Burning Questions: Has Brad Holmes Given Dan Campbell Enough Talent?
The Detroit Lions suffered their worst loss of the 2022 season in Week 5 against the New England Patriots. They were shut out, 29-0, and subsequently, now sit at 1-4 and in last place in the NFC North.
It's been a disappointing start to the campaign for Dan Campbell & Co., and the team will now use the bye week to evaluate where it stands and how it can improve.
As part of the evaluation process, the Lions have several questions to answer. Without further ado, here are three of the "burning" questions facing the franchise and its fanbase during the bye week.
1.) Has Brad Holmes left Dan Campbell hanging?
To a certain extent, I think the answer is yes. Most glaringly, the Lions' defense is devoid of talent. Detroit lacks a consistent pass rush, struggles at stopping the run and isn't good enough in pass coverage. And, all of that is not because of Campbell or Aaron Glenn and the team's defensive coaching staff.
Instead, every single time the Lions take the field, opposing offenses have the upper hand going up against Glenn's defense. Detroit isn't even close to being a playoff-level defense, and it's because of the huge aforementioned talent disparity that exists on that side of the ball.
The Lions are basically missing high-impact players on each level of the defense, and that's a Holmes problem. He needs to go out this offseason and add several defenders that can elevate the level of the team's defense.
There are some things you can rightfully criticize Campbell for, such as his in-game mishandlings. However, you really can't blame him for the team's defensive woes, and it's the clearest example of where Holmes, as Lions general manager and the team's chief personnel decision-maker, has left him hanging.
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2.) How will the coaching staff get the defense to generate more pressure?
This is an area where the Lions have struggled for numerous seasons now. It's such a vital aspect of getting stops on defense, and the team continues to fail at it.
Detroit has recorded just seven sacks so far this season, which equates to a measly 1.4 sacks a game. The only team which has produced less sacks through five games is the Arizona Cardinals (6.0).
Additionally, rookie EDGE Aidan Hutchinson paces all Lions defenders with three sacks. On the surface, that sounds great. But, remember, each one of those sacks came in Detroit's Week 2 contest with the Washington Commanders.
The Lions have basically created little-to-no pressure in their four other games this season, which surely isn't a recipe for success in either the short term or the long term.
So, if Detroit intends on turning things around defensively, it is going to have to figure out a way to generate more of a consistent pass rush.
It's one of the myriad of areas that Campbell will be closely evaluating during the bye week.
"Look, that’s one of the areas we’re looking at is, how do we help our guys generate more pressure? And, there’s a number of ways you do it: You either pressure, pressure, right? So, you’re bringing five or six-man pressure. You either just stunt, or you let them just fan it out and let them go. Go win a one-on-one, or you guys that have it, straight rush," Campbell told reporters earlier this week. "And so, we kind of tinkered with everything, but we’ve got to hammer down on some things that we think we can help them with. And, we -- certainly, we need more rush.
"Now, that being said, I think we can help a little bit with the way we practice. More one-on-ones, a lot more one-on-ones. I think we’re going to need to pad up for that stuff. We haven’t padded up in three weeks, so we’re going to need to do some of that. And then, I think we look at our personnel. We’re hopeful for (Lions DL Josh) Paschal, we don’t know. He just started practice last week. We get him, let’s see where he goes, see if he can help us there inside. (Lions DL John) Cominsky’s coming back at some point here, hopefully by Dallas, but we’ll see. And then, hopefully (Lions DL) Charles (Harris) will be back. And so, that alone will give us a little bit of -- a little bit of juice in there. So, that’ll help with what we’re doing.”
You can't expect Holmes to go out and add a big-time impact pass rusher at this juncture. If anything, that'll happen in the upcoming offseason.
It's why at this present moment, the onus is on Hutchinson and his defensive linemen counterparts to step up their games and deliver more of a consistent pass rush the rest of the way this season.
It's the only way in which Detroit's pass-rushing unit will receive a boost in productivity in 2022.
3.) How concerning is Aidan Hutchinson's play the first five games of his career?
There's no doubt it's a bit concerning. The Michigan product was drafted No. 2 overall because of his pass-rushing prowess. He was expected to be an impact defender immediately and a menace to opposing quarterbacks.
Yet, up to this point in his rookie campaign, he's produced just three sacks (all of which came against the Commanders in Week 2), and he hasn't been much of an imposing presence. Outside of that Week 2 performance, he's been largely ineffective in both generating pressure and stopping the run.
It'd be unfair to declare him an underachiever and unworthy of the No. 2 pick at this point. However, he does clearly need to pick up his level of play. And, if he does, Detroit's defense should reap the benefits of it, and be able to subsequently perform at a higher level.
