10/15/2026 | 6:42PM

Detroit Lions — Arizona scored on its opening possession Sunday, and for a moment, the Lions’ defensive struggles appeared headed for another long afternoon. Then something changed. Detroit forced five consecutive three-and-outs, the pass rush kept getting home, and the Cardinals couldn’t stay on the field long enough to keep Jared Goff’s offense from taking control. By the time the Lions finished their 45-21 victory, they had recorded five sacks and offered fans their most encouraging defensive performance of the season.

The Lions proved they didn’t need another expensive superstar to get to the quarterback. D.J. Wonnum leads the team in sacks, Alim McNeill is healthy, Derrick Barnes is making plays, and even sixth-round rookie Skyler Gill-Howard is contributing.

Together, they’ve helped Detroit reach 20 sacks through five games, the most in franchise history over that span and the highest total in the NFL. Four players have at least three sacks, another franchise first through five games. Yet the Lions enter their bye at 3-2, having surrendered 148 points. For all the excitement surrounding the pass rush, there’s still plenty of work to do.

THEY NEVER NEEDED A 2ND SUPERSTAR CONTRACT

For years, the popular explanation for Detroit’s pass-rushing problems was that Hutchinson needed another elite edge defender opposite him. Sign another former first-round pick, give him a massive contract, and watch Hutchinson become unstoppable. It became an easy narrative to repeat, but it was a flawed one I’ve never believed was the answer.

Well, D.J. Wonnum is here, and that predicted explosion in Hutchinson’s production hasn’t happened. Instead, Wonnum leads the team with five sacks to Hutchinson’s four, including two against the Jets, one against Carolina and two more against Arizona. He’s giving the Lions the production they desperately needed without requiring the kind of investment so many insisted was necessary.

What Detroit needed was a dependable, second-tier playmaker who could stay healthy and produce, while the bigger investment needed to go toward the interior defensive line and the secondary. That’s exactly the point I’ve argued since 2023: Detroit didn’t need another expensive superstar consuming valuable salary-cap space. Holmes signed Wonnum to a one-year deal worth up to $6 million.

THE PRESSURE STATS LIE

The quick-pressure numbers are the clearest example of dominance, not volume. NFL Next Gen Stats credits Wonnum with nine pressures within 2.5 seconds on 146 pass rushes, a 6.2% rate. Hutchinson has eight on 214 opportunities, just 3.7%. Wonnum is getting to quarterbacks sooner and finishing more sacks with considerably fewer chances. With that kind of production, I’d like to know whether Kelvin Sheppard can find more opportunities for him, although their different assignments and rotations also influence those totals.

And I’m not letting PFF’s grades decide who’s playing better. Their separate charting credits Hutchinson with five sacks and Wonnum with four, the opposite of the official NFLGIS totals. How can a site get something like this wrong? How can you even trust it anymore? The stats are flat out false, inaccurate, misleading and made to sell you fantasy football subscriptions.

ACTUAL NFL STATS (NOT PFF GARBAGE)

Even PFF analyst Khaled Elsayed has acknowledged that raw pressure totals can be crude and lack the context necessary to judge a player’s effectiveness. ESPN revised its pass-rush win-rate model this year to recognize bull rushes and eliminate misleading outside-rush wins. When the people developing these measurements acknowledge their limitations and continue correcting them, treating the resulting rankings as unquestionable judgments makes little sense.

These systems have their uses, but I put more stock in film, official stats, quick pressure and plays that actually change the outcome than in proprietary grading systems telling me who’s better.

Hutchinson remains an accomplished pass-rusher, but suddenly becoming more dominant is just not true. Wonnum is succeeding on his own merits, and McNeill’s return is strengthening the interior. That’s the roster-building mechanism that has yielded results: Detroit didn’t need another superstar to elevate one player. It needed several capable defenders making the entire front better.

QUICK SECONDARY NOTE

Just as Detroit’s secondary was coming together, Terrion Arnold’s off-field troubles and release, followed by injuries to D.J. Reed, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch, disrupted everything. Brad Holmes brought in reinforcements, including Rock Ya-Sin, Avonte Maddox, Harper, Roger McCreary, Christian Izien and Chuck Clark, only to lose Ya-Sin, Maddox and Harper to injuries as well. But there’s finally reason for optimism. Rakestraw is back, rookie Keith Abney II recorded six tackles and an interception against Arizona, and Branch is practicing with a possible Week 7 return. Build on that Arizona performance, get healthy, and this secondary could become a strength again.

MCNEILL CHANGES EVERYTHING INSIDE

After a frustrating 2025 season battling a core muscle injury that compromised his ability to anchor, a lack of leg strength preventing his ability to plant and drive through blockers. McNeill finished the season with just one sack in 10 games.

His return might be Detroit’s most important defensive development. For too many seasons, the Lions watched quarterbacks duck beneath the outside rush, step forward and escape through the middle. McNeill is changing that. With 3.5 sacks through five games, he’s giving Detroit something it desperately missed: consistent interior pressure.

He’s recorded sacks against New Orleans, the Jets and Carolina, then shared another with Gill-Howard against Arizona. For Detroit, it’s a reminder of just how difficult McNeill was to replace, regardless of how many defensive ends the Lions brought in.

MULTIPLE PLAYERS STEPPING UP

Sixth-round rookie Gill-Howard is already contributing, with one sack from two shared takedowns. Tyleik Williams has added 14 tackles while strengthening the interior rotation. Both are giving Detroit valuable production from its young defensive linemen.

Barnes has been equally impressive, contributing three sacks and an interception. The Lions now have nine players with at least half a sack, including four among the NFL’s top 20 sack leaders. That’s a welcome change from the days when everyone was waiting for Hutchinson to make something happen.

4 PLAYERS IN THE TOP 20 - SACK LEADERS

TEAM LEADERS - SACKS

THE DEFENSE HAS TO GEL QUICKER

Despite 20 sacks, Detroit has struggled to keep opponents off the scoreboard. Buffalo scored 41, Carolina 32 and New Orleans 30. Through five games, opponents have converted 36 of 71 third downs and thrown 14 touchdown passes.

The run defense has been more respectable, allowing 107 yards per game. Buffalo’s 203 rushing yards were damaging, but Detroit held the Jets to 58 and Arizona to 56. The greater concern is the defense’s inability to consistently finish possessions. Getting a sack loses much of its value when the opponent converts the next third down or finds an open receiver for another touchdown.

Arizona finally showed what this defense can accomplish when coaching and execution come together. Sheppard adjusted his coverage, the players responded, and Detroit forced five consecutive three-and-outs. The five sacks helped, but disciplined coverage and a strong effort against the run kept the Cardinals from sustaining drives.

Campbell credited both his coaches and players afterward, and rightly so. Sheppard needed to make adjustments, but the players also needed to execute. Against Arizona, both finally happened. Now the Lions need that same consistency every week, because a productive pass rush means little if the defense can’t get off the field.

ROCK’S READ

I’ve never believed Holmes needed to spend another fortune on an elite edge rusher just to make Hutchinson more productive. Think about that logic for a moment. It’s like buying a Ferrari, then deciding you need to spend another fortune on a new engine before you’ve even taken it for a drive. How does that make sense?

I live by the common-denominator principle: when the same problem keeps showing up and one thing remains constant, eventually you have to question that constant instead of assuming someone else is going to fix it. But calling Hutchinson an elite pass-rusher in one breath, then blaming his shortcomings on the player opposite him in the next, is one of the most ridiculous arguments I’ve heard. You can’t keep calling someone elite while making excuses for why he isn’t producing at that level.

Ask yourself this: how many elite edge rushers or defensive tackles did Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald or Maxx Crosby have beside them every single season? Garrett set the NFL single-season record with 23 sacks in 2025. Crosby recorded 14.5 in 2023, with Malcolm Koonce contributing eight on the opposite edge. Donald played alongside outstanding talent at times, including Ndamukong Suh and Von Miller, but his dominance never depended on having another superstar beside him every year.

Great players benefit from better teammates, but they shouldn’t need another massive contract on the opposite side just to justify their own reputation. That’s why I’ve argued since 2023 that Detroit needed a dependable, second-tier edge rusher and a stronger interior defensive line, not another expensive superstar supposedly brought in to unlock Hutchinson.

And while those 20 sacks are encouraging, I’ll take three sacks and 13 points allowed over six sacks and another 30-point performance every time. Detroit has finally assembled the defensive front it needed. If the rest of the defense builds on what happened in Arizona, those 20 sacks could become something far more important than a franchise record.

About Will Rock

Will Rock Is The Founder Of Detroit Football Journal And DFJ Sports, Providing Independent NFL Coverage With Credentialed Access Since 2024. His Work Focuses On Detroit Lions News, NFL Draft Scouting, Roster Analysis And Film Study.

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