Dan Campbell’s comments confirm the suspicion held about what the Lions’ angle was during free agency and the draft
Dan Campbell’s comments line up with what was suspected about the Lions’ offseason approach — and it says a lot about how they’re thinking defensively heading into 2026.
The Detroit Lions had a great offseason, even though it might not have been loud enough for Lions fans to get super excited about it. They had a goal going into the offseason, and they achieved it.
The Lions’ goal was to get their run-stopping prowess back before anything else
Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed this thought process during his Thursday press conference when he was asked if fixing the pass rush was a priority for the Lions this offseason.
“Well, we want to, we certainly wanted to see if we can add a little bit of juice in there on the perimeter, but also in the middle,” Campbell said. “Now what that requires, you know, if you’re going to add a couple of these guys, that maybe their strength is a little more in the rush game, then they got to be able to hold up the run game, or we can’t get them to the game, you know, they have to be able to hold on and do some of those things…
“I think that’s (pass rush) a priority, but it’s still a priority when we talk about first, second down, stopping the run, and then the transition to it (pass rush).”
At the end of the day, stopping the run is the first thing the Lions want to do. They want teams to be one-dimensional against them, and you can see why. Look at the top 10 teams against the run last year:
| Team | Rush yards per game | PPG | Sacks | Playoffs? |
| Jaguars | 85.6 | 19.8 | 27th | Yes |
| Broncos | 91.1 | 18.3 | 1st | Yes |
| Seahawks | 91.9 | 17.2 | 9th | Yes |
| Texans | 93.7 | 17.4 | 7th | Yes |
| Bucs | 99.1 | 24.2 | 19th | No |
| Patriots | 101.7 | 18.8 | 26th | Yes |
| Colts | 101.9 | 24.2 | 15th | No |
| Chargers | 105.4 | 20 | 11th | Yes |
| Chiefs | 105.7 | 19.3 | 25th | No |
| Ravens | 106.6 | 23.4 | 28th | No |
Last year, the Lions finished fourth in the NFL in sacks, but their run defense went from fifth in rush yards allowed in 2024 to 14th. That made a world of difference, and it’s pretty clear the Lions do not want to keep going in that direction. They want to be back in the top five again.
Ideally, if you’re able to stuff the run on first and second down, then you know exactly what the move is going to be on third, right? They’re going to pass it. That’s when you load up the pass rush and go to town. The Lions definitely made some moves that help them do that a lot better in 2026 by getting someone like Derrick Moore.
But when you look at free agency and the draft as a whole, you see a lot of run defense ability from the defensive linemen to linebackers and defensive backs. It was the qualifier to get the gig this year. Let’s see if they’re able to get back to what has mostly been one of their biggest strengths.
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