There sure is a lot of pontificating going on these days. It's just that time of year. The Detroit Lions will report to training camp 30 days from today. Until then, all we can do talk about what we think the team will do in 2023. 

That's just what Mike Clay and Seth Walder of ESPN did on Thursday when they ranked the rosters of all 32 teams. They had the Detroit Lions at 17th in their ranking. 

Honestly it seems a little low for the Lions. Especially since they're a team that's expected to do big things in 2023. Let's go through Clay's thoughts on the Lions and break it all down. 

Strongest unit

Clay listed the Lions offensive line as their biggest strength. That makes total sense. He's not the only one to do that. Earlier this month, Pro Football Focus ranked the Lions offensive line as the fifth best unit in the league. 

My only addition would be the Lions secondary. They went out and spent a lot of money on this unit and it's already starting to pay dividends this offseason. They've been a problem for the Lions offense at OTA's and mini camp. I'm sure that'll continue into training camp as well. 

Weakest unit

For weakest unit, Clay went with the interior defensive line. Here's what he had to say. 

"Defensive tackle. Detroit finished 31st in defensive EPA last season, and while some upgrades were made on that side of the ball, plenty of voids remain. That includes a DT position led by Alim McNeill, Isaiah Buggs, Benito Jones, versatile John Cominsky, newcomers Christian Covington and third-round rookie Brodric Martin. Expect Detroit to get creative with its stacked edge rusher room this season."

I totally agree with Clay here. The Lions could have done more on the interior of their defensive line, but they opted to focus on other parts of the team instead. My concern for the Lions is that after the team that had such a hard time stopping the run in 2022, they didn't do much to fix it and it could just wind up happening again. 

X Factor

Here they chose which player they think is going to be the biggest x factor to the teams success in 2023. They chose cornerback Cameron Sutton. siting that the Lions pass defense was really bad in 2022 and Sutton could be a big part of fixing that. 

It's hard to argue with that selection. The Lions did not have definitive CB1 last season. They have that now with Sutton. If I had to select an x factor for this team, it's Aidan Hutchinson. If he can manage to take the next step into the realm of the leagues top edge rushers, the Lions could have a pass rush that the rest of the line can take advantage of. All that focus going to one side can really open up the other side. 

Nonstarter to know

Here they picked one guy from each team that isn't a starter, but you should know about him. They selected Hendon Hooker. They said that since he's a possible future successor at quarterback, you should keep an eye on him. 

That might get boring though since Hooker is just gonna be a guy in street clothes for a while. I get that everyone loves a good quarterback controversy, but that's just not something that's happening right now. It might not ever happen. Hooker might just find himself as a premium backup in the NFL. There's nothing wring with that by the way. 

I think the guy to watch is Brodric Martin. We pretty much have an idea of what we're going to see from each rookie on the Lions, but I can't tell you what's going to happen with Martin. I'm sure he'll flex in and out during the season. It should be interesting to see what he's capable of at this level.