriguing option. He's had two solid training camp showings in his two NFL seasons, but injuries have hampered him both years and he missed all of last season. If he can stay healthy, he's a serious candidate to compete for a starting role.
While McCreary and Abney are both expected to compete for nickel reps, the change could lead to the Lions exploring one or both of them as an outside corner. Dorsey specializes in special teams, while Whiteside is another 'Legion of Whom' member who could fill in nicely in a pinch.
Nickel cornerback
Starter: Roger McCreary
Backup: Keith Abney II
McCreary is a slot cornerback by trade, and with the departure of Amik Robertson the team will likely give him a long look at this position. Sheppard has indicated the team may play more nickel this year, adding to the value he carries.
Abney is another interesting option. While he played predominately on the outside in college, he's undersized and could be a better fit in the slot as a professional.
If these two either slide outside or are deemed not the right fit, both Avonte Maddox and Christian Izien are options that the team could look at to possibly fill this spot. Thomas Harper is another option, as he had been a nickel-type player in Las Vegas prior to transitioning to safety in Detroit.
Safety
Starters: Kerby Joseph, Chuck Clark
Backups: Christian Izien, Thomas Harper
Reserves: Avonte Maddox, Dan Jackson, Loren Strickland
Injured: Brian Branch
Uncertainty reigns in the safety room, as little has been given in the form of concrete updates regarding the health status of both Joseph and Branch. An optimistic outlook would be that Joseph is ready to go by Week 1, while Branch may miss the start due to the length of recovery for a torn Achilles.
If Joseph is able to go, Clark seems to be the best fit to work with him in the secondary. Izien is another interesting choice, as he could play either safety spot or the nickel position if asked. Harper played a valuable role with both starters hurt at the position last year, and will factor into the equation in some capacity.
Maddox, Jackson and Strickland will all be battling for spots. Maddox has the inside track as a veteran, but Jackson has intrigue after missing all of last year while Strickland is looking to stick after bouncing between the active roster and practice squad the last two seasons.
Published 22 minutes ago
CHRISTIAN BOOHERSports journalist who has covered the Detroit Lions the past three NFL seasons. Christian brings expert analysis, insights and an ability to fairly assess how the team is performing in a tough NFC North division.
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Is France the Best Team at This World Cup or Is It Yet to Be Properly Tested?
Is France the Best Team at This World Cup or Is It Yet to Be Properly Tested?
France has blown opponents away at this tournament, becoming the first team to score three or more goals in five straight World Cup matches.Conor Orr|
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Truly the stuff of fever dreams over here in section 225 along the stadium’s north side. Pass the man in the tight striped shirt wearing a red beret and holding a fake plastic baguette and you turn the corner to find a pair of men dressed as mimes. They are waving a French flag to fan a young supporter of Les Bleus who has overheated and is slumped down in a chair as security forms a wall around him to cool down.
Around the corner comes Max, an athletically built male of about 5’10” who is dripping sweat beneath what looks like a heavy, non-breathable blonde wig decorated in a kind of braided pigtail. He’s wearing a traditional Swedish dress for Midsommar atop shin guards, soccer socks and tennis shoes. Follow him through the concourse and onto the patio, and you’ve arrived at Camp Sweden.
The fan section of Swedish football—which also cleverly featured fans wearing yellow shirts with the word IKEA written on them—was paltry in size to the overwhelming number of French supporters here among the 83,000 attendants in New Jersey, but for the first 40 minutes, the chants of ‘Allez, Allez, Allez’ (‘Onward Sweden’) did not relent.
Max said Swedish fans took pride in their FIFA ranking for kindness, but when informed that France were heavy favorites, his eyes narrowed and he assumed a joking fighter’s posture. When asked if he believed, as Sweden seemed to escape one piercing attempt on goal after another (including a 19th-minute goal by Kylian Mbappe that was called back upon review) by the blistering French attack over the course of the first 40 minutes, he smiled.
“Of course I do,” he says. “I f—- flew here.”
France and Kylian Mbappé Take Charge
Of course, in rapid succession just before halftime, just after halftime and a third time at the 73rd minute, France eventually honed its eye for the goal and obliterated any chance of a stunning upset. Gone were the scattershot follows, the moments where Les Bleus’ incredible strikers were slapping their heads in frustration.
Kylian Mbappé sliced between two defenders and pounded the ball in the far side of the net. Bradley Barcola slipped between a pair of Swedish defenders, took a quick touch and scored again. Then Mbappé, one last time, punched the ball to the far corner of the net, just off the outstretched hand of Sweden's keeper, Jacob Widell Zetterström. After the last one Mbappé found an open swath of space and skied into the air, a bit like a toddler pretending he was a rocket ship blasting off to the moon.
Outside of the confidence that momentarily reverberated from Camp Sweden, though, the eventual 3-0 result was heavily expected. France became the first team in World Cup history to score three or more goals in five straight matches, though those matches were against some of the Cup’s lowliest opponents: A lukewarm Senegal, Iraq and a second-string Norway, none of which are in the FIFA top 15 World Rankings (Iraq hovers in the mid 60s). Sweden was in organizational tatters leading into the World Cup as well.
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Just How Good is This France Team?
It brings up the important question, as France advances to play Paraguay (another team outside of the Top 30 in FIFA World Rankings, though riding high after a stunning upset over Germany in the opening round) in the second stage of the knockout tournament: Are we responsible for believing what our eyes tell us to believe? Or, is it merely another victory over a small, bright-eyed, understaffed army like we saw in Camp Sweden?
“We knew we had to be perfect,” Graham Potter, Sweden’s manager said afterward, noting that, even if Sweden was perfect, it may not have been enough. “We needed a couple of miracles.”
When asked if he thought any team could beat France, he said: “Of course, it’s football, anything is possible, but I haven’t personally seen a better team.”
As Mbappé was subbed off in the 86th minute, France manager Didier Deschamps stretched out his arms and bowed several times, welcoming the 27-year-old star to the bench. Mbappé has now played in 18 World Cup games and has scored 18 goals. He is now the lone record holder, passing Ronaldo and Leonidas, for the most goals ever scored in the knockout stage of the World Cup (10).
What France Does to Opponents
French soccer, at this very moment, is the picture of versatility, with an amoebic attack that is grounded in a concept that is simple theoretically but almost impossible to achieve in real time: Make yourselves fluid enough to empower your goalscorers. France has dominated by mastering width, drawing double teams at both ends of the pitch and thinning out defenses that still cannot manage to bracket the team’s fleet of strikers. Even with quarterly hydration breaks, the tiring effect this has on defenders is debilitating.
They are also appropriately dominant. Before Mbappé’s first goal, he made a backward no-look pass to Ousmane Dembélé that looked more like a dance step (the pair have more mutual assists for one another than any tandem dating back more than 50 years). Every part of his facial expression suggested that he planned for the moment to go viral. France possessed the ball more than 60% of the game and had a shot advantage of 12-3.
Les Bleus appear comfortable enough, then, to sidestep the question of opponent quality. Deschamps admitted that “for us, it wasn’t that difficult” to reach the round of 16 but cautioned a reporter who mentioned the cementing confidence among French fans and journalists.
“Slow down, please,” he said. “There are issues, there’s always room for improvement.”
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Published 2 hours ago | Modified 17 minutes ago
CONOR ORRConor Orr is a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated with more than 15 years of experience covering the NFL. His work has been cited in Best American Sportswriting and has won a PFWAA award. Prior to Sports Illustrated, he covered both the Giants and Jets for The Star-Ledger. Conor lives in New Jersey with his amazing wife and three children.
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