{"id":863860,"date":"2026-04-11T10:03:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863860\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T10:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T10:03:37","slug":"exploring-detroit-lions-long-term-outlook-at-lb-and-highlighting-some-prospect-fits-from-the-2026-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/863860\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Detroit Lions’ long-term outlook at LB and highlighting some prospect fits from the 2026 draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>For a team with a good plan for how to utilize him, Pitt\u2019s Kyle Louis might be undersized, but he\u2019s a uniquely gifted cover and blitz option. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Allen Park \u2014 When considering how an NFL team will approach the upcoming draft, you have to look beyond the immediate roster needs. Each selection should be viewed as a four-year investment. Therefore, we must weigh the bigger picture with each possible choice.<\/p>\n

Heading into the 2026 NFL draft, we\u2019re taking a position-by-position look at Detroit\u2019s roster, focusing on areas where the team might add talent in the event. Today, we\u2019ll look at off-ball linebackers.<\/p>\n

Current roster: Jack Campbell, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, Damone Clark, Trevor Nowaske<\/p>\n

Short-term need: 4.5\/10<\/p>\n

Long-term need: 8\/10<\/p>\n

Analysis: The Detroit Lions used base defense more than any team in the league last season, leaning heavily on the trio of Campbell, Barnes and Alex Anzalone.<\/p>\n

However, after five productive seasons, the Lions parted ways with Anzalone this offseason, unwilling to match the market for the longtime defensive captain in free agency.<\/p>\n

Some of that decision was related to his price tag. The Lions are up against it after handing out several top-of-the-market extensions in recent years, with more on deck, including an anticipated new deal for Campbell after he earned first-team All-Pro honors last season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a team with a good plan for how to utilize him, Pitt\u2019s Kyle Louis might be undersized,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-863860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroitlions","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-lions","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116385511974336735","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}