As of today, we're 85 days away from the Detroit Lions kicking off the 2023 season against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. That's 85 days of guys on this team thinking about the impact that they want to make in 2023. 

For some, the impact needs to be felt a little more than others. Maybe it's that time is running out for them or maybe its that they want to show out for a new contract. Maybe they just have a chip on their shoulder. Whatever it is, theses guys have something to prove this season. 

I went over the roster this morning and selected the four Lions that I think have the most to prove in 2023. Let's jump into it with the man under center. 

Jared Goff

Hasn't Goff proved enough already? He's coming off a Pro Bowl season and arguably the best year of he career. he's proven it right? Apparently not. I talked about this at length earlier in the week, but every Lions fans greatest fear is that Jared Goff is going to go back into a regression at some point. 

As I noted on Tuesday, he's got all the tools around him to make sure that he doesn't fall into that recession, but he still has to make sure puts in the work. 

Goff can do that very early in the season by breaking Aaron Rodgers' record for most consecutive passes without an interception. Goff 186 more passes to get it done. Every game is different and so is every season, but Goff threw exactly 186 passes by the end of Week 5 in 2022 last year. Can he go five more weeks without an interception? 

Jameson Williams

This one is obvious right? The Lions traded up to get Jameson Williams in the 2022 NFL Draft and there are expectations that come along with a move like that. 

Williams has had some road blocks in his way so far. He had to overcome an ACL injury before the Lions softly brought him in during the 2022 season. Then when he was healthy and ready to go, Williams was suspended by the league after he found to be gambling on non NFL games during the 2022 season. 

As we know, its not all just that though. Williams has been taken to task by some in the media and Lions fans as well. From horrible articles comparing him to a receiver who had a drug issue to fans stalking his every move on social media, Williams has been hit with a barrage of reasons to make sure he has a giant chip on his shoulder. 

He'll be back against the Ravens in Week 7 and he needs to hit the ground running and do everything he can to shut everyone up and show that he's as good as advertised.

Julian Okwara

Maybe Okwara isn't on your radar when it comes to the need to prove himself, but he's on mine. 

Okwara is a guy that could have easily been a first round draft pick in 2020. ESPN's Matt Miller had Okwara going at the end of the first round in his preseason mock draft that year. Unfortunately Okwara suffered a broken fibula later that season. That did allow the Lions to score him in the third round though. It felt liek a major steal at the time. 

We're going into his fourth season now and aside from a decent 2021 season, we just haven't seen it from Okwara yet. there's something there with him that makes this regime want to hold onto him. I want to see that. 

I'm not saying that Okwara needs to become a Pro Bowler, but I want to see him thrive in 2023. 

Jack Campbell

Everyone seems to be looking at all the other highly picked rookies on the Lions and thinking that those guys are good to go. Campbell on the other hand is a bit of question mark. 

Everything has looked pretty good from him so far, but he is in a spot where he's an off ball linebacker that got selected higher than any other linebacker and in a spot that off ball linebackers don't usually get picked at anymore. 

Campbell needs to prove that he got picked there for a reason. Lions linebacker coach Kelvin Sheppard feels the same way. He says Campbell is not a lock to start at this point. That's not saying that Campbell is a bust or anything, that's saying that Campbell has something to prove to more than just media and fans. 

From everything we've heard from former coaches and teammates, he should be able to do it. 

Featured image by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK