The Lions should strongly consider a reunion with one of their former defensive lineman to help with depth
The Lions could use some nose tackle depth, and a good guy to reach out to is someone who’s already done that pretty well for them.
Earlier on Thursday, we talked about how the Detroit Lions are pretty set at edge, but where they could really use some help was on the interior of their defensive line.
We also talked about how there really isn’t a very big market for interior linemen that the Lions would either want to sign or would be willing to spend money on. But there is one guy out there who makes a lot of sense for the Lions because we’ve seen him make sense for them before.
The Lions should consider bringing back Benito Jones
Jones was with the Lions in 2022 and 2023 and started during the 2023 season. He played well as a run-stuffing nose tackle or a space eater on pass rush reps. He didn’t take anyone’s breath away, but he was reliable for the most part.
Since leaving Detroit, Jones spent the last two seasons with the Miami Dolphins as a starter and/or rotational defensive tackle. In 2025, he was more of a rotational guy, but played fairly well in terms of run defense.
The suggestion here isn’t that the Lions bring in Jones to start. They’re set with the starters in the middle with both Alim McNeill and last year’s first-round pick Tyleik Williams.
Jones would be that rotational guy with rookie Skyler Gill-Howard. You can bring him in on early downs to help stuff the run and then bring in Gill-Howard for your pass rushing reps.
I’m not sure the Lions have that at this moment. There’s Myles Adams, whom the Lions have shown some faith in before. But that’s about it. Even Levi Onwuzurike would really be more of a pass-rush option than anything else if he’s healthy. Theoretically, Jay Tufele could play this round, but Jones could beat him out. It’s worth thinking about if you’re Brad Holmes
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