at the end of the season, he had hoped to be running by OTAs<\/a>\u2014but, again, this will be more about checking in with his rehab progress and updating his timeline.<\/p>\nOther injuries to check in on: Brock Wright (neck), Levi Onwuzurike (ACL), and Dan Jackson (leg).<\/p>\n
By now, we would\u2019ve normally had our first look at the Lions\u2019 new draft class via rookie minicamp. That also comes with individual media sessions for each pick.<\/p>\n
So we\u2019ve got a lot of catching up to do with the Lions\u2019 seven 2026 NFL Draft picks and the undrafted rookie class. Whether it\u2019s hearing from them on how their early transition to the big leagues is going or seeing where and how they line up with their veteran teammates, there will be plenty of attention spent on the team\u2019s rookie class.<\/p>\n
While I still believe the starting left guard job is Christian Mahogany\u2019s to lose, he\u2019ll undoubtedly have to work to keep it. Miles Frazier will have his first offseason to grown, learn, and compete. But Detroit now has experienced veterans in Ben Bartch and Juice Scruggs (who will most likely rep at center) who could enter the fray, as well.<\/p>\n
An offensive line is only as good as its weakest link, and while left guard doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be a weakness this year, it is the only starting position that doesn\u2019t have a clearly defined standout.<\/p>\n
Given Detroit\u2019s relative lack of investment in roster upgrades this offseason, they will likely relying on their young corps of players\u2019 development to get overall improvement from their 2026 squad. That growth will have to come from Holmes\u2019 2024 and 2025 draft classes.<\/p>\n
As OTAs begin, I will be focused on that 2024 class that has underwhelmed thus far. But if Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw, Sione Vaki, Mekhi Wingo, and Mahogany can take the steps in development that we\u2019ve seen only flashes of thus far, it can not only change the perception of that draft, but give the 2026 Lions a major boost. If Arnold can become a good-to-great reliable starter, Detroit\u2019s future at cornerback suddenly looks a lot brighter. If Rakestraw can stay on the field, the Lions\u2019 depth looks solid. Vaki or Wingo could expand to roles beyond special teams, and Mahogany could firmly establish himself as the starter. Even if only a few of those things happen, Detroit\u2019s 2024 draft class looks suddenly better.<\/p>\n
But 2025 draft class growth may be even more important. Tyleik Williams, Tate Ratledge, and Isaac TeSlaa are slated for huge roles this year, and they\u2019ll need to prove they were worth the investment. We won\u2019t get all of our answers about their development during OTAs, but it\u2019ll be a sneak peek into their progress.<\/p>\n
Schematic changes on both sides of the ball<\/p>\n
Obviously, the Lions are still in the process of developing and installing their schemes for the 2026 season, but this will be our first look at any noticeable changes to the offense under new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing. It\u2019ll also just be a chance to see how he runs practice. I\u2019m not expecting anything drastic, and we won\u2019t be able to report on too many specifics, but it\u2019ll be interesting nonetheless.<\/p>\n
I think more intrigue is on the defense, where personnel decisions may be dictating a shift in scheme. With fewer investments in linebackers and more on the edge and secondary, could Detroit be moving to more 3-4 looks or nickel packages? Could they lean a little more into zone coverages after a rough year from the secondary? What does Kelvin Sheppard have under his sleeves as he enters Year 2 as coordinator?<\/p>\n
Does practice look any different?<\/p>\n
Finally, I\u2019ll be on the lookout to see if practice is run any different. All offseason, the Lions have said they are going to turn over every rock in order to make sure last year\u2019s disappointing season never happens again. They\u2019ve changed their offseason schedule, cancelled rookie minicamp, disbanded joint practices\u2014all in the promise to get back to basics.<\/p>\n
So what does that look like on the practice field? Will we see higher-intensity practices (as much as the rules currently allow)? Will there be more one-on-one competitions that we saw earlier in the regime? Or will the Lions actually take an edge off in order to avoid the injury-plagued years of the past two seasons?<\/p>\n
While I doubt that last one, I do expect some alterations to how Campbell runs practice, because the entire staff seems devoted this offseason to change and growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Lions\u2019 three-week Organized Team Activities program kicks off on Wednesday. It\u2019ll be the first field work…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,449,1262,23208,23618,7452,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":["post-902770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroit-lions-analysis","tag-detroit-lions-opinion","tag-detroit-lions-otas","tag-detroit-lions-preseason","tag-detroit-lions-training-camp","tag-detroitlions","tag-football","tag-lions","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116647601336849465","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902770","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=902770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}